tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post2518535608755812846..comments2024-03-28T13:22:07.685-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Dungeon Restocking and Rival Adventuring PartiesJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-31683841655581573922012-04-08T01:55:13.246-04:002012-04-08T01:55:13.246-04:00I thought you were going to be talking about the p...I thought you were going to be talking about the problem of where all that new treasure is coming from!Guestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-27179428981332266542012-04-07T09:59:38.594-04:002012-04-07T09:59:38.594-04:00 I've actually proposed running a megadungeon ... I've actually proposed running a megadungeon (and using Old School rules) to the group I DM for and the players were extremely skeptical (we all got our start gaming on 3.5) of the idea of leaving the dungeon for any reason before it's cleared. "Why should I let monsters have a chance to repopulate or other groups get in and take the treasure? No, we're going in and not coming out until everything that isn't us is dead." was a sentiment explicitly stated. Maybe I'm just not expressing well the fact that this dungeon is the size of Manhattan, and if they intend to stay down until everything's dead they're going to run out of supplies and resort to eating Morlocks, or each other. <br /><br />The players do seem interested in giving a retro-clone a try, though, so maybe once it's clear that killing monsters doesn't give a whole lot of XP and treasure only gives XP when it's been taken back to civilization they'll come around to the idea. Bill Adcockhttp://the-crown-and-the-ring.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-65793281449240332442012-04-05T16:14:26.030-04:002012-04-05T16:14:26.030-04:00I've actually never used the idea of rival adv...I've actually never used the idea of rival adventuring parties before, but after having read about it here on your blog several times, I'd already decided I was going to use it when I take my group through the old AD& D <i>S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth</i>. That module seems like the perfect one to utilize the "rival party" concept. <br /><br />I'm totally going to use this table for that!<br /><br />I'm not sure why we're never used rival parties before - I started gaming back around 1982 but I've never had a DM that included them. It seems strange because I'm reading that most OSR types seemed to use them.Martin Thomasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-79977234850476601982012-04-05T12:53:01.497-04:002012-04-05T12:53:01.497-04:00The 2% modifier is per time the PCs leave the dung...The 2% modifier is per time the PCs leave the dungeon to go back to town and so is cumulative over the course of the campaign. Like the restock table, though, I only roll on the table when the PCs actually enter a room where it applies. That said, yes, it does pretty much guarantee that, eventually, they'll run into multiple adventuring party rivals in Dwimmermount, but that's by design.James Maliszewskihttp://grognardia.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-19655711862892643502012-04-05T12:33:17.856-04:002012-04-05T12:33:17.856-04:00I'm not quite clear how the table works. Do yo...I'm not quite clear how the table works. Do you roll each time the PCs enter a new room that they've never been in before? Is the +2% a cumulative modifier over the course of the campaign? If so, doesn't that eventually mean the PCs will find a rival adventuring party in every single room?<br /><br />I like the concept, and would like to find interesting ways to add rival NPC parties to my campaign, but I'm having a hard time visualizing how this table works in practice.Jesse Smithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-12921233196263099622012-04-05T09:14:43.075-04:002012-04-05T09:14:43.075-04:00 So you add 2% for each time they left? (ie. if th... So you add 2% for each time they left? (ie. if they are returning for the third time you would add 6%?)<br />Sorry, just want to clarify.heylonghairnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-17993255679433644282012-04-05T02:52:23.047-04:002012-04-05T02:52:23.047-04:00ToEE was already mentioned above; it immediately s...ToEE was already mentioned above; it immediately sprang to mind as the first module I recall including rules for restocking the dungeon, and indeed for the number of foes growing beyond those noted (through 'recruiting') if the PCs didn't dispose of them quickly enough...<br /><br />I remember wondering why I'd never thought of that before.jmac5892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-82078260282778509362012-04-05T02:38:54.419-04:002012-04-05T02:38:54.419-04:00When I ran Temple of Elemental Evil my players did...When I ran Temple of Elemental Evil my players did exactly this as well. If I recall, Hommlet was a day or two away and Nulb was just as dangerous as the temple, so they just hid out in a secret or sealed room and I rolled about a million random encounters as they slept - and then had to figure out if any of the wandering monsters would be able to find their hideout.Victor Von Davehttp://victor-von-dave.myopenid.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-17966869068734834412012-04-04T22:23:12.349-04:002012-04-04T22:23:12.349-04:00 My memory is not perfect, but I can clearly remem... My memory is not perfect, but I can clearly remember times when we overnighted in a dungeon. We'd pick an empty room with only one exit, usually something that the monsters hadn't bothered to populate, cast silence and spike the door shut. This is at least through 2nd edition, when we played "Temple of Elemental Evil" in the mid-'90s. We hardly spent any time in Hommlett, it was too far away, so we spent a lot of nights in the Temple.<br /><br />Our current style hasn't changed much.Leehttp://profile.yahoo.com/GNL573UALPYYNDIBMJW4K73J4Inoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-83546461527086995052012-04-04T20:11:37.836-04:002012-04-04T20:11:37.836-04:00That's described above in this sentence: I rol...That's described above in this sentence: I roll once for every room the PCs didn't visit, modified by +2% -- it's a percentile table -- for every time they left the dungeon to return to "civilization."James Maliszewskihttp://grognardia.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-49401715620632769152012-04-04T20:05:50.752-04:002012-04-04T20:05:50.752-04:00Maybe I'm just math-challenged but I don't...Maybe I'm just math-challenged but I don't understand how you get 101 to 121+ with a percentile roll. Could you explain how you come up with the 100+ numbers?heylonghairnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-67570861800663833322012-04-04T18:54:26.416-04:002012-04-04T18:54:26.416-04:00It was the early 90s and for small dungeons there ...It was the early 90s and for small dungeons there always seemed to be a sense of a time limit preventing going back to town.<br /><br />In a couple other groups I knew big dungeons adventures connected to the Underdark essentially putting towns in the middle of the dungeon.<br /><br />And my personal experience probably had to do with no older kids to initiate my friends into the hobby when we started and a literal interpretation of a dungeon as a place you get thrown and have to escape from.decemberhttp://twitter.com/hauntedculturenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-75142802803316360102012-04-04T18:29:01.659-04:002012-04-04T18:29:01.659-04:00Amusingly, this is the first time I've ever he...Amusingly, this is the first time I've ever heard about anyone running a dungeon-based campaign where the PCs stayed there for long stretches of time. Did you know others outside of your group who ran their campaigns like this? I find the idea quite intriguing and would love to know more.James Maliszewskihttp://grognardia.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-4159285121441408082012-04-04T18:25:13.821-04:002012-04-04T18:25:13.821-04:00The whole notion of being able to leave is somethi...The whole notion of being able to leave is something that I think separates the megadungeons of people who had the published modules from the people like myself who games with folks who bought supplements but never adventures. In an early campaign I was in we entered the dungeon at first level and nobody saw daylight again until at least 6th level.<br /><br />I'm not sure if it's a generational thing but a dungeon you could *leave* was never part of my teen years. It's something I first discovered through your blog and it's kind of fascinating.decemberhttp://twitter.com/hauntedculturenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-28639468472577283192012-04-04T14:33:36.215-04:002012-04-04T14:33:36.215-04:00I like it. How do you generate your Rival Party? ...I like it. How do you generate your Rival Party? with another table?Jordan Neffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-89906629017109864212012-04-04T05:18:34.761-04:002012-04-04T05:18:34.761-04:00Reminds me of the intial die roll table in RQ'...Reminds me of the intial die roll table in RQ's early dungeon modules.Alexandre Lancianinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-66675538557893819282012-04-04T01:44:59.702-04:002012-04-04T01:44:59.702-04:00I love things like these that allow the simulation...I love things like these that allow the simulation of a sense of a greater world with some simple tables.Chris Vermeersnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71828231549951126392012-04-03T22:23:51.163-04:002012-04-03T22:23:51.163-04:00I'd be remiss in my duties as a shameless self...I'd be remiss in my duties as a shameless self-promoter if I didn't link to my own attempt. <br />http://dandy-in-the-underworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/vornheim-contest-entry-1-some-rival.html One definite flaw in mine is a lack of dungeoneering results, as it focuses on activities in town. Combining it with yours lets me cover both.Jeremy Duncannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-89945722817652126412012-04-03T19:39:32.502-04:002012-04-03T19:39:32.502-04:00A nice and relatively simple way to handle somethi...A nice and relatively simple way to handle something I've been wondering about for some time. Stonehell explicitly assumes that the dungeon is constantly being explored by rival adventuring parties but offers no way of determining how that exploration affects the dungeon environs, or of bumping into these rival parties. Now I can patch that hole.Paul Vermerenhttp://profiles.google.com/djblizacknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-79075855153677027092012-04-03T17:24:40.535-04:002012-04-03T17:24:40.535-04:00I like that table, it's pretty cool. I may use...I like that table, it's pretty cool. I may use it or something like it.Peter V. Dell'Ortonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-59404403874069134842012-04-03T17:22:17.341-04:002012-04-03T17:22:17.341-04:00I include NPC adventuring parties in most wanderin...I include NPC adventuring parties in most wandering monster tables of my megadungeon, and had two that the party actually met in the nearest town. Some of the more memorable events were the result of encountering those groups repeatedly over many sessions (for example, one group of snobbish, petty noble adventurers treated the party like the low-born peasants they are. Later, they crossed paths repeatedly in the dungeon, often coming near to blows. More than once, one group would encounter the other fleeing from some deadly encounter. It got even nastier when they started setting traps for each other. Finally, the players simply ambushed them, wiped out all but one who surrendered, and who eventually joined them for a time rather than be slain or left alone in the depths. Fun stuff!)Keith Sloannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-43450795600028991872012-04-03T17:09:51.686-04:002012-04-03T17:09:51.686-04:00Haven't gone as far as a table, but in one cam...Haven't gone as far as a table, but in one campaign I plotted out the maraudings of rival parties in the dungeon, dicing at decision points; in the more recent one I've done more stage managing, using them to give a sense of danger, exert time pressure, and eventually find things the party hasn't.Roger Giner-Sorollanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-89046267069704211582012-04-03T16:50:32.325-04:002012-04-03T16:50:32.325-04:00 Yep! Yep!James Maliszewskihttp://grognardia.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-4264146470958782762012-04-03T16:48:14.564-04:002012-04-03T16:48:14.564-04:00Are tables llike this one, and this one for that m...Are tables llike this one, and this one for that matter, included in the Kickstarter books? Already a sponsor so just wondering.Jeffrey Kahrsnoreply@blogger.com