It's no secret that wandering monsters and random encounters have gotten increasingly unpopular in recent years. I vaguely recall playing a bit of AD&D with a babysitter when I was really young, but...| Tumblr
In part 1 of this series, I described how Mongoose Traveller's spaceship mortgage rule becomes the drive for adventure and action in a spacefaring sandbox, and the 'autonomous' gameplay loop that...| Tumblr
In part 1 of this series, I described how Mongoose Traveller's spaceship mortgage rule becomes the drive for adventure and action in a spacefaring sandbox, and the 'autonomous' gameplay loop that...| Tumblr
In part 1 of this series, I described how Mongoose Traveller's spaceship mortgage rule becomes the drive for adventure and action in a spacefaring sandbox, and the 'autonomous' gameplay loop that...| Tumblr
The character sheet that comes stock with the edition of Traveller I own (Mongoose Traveller1st edition, 2008) leaves a lot to be desired, although that almost doesn’t matter: I don’t own a scanner and can’t find it online, so I needed to make my own anyway. With no scan available, here’s a grainy photo so you know what I’m talking about: Here’s a few issues with the built-in sheet: 1. Traveller doesn’t use hit points. Instead (like Numenera, and other RPGs), damage reduces abil...| Sir Poley
When making the table in Part I, I realized that every planet has a semi-hidden characteristic that balances melee combat. This was pretty astonishing to me, as it’s buried pretty deep, but it’s also a huge improvement to the game if implemented in your campaign. The issue is as follows: Traveller ranged and melee combat is realistically balanced (which is to say, swords simply don’t compare to laser guns). Traveller also lacks “sci-fi remedies” such as lightning swords and laser w...| Sir Poley
I just ran Session Zero (character creation and so on) of Mongoose Traveller 1st edition (2008) with my quarantine pod. This is my second Traveller campaign that I’ve run (thoughts inspired by the first you can read about here), and the fourth that I’ve been a part of. Having learned a little from my last campaign, I’ve made a few improvements to the game’s interface (not really houserules) that speed up gameplay and reduce friction. What do I mean by interface? Imagine if Travellerwa...| Sir Poley
“Can I buy a magic sword?” This is a question that seems straightforward, but is actually fraught with follow-on implications that are not obvious. It is also one that’s asked at some point in any D&D campaign. You might be thinking, as GM, that you’re making a choice about the setting of your campaign (is this a high-magic or low-magic world, a desert island, a major trade city, etc). While you are making this decision, you’re also deciding (perhaps without knowing) what money is i...| Sir Poley
vaniver: sirpoley: vaniver: (This is a gaming post, not a politics / economics post.) So the last D&D game that I ran hit a scheduling conflict, then another, and then stalled to a halt. And in the meantime I started up a Pandemic Legacy game (which goes much faster when you play 3 games per session and one session per week :P ), backed a game that’s reminiscent of Darkest Dungeon (The Iron Oath, 39 hours left in their KickStarter at time of writing), and a friend got into Massive Chalice. ...| Sir Poley
vaniver: (This is a gaming post, not a politics / economics post.) So the last D&D game that I ran hit a scheduling conflict, then another, and then stalled to a halt. And in the meantime I started up a Pandemic Legacy game (which goes much faster when you play 3 games per session and one session per week :P ), backed a game that’s reminiscent of Darkest Dungeon (The Iron Oath, 39 hours left in their KickStarter at time of writing), and a friend got into Massive Chalice. All of which have m...| Sir Poley
In part 1 of this series, I described how Mongoose Traveller’s spaceship mortgage rule becomes the drive for adventure and action in a spacefaring sandbox, and the ‘autonomous’ gameplay loop that follows. In part 2, I talked about how Traveller’s Patron system gives the DM a tool to pull the party out of the 'loop’ and into more traditional adventures. In part 3, I talked about Traveller’s unique character creation system, and how it supports the previous two systems, and how to a...| Sir Poley
Right, I probably should have mentioned this in the article. I personally started meaningfully playing D&D with 3.0 (I played 2e with a babysitter, but only dimly remember it). As a result, I can’t speak to pre-3.0 D&D with any authority, so when I say “D&D” I’m usually referring to 3.0e/3.5e/D20 modern/Pathfinder/5e. I largely gave 4e a pass; it wasn’t really “for me”. From 3.0 on, striving (and often failing to achieve) balance in one way or another (between each party member,...| Sir Poley
In part 1 of this series, I described how Mongoose Traveller’s spaceship mortgage rule becomes the drive for adventure and action in a spacefaring sandbox, and the ‘autonomous’ gameplay loop that follows. In part 2, I talked about how Traveller’s Patron system gives the DM a tool to pull the party out of the 'loop’ and into more traditional adventures. In this part, I’ll talk about Traveller’s unique character creation system, and how it supports the previous two systems. Brief ...| Sir Poley
In part 1 of this series, I described how Mongoose Traveller’s spaceship mortgage rule becomes the drive for adventure and action in a spacefaring sandbox, and the ‘autonomous’ gameplay loop that follows. In this part, I’ll talk about the Patrons—questgivers—that are baked into Traveller’s gameplay loop and provide opportunities for more 'traditional’ (that is, pre-scripted) adventures. Patrons Patrons are, essentially, adventure hooks. The 'default’ premise is that an NPC o...| Sir Poley
Comparison between my usual number of notes and the one in which I said black lives matter. Pretty unexpected. Some of my commenters–you know who you are–can take a hike.| Sir Poley
Mongoose Traveller’s starship mortgage-payment-system is the most brilliant game mechanic I’ve ever encountered, as a DM. It’s also the first rule I’d ignore if I wasn’t consciously trying to play the game exactly how it’s described in the book. A Bit of Background I’ve been involved in two Traveller campaigns in the past as a player (both with the same DM), and am currently DMing a third. All of them are using Mongoose’s first edition. I’ve never played any other edition of...| Sir Poley
Black Lives Matter. Or: Why Politics Belongs in the Hobby: VarianceHammer wrote this much better than I could.| Sir Poley
In the first article in this series, I set out to prove Vaarsuvius wrong and to salvage Random Encounters in overland travel. In the second article in this series, I proposed some additional requirements for having a Long Rest that would allow Random Encounters to have real stakes. Now, I’m going to tackle the Random Encounters themselves. Foreshadowed Encounters Let’s start with the Into the Living Library Wandering Monster table, as seen in the On Wandering Monsters series—the one tha...| Sir Poley
In the first article in this series, I set out to prove Vaarsuvius wrong, to salvage random encounters in overland travel. I found that the problem lies in the interaction of travel, Random Encounters, and resting, which is what I’ll tackle in this article. Part 4 of On Wandering Monsters lays out a couple of ways in which the use of Wandering Monsters in dungeons can smooth out some of the roughness between classes, and part 2 discussed how they can be used to further, rather than distract...| Sir Poley
Rich Burlew’s Order of the Stick #145 rather accurately expresses the nature of the problem with Random Encounters when travelling overland. Go read the strip before continuing; it only takes a second and it’s worth it. You don’t have to know anything else about the series to understand the point made in this particular page. In the strip, Vaarsuvius convincingly demonstrates (far better than I ever could) exactly why Random Encounters are a waste of time—but do they have to be that w...| Sir Poley
Harry Potter and the Natural 20 Chapter 74: SD 212: Light Treason, a Harry Potter + Dungeons and Dragons Crossover fanfic | FanFiction| Sir Poley
Harry Potter and the Natural 20 Chapter 73: SD 20: Auld Reeky, a Harry Potter + Dungeons and Dragons Crossover fanfic | FanFiction| Sir Poley
I’ve always hated traps. There, I said it. Aside from the occasional booby traps placed by the kobolds and the Ettercap in Into the Living Library, in my entire GMing career, I’ve only ever used a single trap—also in Into the Living Library—and it was really more of a plot device than anything else. It was a clearly marked death trap to encourage the party to turn around and do some exploring and roleplaying to find a bypass. The trap was a lock; Leonard’s Lightning Redirector was t...| Sir Poley
Hey all! I’m back to work on Harry Potter and the Save-Or-Die. I’m polishing up the next chapter now, and I have another couple partway-done in the bank; the current goal is one chapter per month for...| Tumblr
Mongoose Traveller's starship mortgage-payment-system is the most brilliant game mechanic I've ever encountered, as a DM. It's also the first rule I'd ignore if I wasn't consciously trying to play the...| Tumblr
