Its mostly all in the title -- some links for context
Link to Keep on the Borderlands wiki
Link to Village of Hommlett wiki
Old School Rules and Roleplay -- 3d6s rolled for stats -- simple rules
Throwback module
Fighter Thief Cleric Wizard are your only class choices.
Don't know if there would be enough interest, but if you don't ask you won't know.
Dotting
Very interested ;)
Interested was playing in a old-school game but it ended fairly early on.
Interested, particularly because you can have an Ancestry and a class. Revolutionary!
Four players makes for a nice group! :D
Would there be room for a fifth? Sounds like fun.
Well I think we are back down to 4 as Albion found another game and has become busy again.
This one is already in my shortlist, as all OSR games. If there is a spot, I am definitely in ;)
Seems like some interest to me. :)
Given the massive attrition rate on the boards, I have found interest should exceed two times the amount of spaces you plan on in your game at least. I made this paladin for an OSR that didnt last very long at all.
Half of players tend to drop the first month unless you get people with solid posting histories and the odds are better, and this is if you are running a mainstream, popular game like Pathfinder Kingmaker. Niche games are much harder to keep going in my experience. Many OSRs on these boards have either never started or stopped in the first month. To be fair, the flake rate of GMs for OSRs is much higher than the players lately.
If someone else wants to run any old school module or homebrew count me in. I'll roll my 3d6s now.
I remember that recruitment Chainmail, it was a shame it did not come to fruition - Borderlands + Sowrds & Wizardry seems to be the perfect combo.
How did you like the ability generation method? ;)
Old school-style rules in an old school-style adventure? Would be very interested.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Dotting for interest
Am mulling running my own Shadowdark game here on the boards (converting Night Below AD&D mega adventure) - plenty of work still to be done before that rolls out.
Meantime would good to get some XP in the game if selected.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Oh man Black Dow…. Night Below?! That would be amazing :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Actually, Black Dow led me to Shadowdark and it is AMAZING.
So, I would love to roll 6 3d6s knowing if I didn't get at least one 14 I could roll them again!!
To determine your character’s
stats, roll 3d6 in order for
each one. Note each total and
modifier on your character
sheet.
Optionally, if none of your stats
are 14 or higher, you may roll a
new set of six numbers.
Note you do not get to rearrange them!!
You can also do a level 0 start if you want an even more Grimdark feel.
To get the OSR vibe I would have a backup character linked in my profile too!!
Optionally!!! Who wouldn't reroll in this case
The 14 thing is an interesting take on character creation. I never played Shadowdark, but have been following their progress with some curiosity, as I know it blends some nice features from different games/editions.
Awesome.
Not so sure I'd want to start at 0 level, but will go with the flow, if everyone else wants to do so.
EDIT:
First char rolls are a bit iffy, so I'll just roll the backup numbers here. Just in case. lol
AND, with NO 14s, gonna reroll that one. LOL
LOL. This is gonna be fun. :D
Any old school gamer should follow Professor Dungeon Master. His take on Grimdark roleplaying is amazing.
Str: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 5) = 13
Dex: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 2) = 7
Con: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 5) = 14
Int: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 3) = 7
Wis: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 2) = 7
Chr: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 3) = 10
This will be fine for a Dwarf Ancestry Fighter!
Any old school gamer should follow Professor Dungeon Master. His take on Grimdark roleplaying is amazing.
Oh yeah, I am a subscriber of Dungeoncraft - big fan of his 'zone based' circular combat mats, based on Index Card RPG ;)
Wait, what? We are rolling?
Holy.... First time in my life I am lucky at ability generation dice rolls. Am I hateful for saying I wanted a high Str? :P
Main Character
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Not bad. Several ways to go here. Probably Human Wizard
Backup Character
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
Maybe a Half Ord Cleric for the second
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Umm, is this still an interest check or Recruitment? How are you selecting, GM Tribute - by player or character or something else?
Actually, Black Dow led me to Shadowdark and it is AMAZING.
So, I would love to roll 6 3d6s knowing if I didn't get at least one 14 I could roll them again!!
To determine your character’s
stats, roll 3d6 in order for
each one. Note each total and
modifier on your character
sheet.
Optionally, if none of your stats
are 14 or higher, you may roll a
new set of six numbers.Note you do not get to rearrange them!!
You can also do a level 0 start if you want an even more Grimdark feel.
To get the OSR vibe I would have a backup character linked in my profile too!!
Optionally!!! Who wouldn't reroll in this case
Hmmmmm. I may have jumped the gun..er, crossbow. I thought he was inviting us to roll. Perhaps he was just describing a situation...
Well it does not hurt to roll in case he was saying roll dem bones it is not like you have invested a lot of energy into it in case he changes this to a contest rather than a first come first in. Besides real old school, really did not have much fluff to it. Roll dem bones, see what you get, see what you qualify to make, and make one.
Ouch okay backup Character just in Case
Can the first character qualify for anything but Human Fighter, I know a low Intelligence does restrict you from some Races and Classes but I vaguely remember a really low Intelligence kind of dictated you could only be a Human Fighter.
Oh and by Old School are we talking DnD 1e?
This was an interest check. I am running two games right now, and one was looking like it was on fumes, but the rerecruiting is going very well. I had given the groups a soft promise that as long as they stuck with my two Kingmaker games I wouldn't run a third. This did include a daily posting stipulation, which has fallen by the wayside. I have a much better chance of running a third game when one game is not posting daily.
It would be hard for me to take on a third game at the moment. Much easier to play, as I have said. But, if no one wants to take up the mantle I will look at posting histories a bit and assess the risk level.
I would feel compelled to see it much farther than the most recent OSR starts have gone. I am highly considering making it a homebrew as the system has little module support at the moment, and tailoring a story to the strengths of the monsters and dieties in Shadowdark is more compelling than doing a Greyhawk to Shadowdark conversion.
Grimdark games, which I like, are the exact opposite of PFS games. There is a real chance of character death, and many do not like this. No hero points and you die at zero hit points--a hard concept for modern players to wrap their heads around.
From the manual
Not the Enemy
NEUTRAL ARBITER
You're not the players' enemy;
you're portraying the world as it
is. Roll your dice out in the open
and let the players create their
own trouble.
Shadowdark RPG has the
following mechanics that tempt
the players into taking risks.
Random encounters. Characters
push their luck the longer they
linger in dangerous areas. Not all
wandering monsters are hostile
(see Reaction Check, pg. 113),
but there's no guarantee.
Light timers. If the characters
run out of light, they have a poor
chance of surviving a monster
attack or deadly trap.
Resource management. Gear
slots are precious. Is it more
important to make room for
treasure or bring extra torches?
XP. The temptation of treasure
and XP pulls many characters
deeper into the dungeon.
CHARACTER DEATH
Character deaths will happen
(especially among 0-level
adventurers)! The dice can be
fickle, and crawlers sometimes
get into more trouble than
they can handle down in the
Shadowdark.
When a character dies due to
the player's choices and it makes
sense, it was a just death.
If there is uncertainty ("Did
you remember to add your
Constitution modifier to your
death timer?"), clarify, and then
let fate fall.
A game world without death is
one without risk or tension.
109
Set the Tone
THE WORLD
What is your game world like?
Decide on a few major elements
to start. You'll want to consider
the following:
• What's the environment
like? Jungle, desert, swamps,
cityscape, oceanic, tundra?
• How does the world
handle magic? Are wizards
abundant, or in hiding? Can
priests use healing spells?
• What's the overall theme?
Grimdark, mythical, urban,
gonzo, horror?
THE CHARACTERS
Are there any character creation
rules in your game world? For
example, some GMs only allow
lawful or neutral characters.
Allow the players' ideas to shape
reality. Is the priest from an
order of witch-hunting zealots?
Is the fighter a Red Siege
veteran? Add those backstory
elements to the game world!
SESSION ZERO
Help the players make their
characters ahead of the first
session.
This is an opportunity for the
players to establish how their
characters know each other,
build out backstories, and
roleplay precursory scenes.
START SMALL
You don't have to develop
much for your first game. You
need a starting location, a few
interesting NPCs, and a short
adventure site.
Since the characters already
know each other from session
zero, kick off the first game
in the middle of a dangerous
incident or dramatic situation.
Bring on the action!
Problems and rumors lead
to adventures. If you keep
introducing both to the
characters, your world will
continue to sprout and grow.
GM Tribute what did you mean exactly by "take up the mantle"?
GM Tribute what did you mean exactly by "take up the mantle"?
I take it to mean “if no-one else is going to run the game”. It’s an interest check to see who wants to GM and who wants to play.
It was originally an interest check to play when I had one game.
Now it is an interest check to GM and play now that I have two.
And, mention once per day weekday would be my posting requirement. Further mention I would run a homebrew or a Shadowdark adventure. I would take 5 — probably allow duplication of any one SD class.
Ok, well I think I’m understanding. I’m only up to play, not GM.
Just did my own research into posting history…seems Albion and myself were in your B1-9 game….almost 10 years ago. Blew my mind when I realised how long ago that was…
2014… You are right OSW, has it been that long? Wow!
Oh man Black Dow…. Night Below?! That would be amazing :)
Too kind mate.
Aye I'm hoping it'll be a blast. Fleshing out the "surface" side of the mega-adventure to add some intrigue and roleplaying opportunities to the meat-grinder of the Under(shadow)dark portions.
Having a blast. Regards the inevitable enquiry on when it'll run - probably some months from now. Plenty of work still to come - side quests to be converted and added from the olde Dungeon issues and OSE/Shadowdark 3PP stuff.
It plans to be a nice counterpoint to the Dolmenwood campaign I'll also be running down the line.
Anyone volunteering to rotate as DM in a living Shadowdark world will be given priority.
Maybe we can use this thread as the Shadowdark Lodge, a source of players for future Shadowdark games.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Oh man Black Dow…. Night Below?! That would be amazing :)Too kind mate.
Aye I'm hoping it'll be a blast. Fleshing out the "surface" side of the mega-adventure to add some intrigue and roleplaying opportunities to the meat-grinder of the Under(shadow)dark portions.
Having a blast. Regards the inevitable enquiry on when it'll run - probably some months from now. Plenty of work still to come - side quests to be converted and added from the olde Dungeon issues and OSE/Shadowdark 3PP stuff.
It plans to be a nice counterpoint to the Dolmenwood campaign I'll also be running down the line.
Sounds like fun. Dolemwood looks amazing
I have been told I should take everyone that wants to play. I would like this to be an RPG elite experience. Doomed Hero in his guide suggests not taking everyone in a recruitment or you will have a bad game.
I do not plan on playing with anyone and everyone, but I will play with beginners.
Well GM Tribute to sort of get this ball rolling since we seem to have enough preliminary interest. Which would you prefer to play in and which would you prefer to run? The Keep on the Borderlands or The Village of Hommlett. I can run either with as few as 1 player or as many as 7 as scaling encounters is usually not an issue. Also you mentioned you might prefer starting at 0-Level as well as (I think) one is Dead at 0 Hit Points.
Now I might (aka assuming the players are okay with it) run Hit Points a bit differently and reflect them as what they were stated to be in DnD which is: they reflect scratches, bruises and ones skill to avoid deadly damage. Then have deadly damage which hampers a character and can become permanent in some ways (aka one eye, one arm, a serious limp, etc...) as that would be fairly easy to implement within the basic guidelines of Shadowdark. Folks thoughts?
I am solicitating thoughts so that I can make a game that the players would want to play in as I can run most things as is however I do like to add spices to the mix when possilbe and I think the hit point thing would add that bit of spice but if the players do not want it or they end up feeling it reduces the fun of the game then it could just as easily be removed.
Also GM Tribute I would use whichever one you wanted to play in as a basis but would alter things to:
1) Make things unexpected and unknown
2) Be expandable and perhaps a bit easier to logically
implement in a dynamic fashion. Aka the world is not
just sitting in statsis and awaiting the PCs to turn
each piece on by appearing. If it is actually static
it will be static, otherwise it will not be, static.
Again folks thoughts?
Thoughts here can reflect perhaps additional things to spice up and make the game more fun and/or expand the game into avenues of additional exploration -- either in places to explore or in concepts to explore
Lastly GM Tribute you can choose the players you want to join the game as the game to me is primarily aimed at you and those you would feel would make the game more enjoyable for yourself and all involved.
I will start a game thread once I now which game I will be hosting.
Sounds like fun. Dolemwood looks amazingOh man Black Dow…. Night Below?! That would be amazing :)Too kind mate.
Aye I'm hoping it'll be a blast. Fleshing out the "surface" side of the mega-adventure to add some intrigue and roleplaying opportunities to the meat-grinder of the Under(shadow)dark portions.
Having a blast. Regards the inevitable enquiry on when it'll run - probably some months from now. Plenty of work still to come - side quests to be converted and added from the olde Dungeon issues and OSE/Shadowdark 3PP stuff.
It plans to be a nice counterpoint to the Dolmenwood campaign I'll also be running down the line.
Aye it looks whimsically macabre and ultra detailed in flavour - 20 types of pipeleaf tells you everything you need to know lol .
The Night Below will be befittingly grim and my Dolmenwood will be a love letter to British folklore/horror.
So I'm a little confused here. Are there two games in this one thread, or are they interconnected? Are character choices done here or via PM? Just trying to get a handle on if I need to do anything.
Sort of currently two games in one thread, but I think we are going to be using the Shadowdark Thread for the collaborative zone, going forward.
So two games in the same world located in different areas both using Shadowdark guidelines with perhaps slight variations on play style (or maybe that may end up being homongenous as well).
That said GM Tribute is running the Gauntlet game and I will be running Gorgana an old Penal Colony still used as such but with at least one previous generation of folks having lived here since the original inhabitants arrived and were left to their own to either survive of die. Which I will be posting a game starter for this week, once I know who else wants to join GM Tribute in that game.
To Clarify:
Original Inhabitants
.... (most have died or are two injured to go forth anymore)
1st Generation
.... (the much longer lived PCs come from here)
Current Generation
.... (the shorter lived PCs come form here)
But this will be covered in more detail within the Campaign tab of the game when I post it.
Sort of currently two games in one thread, but I think we are going to be using the Shadowdark Thread for the collaborative zone, going forward.
So two games in the same world located in different areas both using Shadowdark guidelines with perhaps slight variations on play style (or maybe that may end up being homongenous as well).
That said GM Tribute is running the Gauntlet game and I will be running Gorgana an old Penal Colony still used as such but with at least one previous generation of folks having lived here since the original inhabitants arrived and were left to their own to either survive of die. Which I will be posting a game starter for this week, once I know who else wants to join GM Tribute in that game.
To Clarify:
Original Inhabitants
.... (most have died or are two injured to go forth anymore)
1st Generation
.... (the much longer lived PCs come from here)
Current Generation
.... (the shorter lived PCs come form here)But this will be covered in more detail within the Campaign tab of the game when I post it.
Thanks. Now only a little confused. So two different characters for two different games sharing an overarching world. I'm assuming your world will be 1st level while Tributes is gauntlet with 0 level characters?
Yeah I can do the (1st-level thing) to make it a bit different, but I will be using the secret 1d4+Con (min 1) death timer.
And perhaps either the dieties that GM Tribute has already outlined or a slightly different set but there will still only be just three. Also, we might collaborate on a slightly different three. Had not seen his until just recently after PMing him about a concept surrounding that topic.
See you over in the Shadowdark thread, just follow the previous link I gave.
I've got a setting thing I've been thinking about that might fit somewhere in this world. It has some similarities to DeJokers geographically but a vastly different founding. Here's the basics.
1. There was a vast forest between a mountain range and the sea. A city sat on the edges of this forest just before a great desert. The city thrived as a origin point for caravans crossing the desert. About 1500 years ago there was a cataclysm that caused the vast lake and river to dry up except for a small lake. The river had completely quit running. In addition, the city was split in half by the earthquake, with the Western half elevating about 200' and the lower part staying ground level. Of course, the city was decimated... but having the lake as the only water for miles around kept it alive... barely.
2. Geniekin and their like migrated from the desert areas after this new oasis came to be, and dominated the local people. The surrounding area became a "Bad Land". Not really desert, but certainly not fertile. It is a land of rocky crags, steep outcroppings and dead forest that few bother to cross. The existing fey of the former great forest went into retreat and little was heard from them. Due to the difficulty of accessing water the Upper City became a ruin inhabited by undead, demon spawn, and those who wished not to be found.
3. About 20-years ago another earthquake hit the area, and though not much changed in the upper city, the lower city began to prosper again. The river beginning to flow again made travel here easier, and new people began to move into the city. The forest began to regrow... perhaps a little quickly for normal growth... and rumor has it that the fey have begun to return... which is not taken lightly by the Geniekin.
4. Adventuring opportunities include: The growing city, the ruins of the upper city, the caves and caverns linking the upper and lower city, and most importantly the growing conflict for control of the region.
If there is room in the cooperative world, I'd like to include this city and its surroundings and perhaps at some time have adventurers (Players) turn here for adventure.
Well scranford basically I see no reason that place cannot exist in some form. Although I will point out that what you outline is on a much grander scale from what I or I think GM Tribute are working on or at. Yours branches out in more than one direction a lot more than what we are doing or envisioning.
The basic Old School Premise here is to have a small town (Village of Hommlett) or a large Keep (Keep on the Borderlands) and a vast dungeon that goes deeper and ever deeper (as outlined in Shadowdark style of play) -- the small town or large keep is to limit the resources (at least initially) available to the PCs to some degree -- as to deeper well whether deeper means horizontally or vertically (either up or down) or both (or even all three) is immaterial it is just a sort of singular-like direction (aka go forward or go back) with maybe branches perhaps (think a tree and the town/keep is the trunk) but something where going deeper makes sense.
Yours is more typical of the current paradigm, where one brings in many elements in many different directions more reflective of a more normal setting. However, if one were to roll your plot backwards to just that town subsisting off that singular fresh water source and perhaps the river cracking open wider and being replaced by (non-drinkable) ocean in the downstream direction giving them access to supplies and fresh people and the river in the upstream direction either dried-up or nearly dried-up.
This has the makings of the basic paradigm. As to bringing the genie-kin and the fae into a battle for the town/keep I am not sure that can be done without breaking the basic paradigm. Yes there can be elements within the town/keep that are not all good and have agendas but most of these agendas should sort of focus on (or support) that singular-like direction but can provide for petty (to serious) town politics for when the players get higher level and the town more prosperous.
So maybe we tweak your outline, mess with the entire terrain burying the entire region under upthrusting rock that sort of buries everything without completely destroying it all and the surviving city still has access to the ocean and that small somehow spring fed freshwater supply. Then the remainder of the places are all found beneath the ground via tunnels and such. Now this would make more sense if the cataclysm that caused this was magically induced and this would further allow you to create strange and bizarre caverns for the PCs to find. Further maybe there are potentially numerous initial cave-like openings both horizontally and perhaps vertically that can be explored with some caves or some of their branches leading to dead ends -- just like in maze. Now that would fit the basic paradigm that I believe GM Tribute and I are striving for, unless I misunderstood something.
Side Note: Your genie-kin and fae could be pocket destination points that the PCs eventually encounter and perhaps the genie-kin and the fae are contesting something important to both of them. This would still fit the paradigm provided that something is a bit "deeper" still.
So they find the genie-kin or the fae first, then sometime later while exploring a different path they find the other group and then realize eventually that both groups are pursuing the same agenda and are at odds with one another but maybe do not know it or simply did not tell the PCs or their perspective is that they other is totally evil and they are not. That would all boil down to what you feel would be the most fun to implement.
Note the fae zone could be using artificial (aka magical sunlight) or they might have a pocket that opens to the sky and they have been able to put reflectors at the top to pull the daylight down to their still existing forest which means they also have a water source as well perhaps some of the old river.
Still I would caution you, to always think of the ecosystem that would need to be in place to support whatever it is you are putting into place as that can greatly dictate the kind of things (and the precursor warnings) the PCs will encounter as they begin to discover a new zone. Also not every zone needs to connect to every zone and the path to some zones might be hidden or complicated to get through
For instance they find a base of a tower, the tower was/is magical in nature - thus not destroyed -- the PCs (going deeper) enter the tower and make it to the top they find the top gives them access to a new zone which has its own branches and its own ecosystem.
If you want help or ideas on this shoot me a PM. Conversely maybe GM Tribute, scranford, myself, and any future GMs might get on a Discord server to talk shop and share ideas without every potential player knowing about them before hand ;-) or resorting to PMs as that does not facilitate sharing ideas.
Thanks for the input. I think a GM shared Discord channel might be a good idea.
I wasn't really thinking about exploring the entire setting but had planned on some "Mini dungeons" and exploration sites as part of the overarching campaign. Just trying to throw out the "big picture" for inspiration. Perhaps a small dungeon type temple that explains why the Genie-kin are interested in taking / keeping this area would be my first foray. Just always been a fan of why is this dungeon here and who built it before descending.
I've got a couple of old 1st edition third party adventures that I believe I could slot in and change enough stuff to make them work.
Perfectly onboard with the who made it and why did they make and why is it still here scranford --- always great questions to answer and you might be surprised just how many DMs never ask that question of themselves along with numerous other fairly simplistic questions that need game world answers.
Note I did in the possibilities give reason for why things existed they way they do now. I just pulled the Genie-kin out of the town and placed them else where with their focus being somewhere "deeper"
The nice things about adventures is you can grab bits and pieces and use them totally unrelated to the module from whence they came. So you no longer are following a linear set of railroad tracks and freeforming things as you go.
Okay so if GM Tribute says yeah to the Discord Server for this I will set one up and give you both an invite -- my Discord handle is "DeJoker" should be fairly easy to remember ;-)
I am up for a discord server.
Dejoker is setting up an adventure and I am too.
I am doing a longer recruitment, he is ready to start now.
He is doing level 1 start -- I am doing level 0
And we are talking to make each others game as good as we can and bounce world creation ideas off of each other.
If anyone else wants to start a game, and drop it in our world, they are welcome.
Okay then I will set up a Shadowdark Discord Server but either you guys need to send me friend requests of give me your Discord handles so that I can sent you friend requests.
So, this will stay the hub on Paizo for Shadowdark goodness.
There will be a Discord server for those who like that.
At the moment, there are two active recruitments and a potential third in the works (no spoilers).
I made a character near the penal colony. Should be fun.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
This is cool and easy.
Whoa, nice one scranford - had no idea it existed. And it even includes the extra classes created on live stream (I saw the Ranger one on YouTube).