Campaign Building: Title Needed!

I am drawing a blank on the title of this campaign. I have ideas bouncing around in my head, but I still have not decided the mood of the game. Mainly, I don't know how serious I want to take this. After my blog post I had some friends express interest in the Swords and Lasers campaign idea so I thought I would put some effort into developing the idea and see where it goes. For an experiment I plan to catalogue the development process on the blog.

The level of seriousness depends a lot on my mood at the time. I am currently leaning more toward a very gonzo barbarians and lasers style of game and less of a serious game. I still want there to be a drama, action and danger I just want this to be a game where we can get drunk while playing and it will only get more fun.

Bloodocalypse

The working title at the moment. Some other ideas: Savage Lands, Blood and Rust, Forgotten World, and Spaceships and Savages. Of course the content of the campaign, the setting and the adventures I can run in it are the most important details here I really want a strong name that allows me to convey the mood and themes of the game to the players as well as myself.

Setting Elements Brainstorm

My first step when creating a new campaign - after picking the name if I can come up with one - is to come up with some elements for the setting. This is usually just a brainstorm of ideas that I would like to incorporate into the setting. Not all of these will make the final cut, but may be picked up again later for story ideas. Here we go:

Rusted Cities - The world used to be more technologically advanced. No one knows how to make any of the high tech stuff anymore. Working technology is rare and is usually in serious need of repairs.

Uneducated - Most people are uneducated. Reading and writing is rare. City folk tend to be tradespeople who practice family business.

Life is cheap - The strong take what they want from the weak.

Slavery - Captured enemies are enslaved in the city states. Roaming gangs of slavers prey on the weak.

Magic is real - Magic was discovered some time ago, but comes from an external source. The Gods grant power to a very select group of devote followers. Wizards are rare, and must make deals with exotic beings for their power.

Magic is feared - Common people fear the power of magic.

Falling Stars - Crashed ships litter the world. Crafts from the great beyond which have crashed on the dying earth. Strange alien beasts roam the wasteland. Not common, but they are out there.

The Mythic Underworld - The depths of the earth is a place where the laws of reality are weak. Living dungeons that treat invading people as foreign bodies, with traps and monsters being sent forth as it defenses. Dungeons are born from cracks in the surface of reality. The universal laws are breaking down and chaos is leaking through from another dimension.

Things grow more chaotic - The world is dying, reality is cracking. Chaos is reigning supreme. The forces of law lie dead on the higher planes of battle. The blood of their wars drip down driving the men of the world mad with rage.

The Land is in Flux - Things don't stay where they are supposed to. Distances between places are not set in stone. As more chaos leaks into the world things become fluid. The wastelands grow more dangerous.

The Gods are Petty - The Gods seek worship. They demand strange service. They are not kind to their followers. Wars between religions are commonplace.

Putting It Together

So from the brainstorm we have some common themes. The forces of Chaos are winning in this world. As the world nears it's end, the barrier between the world and other realities are growing thinner. Darkness, chaos and madness creeps in to the forgotten corners of the world.

I really like the idea of there being some great war between Chaos and Law, and the metaphorical "Blood" dripping down on the world is responsible for some sort of growing bloodlust or rage. Maybe there are tribes of barbarian savages that have been taken over by the complete death of law - agents of destruction that seek to tear down the rusted cities, the last bastions of decaying law in the world.

Magic is very rare and dangerous. We can assume that magic is a force of Chaos, and perhaps it's discovery led to the walls of reality originally growing weaker. Now with each spell cast the forces of Chaos grow stronger. The only way to fight them back is with more magic.

Technology will be around. Rusted metal walls, cracked domed cities and non-functional vehicles. What does work will be more valuable than gold in the right hands. Technology and magic with both be feared. Some technology, things that were made to be simple and function for a long time - like growing vats for crops and the like, probably still exist enough that they are in common use. Things like lasers and vehicles are much rarer.

Key Locations

Now we come up with a few locations to incorporate some of these elements in them. I know I want a main city to base this game out of. Playing around with some German words in google translate, I come up with something I like - then mash those words together, remove some letters and come up with our first location.

Rotenstrad - The City of Rust

Rotenstrad is situated along the Blood Coast. The largest inhabited city of the known world. Called the City of Rust by most, named so due to the many abandoned rusty metal towers and collapsing metal walls of the old city. The city is sprawling, and has long ago outgrown those old walls. Most of its inhabitants live in squalor under the dangerous red-orange glow of the sun. Food is scarce, as the subterranean food farms aren't able to support the growing cities' bloating population. Even with imported foodstuffs people die of starvation in the streets every day.

The city is most known throughout the world for it's famous Arena of Blood. Where slaves, prisoners and gladiators battle every day for the entertainment of the populace. Gambling on these events is the main source of entertainment for those who can afford it. The combatants that die are drug off to be made into food for the poor.

About Random Encounters

I like random encounters, especially when playing a dungeon crawl game. I think the unpredictability adds a sense of suspense to the game. The players realize their character's could encounter something at any moment. While thoroughly searching the walls of a room for secret doors someone needs to stand watch at the door just in case something wonders by and hears them. It adds to the immersion level by letting the player feel some of the anxiety their character should be feeling poking around in a dusty maze all day.

I use the same rules for random encounters regardless of what game I play, but have some added house rules here for DCC RPG that I will include for posterity. Most of these rules never come up at the table, and are mostly just internal guidelines I use when running the game.

Time Keeping in DCC RPG

• One round of combat is 10 seconds. 
• One turn, is six rounds, or 1 minute. 
• A random encounter is checked every 10 minutes (Mostly). 
• Main hallways are checked more frequently (5-8 minutes). 
• Extents of large dungeons are checked less frequently (15-20 minutes).
• Searching a 10 foot section of wall for secret doors or the like, takes 2 minutes.
• Searching a rooms contents takes between 2 and five minutes, depending.
• While not fighting or fast walking, real time equals dungeon time.
• After a fight, characters take a turn to drink some water, bandage wounds, etc.
• Moving down hallways takes real time, or 1 minute per short section if actively searching for danger.
• After an hour of play, torches need to be replaced (I need to remember to enforce this more often).

Checking for Encounters

I use a very simple system for checking for encounters. I roll a 1d6. On a 1-2 (33% chance) there is a wandering encounter. On a six, (16% chance) There is a special chart I use that includes: Random sounds in the distance, clues left on the ground, rubble or fecal material, tracks, etc.

Creating the Encounter Table

When creating the random encounter table for an area, I first look at what sort of things might be wandering the halls. This helps me not only have reasonable encounters, but can give the players clues to what else might be lingering the area they haven't encountered yet. I will usually use a percentile die, and assign creatures based on how big their community is in the area, and how mobile they are. I will also include a few listings from areas a bit further away, and then throw in a few dungeon classics like oozes. I will have a few wild cards from deeper in the dungeon, but usually only near the main passages or in an area containing a passageway that leads deeper.

Creating the Random Events Table

Think of sounds the characters might hear based on the area they are in. If there are doors that need to be opened to get around, make sure you have the sounds of doors slamming, creaking of wood or the grinding of stone in the distance. Screams, sounds of combat, and strange babbling can all add the theme and mood you want to portray in the underworld of a dungeon. In nature settings this gets even easier to come up with, and can lead to a very immersive experience. This table can also be an excellent place to stick the weird stuff you would like to include in the dungeon. In my megadungeon I have a few magical events that are triggered by this table.

Advice for 0-level Character Funnels

Posted an advice article over on rpggeek on designing 0-level character funnels that has received some positive reviews, so I figured I would re-post the information here on my old blog that I never use. This is an attempt to resurrect my writing and channel some of my creativity.

Rule Number One - The players should be given opportunities to kill themselves.

This means that you do not put in a slew of death traps, or make deadly encounters that are necessary for progression. Deadly things should definitely be in the adventure, but they should be the player's choice. You should always keep risk vs reward in mind.

For example, the game in the post above the players did not know when the riders would be returning that they saw leaving the fortress. They did not know how many more would be in the fortress. If they had tried to jump in front of the speeding horses it would of cost them severely. Instead they chose to wait for hours for the riders to return, setting up some traps and hoping that another patrol did not ride out in the meantime.

Later, with the encounter with the Big Bad Goresnatch, they decided to pour the holy water on the queasy symbol they found, instead of just leaving. They decided to close with Goresnatch instead of trying to outrun him.

In most trap based 0-level funnel adventures I have ran, there is always some player dependent trigger for the traps, and always clues planted around the room for answers. The tomb of a saint allowed single people to pass through its halls, as single people are not likely to be thieves. If more than one person walked down the hall at once, the traps would trigger.

Some of my standbys I like to use: Intimidating statues holding weapons, treasure on display, damaged bridges over gorges as shortcuts to avoid monster infested territory, glowing archways of magic, levers inside of a statue's mouth. Not all of these are always bad, and when you keep the players guessing you keep them interested.

Rule Number Two - Player Choice is essential

Players like to feel that their actions have meaning. So try to design your adventure with problems without necessarily setting the solution in stone. In a dungeon, give them different directions they CAN go, not directions they MUST go. Give them options to try to avoid fights or traps, but put rewards in place as carrots to draw them in. Let them decide if that gold chalice on the pedestal is worth braving the intimidating iron statue with a sword in the corner of the room.

Even when designing puzzles, you should always leave room for the players to come up with their own solutions. They might not see the solution you came up with, but if they come up with a something that is acceptable you should let it work. The best thing is when you don't even tell them that you "gave in". That would ruin their sense of accomplishment.

For death traps, always leave clues that there might be something odd about the room. I never have truly "empty rooms" in my dungeons. There is always something in a room, be it broken furniture or whatever. Actually, that will be a rule further down (See below). Back to death traps, if you have such a thing (which you really don't need in a 0-level funnel. I have found that a d6 damage is usually enough to kill most characters), you should leave clues.

If a room is empty save dust on the ground and small bits of rock. They look around and notice stains on the ceiling and marring on the stone. The players may realize that something in the room might crush them, if they don't and step inside, you should feel that you gave them plenty of warning and left their fate in their hands.

Rule Number Three - Scale is important

Like older editions of a certain fantasy role-playing game, there is no set difficulties for DCC levels. I try to make my games sandboxes, but when it comes to the funnel you need to consider that some of these PCs need to survive. Through play, I have figured out the following rules of thumb when it comes to setting HP, DCs, damage, etc.

0-level characters will generally have 2 HP, 9-11 AC, 0 to saves, and 0 to hit.

This means that for every one point over 10 you raise a challenges DC, you will probably kill a character.

So, if I have a challenge that is required, I generally set a DC of around 10-12 if the players do it without thought (jumping over a gorge). Or 5 if they put thought into it (Hammering some spikes in the wall and using a rope to get across the gorge). This allows me to stay true to rule number 2, even with required challenges.

For optional challenges I like to sit at that 10-12 range, with failure resulting in 1d6 damage. For traps, this sets the DC at 10-12.

A sub rule to this, is that if something makes sense and there is no drawback to failure.. Don't bother rolling dice. If the PCs think of a clever way to disable a dragon statue breathing fire on them, then don't make them roll dice to do it. If they avoid the trigger then they outsmarted the trap.

During the course of a funnel I tend to offer chances for the remaining PCs to grow a little stronger. They can take armor from dead enemies or find weapons in an old chest. I tend to limit myself to the following:

Padded or leather armor. With one or two sets of studded, and if there is some severe challenge, then it could possibly have scale or chainmail. Usually if I give these "better" armors, I will say they are rusty or damaged, and have them have a steeper fumble die until they are repaired back in town. (Once again, putting the risk vs reward choice in the player's hands)

I try to limit weapons to the d6 level during the funnel. With some better ones as rewards at the end. I do this to keep the characters trading weapons until they find what they like, and it keeps damage in the range of one or two strikes to kill.

Your Big Bad, whether it's a monster or a challenge, should be two to three times as difficult as anything else in the adventure. This will be the thing that finishes off those last few level zeros, and will leave the survivors feeling like they are destined for greater things.

Rule Number Four - Think of the future or add in that planar weirdness early

These zero-level characters may be farmers and gravediggers now, but after this adventure they are supposed to be classed heroes. Although the game is very gonzo, I like to keep some sense of realism in my game. So I always make sure to include a few things in my zero level funnels to allow players to pick certain classes if they want.

Clerics - I try to include some supernatural/undead/holy area in my zero level adventure that allows the characters to either feel the danger of the other worlds, or feel peace and security because of the Gods. In the adventure linked above one of the PCs used his family holy symbol to try to turn Goresnatch the demon-thing. They also destroyed his magic with holy water, and also restored a desecrated temple.

Wizards/Elves - Wizards in DCC aren't exactly the learned scholar types of other games. They tend to be power hungry warlocks that gain their knowledge from other places. I try to include some source of magic in a zero level funnel to make a wizard career more plausible after the adventure. In one adventure I had a tomb bound in flesh, when the elf and another PC (who was thinking of being wizards) touched the book, the ink ran off the pages and was absorbed into their skin. In the above adventure, they shattered a dark glowing jewel in the desecrated temple. The PC that kept the jewel to study it felt whispers in his mind opening himself up to offered power.

Warriors and Dwarves - They need an opportunity to get a few nice weapons and at least studded leather armor. Combat, if any existed, will probably help those that want to be warriors decide on this career.

Thieves - I find that 0-level funnels always tend to attract a lot of thieves in the group after the funnel is over. For some reason people like sneaking around and not getting killed after being through my funnels, I wonder why? (Evil Laughter)

Rule Number Five - Room Design, never leave an empty room

Rooms need to have contents. In your house do you have any room that is truly empty? Why would someone dig out hundreds of cubic feet of stone to not use the room for anything?

Most rooms served a purpose. Even if we're running some weird astral-demi plane dungeon that was created by a mad wizard, he did not leave any of his rooms empty. Even in my megadungeon that has 600+ rooms on the first level, I don't have empty rooms. There may be just some trash or broken furniture, but at some point that room was used for something.

By not having empty rooms, you keep your players guessing. They don't know what room will contain monsters or hidden treasure or traps. All they know is that this room has some barrels and spider webs, and we need to search it to see if there is anything of value.

Rule Number Six - Give them somewhere to go

This rule is important for both the beginning and the end of the funnel adventure. Most of the occupations assume a small to moderate sized town. These are places that are great to start your funnel, but shouldn't be where the funnel ends. These characters need to go out and become adventurers. Give them some place that is just beyond where they have ever been. A mist filled forest twenty miles out of town, or an old keep on the other side of the lake. It should be close enough that the characters can be familiar with the area, but far enough away that they are leaving the comfort zone of the town.

When the adventure is concluded they should have some reason to move on and continue to adventure. Without this reason, what is to prevent them from going back to their old boring lives? You gave them a taste, give them a hint of even greater glories and treasure and send them on their way.

So, that's about it for zero-level funnels. I think the main thing to remember is that you want to kill off 75% of the characters, but do it with player choices in mind. When the halfling goes out to collect firewood he gets caught in a giant spider web. When a farmer bulls a lever he gets sealed in a room. Put clues there and danger and watch them kill themselves.

I think this is very important in zero-level funnels, it sort of makes a silent agreement between you and the player. They know there is reward there associated with risk, and if the risk the characters they want to keep they are inviting loss. If you just kill them randomly, they will quickly lose interest in the game.