Monday, January 25, 2010

Hammersong's Legacy: Some Thoughts About Encounters...

Good Afternoon, All:

I've been working on detailing some of the common encounters that could be found in the Hammersong's Legacy setting. Right now, I'm toying with using a Traveller-esque patron encounter style entry to allow Referees to reuse these scenarios several times, giving a new experience each time around. However, it is a lot of work to do for each common encounter type. Before I do too many of them, I think I should probably test the water here and see if this is something that you would find of value.

Below is an example of what I'm talking about. Please tell me what you think.

Wyrmblooded Family

The party comes across a family of 1d6+2 Wyrmblooded, accompanied by 2d6 mercenaries as guards to their caravan. The family is travelling to the nearest city, to join with others and participate in the Great Expedition to return to their former homeland of Wyrmanthis. Should the party appear competent, the head of the family will make overtures to the party's leader about accompanying the group to their destination, to protect them and their worldly possessions from bandits and profiteers.
Complications: The Referee should roll a d6 and consult the following table for possible complications. As is always the case, subsequent actions are left to the discretion of the Referee.
1d6 - Complication
1 - All is as it has been presented.
2 - Hidden among the family's possessions is a magical item obtained during the War of All Gods. An agent of the Elder Courts is seeking this item, as it must be sacrificed in a ritual to aid in the eventual release of an Old God.
3 - The youngest of the Wyrmblooded (or perhaps one of the mercenaries, if the family has hired some) turns out to be a talented thief, and has managed to pick up a ring bearing the personal seal of Prince Liam. The rogue picked the ring up from an adventurer recovering from his wounds back in their former hometown, and will sell it for several hundred silver shillings, unaware of its true potential worth to those seeking the heir apparent.
4 - The family is not seeking to join the Great Expedition. Rather, the head of the family has a gambling problem, a rare circumstance for the usually proud Wyrmblooded. After losing an excessive amount of money to the local crimelord, the father has resorted to fleeing his hometown to save both his pride and his own skin, dragging his family along with him. The crimelord either wants his money or wants to make an example of the man for not paying his debts, and so has hired bounty hunters to track the welcher down.
5 - An Ordathi mind-mage, using his mind-bending powers, is using this family as cover while he flees from the presence of a Censor of Patranos. The head of the family claims the mind-mage as a friend of his, and the family has come to accept the father's claim. While they are all surprised at the father's decision to suddenly join the Great Expedition, the family's other emotional responses to these circumstances are mixed. The mind-mage will do whatever he feels he has to in order to survive.
6 - All is as it has been presented. However, the youngest daughter of the head of the family develops a crush on the most attractive or charismatic character in the party, causing no end of complications in her efforts to demonstrate her affection to her new heart-throb and earn his affection in return.
Thanks in advance for your time and input.

With Regards,
Flynn

3 comments:

James said...

Hi Flynn,

I have never read any Traveller material and hence have never read any rpg material written this way. I must say I like it a lot - it reminds me in some ways of the Talisman boardgame's adventure cards.

I think it's a versativle approach that lets the referee pick a 'plot' that suits, or alternatively leave things in the hands of the dice 'gods'.

Please stick with this idea!

Flynn said...

I find that this approach fits very well with the improvisational style that many Old School Referees have, and I have decided to continue with this style for the common regional encounters, at least.

I am almost halfway through the eleven primary NPC encounter types, and I imagine that this section will be done by the end of the week, unless I get distracted by work on the MyD20 Lite Referee's Guide. (Which is entirely possible, truth be told.)

More Later,
Flynn

James said...

Well, I look forward to reading more of your work, whichever way you go...