TOEE One-Page Adventures Progress

Currently in the hospital with my wife. It is almost baby time! They are inducing her so we are in the room while the medication does it's job. I brought my copy of Temple of Elemental Evil with me so I can do some work on this project.

Like I mentioned in a previous post (or podcast episode) I am pretending as if I only have T1 - The Village of Hommlet to base my project off of. So all the One-Page Adventures will be built upon a custom Temple/Lore that will probably look nothing like T2-T4. Also, the project will be more of a White Box system using Swords & Wizardry Continual Light.

What I currently have is the Monsters & Villains list for The Moathouse.
I've started working on the People of Hommlet list. There will be stats, like the Moathouse list, of the key NPCs. There will be 15+ NPCs on the list.

That is an example of how the stat block will look. The number beside the name is the location number where the NPC can typically be found in Hommlet. Once the list is completed I will work on the first One-Page Adventure. There will be one that involves Hommlet before moving on to the moathouse.

Well, it is getting closer to baby time but I wanted to give an update on this project and let you guys know that it is still being worked on.

One-Page Adventure: Blood Mask & Envy

A brand new One-Page Adventure!
Though, for this one I will be calling it a One-Page Episode.

Blood Mask & Envy is a One-Page Episode designed to be used for Six-Shooters & Wagons. Six-Shooters & Wagons is a Wild West hack for Swords & Wizardry Continual Light by Justin R. Isaac of Halls of the Nephilim.
Six-Shooters & Wagons is Pay What You Want so there really isn't any reason why you shouldn't get it. I have a review of the game that can be found here. I mentioned in a previous blog how I wanted to focus on this game system to support other writers/creators like myself who love the Swords & Wizardry system and love to create for it.

Why One-Page Episode? Well, I feel that for this system it isn't like a typical fantasy adventure that takes the party into new and exotic lands. Most westerns tend to take place in and around the same location. The Wild West was about survival and the hardships that came. Most western TV series, movies and books took place in the same location. And instead of the characters going out and finding danger and excitement, the danger and excitement came to them. So that is why it is called a One-Page Episode. It is just one episode in the entire series. I imagine that the games that are being ran using this system have a lot of character development and community building. PCs are part of the community in someway whether they are key leaders or just residents of the town. They are not adventurers looking for treasure and fame. They are just people trying to survive in the world they live in.

Blood Mask & Envy is an episode that takes place on a train that is going to a town. The town isn't important and is left open for the GM to create the town and the surrounding area for future sessions. And with this episode it could easily be the starter session to get the PCs from the train to the town that the rest of the series will take place. This episode is about a train robbery, an envious man and a bloodthirsty killer.

You can download Blood Mask & Envy HERE (Direct Link).

Savage Worlds Interlude for OSR

I still haven't gotten around to running a session of Savage Worlds yet but there is a "rule" that really peaked my interest. It is the Interludes rule on page 105 of the Savage Worlds Deluxe Core Rules.

From the book: "The Game Master should run an interlude during natural down-time such as when healing up after a fight, performing research, or between legs of a long trip. To start, pick a player and have her draw a card. The Suit determines the general topics as shown on the Interlude Table. Each entry requires the player to tell a story in the voice of her character. The tale should be substantial enough to take a few minutes and may draw in other characters' participation as well."

Essentially, there are four different topics: Tragedy, Victory, Love and Desire.
Tragedy: A tale of tragedy or misfortune from your hero's past. This could also be hints/clues of a dark secret the character wants to keep hidden.
Victory: A tale of a great victory or personal triumph in your character's past.
Love: A tale of a character's greatest love whether it was lost, found or waiting on them to return.
Desire: A tale about something your character wants or already has.

Savage Worlds uses a deck of cards for this feature but with OSR you could simply use a d4 or if you are more of a White Box kind of gamer just use a d20 to determine the topic for the character's tale.
Tragedy: d4(1); d20(1-5)
Victory: d4(2); d20(6-10)
Love: d4(3); d20(11-15)
Desire: d4(4); d20(16-20)

This would also be a nice "trick" you, the GM, could use when your players do the expected unexpected of throwing the game off course. Put them in a situation and decide or roll to determine which player will be telling the tale. This can give you that extra time to prepare for the unexpected that your players threw at you.

The Monsters & Villains of the Moathouse PDF

So I finished one task this morning for my series of One-Page Adventures for Temple of Elemental Evil.

It is the list & stats of all the monsters and villains listed throughout the Moathouse on a single page! Also, I am using White Box for this series. I used the Swords & Wizardry Continual Light format for the stat blocks. Including the treasure value in gold (coins, gems, jewelry, etc.) that could be found from the foes.

You can download the PDF here: Moathouse Monsters

My goal is to do the same with the named and key NPCs throughout Hommlet. Though, I think it will be a bit longer than a single page since I would add more things like motives, descriptions, reactions, etc.

Vacation Weekend - A Much Needed Break

It is my vacation weekend with my family (us cousins with none of our kids). We are spending a four-day weekend at a beach house out at Oak Island, NC.
I brought my stuff with the intentions to work on my One-Page Adventure series for Temple of Elemental Evil.

But honestly, I'm just tired. I need to rest. Maybe this weekend is what I need. I will get back to this project and others after the weekend.

Bundle of Holding: Dungeon World

I don't always promote things like this but for this Bundle of Holding it is Dungeon World!
I don't talk much about my love for Dungeon World in my blog. I probably should though. Dungeon World is probably my favorite gaming system. I know...I know...I write One-Page Adventures for Swords & Wizardry (OSR Systems). But Dungeon World caters to my GM style more than any other game. And I often take that style of GMing to my Swords & Wizardry games. I will probably record a podcast episode of what my style of GMing is.

Anyways, I highly recommend this Bundle of Holding: Dungeon World
Experience a game system that I love!

Podcast Episode 4: Throwing out the Megadungeon in ToEE

In this short episode I get a message from James Spahn, "Throw out the megadungeon!"
Episode 4 One-Page Adventure: Temple of Elemental Evil part 2

And his idea on this is essentially what I had originally planned. Throwing out the megadungeon while focusing on the Nodes. And through research I've found a way I can do this without feeling like I am pouring steak sauce all over a perfectly good New York Strip.

Take a listen and leave comments and/or leave messages via Anchor.