The Metal Bard

  In chorus we sing of wine, sweet wine, Its power benign, and its flavor divine. -Bacchanalian, Francisco Martinez de la Rosa Some adventurers do it for the excitement, the glory, the treasure. In a profession where every day may be your last, life is lived to the fullest. So, when adventurers return carrying their fallen companions and bags of treasure, there is nothing left to do but to live your best life by carousing! Why did I make this? I needed a carousing table for the hexcrawl I’m running. The game is an amalgamation of mechanics, tables, and procedures that I’ve found interesting plus the weird ideas I’ve dreamt up. As such, there were carousing results that I wanted to have, such as MCC mutations. I also wanted to tie a better probability of getting something good with spending more. You may notice that lower results have more detrimental results than higher results. It was hard to find this, so I put one together. Note: In some instances I'm using third-party tables ...

You’ve hiked a rocky terrain for hours looking for a safe way down into a valley. A series of stacked boulders now provide that opportunity. You may carefully leap down the boulders, being absolutely precise for a slip could mean a terrible injury. Alternatively, you may continue searching for another descent, but night is approaching, and another day to get into the valley would cost you valuable time and resources. When I think of wilderness exploration, I am reminded of my hiking and camping trips. I like going light with only the necessary items, meaning that I must ration my viands and use my tools carefully. I have also often taken these trips alone meaning that I must balance exploration and risk (climbing over boulders, going into caves, etc.). While I lean on the side of safety, I have always been intrigued by dramatic stories of exploration like Against the Ice, and Kon-Tiki, among others. Of course, I would avoid such life-threatening positions as sailing across the Paci...

  Introduction In the game I'm running, there are 100 keyed hexes ( link to map ). We are over 20 sessions in, and the party has explored less than a third (even less if we factor in secrets). This meant that finding specific things in the island would be rather difficult. I wanted to make sure there were alternative ways to overcome such a challenge. Which there are, such as the oracle (future post). And the party is resourceful; I'm sure they could send a hireling out to explore or gather information, but what if there was also a scout that could be hired specifically for this? This scout could fulfill a few goals: i) gives the players a useful way to spend their treasure; ii) saves the party time by performing concurrent tasks; and iii) provides adventuring hooks. Below is the NPC that I created for this. He is, in fact, the one that helped the party find the manticore  they were looking for. Mortimer (Scout) Location: Redwood Village [0910] - he may occasionally be foun...

  In an earlier post I alluded to some mechanics and procedures that I am using for a hex-crawling game. In this post, I will discuss the base system mechanics and why I chose them. There are many systems out there, each providing a different take on how to play an RPG. Some are focused on combat, some on exploration, and others on storytelling. I believe that the collection of rules, mechanics, and procedures is an attempt by the author to achieve a specific type of gameplay. For my hex-crawling game, I wanted to simulate the difficulty and wonder of overland exploration with an infusion of fantastical elements. I wanted to achieve a feeling of wonder approximating how I imagine Bilbo felt during his journey in The Hobbit . Just like I created an RPG adventure collage by merging independent ideas and content, I decided to do the same for the base systems. Character System: Simplicity. Originally, I wanted to use Old School Essentials (OSE). I liked the simplicity of the chara...

  “Two! I found Two. Oh, they’re monsters—quadrupeds like a lion that move strong and fast; they have feathery wings like an eagle enabling them to fly; and their tail is replete with deadly piercing barbs. I saw them ferociously tear a camel apart. Let me tell you: you had better be prepared. Worst of all … I heard from some natives that the human-like head gives the manticore enough thinking power to develop an unrelenting vindictiveness. They say that if you mess with one, you better finish the job, otherwise it will never stop hunting you.” -Mortimer Background: The Manticores Two manticores live in the desert in a region covered by many stone pillars [hex 0405; follow link to see hexmap ]. They chose this area for its proximity to a field of cacti [0404] which attracts lots of prey, including birds, large rodents, iguanas, camels, and desert canines. Their favorite meal, however, is the lizard-folk that live nearby [0403, 0407, and 0606]. A lizard-folk or any other hum...

Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) provide a wide range of experiences. From embodying a fictional character to exploring fantasy worlds, dissecting mechanics, and creating new content, TTRPGs usually have something for everyone. In my case, I like the creative and experimental process. A hex-crawl is my latest project in which I am trying to integrate individual ideas and pre-made content that I have accumulated throughout the years. A sort of  adventure collage,  if you will. Down the Rabbit Hole One of my joys is reading new TTRPG materials. I enjoy reading many kinds, including full-on campaigns, dungeons, zines, and systems. Each gives me new ideas and perspectives on what is possible at the table. I often imagine how scenarios may play out, what players may do or ask, and how I could implement components in different ways. For example, I was intrigued by the magic casting system from  Dungeon Crawl Classics , the roll-under checks and saves from  Warhammer RP...