Making Tables for your game Redux

A few posts back I made an entry for making tables for your game. I left one thing out. How unimportant each slot is. It's really the opposite way to look at the table. If you haven't read the previous post about Making Tables, go ahead and scroll down - this post doesn't make much sense without it.

Here's the 2d6 table from the previous post showing the chance of rolling each slot on any particular roll:

2 - 1 in 36 chance
3 - 2 in 36 chance
4 - 3 in 36 chance
5 - 4 in 36 chance
6 - 5 in 36 chance
7 - 6 in 36 chance
8 - 5 in 36 chance
9 - 4 in 36 chance
10 - 3 in 36 chance
11 - 2 in 36 chance
12 - 1 in 36 chance

In this table, you can see how important each slot is - how much of a chance each slot has of coming up on a roll.

Now we're going to look at the table the opposite way. Here's the table again showing the chance of not rolling each slot.

2 - 35 in 36 chance of not rolling this
3 - 34 in 36 chance of not rolling this
4 - 33 in 36 chance of not rolling this
5 - 32 in 36 chance of not rolling this
6 - 31 in 36 chance of not rolling this
7 - 30 in 36 chance of not rolling this
8 - 31 in 36 chance of not rolling this
9 - 32 in 36 chance of not rolling this
10 - 33 in 36 chance of not rolling this
11 - 34 in 36 chance of not rolling this
12 - 35 in 36 chance of not rolling this

You can now see how unimportant each slot is. And it shows that even the most average roll of 7 has a 30 in 36 chance of not being rolled on any roll of the table.

Knowing this can help you make a better decision about what to put in the different slots in your customized table for your game.

Print Free Graph Paper

A great resource for gaming. You can print different graph paper right from your printer with this website.

PrintFreeGraphPaper.com

Foundation: A History of England

If you are looking for background ideas for a campaign or an adventure, the book "Foundation" by Peter Ackroyd might be what your looking for. A real-life history of the country that is the source of such legends as King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and Robin Hood and his Merry Men as well as locations like Stonehenge and Sherwood Forest, this book starts 900,000 years ago and ends at the age of the Tudors in the 1500s. Saxons, Celts, and Romans are described with King Arthur placed as a possible warlord in 490 A.D. and the Black Death in 1348 A.D. Most of the book is after 1000 A.D. Some of it is dry reading, but so is my Family Tree. It's not written to be an action movie.

Speaking of "The Hobbit"

I saw The Hobbit a couple of nights ago and I'm a little disappointed, but mostly liked it. They cut out stuff from the book that could have gone well and added stuff that really didn't help the story. Radagast mostly. Beautiful backgrounds, tho. The Stone Giants were cool but part of the scene wasn't really needed. The Riddles in the Dark scene should have been longer. Fellowship of the Ring was much better done.

Linear mapping

A couple of posts ago I talked about Regional mapping. Regional mapping is usually when you're making a large playground to game in. There's a different kind of mapping. Linear mapping. You can use linear mapping almost like a flow chart. Grab a handful of sheets of blank paper (10) and we'll draw a map out. Let's use The Hobbit as an example. In the book The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein, Bilbo Baggins goes on an adventure. That adventure takes him far to the East of his little Shire. In almost a straight line.

If you've never read the story of The Hobbit, stop reading this post right now and go to your Public Library or local bookstore and get a copy.

It's almost required reading for playing D&D.

Go ahead. This post will still be here when you're done.

If you're through reading The Hobbit...

You can spread your blank sheets across a table, one right next to the other, left to right. Horizontal or landscape would be best. You can draw a little picture or whatever next to each, if you like. Here's the setup:

Map 1

Start: Bilbo starts his adventure at Bag End (put that on the left side of the first sheet)

Stop: And comes to the edge of civilization at the Green Dragon Inn (put that on the right side of the first sheet)

Map 2

Start: After travelling for a bit, Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Dwarfs encounter some Trolls (put that on the left side of the second sheet)

Stop: Then when they get away from the Trolls, they make it to Rivendell (put that on the right side of the second sheet)

I'll stop there to explain a few things. You'll notice each map has a start point and stop point. The first map's starting point is Hobbitton at Bag End and stops at the Green Dragon Inn in Bywater. And the second map's starting point has the Hobbit, Gandalf, and Thorin and Company travelling for a bit before they encounter the Trolls and then off to stop at the Last Homely House in Rivendell. You could easily have the first map go all the way to just before the Troll camp. I wouldn't think it could make too much of a difference. But the Green Dragon Inn is a nice stopping point. Then Bilbo's adventure begins. And it makes a good spot for each "encounter" the Company has.

Also, you can draw a line between the Start and Stop points if you'd like.

Let's move on to the rest of the maps:

Map 3

Start: Bilbo, Gandalf, and Thorin and Company leave Rivendell and up to the mountain pass where they see Stone Giants in the lightning and encounter the secret Goblin entrance (Left side)

Stop: After the Company is caught by the Goblins, they are taken to the Great Goblin (Right side)

This one is like Map 2 above. There's a space where they travel after Rivendell that could be put at the end of Map 2 instead. It's up to you.

Map 4

Start: The Company escapes the Goblins but Bilbo falls and meets Gollum (Left side)

Stop: Bilbo gets away from Gollum and finds the back door (Right side)

Map 5

Start: Bilbo catches up with the rest of the Company and are attacked by Wargs and Goblins (Left side)

Stop: The Company is flown by Eagles to the Aerie (Right side)

Map 6

Start: Eagles fly the Company to the Carrock and then meet Beorn (Left side)

Stop: Beorn gets the Company to the edge of Mirkwood (Right side)

Map 7

Start: After travelling a ways through Mirkwood, the Company encounters Spiders (Left side)

Stop: The Company is caught by Wood-Elves (Right side)

Map 8

Start: The Company is imprisoned by the Elvenking (Left side)

Stop: Bilbo helps the Company escape and float down the Forest River in barrels (Right side)

Map 9

Start: The Company (in barrels) is gathered by raft men and pulled ashore (Left side)

Stop: The Company enters Lake-town (Right side)

Map 10 - turn this sheet vertical and start at the bottom

Start: The Company leaves Lake-town traveling North and they find the secret entrance of the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo goes inside and Smaug flies to Lake-town (Bottom side)

Stop: The Dwarfs go inside the Lonely Mountain, find the treasure of the Dwarfs, and the Battle of Five Armies occurs outside the Lonely Mountain. (Top side)

Here on 10 sheets, you've just mapped out the 20+ major locations and encounters of The Hobbit. And did it without having to map out the whole region or world.

And you can do the same for your adventures and campaigns. You can make notes on the back of each sheet or make separate pages with stats for encounters and descriptions of each area.

Now go grab some paper and map out an adventure or two or 20.

The implications of the Half-Orc (Mature topic)

W A R N I N G

You shouldn't read this post if you are immature, easily offended,
or too young to see an R-rated movie.

You have been warned.

Orcs are ugly.

Butt-ugly.

I can't imagine someone in a Medieval Fantasy tavern, no matter how many pints of ale, looking across the room and thinking: "wow, that Orc is Hot!"

I guess it's possible.

Charm Person, various illusions, Polymorph or other spells, or aphrodisiacs and magic potions from the Book of Erotic Fantasy would probably increase the chances for the Orc.

But without those, either a blind person mated with the Orc, or the Human parent was raped.

Raped. Probably after their town was pillaged.

I have a feeling that that implication wasn't thought through with the first couple of editions of D&D.

It was probably best that kids don't think about that stuff.

Just an observation.

A Hireling "Unit"

I've been working on an idea for a Hireling "Unit" or mercenary "Squad" put together much like a military squad, but with adventuring in mind. I figure it can be put together with two "fire-teams" of sorts. One team geared at combat, and the other more for support. So I had to think about what's really necessary in a dungeon adventure. Most D&D parties I've seen are about 4 players or so. Give or take. So I want this group or unit to be more in addition to a group of adventurers but to not overwhelm the player-characters.

One of the Hirelings would have to be an unofficial leader or squad leader.

I'm going to start with:

Spearman
 - NPC Warrior
 - spear or pike
 - this character doesn't have to be much more civilized than a caveman
 - pokes his spear into dark corners and can keep some large creatures at bay
 - may be a woodsman

the second I think should be:

Skirmisher
 - NPC Warrior
 - sword and shield
 - this is a general sort of fighter
 - close combat bodyguard
 - maybe served with an infantry unit but didn't see much fighting

a third could be:

Archer
 - NPC Warrior
 - bow with quiver of 20 arrows
 - long range fighting
 - not very good at close range
 - flaming arrows a specialty

The last of the combat oriented team is:

Scout
 - NPC Warrior or Commoner
 - can maybe pick up a short sword or at least a dagger
 - a quick runner
 - some tracking ability

Then the support team would consist of:

Healer
 - NPC Adept
 - walking staff with feathers and charms
 - Herbalist, Shaman, and Sage
 - for when there's no Cleric
 - can cook
 - a frog or ferret pet

Squire
 - NPC Warrior, Aristocrat, or Commoner
 - will lift a sword for honor even if he doesn't know how to use it
 - will follow most powerful or prestigious character
 - for general portage and care of any horses
 - knows heraldry
 - treats everyone like they are nobles (i.e. good for public relations)
 - can be chronicler/scribe and mapper in a dungeon

Burglar
 - NPC Expert
 - somewhat expert lockpicker
 - when there's no Thief or Rogue
 - not much use in battle unless he can sneak up on a monster

Torchbearer
 - NPC Commoner
 - leads the way
 - so everyone else can keep their sword hand free
 - can swing a torch like a club

And last but not least, in the Wilds, you may need:

Guard Dog
 - sense of smell for tracking and alertness
 - barks a warning
 - bites when threatened
 - attacks with teeth and claws on command
 - smells like a wet dog when it's raining

This team would be very good for working for a Wizard or Warlock or a retinue for a Warlord. All members of this team should be able to stand guard duty. Several could hunt for food.