lacklusterhero747

[lacklusterhero747]

The problem with new-school D&D clones is that they like to spend huge gobs of page count on really cool-looking rules toys that you'll never actually get to play with because you only gain access to them at like level 15 and most campaigns don't last that long, as opposed to old-school D&D clones, which much more sensibly spend huge gobs of page count on really cool-looking rules toys that you'll never actually get to play with because the dice rolls gating access to them are so hideously unfriendly that if you engage with them in any way your character will immediately explode.

[lacklusterhero747]

At the culmination of their magical career, each wizard is told to look deep into their heart and develop a personal spell, a spell only they know that truly reflects who they are on the inside, all their virtues and vices incarnate as magic.

It's always Fireball. The wizard schools live in fear of their apprentices figuring it out.

[lacklusterhero747]

I just got a reply by someone who apparently namesearches racism (to argue against it existing), sex work (to argue it shouldn't exist), and factorio (to argue for it).

do people just roll dice to pick their three hills to die on?

[lacklusterhero747]

“So let me get this straight. We’re here to rescue a princess.”

“That’s right.”

“At the request of a princess.”

“Right again.”

“And you, who will be leading the expedition, are also a princess.”

“You’re very perceptive.”

“How big is your royal family, again?“

“We don’t have one.”

“But–“

“We overthrew our monarchy centuries ago, but we kept most of the titles around. The rank of ‘princess’ is held by the directors in charge of various civil service branches.“

“Huh. And the princess we’re rescuing today is in charge of…?”

“Public sanitation.”

“The Lord of Death’s Dominion kidnapped your public sanitation director?”

“We think he’s a little confused.”

[lacklusterhero747]

A Journey to the (Weird) West

Well, it would seem that my intrusive thoughts are becoming a hyperfixation, so I might as well dust off this blog and see if I can make sense of the stuff rattling around in my brain.

Adapting the Feel of an Existing Setting

If you’ve looked at any of the other things I’ve written here, it should be fairly obvious that I enjoy the challenge of creating settings from whole cloth when I can. Especially if it can be done cooperatively with my players. Games like Armor Astir, Dungeon World, or Fabula Ultima expressly encourage this sort of play, and tools like the The Perilous Wilds exist to take that on the fly world building a step further. Start small, work outward. All that standard advice.

But sometimes it can be just as fun to take an existing setting and play around its sandbox.

Just because a setting was laid down on paper in a particular way doesn’t mean that it cannot be bent and changed to present a different sort of experience. Factions can be moved or replaced, maps can be altered. The entire focus of a setting can be shifted away from the default in the service of the stories you want to tell. I’m not breaking new ground in saying this, obviously, but I do find it interesting that within the last six or so months, a campaign idea I have had bubbling away in my brain has been given new energy by finally getting around to reading the latest work from Keith Baker and Co, that seeks to expand upon Eberron as a campaign setting.

Eberron as it is

Ever since the original publication of the Eberron Campaign Setting for Dungeons and Dragons back in 2004 (my god, has it really been that long ago?) I've been a huge fan. For anyone who isn’t fully aware of what makes the setting special–especially when compared to the laundry list of other official settings produced for TSR and WotC–Eberron is a world that was crafted to blend the action and excitement of pulp adventure novels and film noir with the trappings of traditional fantasy settings and a liberal dash of steampunk. Drawing inspiration from films like Brotherhood of the Wolf,  Casablanca,  The Maltese Falcon,  The Mummy,  Pirates of the Caribbean,  Raiders of the Lost Ark,  and Sleepy Hollow, Eberron presents a world draped in a fragile peace, one where instability lurks just beneath the surface. You see, the so called Last War–a 100 year long war of succession that nearly tore the continent apart–has only just ended a few years ago, and a treaty signed by all participants in the war seeks to hold the ambitions of the powerful in check, but many feel that the current peace will only give way to more warfare. Until one nation defeats the others and claims the throne of the ancient Kingdom of Galifar, many believe there will never be a true and lasting peace.

Now take this political tinderbox and layer on top what I find to be a satisfactory answer to the question, “What if magic, but also we do an industrial revolution?”

Magic is wrapped tightly around the setting and woven throughout as a fundamental building block in a way that I think most other official Dungeons and Dragons settings fail to accomplish, to the extent that everyday magic could almost seem banal. Streets are lit by magical lanterns and utilitarian magic items are available in corner shops. It’s not beyond imagining that a citizen of one of the Five Nations might own a pair of cuff-links that can be activated to provide the cleaning and scent altering functions of Prestidigitation in order to always remain at their most presentable, or that magically infused stamps might exist to perform the function of package tracking ID numbers in our modern world, and that these objects and services would cost them almost nothing. Societies are built on the backs of labor, and in this world the idea of the workaday wage mage is on full display. The setting even offers the idea expedient travel across the continent by way of Airships and Lightning trains, powered by bound elementals, and near instant communication between distant points through magical means, all of which are provided and administered by The Dragonmarked Houses, which are essentially like proto-corporations, with specific monopolies on goods and services, though their membership is largely dictated by bloodline, as the magical Dragon Marks that afford them their abilities are passed from parent to child. In truth, the only way in which magic seems limited in the setting is that high level magic, especially things like Resurrection Magic, are far less common in the setting.

A Journey to the Frontier

Now, with that somewhat basic framework out of the way, the actual idea that’s been clawing at my brain for some time has been, more or less, the idea of a wizard with a gun. Rogues on the open range. Cowboys and Cantrips. It’s not a new or novel concept, the weird west has existed for quite some time–the Deadlands RPG and DCC’s Weird Frontiers RPG spring immediately to mind–but I was recently presented with thought that, given proper massaging and a separation from the inherent assumptions of The Forgotten Realms, The Lost Mines of Phandelver, and to a lesser extent The Dragon of Icespire Peak which is set in the same location, essentially hold all the necessary building blocks to be a Western. The question then became what elements and tropes of traditional Western stories would I want to have in play, were I to ever do such a thing, and what setting would I want to run it in?

Enter Frontiers of Eberron: Quickstone.

In the latest work from Keith Baker (though yes, I know it came out in September of 2024, the end of the year is a busy time in retail), the focus of the Eberron setting is drawn away from the cosmopolitan cities of the setting’s primary continent, and all the spy games and skullduggery such a setting might imply. Instead the camera focuses on the western fringes of one of the five great successor nations. A dusty backwater frontier at the railhead of House Orien’s lightning rail network. Here we find a brewing conflict in the contested lands at the borders of the ancient Kingdom of Breland and the rising nation of Droaam. Breland, you see, has always considered the lands that comprise Droaam as theirs, even though they’d done little to settle the area or exploit its natural resources. As The Last War raged elsewhere on the continent, however, the inhabitants of this distant and forgotten place decided to stake a claim of their own. These inhabitants, considered by many in the far off seats of political power to be “monsters”, see the land they call Droaam as their home and birthright. So it is that in this rocky, desert land which stands upon the ruins of an ancient goblin empire, tainted by the foul magics of aberrant invaders from the Realm of Madness thousands of years ago, Harpies, Gargoyles, Gnolls, Medusa, Minotaurs, and Hags have banded together into a sort of loose alliance in the pursuit of self determination and self governance, free of the meddling of politicians in far off, gilded towers.

Honestly, what more could I ask for?

Here we find ourselves with a setting preloaded with the appropriate sort of terrain or a classical western story, one that offers the sorts of modern conveniences like trains and telegraphs that existed in the tropey, minds eye imaginings of what the cowboy life was like, but held at a somewhat distant arms length from the center of the action. I can already picture in my mind city slicker player characters, at home in arcanopunk settings like Final Fantasy 6 or 9, squaring off in the street with wands at high noon. Politics of ownership and Imperialism easily brush up against the typical D&D fair of delving into the depths of ancient ruins and fighting off strange and bizarre creatures left to fester in the earth thousands of years ago. And somewhere down a dark and dusty trail, an ancient demon lord might well stir, only to be confronted by daring adventurers astride loyal axebeak mounts, ten gallon hats atop their heads and six guns at their sides.

The only question then becomes what game system?

I have some thoughts, of course. Dungeons and Dragons is an obvious choice–be it 2014, 2024, or Tales of the Valiant–given that there’s a wealth of available material to draw from, though I am aware of some amount of fatigue around the game, in terms of both its age and the behavior of the company that owns the game. 

Shadowdark offers a similar feel of gameplay, though one that might be a touch more lethal than intended. 

Games like Draggerheart and Vagabond are just around the corner and seem promising, but I would need to read them in greater detail before I could make any judgments for my table… 

And of course, as always, there’s Fabula Ultima, which by its very nature as an homage to JRPGs fits the sort of arcanopunk vibe of Eberron quite well… I just wonder if coming to the table with a fully prepared setting isn’t working against the spirit of a game that so proudly puts the idea of cooperative world building front and center.

It’s something that bears thinking about. And certainly asking my players about, should the opportunity to head out west ever arise.

[lacklusterhero747]

Do you know how embarrassing it is when the blorbos from your shows are a group of people from your DnD campaign?

I can't stop thinking about these people that exist only in me and a handful of other peoples' minds who are going through a story we are telling together THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS EVER HEARD OF BECAUSE IT IS AN EXPERIENCE SHARED ONLY BETWEEN US

*gripping my head* THE VOICES-

[lacklusterhero747]

Anyway instead of constantly making the world's silliest people mad with my mild criticisms of D&D I'm going to say some positive things... about games besides D&D.

I love the tables in Rolemaster, like you've probably heard this before but the random tables in Rolemaster are basically little story generators.

The system of strings in Monsterhearts is probably one of the best if not the best social mechanic ever.

I love how Errant empowers players with the ability to make actual tactical choices about how their characters move around in places.

I love how weird Troika!'s character options are. I'm playing a weird muck wizard right now. He can cast a spell that literally ties some tongue in knots.

I love the presentation of everything in Break!, it's an absolutely beautiful game and I can't wait for the physical book to arrive so I can show it off to my friends.

I love the investigation point/Eureka! mechanic in Eureka, it ensures that characters will at least have some clues available to them provided they're willing to do the work, also there's so many fun traits that alter the flow of investigation points in fun ways.

[lacklusterhero747]

I love this

[lacklusterhero747]

I think a lot of folks in indie RPG spaces misunderstand what's going on when people who've only ever played Dungeons & Dragons claim that indie RPGs are categorically "too complicated". Yes, it's sometimes the case that they're making the unjustified assumption that all games are as complicated as Dungeons & Dragons and shying away from the possibility of having to brave a steep learning cure a second time, but that's not the whole picture.

A big part of it is that there's a substantial chunk of the D&D fandom – not a majority by any means, but certainly a very significant minority – who are into D&D because they like its vibes or they enjoy its default setting or whatever, but they have no interest in actually playing the kind of game that D&D is... so they don't.

Oh, they'll show up at your table, and if you're very lucky they might even provide their own character sheet (though whether it adheres to the character creation guidelines is anyone's guess!), but their actual engagement with the process of play consists of dicking around until the GM tells them to roll some dice, then reporting what number they rolled and letting the GM figure out what that means.

Basically, they're putting the GM in the position of acting as their personal assistant, onto whom they can offload any parts of the process of play that they're not interested in – and for some players, that's essentially everything except the physical act of rolling the dice, made possible by the fact most of D&D's mechanics are either GM-facing or amenable to being treated as such.*

Now, let's take this player and present them with a game whose design is informed by a culture of play where mechanics are strongly player facing, often to the extent that the GM doesn't need to familiarise themselves with the players' character sheets and never rolls any dice, and... well, you can see where the wires get crossed, right?

And the worst part is that it's not these players' fault – not really. Heck, it's not even a problem with D&D as a system. The problem is D&D's marketing-decreed position as a universal entry-level game means that neither the text nor the culture of play are ever allowed to admit that it might be a bad fit for any player, so total disengagement from the processes of play has to be framed as a personal preference and not a sign of basic incompatibility between the kind of game a player wants to be playing and the kind of game they're actually playing.

(Of course, from the GM's perspective, having even one player who expects you to do all the work represents a huge increase to the GM's workload, let alone a whole group full of them – but we can't admit that, either, so we're left with a culture of play whose received wisdom holds that it's just normal for GMs to be constantly riding the ragged edge of creative burnout. Fun!)

* Which, to be clear, is not a flaw in itself; a rules-heavy game ideally needs a mechanism for introducing its processes of play gradually.

[lacklusterhero747]

I'm not sure who the original creator of this is, but it had to be shared

[lacklusterhero747]

An Experiment in Guided Character Creation

Because of schedule changes with my work, and people being busy with life, I found it hard to keep up some of my local tabletop gaming opportunities. But I have also found that it gave me the option to do something nice for one of my coworkers.

Graciously, a friend of mine who's really never played D&D at all decided he wanted to start running a 5e game for me and several of our other coworkers, and with my sudden surplus of time, I offered to alternate games with him on Sunday nights after work so he could also have the chance to play, which of course he jumped at. So I polled the group and asked what they would want to play and they all selected Curse of Strahd.

A choice they may yet live to regret.

Regardless, since several of the players are relatively new, and the last time we made characters as a group for his game, I did a lot of the heavy lifting of helping everyone make their characters, I decided that for my game I would do a sort of guided, narrative infused character creation process, inspired by Adventurer's League packet for Ravenloft: Mist Hunters, going full production value on it with some excellent background music provided by the YouTube channel RPG Music Maker - Travis Savoie.

The process involved a series of read aloud sections designed in part to turn character creation into a sort of Bethesda RPG-esque (or maybe something more akin to Larian Studio's Baldur's Gate 3) character creation screen that could keep everyone working on the same steps at the same time, but also a method by which I could convey the tone of the world and genre that the players had chosen to exist in. I also featured a fair number of questions to prompt the players to think about their characterization in this process as well, hoping that I could urge them to create and deepen roleplaying hooks that would be useful in the game to come.

Though a lot of the text is lifted and adapted from the Mist Hunters packet, several of the questions I asked are purely my own, and I'm still proud of the results. The script I used follows:

You find yourself seated at a small table in a cramped, smoky teahouse. Thick, tallow candles shed dim light—the only light—throughout the room. An intricately patterned bone teacup and saucer is nestled atop a delicate lace doily. At the center of the table, steam curls from the spout of a silver kettle decorated with etchings of ravens in flight. At first, you believe the table is set for only you, but slowly, you realize you are not alone. X (x being the number of players + 1) other chairs like your own ring the table, and all but one of them is occupied by an indistinct shade of a person. You imagine them to be likewise confused and taking in their surroundings in a way not too dissimilar to how you are now. Slowly, your fellow travelers begin to resolve, transitioning from shadowy impression to fully realized being, replete with form and color.

Here, I had each player give the basic physical description of their character, specifically their species/lineage, but also their fashion and any other distinguishing features they wanted to highlight, while allowing them the brief chance to react to the strangeness and roleplay if they wanted to, but reminding them that the remaining aspects of their characters, such as their class and background could be revealed in due time.

A moth-eaten curtain on the far side of the room opens, and a shrouded being enters the room carrying a human skull, gilt in silver and glass. They peer at you from beneath their cowl with eyes like glowing points of amber and consider you quietly before approaching the table. "Welcome, travelers. How fortunate you are to find yourself here, in the place betwixt." They gently lift the top of the skull away—revealing the dried tea leaves and a slender silver spoon contained within. In turn, they scoop a measure of dried leaves from the skull with practiced grace and sprinkle them into the teacup in front of you before filling the cup with water. “This tea is special; indeed, a rare treat,” the otherworldly tea-monger says. “To those who can appreciate it, it can—nay will—provide the answers to many questions—even those that you don’t know you have.” “Smell the tea…lean over and breathe in the steam. It’s likely that the tea will smell differently to each of you as it sends your sleeping mind into its past.” The scent is pungent but not unpleasant, unique to each of you. As the aroma teases your nostrils, your mind stirs and suddenly you feel more aware of the whole of your being than perhaps you ever have before.

At this point, I had each player roll for their ability scores. Typical 4d6, dropping the lowest, and assigning them as they pleased before assigning their modifiers (+2 to one stat of their choice, and +1 to another, per the method described in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything). Still, I did manage to inject a bit more theatricality into the process by obligating them to roll with the dice provided:

“Now, my friends,” the being whispers, “drink deep of the tea and let the mists of your own past reveal their secrets. You cannot know where you are going without first understanding where you are from. You cannot welcome others without first accepting yourself. You cannot prepare for the future without first facing the past.” For a moment all seems normal as the flavor of the hot tea lingers on your lips. And then your mind is sent reeling. For a moment you feel as though you are trapped in a sort of peculiar gravity, your body at once leaden and yet weightless. Up and down, forward and back, become meaningless distinctions. An unknowable period of time passes. Seconds or minutes, perhaps even hours, but eventually the fog in your mind begins to coalesce, images and memory dancing across it like the light from a stuttering projector, guided by the shrouded being’s haunting voice. “What seed was planted in your youth that grows now to fruition? What is your background?” 

Here I helped them choose their backgrounds and mark down their skill proficiencies, tool proficiencies, and languages (if any) they gained from their background, as well as the background’s Feature and starting equipment. Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws I told them will come later. And while we did this, I also had their mysterious host pose them some questions to consider:

What is the world you hail from like? What was the culture you were brought up in like? (Anything between typical medieval fantasy and Jack the Ripper’s London was acceptable. Steampunk and Magic punk style settings like Eberron were also acceptable. After all, Ravenloft can steal its heroes from anywhere.)

In your earlier days, before you became an adventurer, what was it that motivated you? Did you have a profession? 

How did the condition of your existence define you? Did you love to work, or did you work to live?

Do you have a family? Who are they? Do you still keep in touch or are they long lost to you?

After long moments locked in the theater of recollection, the voice continues, urging you through the veiled halls of the decrepit crypt that unfolds within your mind. “What event transpired that led you to choose a different path? What is your class?”

At this point I had all them pick out their character classes and mark down their starting hit points, class proficiencies, starting equipment, and level one class features. Also, during this process, they were given more questions to consider:

What catalyzed you to begin your life as an adventurer? How did you view becoming an adventurer? Fated? Hopeful? Pragmatic? Reluctant?

Your peers know of you because you possess a Feat that places you above the rank and file. What is it? Was it talent, naturally gifted, or is it a skill you developed through training? (This question exists specifically because I have a house rule where I grant every character, not just variant humans, a free feat at level one and it seemed as good a place as any to put that step of character creation in play and help them choose.)

Have you had a noteworthy previous adventure? How did it go?

Did you gain any fame or notoriety beyond your immediate circle early on in your career due to your abilities or talents? Did it earn you a moniker?

Have you witnessed any great horrors in your adventuring career? If so, how have they left their mark on you – physically, mentally, emotionally? How do you cope with it?

More time passes, as visions churn in your mind, emerging from the mist like specters before collapsing back into the fog. Again, the being speaks to you. “Reflect upon your demeanor, your motivations, desires, and dreams laid bare. Insights are never possible through the stories we tell ourselves alone in the present. Allow the tea to continue to illuminate you.”

Finally, we reached the point where I wanted them to pick out their Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws, and told them they could use the tables from their backgrounds to inspire them, but first, I wanted them to pose some more questions for them to consider. Help them shape what those other answers might have been in their own way, rather than what was in the book if they felt so compelled:

What makes your skin crawl? What can turn you from a hero into a whimpering babe? What is your seed of fear? (Seeds of Fear are a mechanical idea introduced in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and play directly into the expanded role of the Fear Condition and Stress mechanics which we decided we would use, as well as offering them something they could potentially gain inspiration from in game by roleplaying it well)

Though we might struggle against them, many a creature is as much a product of the better angels of their virtue and the darker demons of their vice as they are of their willful choices. Which virtue best describes you (Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Kindness, Patience, Humility) and which vice? (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, Wrath, Pride)

Are you rational or passionate? Do you take considered action, driven by logic? Or are you led by your heart, leaping before you look?

How self confident are you? Do you stride boldly forth, self assured in your choices, or do you constantly question your own motives?

Are you sophisticated or superstitious? Do you fancy yourself to be well educated and experienced? Or do you rely on homespun wisdom, informed more by ritual and folklore?

What is your greatest love? For what or whom would you make sacrifices? Anything? Nothing? And would you sacrifice yourself? Or would you rather sacrifice someone else?

What is your greatest regret? Do you have any memories that haunt you at night?

What fascinates you and draws your interests? Art and Philosophy? Magic or Monsters? Swordplay and Warfare?

What are your habits? Do you have any patterns in your life? Rituals which you feel compelled to enact?

How strong is your faith? Are you the sort to go only on high holy days or are you truly pious? Or do you instead believe that the gods care little for mortals and you are on your own?

Do you have a hope or a dream? Something that you want or need? What desire, hidden or not, continues to drive you.

Questions posed, I think had them turn to their ideal, bond, flaw, and personality traits, using the chosen background and their answers for inspiration, or allowing them to simply roll if they preferred. I also told them that their personality traits could be changed or added to whenever they found a good reason to do so. These elements were not necessarily locked in stone as people are allowed to grow and change.

Finally, the fog begins to fade completely from your mind and you find yourself in the dark, smoke filled tea house once again. The being, seated in the Xth seat (Again, number of players +1), closes a tome, one you had not been aware it had even produced, in which it had been writing and recording your meditations, and returns quill to ink pot before it spreads its arms wide, indicating that it speaks to all of you. “The tea has shown you what it believed you needed to know. You have learned about yourself today, but your journey has only just begun.”  The shrouded figure motions to you to look down at the table before you, where you see that both tea cup and saucer have been replaced by a small package, wrapped in black paper and topped with a ribbon of frayed, yellowing lace. Next to this sits an envelope, likewise of black paper, gilt with silver and sealed with red wax. “Take with you the treasure you find within, and mind the invitation you have been given..."

Here, finally, I had each of them roll 1d100 and consult the horror trinkets table from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. Just a funny little something for them to carry with them into the game... but something I fully intend to find a way to weave into the narrative if I can manage it.

Ready or not, your lives are soon to be forever changed, Mist walkers…” Its final words spoken, the being rises from its chair to retreat back behind the curtain from which it emerged, taking it's heavy tome along with it. Somewhere in the gloom around you, a grandfather clock chimes 13 times as one by one the candles in the room flicker and go out, guttering as a chilling breeze sweeps through, bringing with it a rising veil of fog. When the last candle is extinguished and all is cast in darkness, you suddenly awaken with a frightful start in more familiar surroundings, still resting wherever it was that you laid your head when you fell asleep the night before. Clearly the vision must have simply been a nightmare… a hallucination of bad food or too much drink… but no… As you take in your surroundings you see it... your eyes catch sight of a small box, wrapped in black paper, torn open and its lace bow discarded, and the unopened invitation, still sealed with red wax…

When it was all said and done, the players had a great time and they had completed characters, set and ready to step into the mists of Ravenloft and set out to tackle the Curse of Strahd. We probably wont actually get to play again for a couple more weeks, but that's fine. It will give them more time to ruminate on their characters and me ample time to prep.

I think, rather than running them as level 1 characters through Death House, I will instead use The House of Lament from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. I think it will give them more chances to really experience the haunted house vibes the setting can offer, and more time and ease of getting used to the Fear and Stress mechanics we will be layering onto the game.

Either way, I am very excited.

[lacklusterhero747]

Not a new observation, I know, but I feel like the demo for Final Fantasy 16 makes it very clear that Final Fantasy has moved beyond a genre and is now officially a brand constructed of specific themes and tropes.

Like, they have been playing with the series for years now, having two MMOs in the mainline series and plenty of spin off games that had wildly different mechanics, but with yet another numbered game releasing, now essentially playing like Devil May Cry in a lot of ways, we can see instead that it's connection to Final Fantasy conceptually comes not from it being a traditional turn based, menu RPG but instead is in the centering of the familiar summons like Titan and Phoenix and the fact that the first real boss of the demo is a Marlboro.

I suppose time will tell if the fan base is ready to embrace the series as a loose pile of concepts, as opposed to a style of game, or not.

[lacklusterhero747]

Quiet Spaces between Adventures

The playtest materials for Fabula Ultima have been a fascinating look at the ongoing development for a game I already enjoy. Meant to offer a greater spotlight to resting scenes from the core rulebook, the concept of Camp Activities provides an additional host of options to these resting scenes beyond merely just modifying or increasing a character's bonds.

In essence, Camp Activities are little mechanic prompts--like using the camp forge or sleeping peacefully--that allow you to frame your resting scenes in different ways and receiving different results. Each player is offered two such Camp Activities, meant to be chosen at character creation, and the book advised make sure you avoid redundant Camp Activities within the same group while also choosing ones that fit your player character's concept and identity.

Like many things in Fabula Ultima, I find it very cute and very serviceable for what it does... but I also find it a little bit arbitrary that some character who did not choose Sleep Soundly during character creation, or was not allowed to because someone else chose it, is mechanically never allowed to do so.

Yes, I understand that this is sort of a silly, hyperbolic statement, but it's also true from a purely mechanical perspective. And it was that thought that caused me to think, upon reading how Downtime worked in Armour Astir, that I had found a better way.

In Armour Astir, downtime scenes are mechanized by scenes and tokens. Each player character is granted a single scene that they are allowed to frame, inviting other players in as they see fit, and two tokens which players may essentially use to gate crash other people's scenes. Framing a scene provides an explicit benefit to the scene framer alone, but tokens that the players possess may be spent to gain additional benefits from a menu of options associated with the scene... or allow a player to enter the scene and similarly pick a benefit from that same menu. In this way, players can take the benefits from resting scenes that they want, and they need only consider what they want their primary benefit (from their scene selection) to be and what secondary benefits they wish to purchase (with their tokens).

And it doesn't stop their, either. The Downtime rules for Armour Astir also allow the GM to get in on the action, granting them one token for each player character at the table. These tokens be spent to interact with the players by asking them questions or reframing ongoing scenes in new and different ways. They may even be used on cutaways to the enemy camp where other characters are having their own down times that can be used to purchase penalties to the players or upgrades for foes.

I found it immediately more intuitive (to my mind) than the Camp Activities system, and more open ended for my own players, so I set to making this first draft of an attempt to use the same mechanisms for Fabula Ultima.

Downtime & Camp Scenes

Between their adventures and during their inevitable rest stops on the road, characters have time to themselves to rest, prepare, and do their own thing. This downtime is played out as a series of scenes, each led by a single player who may invite others into it. They don’t need to be elaborate or long–they can be as simple as describing the actions you take or you may find yourself continuing to invite other characters into the scene as it continues to unfold.

Each player gets to lead 1 Scene, and each also gets 2 Tokens to spend during any player’s scene (even their own) to gain further benefits. The Gamemaster also takes 1 Token per player, which they may spend to refocus a scene or ask a question of the player characters which they must answer. Alternatively, these GM tokens may be spent to frame a cutaway scene to reveal an unwelcome truth or show signs of a future threat and gain 1 Hold. These Hold may be spent, 1-for-1, to allow one non-villain enemy to reroll a single check or recover 25 HP or MP.

Finally, you may choose to frame your Scene but not take the benefit described: if you do so, you may choose another player to gain an extra token for this Downtime.

Plan & Prepare

The leading player takes the time to focus on the situation ahead: they may start or advance a long-term project to learn more about a subject, or gain 1 Fabula Point to represent the plans they’ve made. They frame a short scene around this, either alone, or with invited characters.

During the scene, anyone may spend a token to choose one:

Plan & Prepare, as above.

Check the maps, allowing the group to reroll the die on their next travel roll.

Share notes with someone, adding or adjusting an emotion in a Bond.

Give or Receive a Pep talk, granting or gaining 1 Hold. This Hold may be spent at any time to recover 25 Mind Points before your next rest.

Rest & Recuperate

The leading player takes the time to tend to what ails them or spend some time relaxing: they may recover all their Hit Points and Mind Points and clear their Status Effects (if they do not/cannot use a Magic Tent or pay for a room in an Inn if available), or pass the time resting and gain 1 point of Experience and add or adjust an emotion in a Bond. They frame a short scene around this, either alone, or with invited characters.

During the scene, anyone may spend a token to choose one:

Rest & Recuperate, as above.

Sleep Soundly, gaining 1 Hold. This Hold may be spent to perform an additional action on your turn before your next rest.

Meditate and center yourself, gaining 1 Hold. This Hold may be spent to either halve the HP loss from a single source or halve the MP cost of a single spell or ritual before your next rest.

Prepare special rations, gaining 1 Hold. This Hold may be spent at any time to allow yourself or another character to recover 25 Hit Points before your next rest.

Tinker & Train

The leading player spends time working on a project or engaging in martial training drills: they may start or advance a long-term project (per the project rules on pg 134 of the core book), or gain 1 Hold which may be spent to grant any attack the multi (2) property, or increase the attack’s multi property by 1. They frame a short scene around this, either alone, or with invited characters.

During the scene, anyone may spend a token to choose one:

Tinker & Train, as above.

Burn the Midnight oil, choosing 1: Generate 1 point of progress for a single Project of your choice; Repair a damaged item owned by the group; Create a single basic weapon, armor, or shield of your choice (pages 130-133 of the Core Rulebook); Destroy a single piece of equipment owned by the group and obtain a material whose value is equal to the cost of the destroyed item.

Give or Receive some pointers, granting or gaining 1 Hold. This hold may be spent to gain +4 to an Accuracy Check or a Magic Check for an Offensive spell once before the next rest.

Ask for a Magic lesson, gaining one use of a Spell another character knows until your next rest (Normal rules for casting the spell still apply).

Explore & Exchange

The leading player spends time trying to see what kinds of resources they can muster, whether through exploration or trade: they may either encounter a friendly merchant allowing them to exchange Zenit for any Basic Equipment (pages 130-133 of the Core Rulebook) or a selection of Materials and Rare Items (determined by the GM) or roll on the Exploration and Gathering table below. They frame a short scene around this, either alone, or with invited characters.

Exploration and Gathering table

1: H-help! The entire group gets caught up in an easy conflict against a threat whose level is equal to the group level.

2: Will these be okay? Choose: Regain 1 Inventory Point, 250 Zenit worth of Materials, or 2 ingredients with random tastes (for the Gourmet Class)

3 - 5: Hoho, this can be useful! Choose: Regain 3 Inventory Points, 500 Zenit worth of Materials, or 3 ingredients with random tastes (for the Gourmet Class)

6: Jackpot! Choose: Regain All of your Inventory Points, 1000 Zenit worth of Materials, or 3 ingredients, each with a taste of your choice (for the Gourmet Class)

During the scene, anyone may spend a token to choose one:

Explore & Exchange, as above.

Spend time working or in the field with someone, add or adjust an emotion in a Bond.

Learn something new or find something useful, start or advance a long-term project of your choice.

Run into trouble; resolve it as an easy conflict against a threat whose level is equal to the group level, and see what you learn or acquire.

At the moment, I'm not certain if they'll work well or not without playtesting. Or if my ideas here are even any good. But I do think it's a neat idea and something that I'm interested in playing around with.

[lacklusterhero747]

[lacklusterhero747]

Leading to the stellar domain by ying yi

[lacklusterhero747]

The campaign switches between two modes, in which the players play two separate characters.

Mode 1: level 20 Good Guy Heroes that have already saved the realms, brought peace, and are tying up all the loose ends between mortals, gods, and demons to ensure the peace is lasting without cruelty or malice.

Mode 2: level 1 Cringey Loser Bad Guys questing and scheming to become relevant threats in a peaceful and hostile world that still definitely remembers how to fight evil.