15.03.2023 - A Dungeon's Dungeon, What Really is "Difficulty" and Home-Base

15.03.2023

Work continues as usual, a break in the freelance work means I have the time to type more than usual. I forgot how writing something this big feels akin to a siege, where ground gained is measured in inches to hours. That being said, 10 rooms a day means I could feasibly finish the draft in a month or so; not going to hold myself to that kinda deadline, but feels good to have a goal in mind.

The Dungeon’s… Dungeon

I’m currently writing up the 4^th and lowest level of the bunker (the dungeon/oubliette), the last readily accessible area and the penultimate zone before the endgame areas. What I mean to say by this is that this place is dangerous. However, “dangerous” in the context of OSR or my own personal tastes means that designing the challenges is also a bit difficult. In systems where stat-gain and number progression are part of the “difficulty,” a greater challenge means something of greater numbers; a goblin with 5HP and 3 damage versus a demon with 50HP and 30 damage. The challenges I’m attempting to create are ones that pose specific obstacles and situations, where the risk of failure means greater harm or drawbacks (the risk v. reward ethos). Unfortunately, I’m ALSO trying not to create challenges that instantly kill with failure (at least not yet), which is where the balancing act of design starts to dominate the writing. I try not to give too much of a shit about balance in TTRPGs, since I feel the “balance” in these games occurs through the chemistry of play and the players to a degree. However, I do want there to be a sense of progression and honestly hate insta-kill traps so I’m doing my best to scale the danger appropriately but specifically.

Creating the Home-base

As mentioned in the last post, the home-base and setting was established after some brainstorming with Alex Coggon. The notation is done in a bullet-point style in order to keep it brief and also lead the GM to the most important/usable aspects of certain features.

As always, the goal is finding a balance between flavor and prose versus usability and brevity (still working on the brevity part...)

The Ghost-Fields

A fortnight's journey from the coast, just at the cusp of the great badlands desert sits the chaparral land known as the Ghost-fields. It is a place covered in scrub and sand, peppered with wind-blasted ruins and tombs of an imperial civilization hundreds of years extinct. The once imposing ruins lie vacant and unspoiled, as if their occupants seemingly vanished overnight…

Scholars are drawn to the mystery of the Ghost-field Ruins, seeking answers to the great calamity that toppled a coastal-spanning empire. Rulers and colonizers are drawn to the rich and unspoiled lands, eager to claim the lands and plumb the ruins for their treasures. However, both are foiled by the stalwart and cautious denizens of the Ghost-fields, who through cunning acts of sabotage, diplomacy, and bribery have kept their ancestral lands free of outside influence for countless generations.

Shear Village

In the center of the Ghost-fields sits a great sloping sandstone deposit rising from the surrounding desert like an enormous hill. It is cleft directly down its middle, remnants of its other half nowhere to be seen. Nestled and burrowed against its great cliff-face sits the village of Shear, one of the few permanent communities in the Ghost-fields and one of the only ones that actively deals with outsiders. It is a communal society of highly-educated hunters, farmers, and traders; highly frequented by merchants and scholars attempting to pass through the Ghost-fields or returning from a foray into the badlands.

Barter Economy: Denizens of Shear do not use official currency or coin and instead trade goods and services with occasional lines of credit to each other.

Anarchistic: There is no official hierarchy or governing body within Shear, only local figureheads and collective decisions made by the community.

Cautious: While accepting of outsiders, denizens of Shear tend to give the cold shoulder at first. Those who actively subvert or harm the community are met with distrust and often expulsion.

Shear Locations: (more in the works)

Soot House - Tools, armor, weapons

A soot-caked hovel that billows smoke every hour of the day. Dried wood is made into charcoal and tended to by a series of volunteers and apprentice blacksmiths. In the forge lives and works Thricite, the solemn and silent master of the forge.

Blacksmith: Armor, weapon, and most tools can be traded here.

Work: Characters may tend the charcoal furnaces for a day. Pay: 5 coins or 10 pounds of charcoal.

Adamantine Hunter: Thricite will pay double for raw adamantine or tools. A ghost of a smile appears on their face when they receive it.

Unique Items: Thricite has crafted special suits of woven metal armor. Hard as plate armor, but lighter than chainmail.

- Weave-steel Coif – Cost xxx

- Weave-steel Suit - Cost xxx

- Weave Steel Vest (x2) - Cost xxx

Granary Market - Food, supplies

A ring of tall stone and mortar granaries provide shade to a colorful plaza filled with various goods and woven awnings. Denizens come to deposit and trade their goods and services with other members of Shear.

Market: Most common goods and supplies can be traded here.

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That’s all for now, typing this after a solid day of typing so my brain is a bit fried. Gonna get a jog in to clear the head before bed.