Zola 2026-05-14T00:00:00+00:00 toastedblogel.jofrank.com/blogs/ttrpg/atom.xml 2026-05-14T00:00:00+00:00 2026-05-14T00:00:00+00:00 Unknown toastedblogel.jofrank.com/posts/frothingfacination/ <p>Procedure (?) for creating characters for my Delta Green hack. Ideally done at the table with the whole group together. </p> <span id="continue-reading"></span> <p><img src="../plant.png" alt="Black and white illustration of a plant rising out of the ocean with two leaves at the bottom. The next leaf becomes a disproportionate human head with an enlarged forehead and a curious expression. " /></p> <h2 id="character-creation">Character Creation</h2> <p>Roll 3d6 for EMPATHY<br /> Roll 3d6 for (WILL)POWER</p> <p>Multiply EMPATHY by FIVE to calculate starting and maximum SANITY. Keep track of EMPATHY times FIVE.</p> <p>Multiply POWER by FIVE and keep track of POWER times FIVE.</p> <p>Choose / come up with a background or career. Roll on the scenarios list of relevant backgrounds.</p> <table><thead><tr><th>d10</th><th>Generic Backgrounds</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Investigator.</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Occultist.</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Bureaucrat.</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Psychologist.</td></tr> <tr><td>5</td><td>Academic.</td></tr> <tr><td>6</td><td>Veteran.</td></tr> <tr><td>7</td><td>Con Man.</td></tr> <tr><td>8</td><td>Artist.</td></tr> <tr><td>9</td><td>Non-Physical Laborer</td></tr> <tr><td>0</td><td>Physical Laborer.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>Use the result to come up with a more specific background. IE: investigator -&gt; You run a burgeoning social media account that investigates paranormal rumors. If you'd like more direction roll on the tables below as needed.</p> <table><thead><tr><th>d10</th><th>You work for/in</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Self Employed.</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Private Corporation.</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Public Sector.</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Government Agency.</td></tr> <tr><td>5</td><td>Educational Instituation.</td></tr> <tr><td>6</td><td>Content Creator.</td></tr> <tr><td>7</td><td>Unemployed.</td></tr> <tr><td>8</td><td>Minimum Wage.</td></tr> <tr><td>9</td><td>Health Care.</td></tr> <tr><td>0</td><td>Entertainment.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table><thead><tr><th>d10</th><th>Occupational Group Sparks</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Business and Financial.</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Community and Social Services.</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Computer and Information Technology.</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Education or Library.</td></tr> <tr><td>5</td><td>Media or Entertainment.</td></tr> <tr><td>6</td><td>Maintenance and Repair.</td></tr> <tr><td>7</td><td>Retail or Food Service.</td></tr> <tr><td>8</td><td>Transportation.</td></tr> <tr><td>9</td><td>Arts and Design.</td></tr> <tr><td>0</td><td>Protective Services.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>From these results write a sentence that describes your characters background and occupation.</p> <p>Use that description to come up with FIVE skills and THREE faults. Roll (2d6*5) FIVE times and assign the results to each of your skills. If applicable take a look at the skills the Investigation seeks. Roll (2d6*5) THREE times and assign them to your faults. </p> <p>Come up with three BONDS. BONDS are your connection to humanity. BONDS start at a value equal to your EMPATHY and can never go higher than your EMPATHY. When a relationship with a BOND reaches zero, your relationship with that person is not salvageable. </p> <p>Come up with three MOTIVATIONS. MOTIVATIONS can drive you further than you thought possible. MOTIVATIONS start equal to your POWER but they can increase beyond your POWER. Relate at least one of these to your curiosity for the unnatural. </p> <table><thead><tr><th>d3</th><th>Age</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Young Adult - Start With an Extra Bond</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Middle Aged - Start With an Extra Skill</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Retirment Age - Start with an Extra Motivation</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h2 id="additional-tables-to-help-character-creation">Additional Tables to help Character Creation</h2> <h3 id="bonds-sparks">Bonds Sparks</h3> <table><thead><tr><th>d6</th><th>Relationship Type</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Friend</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Family</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Coworker</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Partner</td></tr> <tr><td>5</td><td>Rival</td></tr> <tr><td>6</td><td>Romantic</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table><thead><tr><th>d4</th><th>Relationship Dynamic</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Mentor</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Mentee</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Peer</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Boss</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table><thead><tr><th>d4</th><th>Relationship Location</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Work</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Hobby</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Neighborhood / Local</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Long Distance</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h3 id="skill-sparks">Skill Sparks</h3> <table><thead><tr><th>d8</th><th>Skill Type</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Interpersonal</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Technological</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Field of Study</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Superstition</td></tr> <tr><td>5</td><td>Extensive Training</td></tr> <tr><td>6</td><td>Sport and Physical</td></tr> <tr><td>7</td><td>Career</td></tr> <tr><td>8</td><td>Hobby</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table><thead><tr><th>d8</th><th>Skill Use</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Inflicting Harm</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Subterfuge</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Analysis</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Arts</td></tr> <tr><td>5</td><td>Extensive Training</td></tr> <tr><td>6</td><td>Tool Use and Operation</td></tr> <tr><td>7</td><td>Diagnosis and Repair</td></tr> <tr><td>8</td><td>Defensive</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h3 id="motivation-sparks">Motivation Sparks</h3> <table><thead><tr><th>d8</th><th>Motivation</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Glory</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Pride</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Selfless</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Selfish</td></tr> <tr><td>5</td><td>Ideological</td></tr> <tr><td>6</td><td>Fascination</td></tr> <tr><td>7</td><td>Shame or Guilt</td></tr> <tr><td>8</td><td>Love</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h3 id="faults-sparks">Faults Sparks</h3> <table><thead><tr><th>d3</th><th>Fault Impact</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Minor</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Major</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Fatal</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table><thead><tr><th>d8</th><th>Fault Sparks</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Aversion</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Fear</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Compulsion or Habit</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Moral</td></tr> <tr><td>5</td><td>Judgement</td></tr> <tr><td>6</td><td>Incompetence</td></tr> <tr><td>7</td><td>Interpersonal</td></tr> <tr><td>8</td><td>Physical</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h2 id="final-touches">Final Touches</h2> <p>Roll a d100. If you roll over EMPATHY times FIVE (EMP*5 from now on) refer to the table below. Use the result of the ones place die.</p> <table><thead><tr><th>d10</th><th>EMPATHY FAILURE</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>Turn one of your bonds into an enemy. They are actively trying to ruin your life.</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Drop one of your bonds to 1d4.</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Begin with an extra skill pertaining to violence.</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Begin adapted to violence. Note it on your sheet.</td></tr> <tr><td>5</td><td>Reduce two of your bonds by 1d6.</td></tr> <tr><td>6</td><td>Begin with an extra skill pertaining to manipulation.</td></tr> <tr><td>7</td><td>Begin with above average financial resources.</td></tr> <tr><td>8</td><td>Begin with an extra fault pertaining towards connecting with others.</td></tr> <tr><td>9</td><td>Begin with an extra fault pertaining towards self-centeredness.</td></tr> <tr><td>0</td><td>Begin with involvement in a criminal network.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>If you roll under EMP*5, start with an extra bond. </p> <p>Roll a d100. If you roll over POW*5, refer to the table below.</p> <table><thead><tr><th>d10</th><th>POWER FAILURE</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td>1</td><td>A bond of your choice worries about you. They will be very interested in what you do.</td></tr> <tr><td>2</td><td>Drop one of your motivations to 1d4.</td></tr> <tr><td>3</td><td>Choose flight, fight, or freeze. You never react as chosen.</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Begin adapted to helplessness. Note it on your sheet.</td></tr> <tr><td>5</td><td>Reduce two of your motivations by 1d6.</td></tr> <tr><td>6</td><td>Choose flight, fight, or freeze. You can always react as chosen.</td></tr> <tr><td>7</td><td>Begin with an extra fault pertaining towards emotional regulation.</td></tr> <tr><td>8</td><td>Begin with an extra fault pertaining towards a vice.</td></tr> <tr><td>9</td><td>Begin with an extra fault pertaining towards self-conscious awkwardness and/or pathological doubt.</td></tr> <tr><td>0</td><td>Begin with involvement in a cult.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>If you roll under POW*5, turn one of your MOTIVATIONS into an OBSESSION.</p> <h2 id="goals">Goals</h2> <p>I want this to be totally compatible with existing Delta Green adventures. My hope with this character creation procedure is that the Motivations and Faults will give the player dials to turn up or down as they go down the sanity death spiral. </p> <p>This has not been play tested yet, I chose the amount of skills arbitrarily so I'll have to see how this amount works out. I expect not many people will take skills like spot hidden or notice which is fine.</p> <h3 id="to-explore">To Explore</h3> <p>Maybe connect the characters more to each other and some shared community? The stonetop review is bouncing around in my head at the moment. Would make this a different game but worth exploring. </p> 2025-12-29T00:00:00+00:00 2025-12-29T00:00:00+00:00 Unknown toastedblogel.jofrank.com/posts/pandospines/ <p>Pando Cornelius is the proprietor of a moderately sized logging camp. Although they make most of their money cutting down white pine, a rare tree called the Noble Pine also grows on his property.</p> <p>Two nights ago all but one of the Noble Pines were destroyed in the middle of the night. If the last Noble Pine is destroyed the logging camp will go out of business and Pando will be forced to sell the property at a major loss.</p> <span id="continue-reading"></span> <p>When the players arrive to the camp they see Pando crying sitting against a dead Noble Pine. He will pay the Adventuring group handsomely if they defend the last Noble Pine until he is able to collect enough pine cones to plant new trees. He will give them a significant bonus if they find whatever is behind this and put it to an end.</p> <h4 id="noble-pine-properties">Noble Pine Properties</h4> <ul> <li>The wood has a pleasant scent and is perfect for carving intricate gifts.</li> <li>The pine oil of the tree is much stronger than regular pine oil. <ul> <li>Sought after to be used as a disinfectant, sanitizer, microbicide, virucide, insecticide, antiseptic etc</li> <li>Must be diluted before use as over application to even bare skin can cause poisoning. </li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h4 id="dead-noble-pine">Dead Noble Pine</h4> <ul> <li>Withered and raisin like with no branches. <img src="../pinesHex.jpeg" alt="Hex of the pine forest and the logging camp" /></li> </ul> <h2 id="characters">Characters</h2> <h3 id="camp-boss">Camp Boss</h3> <p>Pando is a proud longtime lumberjack. Is always out chopping trees with his men. Keeps order by any means necessary.</p> <ul> <li>Very trusting of his men. In love with Jorge.</li> <li>Implied to Jorge that he would leave the camp to him when he was ready to retire.</li> <li>Believes that The Traveling Elf is behind this. <ul> <li>Since he established this Lumber mill the elf has been seen collecting pine cones from his property.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h3 id="fallen-angel">Fallen Angel</h3> <p><img src="../Onjelido.jpg" alt="Crying Angel with long hair" /></p> <p>Onjelido was once a proud Christmas Tree Topper.Last Christmas, as midnight came and Pando's kids began opening their gifts with glee, Onjelido launched himself from the top of the tree to join the fun. When he hit the floor he shattered his body. He was swept up and discarded by Mrs. Pando shortly after. He woke up after a long sleep on the Island of Misfit Toys now the size of a person with fractures across his porcelain skin.</p> <p>Onjelido (Long Covering Robes, Long Flowing Hair)</p> <ul> <li>Pando is going to replace him this year with a carving made of one of his Noble Pines. Onjelido is dedicated to preventing that and will destroy every last Noble Pine. <ul> <li>Made a deal with The Deputies. In exchange for being allowed to collect as many branches as they want, they delivered poison to all the noble trees they could find. </li> </ul> </li> <li>Has access to ritual magics and can use magical items. <ul> <li>Talisman of Transportation <ul> <li>When crushed will cause the user to turn to mist and reappear at the point where the Talisman was created. Will send Onjelido back to his cave.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Magic Flute of Hypnosis <ul> <li>All Toys that can hear the flutes song are compelled to act as the user of the flute visualizes. Toys can not be commanded to harm themselves or others unless the song is focused to affect a single toy. This focusing is explained below. The effect of the flute ends when the song does.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h3 id="the-created-captive">The Created Captive</h3> <p>Muddie is a nine foot tall person made of mud and clay. At her core is a chunk of the Winterbolt tree. A Christmas elf can determine that magic that animated her is similar to what gives toys life.</p> <ul> <li>Has her own personhood but is kept imprisoned by Onjelido to be used as a weapon of war. Onjelido can concentrate the Magic Flutes effect to command Muddie and make her fight to the death. The Magic Flute can not affect any other toys when used in this way.</li> <li>Locked up in Onjelido's cave.</li> <li>This is the only life she knows.</li> </ul> <h3 id="the-deputies">The &quot;Deputies&quot;</h3> <p>Local ne'er-do-wells (stat as bandits) who have set up camp on the other side of the river to the logging camp. They carry staffs and are quite fond of ones made of the branches of a Noble Pine.</p> <ul> <li>Agreed to work with Onjelido and poison the trees in exchange for being able to to collect as many of the branches as they want. <ul> <li>Delivered all the pine cones they could find to Jorge as part of their deal with him.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Noble Pine Staff: Damage as a staff, on an even damage roll pine oil seeps into your bloodstream. Each staff has 3 doses of oil.</li> </ul> <table><thead><tr><th style="text-align: center">1d4-1</th><th style="text-align: center">First Dose</th><th style="text-align: center">Second Dose</th><th style="text-align: center">Third dose</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center">0</td><td style="text-align: center">Burning Eyes: Your next attack is harder to hit.</td><td style="text-align: center">Dizziness: Avoid sudden movements or fall prone for the rest of the day.</td><td style="text-align: center">Confusion: For 1d4 hours, when you roll damage for an attack if the damage total is odd take that much damage yourself instead of dealing it to your target.</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">1</td><td style="text-align: center">Nervousness: Act last during a fight for 1d4+1 rounds</td><td style="text-align: center">Irritability: Attempts to negotiate or persuade are much harder for the rest of the day.</td><td style="text-align: center">Aggression: For 1d8 hours act first in combat, if Aggressive and Nervous at the same time replace both conditions with Hyperarousal.</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">2</td><td style="text-align: center">Breathing Trouble: You are easier to hit due to you having to stop and catch your breath</td><td style="text-align: center">Stupor: For 1d6 hours or until aroused by vigorous stimulation, prevent all damage. When the stupor ends take damage equal to damage prevented. This damage takes twice as longer to recover from.</td><td style="text-align: center">Coma: Unresponsive for 1d6 weeks.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h5 id="hyperarousal-for-three-days-you-act-first-in-combat-can-not-be-surprised-and-have-increased-sensitivity-to-all-stimuli-but-you-can-not-sleep">Hyperarousal - For three days you act first in combat, can not be surprised, and have increased sensitivity to all stimuli but you can not sleep.</h5> <p>When a character is dosed they remain dosed until they rest, even if the effect of the dosing has worn off. The effects of pine oil poisoning can be reversed with an Antidote, a substance that causes purging or a spell of Neutralize Poison. This also removes all doses from the character. </p> <p>A fourth dose kills you through irreversable damage to the nervous system. </p> <h3 id="second-in-command">Second in Command</h3> <p>Jorge Trundle was one of the first lumberjacks hired by Pando. He has been saving up to buy the logging camp when Pando retires. Sells pine oil under the table to his clock making cousin. He let the deputies into the logging camp and showed them what the Noble Pines look like. In exchange he was given a supply of Noble Pine Cones so he could start farming them after Pando is driven to ruin.</p> <ul> <li>He is the only lumberjack aware of the value of the pine oil. Once he owns the logging camp he will maximize oil production. <ul> <li>Has a secret supply of Noble Pine seeds.</li> <li>Learned about the Noble Pine Oil through his workings with The Traveling Elf.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Has an intimate relationship with Pando. </li> </ul> <h3 id="the-traveling-elf">The Traveling Elf</h3> <ul> <li>One of many nomadic elves that travel the lands. </li> <li>Dedicated to conservation of the natural world. <ul> <li>Worried about the farming of the Noble Pine so he has been keeping a stash of pinecones and replanting them elsewhere.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Well educated on the properties of the Noble Pine and it's oil. <ul> <li>Carries antidotes for pine oil poisoning.</li> <li>Knows how to properly dilute the oil to create powerful treatments.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Willing to teach Pando and him men more sustainable ways to farm the trees.</li> <li>Investigating rumors of Toy Animation magics being used by a non Christmas Elf.</li> </ul> <h2 id="the-logging-camp">The Logging Camp</h2> <h3 id="daily-schedule">Daily Schedule</h3> <p>The Player Characters arrive as breakfast is starting. When they finish getting the rundown from Pando breakfast is ending.</p> <p>4am: Early Risers<br /> 6am: Breakfast<br /> 11:30am: Lunch<br /> 5:30pm: Last Meal<br /> Sundown: Stop Working</p> <p>In between meals the lumberjacks are working. The Lumberjacks named below are at their location during work time but have a 50% chance of being there during a meal time.</p> <p>ie: Herb is sleeping in the Bunk House during work hours and has a 50% chance of being asleep in the Bunk House during a meal time.</p> <p>This is the play procedure for the adventure. The night following the characters arrival will be when the Deputies attack so it is important for time to pass as the characters do things and investigate. Pando also explicitly asked them to defend the tree tonight. One turn represents a zoomed out team action and rounds are used in combat or during the trunk searching minigame.</p> <p>4am-6am : A<br /> 6am-6:30am : B<br /> 6:30-11:30 : C<br /> 11:30-12:00pm : B<br /> 12:00pm-4:00 : C<br /> 4:00-6:00 : A (sundown)<br /> 6:00pm-4:00am : D</p> <p>A: One turn. Investigate one location or Travel to a point. (don't need to travel within camp.)<br /> B: One rushed turn. Investigate one location very quickly, will be noticed that this place was searched.<br /> C: Two turns. Investigate two locations or Travel and Investigate<br /> D: Five turns. Investigate five locations, by the time the fourth location is chosen the Deputies will raid the camp looking for the last Noble Pine. They will not find it until it is time for the fifth location to be searched.</p> <p>Investigating a location can also be some other equivilant action. </p> <h3 id="1-the-bunk-house">1. The Bunk House</h3> <p>Rows of bunk beds, trunks, and dressers. Each trunk is labeled with a lumberjack's name.</p> <p>Herb is the only lumberjack in the Bunk House. He is asleep but as the characters move through they notice that they risk waking him. The players can find Jorge Trundle's trunk easily but it has a lock.</p> <p>Give Herb a clock with three sections. If the players fail to break the lock quietly, fill in a section.</p> <p>Trundle's trunk is home to a tiny spirit that flies towards him if someone other than him opens his trunk. It does not identify who opened the trunk. He will be here in 10 rounds after his chest has been opened. A player with relevant knowledge (magic, spirits, rituals etc) can indentify the runes on the trunk and know what will happen once the chest is opened.</p> <p>A player can take two rounds to open an Unlocked Trunk quietly. If they go quick (opening the trunk in one round) there is 50% chance of a clock section being filled. Once three sections are filled Herb will wake. He wakes up very aggressive and will spread that the characters are theives arounds the camp. It will be very difficult for the characters to get help from other lumberjacks once this happens. </p> <ul> <li>Jorge Trundle's Trunk (locked | cheap lock, enchanted | noticable runes) <ul> <li>Eight cans of undiluted Noble Pine oil. Each can holds 6 doses.</li> <li>Blueprints to build a Pine Oil Extraction Plant.</li> <li>Lock box (very secure) <ul> <li>Life savings in gems. About 40% of what is needed to purchase the logging camp.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Shipping receipts for cans sent to a Joshua Trundle.</li> <li>Bag of Noble Pine Pinecones and notes for growing Noble Pines from seed. <ul> <li>Notes are from a conversation with The Traveling Elf.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h4 id="eight-unlocked-trunks">Eight Unlocked Trunks</h4> <table><thead><tr><th style="text-align: center">1d8</th><th style="text-align: center">What's Inside?</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center">1</td><td style="text-align: center">(Wiley) Hellish sketch of a winged silutte hidden in the trees.</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">2</td><td style="text-align: center">(Earl) Weeks wage.</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">3</td><td style="text-align: center">(Herb) Family Photoalbum. Five Joints. Absinthe.</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">4</td><td style="text-align: center">(Sawyer) Diary Entry: Jorge Trundle met with some strange figures near the river border.</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">5</td><td style="text-align: center">(Shelly)'s Lucky Axe: Hits as a battleaxe. When max damage is rolled sever one of the target's limbs.</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">6</td><td style="text-align: center">(McCoy) Diary Entry: We are being watched. Stalked by a winged creature the size of man.</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">7</td><td style="text-align: center">(Big Joe) Diary Entry: Got in another fight this those so called deputies. Their weapons seemed to weaken and confuse me the more they hit me. It did leave me smelling quite nice.</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">8</td><td style="text-align: center">(Silas) Full of beef jerky, causes gastroenteritis for the rest of the day. (Gone bad but passes for unspoiled, relevant skills or backgrounds can reveal this).</td></tr> </tbody></table> <h3 id="2-the-cook-house">2. The Cook House</h3> <p>Earl works the Cook house. With him he has a crew of two cooks and a 1d6 cooks in training.</p> <p>Earl (Stained White Apron, Hairnet over beard)</p> <ul> <li>Earl knows where the Deputies camp is. At the end of the day he sells them all his leftover bread and some shaved meat. </li> <li>He's tired of the daily grind so he is easily motivated by money. Will spill the beans for money.</li> <li>Has the loyalty of all the lumberjacks since he feeds everyone. (<a href="https://fhsarchives.wordpress.com/tag/logging-camp-life/#:~:text=Logging%20camp%20food%20varied%20by%20season%2C%20region%2C,4%20times%20more%20than%20most%20people%20need.">they eat about 9,000 calories a day each</a>)</li> </ul> <h3 id="3-outhouse">3. Outhouse</h3> <p>50% of the time Silas is using the Outhouse. Silas is the &quot;Lobby-Hog&quot; meaning that they clean up the bunk house and keep things tidy. Since they begun getting sick Pando has threatened them with firing. </p> <p>Silas (Heavily Tattoo'd, Baggy overalls)</p> <ul> <li>Their beef jerky has gone bad and causes them to empty their bowels constantly. It smells fine enough to them.</li> <li>Wants the suffering to end.</li> <li>One late night on the outhouse, over heard Jorge speaking with multiple people they did not recognize. (Jorge was pointing out Noble Pines to a &quot;Deputie&quot;)</li> </ul> <h3 id="4-office">4. Office</h3> <p>Big Joe works the office. Lots of all sorts of paperwork.</p> <p>Big Joe (Average Height, Huge Crazy Spiky Hair)</p> <ul> <li>The dying Noble Pines has Big Joe calculating the value of the logging camp without the Noble Pines. They are also writing letters to potential buyers to see how much money Pando can get.</li> <li>Flooded with Christmas mail from home, needs help delivering letters to Herb, Shelly, and Wiley.</li> <li>Sends out mail, has noticed the many packages Jorge has sent. (These are shipments of cans of pineoil to his clock making cousin.)</li> </ul> <h3 id="5-barn">5. Barn</h3> <p>Sawyer tends to the oxen and some horses.</p> <p>Sawyer (Huge Black Boots, Very Smelly)</p> <ul> <li>The animals she has been dealing with have been acting up since the Noble Pines died.</li> <li>One of her horses was stolen by a bandit and taken to the other side of the river. (Players can spend an Investigation after traveling over the river to find the Deputies Camp)</li> <li>Will give the characters a horse if they agree to find something to sedate the Oxen with. (Makes travel free / not taking a turn in the procedure)</li> </ul> <h3 id="6-blacksmith-shop">6. Blacksmith Shop</h3> <p>Wiley is an Independent Blacksmith that set up her own shop at camp. She sells axes to Pando through Big Joe but also has to deal with actually making all the tools too.</p> <p>Wiley (Thin Tall Wiry Frame, Gold Colored Hammer)</p> <ul> <li>Suspects Pando is getting some cheap axes delivered in with the food to spend less than buying from her.</li> <li>Opening up to clientele from outside the lumber camp. Has made tools for collecting pine resin for Jorge</li> <li>An intricate axe with a nice leather strap is displayed in the shop. <ul> <li>The Imperial Divide: Hits as a great axe. Can be spun for 1d6 turns and you move slower while maintaining the spin. While it's spinning if any medium creature ends its turn in melee range it gets cleaved in half. When you start spinning, it pushes all creatures out of melee range and deals 1d4 damage to them.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h3 id="7-filer-shack">7. Filer Shack</h3> <p>Shelly the Sharpener hold the world record for sharpest axe. Rumor has it she felled an axe breaker tree in one swipe. Here she sharpens all the labor camps axes and saws.</p> <p>Shelly (Athletic Sturdy Frame, Chain Gloves)</p> <ul> <li>Her chain gloves allow you to try to catch an incoming bladed weapon.</li> <li>Will sharpen your weapons.</li> <li>Can connect the characters to The Traveling Elf in exchange for The Imperial Divide. <ul> <li>Knows the name of which Elf is currently traveling through these lands.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h3 id="8-camp-store">8. Camp Store</h3> <p>McCoy manages the incoming shipments, both the receiving and ordering.</p> <p>McCoy (tiny glasses, Long Mustache) </p> <ul> <li>Related to Silas and not happy with how he is being paid and treated by Pando.</li> <li>Worsening winter storms has made one of the camps suppliers go out of business. In need of a new potato supplier. </li> <li>Has seen a flying man sized creature stalk the camp at night. They know the direction it flew when it left. (enough to start searching for Onjelido's cave.)</li> </ul> <h3 id="the-woods">The Woods</h3> <p>Hundreds of lumberjacks working nonstop during the day. Shriveled dead trees dot the woods. The logging camp can only work the section of the woods to the right of the river. </p> <table><thead><tr><th style="text-align: center">1d4+x</th><th style="text-align: center">Woods Encounter Table</th></tr></thead><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center">1</td><td style="text-align: center">Tired Lumberjack</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">2</td><td style="text-align: center">Tired Lumberjack</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">3</td><td style="text-align: center">1d4 Spooked Oxen</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">4</td><td style="text-align: center">2d4 Agropelters</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">5</td><td style="text-align: center">2d4 Flitterricks</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">6</td><td style="text-align: center">Hidebehind</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">7</td><td style="text-align: center">Onjelido</td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center">8</td><td style="text-align: center">Onjelido and Muddie</td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>Roll a 1d4+0 when entering an exiting the portion of the woods where the Lumberjacks work. Roll a 1d4+3 when in the area around the Deputies camp. Roll a 1d4+4 when in the area around Onjelido's camp.</p> <p>Stat blocks below will be using Cairn stats using <a href="https://bommyknocker.bearblog.dev/universal-encounter-table/">this</a> framework. Translate to your system accordingly.</p> <h4 id="tired-lumberjack">Tired Lumberjack</h4> <p>(Strong and Hardy, Sharp Axe)</p> <p>4 HP, 12 STR, 9 DEX, 8 WIL, axe (d6) (Boar Stats)</p> <ul> <li>Appreciates being given food. Willing to join the party if offered a higher wage. (twice a days wage)</li> <li>Sneaking in a small break from the nonstop work</li> <li>If speaking with a Lumberjack roll a d6 and look at the woods encounter table.He will speak of an encounter he just had and reveal information about the critter.</li> </ul> <h4 id="spooked-oxen">Spooked Oxen</h4> <p>(Jumpy, Agressive)</p> <p>6 HP, 14 STR, 10 DEX, 12 WIL, horns (d8) (Bull Stats)</p> <ul> <li>Charge: Nearby targets must make a DEX save or be trampled underfoot (d12 STR damage, ignoring armor).</li> <li>Can be calmed with a correct dosing of pine oil.</li> </ul> <h4 id="agropelter-anthrocephalus-craniofractens">Agropelter, Anthrocephalus craniofractens</h4> <p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Agropelter.jpg/250px-Agropelter.jpg" alt="Ape like creature in a tree about to throw a piece of wood at a passing lumberjack" /><br /> (Defensive, Stealthy, Protector )<br /> The Agropelter inhabits hollow trees. It has a slender, wirey body and the face of an ape with muscular whip like arms.</p> <p>5 HP, 8 STR, 12 DEX, 5 WIL, Thrown Branch (d4+1) (Spider Stats)</p> <ul> <li>Climb Trees</li> <li>Silent: if not spotted they surprise the party</li> <li>Branch Projectile 1d4: Throws sharpened branches at Lumberjacks and other forest tresspassers</li> </ul> <h4 id="flitterricks">Flitterricks</h4> <p>(Agressive, Flying)<br /> A type of flying squirrel known for flying at high speeds and ramming its own body with its target. In one instance this was enough to kill an ox on impact.</p> <p>4 HP, 5 STR, 13 DEX, 12 WIL, body (1d6) (Hawk Stats)</p> <ul> <li>From the top of a tree will fly towards a target and deal 1d6 damage to both itself and its target.</li> <li>Will attack anything not native to the woods.</li> </ul> <h4 id="hidebehind">Hidebehind</h4> <p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Hidebehind.jpg/250px-Hidebehind.jpg" alt="Large Dog-like beast standing on hindlegs hiding behind tree" /><br /> (Ambush, Assassin, Stalker)<br /> Stalks an area of a forest within 100 meters of its lair. It's lair is a hole in the ground big enough for itself and its victim. Can disappear behind a tree and be completely unseen. It is a large man sized beast. It makes a quiet hissing noise while dragging its prey.</p> <p>6 HP, 14 STR, 14 DEX, 6 WIL, claws (d8) acid spray (d6) (Tiger Stats)</p> <ul> <li>Silent: if not spotted they surprise the party</li> <li>Hides behind a tree and attacks the last person in the marching order when the y walk passed it's tree. <ul> <li>Makes a claw attack and on a damage roll of 4 or higher its claws are impaled into its target. This grapple allows the Hidebehind to start dragging its victim towards its lair.</li> <li>Its lair is 1d4 rounds away. It will break the bones of its target shoving it into its lair.</li> <li>Expels acid from its stomach and fills the hole with it to partially digest its victim.</li> </ul> </li> <li>If it misses its grapple it will attempt to disengage with a wide acid spray followed by running away. </li> </ul> <h4 id="onjelido">Onjelido</h4> <p>(See Characters)</p> <p>4 HP, 8 STR, 14 DEX, 6 WIL, seeking missiles (d4) (Deer Stats)</p> <ul> <li>Nimble, glides from treetop to treetop.</li> <li>Attacks from the treetops with 1d4 seeking missiles that deal d4 damage each.</li> <li>Once he takes any damage will use his Talisman of Transportation to retreat back to his cave</li> </ul> <h4 id="muddie">Muddie</h4> <img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Wax_Museum_Český_Krumlov_04(js).jpg" width="381" height="480" alt="Large Golem made of earth"> <p>(See Characters)</p> <p>12 HP, 2 Armor, 14 STR, 15 DEX, 18 WIL, fists (d12) (Dragon Stats) </p> <ul> <li>Non-Violent.</li> <li>Forced into fighting Onjelido's enemies through the use of his magic flute.</li> <li>Kept locked up in Onjelido's cave when not under his control.</li> </ul> <h2 id="deputies-camp">&quot;Deputies&quot; Camp</h2> <p>Wayne is the dude in the cowboy hat running the place. A dozen or so tents organized around a large central firepit. One tent in particular is always guarded by two Deputies. Inside that tent they store their supply of noble pine staffs. </p> <p>An unguarded yet frequently entered tent also stands out. Inside of it is a map of the local area and a cave to the north has been marked. (This is where they have tracked Onjelido back to).</p> <p>A few seem hurt from a recent battle. </p> <p>Wayne (Black Cowboy Hat) (Stat as a bandit leader)</p> <ul> <li>Planning on raiding the King-in-Red's Keep and taking him out. This is their main motivation. They are committed totally to taking him out.</li> <li>Need to resupply on weapons after a fresh new recruitment drive.</li> <li>They want to put the King-in-Red into an internal sleep with the magic of the Noble Pine Staff.</li> </ul> <h2 id="clue-tips">Clue Tips</h2> <ul> <li>Unnamed Lumberjacks are not tuned in with the interpersonal drama. When speaking with one of them, they talk about the winged creature they are being stalked by(Onjelido) or some of the critters found in the forest. Can suggest a direction for the players to search if they seek Onjelido.</li> <li>Players should get enough information to want to investigate Jorge. </li> <li>Once the players get enough to confidently confront Jorge they should get from him the truth about him working with the Deputies.</li> <li>The Deputies are quite open to discussing why they are doing this. <ul> <li>They are totally commited to taking out The King-in-Red.</li> <li>When pressed they may reveal their shame in working with Onjelido but Pando would not sell him Noble Pine branches since he is a follower of The King-in-Red.</li> <li>They have heard Onjeldio controlling Muddie and patroling the area around his cave at night.</li> <li>If they can be setup with a better relationship with the logging camp, they can send two Deputies to support you in battle against Onjelido.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Onjelido wants to ruin Pando. </li> </ul> <h2 id="hexmas-blogwagon">Hexmas Blogwagon</h2> <p>We are located at Hex 0207 with the Postal Coastal Town to its left. To the north is the Sea of Swirly Twirly Gumdrops. Nearby is the Island of Misfit Toys. (will add links soons need to go to work)</p> 2025-12-05T21:32:54+00:00 2025-12-05T21:32:54+00:00 Unknown toastedblogel.jofrank.com/posts/deltagreenoniongame/ <p>An application of <a href="https://dododecahedron.blog/2025/11/22/the-osr-onion/">The OSR Onion</a> </p> <span id="continue-reading"></span><h2 id="what-adventures-do-i-want-my-game-to-support">What adventures do I want my game to support?</h2> <p><a href="https://toastedblogel.jofrank.com/posts/the-osr-is-teaching-me-how-to-cook/#:~:text=to%20reddit%20maybe-,delta%20green,-is%20a%20common">I believe in Delta Green as a pathway to *SR style play.</a> In OSR Onion terms this could be because of how much Delta Green is driven by scenario design.</p> <p>I want to create a game to run Delta Green scenarios and campaigns such as God's Teeth and Impossible Landscapes. I also want to run a campaign through the history of the program before getting into the previously mentioned campaigns.</p> <p>These adventures use Delta Green's sanity mechanic to keep pressue on the players so I need a way to slot that in but preferably without &quot;sanity&quot;.</p> <h2 id="what-procedures-do-i-need">What procedures do I need?</h2> <p>How players choose to use their time inbetween missions is critical. Choosing between their bonds, skills, or the unnatural should be interesting.</p> <p>Usually the precedure involves making a single choice no matter how much time you have inbetween missions. Does this feel good? I can imagine a player wanting to do more than one thing and having a decent arguement for it if they have a big gap inbetween missions. Definetly needs to be a procedure so it doesn't drag.</p> <h2 id="mechanics">Mechanics</h2> <p>Other than some resultion mechanic and some way for players to use their skills, I think the most &quot;novel&quot; idea is wrapping the &quot;sanity&quot; system with the skills and bonds in a mental inventory.</p> <p>also having &quot;sanity&quot; reflect how you're percieved instead of anything else -&gt; weirdness? What about stabilty / grip?</p> <p>Also not a huge fan of HP when playing as modern humans. I want wounds maybe even hit locations. Really inspired by <a href="https://foreignplanets.blogspot.com/2024/12/bodies-shall-be-broken-free-form-wound.html">this</a> and <a href="https://riseupcomus.blogspot.com/2020/05/rolemaster-esque-critical-tables-or-no.html">this</a> at the moment. </p> <p>What does it mean to be shot? Trying to finish the mission with a crazy wound?</p> <p>Regarding core resolution mechanic do I want the genre convention d100? Leaning towards yes.</p> <p>I want skills to be free form / player defined. I also would want my adventures to provide players with a list of the sort of skils the mission requires.</p> <h2 id="character">Character</h2> <p>I feel like I have to lock down my choices in the mechanics sectionto fill this out but some quick questions I need to be able to answer:</p> <p>How many wounds can a character survive with?</p> <p>How big should the &quot;brainventory&quot; be? I want to fit skills, bonds, and unnatural knowledge in it. Maybe something about the fitting the unnatural in the human brain involves overwriting existing information instead of being able to slot it into empty brain meat. </p> <p>Is this genre about tracking what tools the agents bring in? I guess it is mission dependant. Open question because I don't find it very rewarding to have a out of fiction resource that you can burn to say that you had the item the whole time but maybe I need to play more of a game that allows that.</p> <p>Players define their skills and assign percentages to them.</p> 2025-09-10T00:00:00+00:00 2025-09-10T00:00:00+00:00 JoFrank toastedblogel.jofrank.com/posts/turboracists/ <p>So we have been talking about Jay Dragon's <a href="https://possumcreek.medium.com/the-expressionist-games-manifesto-122d8afd1fe2">most recent post</a>. Through that conversation I was introduced to the Old World Bestiary and an idea was introduced. If we took the DM half and the player half, riffle shuffled them together, and viewed the whole book diegetically.</p> <span id="continue-reading"></span> <p>It seems that humans are turbo eugenicists who create a system to allow them to categorize the abilities of all living beings. That system seems to measure people according to which traits influence their ability to harm and defend from harm.</p> <p>makes sense.</p> <p>Also makes me think of like certain anime where they have in universe power measurements. Does seeing stats as in universe socially established measurements do anything? I am just worried that this sounds neat or funny but is really just using the measurements as they want to be used? We would have to lean in to stats not representing you, they only represent the way the dominate culture perceives you.</p> 2025-09-08T00:00:00+00:00 2025-09-08T00:00:00+00:00 JoFrank toastedblogel.jofrank.com/posts/indexj/ <p>Written as a part of <a href="https://traversefantasy.blogspot.com/2025/09/appendix-m-part-1.html">Marcia's</a> and <a href="https://prismaticweekly.substack.com/p/blogwagon-announcement-appendicitis">Prismatic Wasteland’s</a> Appendicitis Blog Bandwagon.</p> <p>Check out <a href="https://elmc.at/appendix-elmcat/">Elmcat's Post</a> for a wonderful post and links to other peoples bandwagon posts!</p> <span id="continue-reading"></span><h2 id="works-that-inspire-me-to-create">Works that inspire me to create</h2> <h3 id="the-work-of-art-in-the-age-of-mechanical-reproduction-by-walter-benjamin">The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin</h3> <p>I still somewhat struggle with the body of this work and go back to it somewhat frequently but that Epilogue is clear as day. I am finding it difficult to describe the effect reading this had on me but I can say that the last line gives me direction.</p> <h3 id="music-without-lyrics-or-in-another-language">Music without lyrics (or in another language)</h3> <p>There are songs with lyrics of course that do what I am about to describe but I first noticed this when I began listening to Jazz records while I would walk around campus. The main inspiration here is how they can manage to communicate a feeling without directly prescribing you one. The feeling they create leads to the second thing I really enjoy, how they can paint the current moment without obstructing the moment. You can sort of float in the environment the music creates and still manage to think about things.</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNAyGs3qm-w">Mizrab</a> by Gábor Szabó</li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKW84_vt7b4">Endless Love</a> by Piero Piccioni</li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85uXua5V_cU">Last Train To Clarksville</a> by George Benson</li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85uXua5V_cU">West Coast Blues</a> by Wes Montgomery</li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WygFiY2Hjw">Cumbia de los Pajaritos</a> by Los Mirlos</li> </ul> <h2 id="works-that-inspire-what-i-create">Works that inspire what I create</h2> <p>This is probably the most difficult part of this post to write. I am not as well read as I would like to be and media consumption wise I tend to follow the recommendations of Critics as to what is generally considered good and I tend to enjoy it. I am unsure if I have a specific taste but I am sure it will reveal itself. Another asterisk on this is that I have no publicly available works to investigate and see what aspects of the following works are present. I will do my best to keep this angled towards TTRPG creation and focus on works that I engaged with when I was developing.</p> <h3 id="percy-jackson-harry-potter-and-cirque-du-freak">Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and Cirque Du Freak</h3> <p>These are the three series I remember the most from my youth. It sort of tracks since in my trad gaming days I almost always gravitated towards WOD games then when I got into PbtA games the one I actually ran was Urban Shadows. We can see the start of my Urban fantasy trend. </p> <p>You should not give JK Rowling any money. She is a transphobe who uses her money to fund anti-trans groups.</p> <h3 id="ben-10-doctor-who-and-house-md">Ben 10, Doctor Who, and House MD</h3> <p>Monsters! Procedurals! Investigation! Whats an illness if not a <a href="https://www.explorersdesign.com/the-1-hp-dragon/">1HP Dragon</a>, ya know at least when its curable. I think my point with these is I like structuring my scenarios like an average episode of one of these shows. I like a weird alien that you have to figure out before defeating it. I enjoy an investigation and since we're applying this to tabletop we can excise the genius aspect of the characters.</p> <h3 id="the-walking-dead-heavy-rain-and-until-dawn">The Walking Dead, Heavy Rain, and Until Dawn</h3> <p>The games I grew up watching rather than playing. Despite that these were the first games in which I saw a narrative players could affect! Groundbreaking for me at the time. I didn't realize it until now but I love throwing choices between two people at my players. Obviously not going to engineer a rocks fall you can only save one character moment but rather I love a 'NPC will remember that' moment.</p> <h2 id="works-so-inspired-that-i-will-steal-from-them-when-i-create">Works so inspired that I will steal from them when I create</h2> <h3 id="into-the-odd">INTO THE ODD</h3> <p>I mean of course. What a perfect game and what a perfect starting point for creating dnd-esque games.</p> <h3 id="seven-part-pact">SEVEN PART PACT</h3> <p>I just read Jay Dragon's <a href="https://possumcreek.medium.com/the-expressionist-games-manifesto-122d8afd1fe2">most recent post</a> so these ideas are right in the front of my brain as I write this post. A must read. I for sure need more time playing the games mentioned to really be able to say I have some understanding of Expressionist gaming but still what a magnificent game and post. hmu if you need a wizard for a 7pp game...</p> <h3 id="world-wizard">WORLD WIZARD</h3> <p>It was such a dope experience playing this game! My first exposure to spark tables and then the ideas I generate mix with what everyone else at the table is coming up with. What a fantastic time. My next big fantasy sandbox game is for sure starting with five sessions of World Wizard.</p> <h3 id="beyond-the-wall">BEYOND THE WALL</h3> <p>Another fantastic gaming experience. Similar to world wizard with a group world building phase but doing it as a part of character creation ties the characters to each other in a very special way. NPCs that are important to multiple characters gain so much weight. You bake in backstory and character reputations that actually stick in your mind.</p> 2025-06-12T00:00:00+00:00 2025-06-12T00:00:00+00:00 JoFrank toastedblogel.jofrank.com/posts/the-osr-is-teaching-me-how-to-cook/ <p>The OSR wants you to realize the ownership you have over the games you play and provide you with the tools and ideas to adjust it to taste. But the scene does have its own taste and opinions.</p> <span id="continue-reading"></span><h2 id="how-the-osr-reached-my-ears">HOW THE OSR REACHED MY EARS</h2> <p>This post mostly serves to provide some background as to where my ideas going forward will come from and to share my journey with D&amp;D.</p> <p>I wanted to find out what this scene was all about. As a proud twenty something zoomer D&amp;D has been ubiquitous with Fifth Edition. Third Edition was the game talked about online as the one where you could build godlike characters and nothing about editions older than that was ever mentioned.</p> <p>I ended up trying to run the game a few times and none of the games really got off the ground as I couldn't get a feel for how to DM it. My experiences as a player had many of the common experiences and I could not figure out what the issue was. The game always sounded like something I would love.</p> <p>Can't really speak on the effect of actual plays as I never could get through a fifth edition actual play but the Film Reroll (GURPS) and Pretending to be People (Delta Green) exposed me to a game play style with a lot less mechanical inertia. The first session that ever really worked for me was running Friday the 13th using GURPS with my players playing the roles of the movie's characters.</p> <ul> <li>Pre-Made Characters lead to no character creation friction</li> <li>we rarely rolled for anything especially before Jason showed up and spent a lot of time in character developing relationships with each other</li> <li>a simple roll under a number system led to me not having to decide if a roll hit a vague DC.</li> </ul> <p><img src="../chart.png" alt="graph of various ttrpg games connected based on how likely that pair of games shows up in a list of favorite games from threads like &quot;what are your Top X favorite RPGs?&quot;," /></p> <h5 id="according-to-reddit-maybe-delta-green-is-a-common-bridge-towards-the-osr">According to <a href="https://old.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/1jygvfi/a_map_of_rrpgs_favorite_ttrpgs/">reddit</a> maybe delta green is a common bridge towards the osr</h5> <p>My interest in the world of darkness setting lead to a werewolf campaign but I bounced off of it pretty fast as I found it difficult to prep for at that stage in my DM career.</p> <p>Earlier last year(?) twitter dot com's algorithm started showing me TTRPG posts and as a discourse addict they ended up serving me some hallmark discussions</p> <ul> <li>do rules elide?</li> <li>Does system matter?</li> <li>play other games. (5e24 OGL scandal)</li> </ul> <p>November 2024 I wanted to delete the app but still have a way to interact with other hobbyists so I reached out to some of the creators I followed to see if they knew any forums where people talked about TTRPGs and one of them pointed me to the Prismatic Wasteland Discord.</p> <h2 id="osr-nsr-posr-diy-d-d-diy-elfgame">OSR NSR POSR DIY D&amp;D DIY ELFGAME</h2> <h4 id="so-many-blogs"><em>so many blogs</em></h4> <p><em>do I read them as they come out?</em> <em>do I just follow all the blogs they link to?</em> <em>oh god there are too many blog posts in my rss feed</em></p> <p>Then someone links me to the Traverse Fantasy blog and her post, <a href="https://traversefantasy.blogspot.com/2022/06/the-osr-should-die.html?m=1">The OSR Should Die</a> was exactly what I needed.</p> <p>I went through and read each of the blogs she links to gain a baseline understanding of this space. A joke regarding one of my favorite content creators helped me realize that the OSR was teaching me how to cook.</p> <p><img src="../discordmsg.png" alt="discord message: recipe light, procedure heavy amirite" /></p> <h2 id="what-is-my-taste">WHAT IS MY TASTE?</h2> <p>I tried to figure out what I liked about TTRPGs but I found it a lot easier to think about what I do not enjoy.</p> <ul> <li>Long and complicated character creation. (imo GURPS only worked for me when you create the characters for the players.)</li> <li>Long and complicated combat.</li> <li>Combat focused progression and creating balanced encounters.</li> <li>Complicated Character abilities that require reading what they do every time they get used.</li> <li>Too many character abilities leading to deliberation as to what to use when presented with a situation.</li> <li>Shopping.</li> </ul> <h3 id="what-do-i-enjoy">WHAT DO I ENJOY?</h3> <ul> <li>DG not having classes and the skills reflecting their background or training before the game begins.</li> <li>During Werewolf play presenting the players with situations where combat was not the best option and seeing how they choose to tackle it.</li> <li>Rich community resources / scenarios (DG).</li> </ul> <h2 id="what-is-their-taste">WHAT IS THEIR TASTE?</h2> <p>It seems to be that the OSR developed in the way that it did because its rules are the conditions under which a specific play-style emerged. Although you very much can apply OSR principles to any TTRPG.</p> <p>It could be because the first OSR game I ever played was Mousritter or because ODDlikes deal with many things I do and do not like but that is the system / family of games that currently have my attention.</p> <p>Actually playing the game showed me things I did not know could be enjoyable.</p> <ul> <li>An actually usable inventory abstraction that leads to more player choices.</li> <li>Useful GM advice that can be easily applied to the games being run.</li> <li>Getting rid of skills and assuming basic competency.</li> </ul> <h3 id="blog-review">blog review</h3> <p>The blog posts I read seemed to fall into two different categories</p> <ol> <li>What the rules are and what they do as a result.</li> <li>Applying the resulting principles to your games</li> </ol> <p>What the rules are and what they do</p> <ul> <li>The lethality of old school dungeons and dragons informs us that the system does not facilitate a heroic fantasy type of game. Instead player character death moves the focus to the adventuring party as a whole and how it changes as members die and new ones join. It encourages players to work as a team. <a href="https://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com/2013/04/thoughts-regarding-character-mortality.html">(Gus L, 2013)</a> <ul> <li>This also shifts combat (as well as all risky plans which are decided by a roll) to a last ditch effort some even call it a fail state. <a href="https://revolution21days.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-d-has-lots-of-rules-for-combat.html">(Natalie, 2012)</a></li> </ul> </li> <li>XP for Loot encourages world building since the players spending the gold have a material impact on the game world. Either directly through the funding of settlements or even as they trade expensive artifacts these transactions give an opportunity to the game world to react to what the players do. <a href="https://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com/2013/04/thoughts-regarding-character-mortality.html">(Gus L, 2013)</a> <ul> <li>When coming from more modern dungeons and dragons systems the shift to XP for Loot also changes the game play loops and goals. The importance of an encounter or situation shifts to getting out with as much treasure as possible as opposed to trying to fight everything. <a href="https://talesoftheramblingbumblers.com/2012/05/26/xp-for-loot-in-dd/">(Macy, 2012)</a></li> </ul> </li> <li>The minimal use of modifiers are not only there to make the game simpler or more &quot;rules-light&quot; but they serve to minimize the importance of the character sheet and your rolled stats. This allows the choices the players make to have more impact than just being dictated by which ever stat you have the biggest bonus in. Stats still have a degree of importance but their application is left to be defined by the DM which encourages creative application. <a href="https://save.vs.totalpartykill.ca/grab-bag/philotomy/">(Cone, 2007)</a></li> <li>The quickness of character creation allows characters to be made together as a group instead of homework before the session. This helps everyone be invested in each others characters. <a href="https://outforblood1.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-trinity-of-old-school-gaming-part-3.html">(Johann, 2012)</a> <ul> <li>quick character creations means the characters come out pretty much bare bone so they can be fully developed through play. Instead of coming in with a multi-page backstory that backstory will be generated as a result of play and be much more memorable. <a href="https://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com/2013/04/thoughts-regarding-character-mortality.html">(Gus L, 2013)</a></li> </ul> </li> <li>Across all editions of D&amp;D there are a lot of rules for combat. In the case with old school games: <blockquote> <p>&quot;The main function of the combat rules, instead, is to make combat deadly, in a way that's fairly adjudication agnostic. If the DM is doing her job right, she's going to kill your character sometimes, and you're going to know that you deserved it. It needs fairly detailed combat rules because it's relatively difficult to adjudicate combat compared to most of what you do in D&amp;D, and relatively important compared to most of what you do in D&amp;D that it be adjudicated &quot;correctly,&quot; or at least in a fairly neutral way.&quot; <a href="https://revolution21days.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-d-has-lots-of-rules-for-combat.html">(Natalie, 2012)</a></p> </blockquote> <ul> <li>Combat rules help players understand the stakes of their choices since they understand how deadly getting into a fight is</li> <li>Having a lot of rules for something does not necessarily mean the game is about that thing instead those rules are there to help the DM &quot;run the simulation&quot; for that aspect of the game compared to say a social encounter where the DM might have a better understanding if an argument is persuasive for a specific NPC</li> </ul> </li> <li>The character stats in old school D&amp;D, its clones, and its re-imaginings <blockquote> <p>&quot;<em>D&amp;D</em>-style games traditionally have 6 ability scores, but those 6 scores actually represent 8 different abilities. Those 8 abilities, in turn, are simply the combination of three different dichotomies - <em><strong>physical vs mental</strong></em>,  <em><strong>force vs grace</strong></em>, and <strong><em>attack vs defend</em></strong>.&quot; <a href="https://diyanddragons.blogspot.com/2019/01/8-abilities-6-3-or-4-ability-scores.html">(Anne, 2019)</a></p> </blockquote> <ul> <li>If we think about stats that some games choose to leave out say wisdom, intelligence, and sometimes charisma it might inform us as to what the game designer chose to have the game simulate vs what they leave for the GM to adjudicate. <ul> <li>ie: player skill in looking for traps, persuasion check vs thinking of a persuasive argument</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li>The inclusion of inventory / encumbrance rules informs us that the game designers want players to think about what they are bringing with them on an adventure <ul> <li>Worrying about where your things are is a staple of pulp <a href="https://rottenpulp.blogspot.com/2012/06/anti-hammerspace-item.html">(Jack, 2012)</a></li> <li>Making items useful and 'balancing' them by making them difficult to carry <a href="https://save.vs.totalpartykill.ca/grab-bag/philotomy/">(Cone, 2007)</a></li> <li>Resource management has a high cognitive load so these systems should aim to minimize complexity so they're actually usable.<a href="https://diyanddragons.blogspot.com/2018/07/two-good-links-on-resource-management.html">(Anne, 2018)</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <p>This interpretation of then rules tells us what the POSR finds important. It wants to give the players the opportunity to make meaningful choices as much as possible. It want those choices to have weight and consequences especially when they lead to violence. It want to let the players creativity and problem solving to have more impact than their characters stats. It also wants the players to interact and affect the world they're playing in, mainly through spending the gold they are being motivated to collect. It also wants to position teamwork at the front of the game through both quick group character creation and through the fragility of the player characters.</p> <p>Think it'll be a waste to go through the rest of blog posts like I did above but they give you procedures or advice that revolve around the principles derived from the rules above such as telegraphing danger so an informed decision can be made, how to get the most out of an encounter die to give taking time weight, and what to have ready for a session.</p> <h2 id="finishing-thoughts">Finishing thoughts</h2> <p>It is probably easy to take those principles and say that they are not DIY ELFGAME specific. They very well could be the principles of any decent TTRPG.</p> <p>Towards the OSR not existing, it does exist as a style of play that differs from other broad categories that exist in the space. Although any DM could apply these principles to any game, the lethality of DIY DND stands out more than any other rule. Although there are many people who have created systems to make DIY D&amp;D less lethal, reading about how embracing lethality has the effect of shifting the story away from your specific exceptional blorbo and instead towards this ship of Theseus of a party and how the game world reacts to it. I might be reaching with this but there seems to be something about a style of play that reduces the importance of what character starts with and instead focuses on what you do with what you have and the real risk you put yourself through to do it.</p> <p>Experience with other games not mentioned here: a very fun Urban Shadows game which has gotten through its first mini arc. Showed me I love faction play. World Wizard showed me how much fun collaborative world building is. Dogs in the Vineyard demonstrated levels of escalation. I really enjoyed seeing how far players are willing to escalate. Very useful to make it clear what level you are escalating to.</p> <p>Regarding random death not being fun: I don't think death is ever random. If an unlucky arrow or trap kills you there is the fact that your character put himself in danger because his goal was worth that much to him.</p>