So, I have a real love-hate relationship with Ultraviolet Grasslands. The art is out of this world. The rules are phenomenal where there are rules, though if you look at them as a whole they've got more holes in them than Swiss cheese. The setting is also so so evocative, but similarly, it feels incredibly unfinished, and lacks a core component that I appreciate in games, which is directionality and stickiness.
What I mean is that my players could walk into THE DEATH FACING PASSAGE or go visit THE NEAR MOON and while I love the vibes of that, I think after experiencing a really cool description, their reaction will be, "Okay, but what do we do now?" It's a bunch of really cool things with very little direction between them, and I think the expectation is that my players would be content just wandering from cool thing to cool thing, but that's just not how my players enjoy playing.
They want to figure out what is going on, then get into a crazy scheme to do something in the world, and then either pull it off or die trying. My hope is my game worlds almost reel the players into that scheming engagement, in the same way that incredible adventures / settings are always pointing players to other parts of the adventure, leading them to engage with it further. UVG fails to do this in my experience.
However, the framework of a Caravan Crawl has really stuck with me as a compelling alternative to a hexcrawl or pointcrawl. To be fair, a Caravan Crawl is sort of just a pointcrawl with an additional "level"- travel that takes a number of weeks rather than taking a number of hours. But, there's something interesting about the idea of a number of settlements separated by weeks, that themselves have both a central area as well as interesting locations in the surrounding geography.
So, I want to make my own Caravan Crawl, and I want to keep the same dynamics that the Caravan Crawl introduces, but I also want to make directionality a core component of the design of the region. And I want to do it in a setting very different from the psychedelic post-apocalypse of UVG. So, I'm in the midst of designing a weird western caravan crawl, and wanted to share the procedures I came up with for doing it. Hope you enjoy!
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN Caravan Crawl
Get an 8.5x11 piece of a paper, and drop d6+3 dice (doesn’t matter the value of the dice you drop) on it.
If any fall off the page, you may discard them or reroll them. Ignore the value rolled, and mark where
the dice landed. Each dice marks a settlement. For each settlement, roll on each column to describe it.
Defining the Settlements
Each settlement has d2 resources in excess and d2 resources in need. Excess resources are generally cheaper and higher quality, while needed resources fetch a higher price, as local supply is less than demand. You may choose your own, or roll on the table below.
Roads
Roll for connections between each settlement. d6; 1-2 no path 3-5 trail 6 paved road. Assign distances.
It takes 1 week to travel the length of your pinkie on a paved road, 10 days to travel that distance on a
trail, or 14 days through the wilderness without a path.
Cities
Based on the above descriptors or randomly, designate d4-2 of these as cities; the rest are smaller towns.
Factions
Establish d4+2 factions. For each faction, roll once on each column below to describe them.
Roll 2d6 to define each faction relationship.
2 Immediate Attack 9-11 Talkative
3-5 Hostile 12 Helpful
6-8 Unsure
Randomly assign or place each faction’s base in a settlement (you can change these later), Factions may
share the same home. For each settlement adjacent to their base, place a representative of the faction.
If hostile factions end up in the same place, then you’ve got an automatic quest hook; they each want
the other dead / sabotaged / arrested / etc.
Placing Nearby Locations
For each settlement, create a zoomed-in area showing roughly a day’s travel around it. Roll to determine
the number of nearby locations within that area (city; d6+2, settlement; d4+2). For each nearby location,
roll d12 to determine its direction from the city (using the numbers of a clock) and d12 to determine the
distance from the city (think of this second dice roll as distance in hours if traveling through
the wildern ess. Nearby locations may fall on the paths between settlements.
Mark each location on the map roughly. After each location has been marked, roll
d6 for each other nearby location to determine if there is a path between them, using the table below.
1-2 no path 3-5 trail 6 road
Label travel time. Traveling to a distance of 12 takes 6 hours on a road, 9 hours on a trail, and 12 hours
through the wilderness.
Troubles
(see below for more on troubles) Troubles describe what is going on in a settlement, provide hooks, and
ultimately, interesting choices. For each settlement, determine the number of Troubles (city: d6,
settlement: d4), and roll randomly for that many. For the points of interest or NPCs of the trouble, place them as it makes sense, or if unclear, roll d6 to place them.
1-4 Nearby Location (assigned randomly) 5-6 In Town
Jobs
For each trouble within each settlement, ensure at least one job related to the trouble is placed within
the settlement. Additionally, each settlement should have d2 jobs for troubles in an adjacent settlement.
Trade:
Return to the list of goods in excess and in need at each settlement. For each good, create an NPC who has or needs each of those things, and place them in a prominent location within that settlement (some goods can be lumped together into the same NPC, and sometimes this function may fit well with an existing NPC in the settlement). Whoever it is, this NPC will pay the PC's to transport and sell excess goods at other settlements or to retrieve needed goods from other settlements.
Collate:
For each trouble, ensure each NPC has a place within the settlement or a surrounding location, create
locations for people who don't have one, draw a crude map, list the locations with descriptions, add NPC
descriptions and implied NPC’s, and then highlight all available jobs. Finally, name the settlements and
any surrounding locations without them. Finally, fit your factions into your troubles - ensure that faction
members generally want opposite things, giving players a chance to choose sides.
Now, a word on troubles.The plan is to eventually write up d66 of them, but currently I've only got a handful. You'll find those
below; they're a riff off my d66 things going on in a bog standard fantasy village!!
SAMPLE TROUBLES:
The Train: Baron Judge Constance is about to oversee the completion of a transcontinental railroad, with a celebratory commemorative ride on a luxury train, beginning at Grand Station in the nearest settlement, passing over a massive bridge, and ending at a pre-prepared feast under a fine tent. The Lady Guinnevere Matcha and her dancing companions will be in attendance, along with the lumber magnates John and Jim Bigsby. Patron/Jobs…. Jemma of the The Silver Quill/Rob the posh people on the train, keep 80% of what you get. They’ve got attire to disguise you as train attendants. Gray Wardens/Stop the posh people being robbed. They’ve heard the Quill is up to something, and need guards. Daily pay is double that of a farmhand, doubled again if there’s a shootout. Baron Judge Constance, via his fixer Gilead DesGroux/ Destroy the train in an insurance fraud scheme to recoup the losses of the project going over-budget. Promises enough for each party member to buy their own farm; will double cross and attempt to tie them up as loose ends.
The Vault: A vault has just been installed at the local bank. It could only be opened by its creator, Demis Ville, but his patron, Monsignor Falx stole the designs, beat the means of opening it out of him, and didn’t pay him a penny. Demis sits dejectedly in the town bar, while all the nobles move their wealth into the vault. Patron: Jobs…Gray Wardens/Find and apprehend the Bixby Gang. Price of a cow for each of the three Bixby brothers, price of a chicken for each other member of the gang. Len Bixby/Lem can’t show his face in town. Recruit Demis for a job; robbing the vault. Pays party 20% of whatever is in there if they come along for the ride. Demis/Kill Falx. Gives means of opening the vault in exchange. Falx/Guard the vault. Daily pay is half what a farmhand would make.
The Woman: Far outside the town in a silk tent, a beautiful woman sits. Men find that wherever they set out to go, they sort of just end up at the tent. It’s nothing sexual, but a conversation with this woman (she goes by Diane) just puts a man’s mind at ease. Productivity is down, and the women are jealous. Diane won’t even talk to any women! Patron/Jobs: Lily/Get Diane out of town, or get her into the local tavern. She’s ruining business for the other women of the night, like Lily. Caroline Munroe/Prove whether her husband Jimk is cheating on her with Diane. He is, but with Lily, not Diane. In their prenup, Caroline gets their farm in the event of unfaithfulness. Father Patrick/Offers a blessing to kidnap this Diane so he can perform an exorcism. She’s not a demon, so it won’t work, but she also isn’t capable of enthralling holy men.
The Moose: In a hilly natural orchard, apples ferment on the branch, and a 600-lb moose and his human druid companion decide to feast on them. Every day for the past few weeks, just as the sun goes down, the drunk moose races into town, runs through a building or a person, and then flees back to the hills. Many have gone into the hills to stop the Moose, but the druid turns them back each time. Outside the hills, Glamdron, the Tamer, waits in his camp, ready to capture the moose and take it to a circus. Patron/Job. Luis, the Druid/A blessing on those who bring him Glamdron, that Luis might convince Glamdron to turn from his ways of violence. Glamdron will not. Carlos the Farmer/Stop the moose’s rampaging; killing it if necessary. Pays in rations; 10 days worth per party member.
Procedures:
What follows is a procedure for Caravan Crawling.
1. Tally Days of Travel. A day of travel assumes eight hours or more spent on the road. At 7 days, complete steps 2-5.
2. Spend Supplies: 10 days of rations per character in the caravan.
3. Roll Misfortune: 1-3 lose a week of travel 4-8 lose 1d6 days 9-10 injury lose 1d6 hp 11-12 food poisoning lose 1d4 hp 13-19 calm travels 20 something good! Gain an item, skill, resource or ally.
4. Roll an Encounter: Distance (d6) 1 ambush 2-3 speaking distance 4-5 see but not communicate 6 just traces of them. Use an encounter table to determine the type of encounter.
5. Rest: PC's regain all health, abilities and remove burdens other than long-lasting diseases and curses.
When not in the stage of the game devoted to consistent caravan travel, I would put off using this system, and instead rely on a shorter-term game loop.
OVERLAND TRAVEL
Three watches per day. Choose travel action. Roll encounter dice (d6). Resolve action & d6. Next watch.
Travel Actions include…
- Travel 8 hours.
- Forage: Test Wisdom; one ration on a success.
- Explore: Find all obvious locations within a four hour radius. Test wisdom to find hidden locations.
- Camp: Consume a ration and sleep to clear encumbrances and restore 1d8+con hp.
d6 Encounter
1 setback
2 encounter
3 sign: foreshadows next watch’s encounter.
4 conditions change (d6 1-3 bad 4-6 good)
5 place of interest
6 nothing!
Setback (DM choice):
- Fatigue: consume an extra ration today, rest for two watches, or gain an encumbrance.
- Lost: explore to determine your location, or travel will be in a random direction.
- Natural impediment: flood, forest fire, etc
Above actions may be reduced by bad weather, bad terrain, some setbacks and some encounters. If an action is reduced three or more times, test wisdom or do not gain the benefits. If reduced five or more times, do not gain benefits of action.
Each morning, characters who have not eaten or slept since the previous morning add one Encumbrance for each to their inventory.
AND THAT'S IT!
If you enjoyed, let me know by leaving a comment. I might write up my realm that I created for said adventure if people would be interested! If not, enjoy playing a game!
No comments:
Post a Comment