I’ve
put together a “What can I use for
this?”folder of
published game stuff which slot seamlessly in current or possible
future encounters in my active games. I do this for two reasons: One;
I love sand-box play, but I don’t always like the on-the-heels
feeling I can get when I’m out of material. Specifically, material
which would be AWESOME in the current situation. I have a freakish
belief if I had access to all current written adventure modules,
properly indexed, there would
be something just perfect needing only the most minor cosmetic
changes. That is my idea of no-prep! So I get really jacked when these twin stars line up. Two,
the real gems stand out. Old, new, retro, funny dice; its hard to
know how a scenario will aid thee in the hot-seat. I have retracted blistering criticism I uttered upon reading an
adventure only to humbly withdraw it after using in a game. Funny how
my opinion from just reading adventure material is so off from the
actual play experience. When it works when
the material
carries you, folded and safe in its hands, through multiple sessions
of metal rpg’ing its like conducting an orchestra. The difference
being, when you get off the hot-seat and bow, acknowledge the
orchestra, you do this alone. It is truly a private and disconnected
performance between writer and game master. I
love this part of rpg’ing probably
best of all.
So
it isn’t a far leap to “What
adventures do this for me?
Pulling
the
book out started this whole thought project. Using it again
to key another
fantasy location. The book is Chaosium’s Black
Sword
for Stormbringer by Ken Rolston. It
is a companion piece to Stealer
of Souls; a
champion in its own right. The only reason Stealer
of Souls isn’t
number one is because I like Black
Sword
better.
The
scenarios in the book depict a woman’s quest for vengeance
against Elric
himself. This sort of set-up is rarely going to be used in
one of my games.
If you are playing a game of Stormbringer
with me, you most likely won’t
be
in the Young Kingdoms. I’m sure it can be epic, but I have a
disinclination to use fictional characters found
in the original prose. The fictional
setting
I’m using because it is cool. That
is most likely why it is in use, the place is inspirational. Give
people, places and things new names and done. With more than I need
in the attending details of the location.
If
I don’t like the script of of
Black Sword why is it
so good? Because
Black Sword passes the
acid test; it is extremely useful for play. Freyda Nikon, the
“Patron” driving the plot,
is a decent NPC. No
reason she has to be married to the script. I prefer to have
interesting NPCs met when
circumstance,
the game situation, demands nothing
short of this character being
used. The right person for
the job, so to speak. Frieda
is easy to place, in many different roles. She’s
metal.
The
scenario book
includes the city of Nadsokar,
the
Kingdom of Org, the city of Karlaak, the Plains and the Badlands. Any one of these
sections, these site locations, can be lifted wholesale out of the
book and dropped into your campaign. With Nadsokar, city of beggars, the most useful part doesn’t
even include stats! Two and a half pages of
“in-the-day-in-the-life-of” and a portion of the streets of
Nadsoker underground mapped out. With one of those slick
city-crawling mechanics DIYOSR
creators introduced and some kind of citizens stat block you can go
for a while in Nadsoker, the City of Beggars. Good place to note, if
you have read the fiction, cause all your game inspirations come from
the source material, you already know what is cool about it.
The
nuts of the book, the most metal part, is The Kingdom of Org. If
you’ve read the source material you will know when you should use
this location. And it is not just the degenerate, horribly pulpish
vibe of the place. The Kingdom is found within the Forest of Troos.
The heavy-metalist of magical woods. Details of a slave rebellion if
you are inclined, but the daily life of Org has many options of grim
encounter. Again, your favorite city-crawling method will have PCs
dying for your pleasure in nigh poetic manners.
The
rest of the book similarly works in this fashion for me. Again and
again. Oh yeah Stealer of Souls
has great city maps and material with the details of Bakashaan. It is
a good clone of Messantia,
and therefore squishy-pulpy city which include the ocean and sea
travel and the scum it attracks.
These
two books aren’t for everything. My experience relates using it for
the genre intended.
Dropping
modules into modules is
a
big
kick of mine. This Matryoshka-doll
method
mixes up the presentation enough players stand a good chance of never
recognizing it. Simple example of
this with
some 1e AD&D stuff. D3
Vault of the Drow
is this psychedelic dark elf city underground. It is big and has room
for many interesting
locations. More than I want to come up with. What can I do, what can
I do. Evil
metal elves will have slaves. They have a whole industry of it in the
Vault. May I present A2, Secret of the Slavers Stockade? I don’t
care how you skin it, the “Stockade” will be
useful.
Its use multiple. The scope it adds to your location and
any other published site-location, deep.
Not in the “adventure” the
authors packaged
with the module. But the use you can put to the rooms and NPCs
included.
And
this isn’t “fixing”
a module. Fixing
a module is something else. This is leveraging
the
module. Surely this is what the early creators intended for their
modules. They are heard to lament gamers mostly missing this point
early in the hobby. But bills must be paid and if you don’t give a
DM and PCs a “Story” to follow they are just so much deers in the
headlights. “Why do I give a shit about slaver’s?” No one
really knows what to do with this.
But
everyone knows what to do with a slaver’s stockade when they are in
the middle of an insane underground acid city and what you need to
survive, nay, triumph, is located there… that is another kettle of
fish. Simple turn of perspective, but one I’ve never seen to fail
me.
