Came across this map posted by @BlvdSubway on twitter earlier. The first thing it made me think of was a Metroidvania map - I've always been a fan of that side-view of mapping of the mythic underground, despite being iffy on the genre (I like Castlevania much more than Metroid.)
I've been giving a lot of thought to dungeon and adventure design - maybe session design is a more accurate term - since the wind down of my 2023 totally-not-a-west-marches campaign, The 5th World. Maybe I'll do a blog post about that at some point, since I have a thoughts/feelings/regrets. But the biggest one is about being flexible enough to unshackle myself from a specific system. My years long dalliance with 5th edition has soured quite a bit. I'm currently in a cautious flirtation with Pathfinder 2e - we're still feeling each other out. I like it as a player but I'm not sure I would have a good time actually running it.
All that has left me to wade around in a mess of OSR systems - I've mostly gravitated towards Whitebox FMAG, but still have to go back and forth with the voice in my head that says "Just run The Black Hack 1E, yall were made for each other."
Anyway. Session Design.
This Matt Colville video from a few weeks ago really got me thinking about the specifics of how to create a session that satisfies players but is still easy to prep for and run. I briefly considered the Hexcrawl, as self-directed play can be satisfying even if you don't "accomplish" anything, but that's not the specific gameplay loop I enjoy. I dig on the idea of adventurers as people who delve into a mythic and supernatural realm to retrieve valuable loot.
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But I was kind of stuck on this map. I loved the idea of turning some old Philly city planner's work into something gameable. So why not a Pointcrawl? The nodes are already here, the paths are mostly defined, all we need is some rollable tables and this is ready to run in the system of your choice. This Pointcrawl could really be anything you want, from a stroll through a forest through navigating a set of underground caverns. But I do like to take things literally and was inspired to create The City. It's not quite The Gardens of Ynn, but some of the principles are the same.
The City exists in a space slightly between every dimension. Some people say it was once utopia ruled by the children of demigods, others that it was a prison for the same lot. Either way it got cut loose or knocked off whatever reality it was originally attached to. Now it can only be accessed via doorways bearing the Sigils of the Bosses who control the Wards that make up the city.
Paint/Carve/Smear/Burn a Boss' Sigil into a door and it opens up to their Ward. Despite ostensibly all being part of the same city, Wards reflect the personality and preoccupation of their Boss. Think Persona 5 or any video game you've ever played with a level themed to its boss.
EDIT: It hit me while walking the dog that a playing card, tarot card, etc could carry or represent a Boss' Sigil.
A Boss could be any powerful monster from any creature compendium. Somewhere in a Ward should be a magical item the Boss covets/fears/is weak against. Or just any magic item you want, it's on you.
Every Boss carries a Torch that serves as a physical manifestation over their power over a space. They can be stolen by incredibly powerful spellcasters, thieves and psychics. It's generally just easier to kill a Boss and take it. Someone with a Boss' Torch could take control of their Ward, as long as they were willing to face the monsters and other Bosses who might want to claim the territory. You must bear a torch for an entire lunar cycle to become a Boss.
How should becoming a Boss change a Player Character? Do they become an NPC? Gain a ton of EXP? Funky Psionic Powers? Up to you, your system and your world.
In home dimension of your adventurers, a Torch is a powerful magical artifact worth quite a bit of gold to the right spellcasters, scholars and collectors.
Once a Torch leaves The City, the Ward it is connected to collapses into incoherence, then nothingness within 48 hours.
How many Wards exist in The City? There's one for every Boss. How many Bosses are there? No one knows. At least 2d20 Sigils have been documented in your game world.
Doorways into the city are closed by shutting the door and removing the Sigil or destroying the door. Doorways that remain open for at least ten days become semi-permanent - they can be closed if the Ward they are attached to is collapsed or with the power of the Boss' torch. Any Doorway that remains open for at least seven days will being to attract the attention of The City's denizens.
Bosses and other powerful entities will seek to expand their influence through any Doorways they encounter.
This fact makes expeditions into The City dangerous. Only the most fool-hardy are willing to wish a potential invasion of the world for the various treasures that exist in The City. But there are many who count themselves among the fools. It is not uncommon for wealthy barons to arm raiding parties to head into The City, keeping armed watches posted at the Doorways and destroying them at a designated date and time.
Determine in advance what the setup of your party's expedition is. Is there a Magic-User or Hireling waiting back in their world to destroy their portal? Or they throw caution to the wind and say "screw it" after finding out about The City in some old library book. Perhaps they came across a portal left open by some other careless party.
But raiding The City should be profitable. Even a party that flees with its tail between its legs should still be tempted and tantalized with enough potential loot or rare items that they plot a return.
The points available to explore in a Ward can be anything. Landmarks, Dungeons, Individual landscapes and bio-spheres to explore. They should all be interesting or point the party towards something valuable they want.
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Encounters in the City
Merchants
1. Pretzel Man
2. Candy Kid
3. Narcotics Dealer
4. Assorted Sundries
Pretzels are 1 GP and restore 1d4 HP. It takes ten minutes to eat a pretzel, any faster and the
restorative properties do not function.
Carrying Pretzels will attract Pigeon Swarms and Giant Squirrels. Any swarm of avians and giant land based mammals can stand in for these. Encountered on a roll of 2 on a d6.
Use your favorite fantasy narcotics for the Narcotics Dealer. Enlarge/Reduce Shrooms, Fairy Dust, Stinking Cloud Pre-Rolls, Phoenix Down, etc.
Candy Kids have a 2/6 chance of selling a Candy that is beloved by a Boss or Monster in the Ward. They might not ask a reasonable price for it. Regular candy is otherwise just 1d6 pieces per Gold/whatever currency feels right to you.
The Sundries merchant has a 1/8 chance to be carrying a Spell Book or Magic Item
NPCs
1. Cultists (1d4+2)
2. Child Bandits (1d8+3)
3. Vagrant
4. Free Lancers (1d4)
NPC Disposition
1. Violent
2. Indifferent
3. Friendly
4. Helpful
Feel free to use your favorite table of NPCs.
Merchants are always Friendly or Indifferent.
-Cultists carry at least one 1st level spell scroll or potion
-Vagrants & Child Bandits know location of the secret paths
-Free Lancers can be hired to fight for 10 GP. Will never risk their lives. Will betray characters with low (system specific stat) in the face of powerful opponents/challenges.
Any of these NPC categories could be fleshed out into a faction. Or you could drop your favorite factions into The City.
Spirits, Creatures and Monsters
Spirits are non-living entities that inhabit The City. Some of them are the ghosts of adventurers from failed expeditions, but that's not what all of them are.
Creatures are anything that could pass for an animal the world your PCs come from or the real world.
Monsters are more a set of behaviors than taxonomy. Anything or anyone that wants to harm the party, take their loot or invade their world can be considered a monster. Use your favorites in your system.
Weather, Traps, Boon & Banes
Weather is self explanatory. Use it as a way to control party progress between points, drain their resources and eat up the clock for their expedition.
Traps are self explanatory. Use your favorites.
Boons & Banes are entirely situational. A Boon should be anything helps your party and a Bane anything that hinders them. Think:
Boon: finding a stash of potions & ammo, a spring that restores magical power, a map to a permanent Doorway.
Bane: beset by child pickpockets (lost 10d20 worth of treasure), a magical field turns water to vinegar.
These can be events, encounters and even opportunities for role-playing if you want to let players flex their agency.
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Theoretically you could turn any map you want into a pointcrawl. I think there's something fun about starting with a commuter rail system
Every station here could be a Ward.
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This is not a gaming blog and I don't normally blog about tabletop stuff, but it's something I would like to do more of.
A couple of related things I have around the web:
A pair of 5th Edition Adventures over at Dungeon Master's Guild.
My Itch Page which features a couple of games I've built on The Black Hack (1e).
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TTRPG Stuff from around the Web
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-Wizard Diss Battles over at Prismatic Wastelands
-There's a second edition of Star Trek Adventures coming. I hope its good! I've always loved the adventure structure of the first edition but found it to be much too fiddly.
- Really looking forward to a full release of Aether Nexus. The Mecha Hack is one of my favorite games and I've loved everything I've seen of its fantasy spiritual sequel so far.
- This thread has some useful tips for running a Hexcrawl.
- Been on a bit of a Edgar Rice Burroughs kick so this map really piqued my interest. Running it with these John Carter house rules seems obvious enough but why not Star Wars?
- The only thing I love more than Goblin romance subplots is a nice tower. Towers are the perfect dungeons.
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P.S.
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If you're a Philadelphian you really should check out @BlvdSubway's account. They have been doing some fantastic work to bring attention to the long proposed Roosevelt Boulevard Subway project.
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