Three Days Mulling Over Mechanics


If I've been quiet on the daily updates, it isn't because I haven't been working but because I haven't been able to make up my mind on a fundamental question and that is: what mechanics to use for the abstract hexcrawling aspects of the adventure.

Here's the trick: I want to include a system that is useful for this adventure and potentially useful beyond the adventure itself. I also am not totally satisfied with the b/x style mechanics. I just haven't been able to decide where to go from here. This is the current front runner (it may change as soon as the minute I stop typing this).

Here's a couple of my design goals:

  • player facing mechanics for most cases: classically, all the wilderness rolls were DM-side. I want to move these rolls to the player-side to reflect the actions PCs take upon the world as opposed to the world just rolling.
  • reflect player-character potential specialties/skills: classically, the wilderness mechanics do not change, regardless of the level of the character or their class. I want the mechanics to allow for some player-character growth and simple specialization.
  • allow more variation in environmental difficulty: classically, every type of a certain terrain is the same in terms of the mechanics. I want to add more methods to differentiate between individual instances of terrains.
  • keep it as close to classic as possible: I don't want to change stuff just to change it. I'd like to be as compatible with the classic rules as I can while still achieving the prior goals.

Expertise vs Difficulty

* default classic assumption

Skill LevelNot DifficultModerately DifficultExtremely Difficult
Unskilled*3 in 62 in 61 in 6
Competent4 in 63 in 62 in 6
Expert5 in 64 in 63 in 6

The skill levels shown here would be completely optional. The default assumption would be Unskilled, which would reflect the classic mechanics. However, there is space here for differentiating between different characters, either through backgrounds, classes, feats, etc. For example, an easy way to implement a ranger style class would be to give them an Expert skill level in wilderness challenges.

Scaling the Challenge Up

Mundane TerrainFantastic TerrainOtherworldly Terrain
1 success2 successes3 successes

We can scale up the challenge by asking for multiple successes to complete it. How would a player manufacture multiple successes? By building a pool of multiple dice. Dice can be gained in various ways:

  • Talents: higher level characters may gain extra dice to spend (4+ level: +1 die; 8+ level: +2 dice);
  • Tools: a character may gain a die by having the right tool, assuming they have the expertise to use it properly!
  • Time: a character may gain a die by investing extra time to complete the challenge, and;
  • Teamwork: a character may gain a die by enlisting aid from another creature.

Putting It Together

Here's how I might express a Stretch of the wilderness with this system:

The Beowold (Mundane Forest)

Travel: moderately difficult; Navigation: moderately difficult.

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