Hello Adventurer it’s good to see you you have made it to the morning grind welcome welcome it’s the live stream at the beginning of the geek verse where we talk about all types of topics in geekdom gaming and fantasy with an emphasis on being constructive and creating the things that we want to
Exist in the world on the grind size more can’t be too fine can’t be too Co that’s exactly right there are are a lot of Adventures to be had today dungeons to explore and monsters to slay and who knows what a random encounter might send
Our way that’s why we have to prepare so settle in now for the morning grind with your favorite beverage in hand tea or maybe something a little stronger I’ve got a few bottles of the old wyard left whatever you want pull up a chair dude if you’re feeling fancy how about a
Cappuccino or a Frappuccino or how about an espresso just T sounds good to me Gandalf whatever you want I’m just glad you’re here everyone is welcome you can just watch if you want you don’t have to worship anything you don’t want to worship thank you Mike but be forewarned
Sometimes we get really strange characters around here wait what’s that you say why can’t you come and be a part of the stream my wife would disown me oh no I bet she’ll be fine with it come on in am I scared for my safety no what are we supposed to do everybody
Do the secret Handshake secret CST handshake oh oh now do wizards who love each other it’s my friend is a science I still don’t have gifts but it’s fine it’s all in the grind son can’t be too fine can’t be too of course dude this would be a sick place to bring
The band indeed it would be Dave it really would I’m seeing more people coming in welcome glad to have you here oh look here’s someone new is this the cultist Meetup yes yes it is come to hang out uh H please accept me I have nothing else okay we accept
You everyone’s welcome here bro some snacks well that makes things even better you want some coffee I don’t drink coffee you sure it’s cultist coffee what makes it cultist coffee I’m a cultist and I’m drinking it oh then I’ll have some what exactly is going on here I’m seeing more people coming in
Welcome welcome it’s so great to have you oh and look here comes another stranger can we help you ah yes fellow cultists I could really use some food oh yeah uh welcome we have donuts oh it’s me I’m glad I’m here I’m sure you have a few questions for me though what’s your
Name who do you work for what God do you worship great questions Rob I’m Steve King and I worship Nar Otep no not really I’m just Heath and I won’t be worshiping anything this morning but I will be your host welcome to the office we’re going to
Have a great time I’ve got my coffee ready because now it’s time for the morning grind if you could become a fish that would be amazing then I could command you with my mental fish Powers welcome to another cold morning here on the morning grind welcome to my
Home welcome to the office welcome to the morning grind it was another cold night and you know what my kerosene didn’t show up so it was extra kind of cold around here uh last night and still is this morning maybe it will show up today um but it is going to get warmer
Today anyway and I’ve got to figure out what I’m going to do with today I was I’m still behind and getting some things done but I was really hoping to be able to spend all today cleaning because that one of the things I’ve got to attack and
Get obsessed about and be like what am I doing right now I was cleaning this house so I don’t know if I’m going to do that today though or not I need to be warmer so I can move through the house maybe if the kerosene gets here so today
Our uh main topic is going to be continuing to build out this five room dungeon that we’ve been working on I’ve got the shadow dark book right here we’ve been having fun with this we had a lot of fun yesterday basically coming up with a I think the theme of the dungeon I
Haven’t thought more about it so we’ll sit uh since since we were working on this yesterday morning so I’m going to sit back down here and get working again and we can figure out what to do with this gym and this thief that’s got
To be dead and all of that uh so that’s our main topic for today uh let’s see uh good morning bgd good morning good morning Lynn we got Lynn and Lynn just sent some material I was noticing in the Discord server on dice analysis so we’ll have to take a look at
That once we get back to some game design stuff here on the morning grind good morning James good morning good morning Charlie good morning and John good morning Sable Phoenix Robert Robert hey good to see you uh John says GE no heating no heating oil that’s why I’m going to put
In a wood stove whenever I’m able to buy a house of my own stay warm yeah you know I’ve got I’ve got a fireplace but it’s not set up I was thinking man I need to get the fireplace back in Action I mean I’ve got electric heat so it
Wasn’t like I was here in but uh you know in 22 degree weather but I just put the electric heaters in here but it’ be nice when the uh when the kerosene heater gets back operational here uh let’s see so tonight let me bring this up tonight we
Have a discussion with Doug and Cameron of course we’re working on some uh material over on taable talk the tabl talk Channel let me give you the link here this is the direct link to tonight’s table talk table talk tonight Cameron’s going to be with us to talk about heroins in
Story we’re going to be talking about uh the heroin Labyrinth so if you don’t know Doug’s book is the heroin’s Labyrinth it’s coming out next month he sent me the a look of its cover here the look of its cover so I can put it on our thumbnails so the heroins Labyrinth this
Is an alternative alternative story structure for stories with feminine Heroes and Cameron’s going to be with us tonight to talk about the representation of females uh of female uh Heroes female protagonists um in story uh so we’re gonna be talking about that and then we’re also going to take some examples
Of uh women from movies TVs stories I want to talk about Ean specifically also want to talk about some of the characters from The Game of Thrones as well I’m sure there will be others and I’m sure Cameron will have lots of different things to talk about as well
On this subject so we’re kind of preparing for the release and then we’ll put this in the context of the heroin’s labyrinth and Doug’s uh uh story uh story philosophy here so uh we’re prepar we’re preparing for the release of his book next month so we’re I’m doing a
Number of different topics on table talk and reaching out to a number of different guests surrounding uh the topic of women in science fiction fantasy well protagonist in stories of all kinds and by the way I’ve been uh reading farway bird I was reading farway bird this morning far
Away uh bird is Duck’s Doug’s historical fiction book about the Empress Theodora which is what inspired him to write the non-fiction heroin’s Labyrinth so we are going to be talking about um the heroin Labyrinth soon I am in chapter nine now I am in chapter nine of
Farway bird this is about the Empress Theodora in the Byzantine Empire so it is it has been very good so far I’m in nine chapter nine so here we go hey good morning zero good morning good morning pH good morning good to see you everybody uh all right
So that is what is going on tonight oh by the way and that’s tonight you may want to hit the notification on this one I sent put the link in here you may want to hit the notification on this one because it is an hour earlier I gotta remember that myself because uh
Cameron needs to start an hour early so we’re going to start at 6 o’clock p.m. central 6 o’clock Central rather than 7 o’clock Central tonight so be aware of that I look forward to seeing everybody I think it’ll be a fantastic discussion all right uh so that’s
Down uh let’s let’s do our reading this morning from turning pro by Steven pressfield we’ll take our sip we’ll do our reading and we’ll get in fired this morning I I already drunk a bunch of coffee this morning I was up pretty early working on uh well I listened to
Did my reading inside uh far away bird and then I was working on some scripts for YouTube videos on how to play Hero Quest and then also how to play shadow dark that way I can put some uh videos up on the channel to help us out when we go to
The uh to the uh online gaming uh the online gaming coffee show shop which by the way I guess I should give this out around here uh okay happy Friday Eve okay I was like wait a minute is it already Friday wait a minute I miss a day no Friday Eve
Yes it is Friday Eve here um if you would like to come and play games with us I’ve got the interest form for the online gaming coffee shop we got a coffee shop software where you can walk around the coffee shop talk to people and sit down at a table and play games
And one of which we have built out is Shadow dark so if you have not signed up uh but I believe now I I uh the test of that is going to be next Friday not tomorrow but we’re gonna be doing online gaming Friday seems like Friday would be a good time
To do that so Friday evening not this Friday not tomorrow but in a week we’re gonna open up the coffee shop I’m gonna open up the coffee shop for a test can’t have that many people in it it’s gonna be a small number of people but if you are interested and you want
To be on the test to kind of figure out what it is how it operates we’re going to go through the whole system I’m going to set it up for you know an event and go go through the whole system I’m trying to set up here to make sure that
It’s uh operational and uh so we we can play Hero Quest we can play Wizards Quest we can play shadow dark whatever maybe a small number of people but we’ll go through the whole process you’ll be able to learn the how it works how it operates I’m sure there will be some
Changes that need to be made but that’s why this is a test and then we’ll open it up uh maybe a couple of weeks after that hold our first big event I’m think about calling it Raven con and then we can all sit and play and do this
Virtually but if you’re interested and especially if you want to be on the test go ahead and go to that interest form no the test will not be on on YouTube no this isn’t a test on YouTube because the people in the coffee shop I mean they may not want to be broadcast
You can come to the coffee so that’s that’s a good point that is not on YouTube so no this is not something that if you go to you’re going to be broadcast live or something like that to the world that’s not the case this is just an
Event if you’re in the event then you can talk to people who are in the coffee shop you can sit down you can play games at the tables uh but no you’re not going out live for the world uh pH says Heath I saw another
Video about mcdm oh but and I did watch that video I watched the video you recommended pH on the combat example of mcdms uh like where they went through that one you recommended and played out with the like the giant spider that ended up appearing so I did watch that
But you say Heath I saw another video about mcdm which I think is best it’s called mcdm RPG play test one rules review from the channel D20 play let me look that up uh let’s see it’s called this is one this is called mcdm RPG play test one okay
Gotcha I’ll make note of that uh might listen to it if I decide to clean house I might do that hey good morning stray good morning stray oh by the way we need a Discord server link too hold on if you are here and you want to be part
Of the Discord there’s a place for the coffee shop also to talk about the coffee shop the online gaming coffee shop on the Raven keep server as well oh it’s stray gifted a membership thank you so much stray stray gifted a membership stray is always very generous and Charlie Charlie
Just got that Charlie Gardner was gifted a membership by stray so Charlie cool is Charlie here right now we often see him in the morning uh all right so let’s uh let’s sip I already had a bunch of coffee this morning as I was up and working and then
I realized what else do I have and I got um I didn’t have the right type of Mountain Dew at the a grocery store yesterday so I had to get this Baja Blast stuff so Baja Blast zero oh there’s there’s Charlie congratulations Charlie uh let’s see all right so let’s
Take our sip everybody get your drink together so my Baja Blast zero whatever you got this morning coffee cappuccino Frappuccino whatever it is let’s take two deep breaths this is our time for brief self-reflection Focus two deep breaths in through the nose then out through the mouth deep breaths complete exhales and
Then we’ll take a sip of our favorite beverage and then we will get inspired by step pressfield this morning then we’ll head on to making up a dungeon all right so here we go deep breaths and sip all all together now all together ah very good very
Good all right let’s see what’s going on In turning pro by Steven pressfield a marine gets two salaries there’s a well-known Gunnery Sergeant who when his Young Marines complain about their pay explains they get two salaries a financial salary and a psychological salary the Marine’s Financial salary is indeed meager but what about the psychological salary the
Feeling of Pride and honor the sense of belonging to a Brotherhood with a brave and Noble history and knowing that no matter what happens you remain a member of that fraternity as long as you shall live how much the Gunnery asks is that worth you and I as artists and entrepreneurs receive two
Salaries as well the first might be called the conventional rewards money Applause attention that kind is fine if we can get it the problem for most of us is that we can’t we bust our butts training and practicing and studying and rehearsing and nobody shows up nobody
Notices nobody even knows we exist no wonder people quit the struggle requires too much Agony for too little payoff that’s the conventional reward then there’s the psychological reward remember Krishna told AR Juna that he had the right to his labor but not to the fruits of his labor what he meant
Was the conventional fruits does the monk meditate only to achieve enlightenment what if it never happens what does the dancer take from the ballet class it’s fun for the actor to perform why does the singer uh singer sing or the filmmaker shoot when we do the work for itself alone I know how
Easy that is to say and how hard it is to do we’re like that Marine who sleeps in a foxhole in the freezing rain but who knows the secret that only he and his brothers and sisters share when we do the work for itself alone our pursuit
Of a career or a living or a living or fame or wealth or notoriety turns into something else something loftier and nobler which we may never even have thought about or aspired to at the beginning it turns into a practice all right that’s our words of wisdom today from Stephen pressfield from the
Book uh turning pro all right let’s uh let’s bring up our notes from yesterday and see where we were and see what we can fill in here so we are building a oneshot dungeon based on the five room dungeon model and so the first day this is kind
Day two of actually building out the dungeon we kind of started this three days ago so if you want to know what the the five room dungeon philosophy is I had to remind myself of that so three days ago or actually two days days ago I
Guess this is our third day of this two days ago we kind of went back and went through what the dunge five room dungeon philosophy was and all of that if you haven’t heard of it or you want to sit down with us refresh your memory as well
We had been through it on this channel before we had been through it in Greater depth on this channel before and dungeon building philosophies and then uh so we were but it’s been a while so I refreshed myself two days ago and we really started building yesterday
And we were saying okay this uh this is what we’re trying to do but by building yesterday we were basically coming up with our major themes here and what it is that we’re what it is this dungeon is actually trying to do so our design goal is a oneshot dungeon
Maybe I can do a little bit of editing here not that all this is going to stay in the in the text but I this is a One-Shot Dungeon adventure suitable for starting first level characters that feature classic Dark Age fantasy themes and characters that’s what we were trying to
Do so when we were rolling up themes that’s design goal we were rolling up themes we rolled up ageless Greystone ruins punctuated by strange Stone pillars and ancient gateways we had wait where is our I must have actually deleted my note about we had this idea from bgd called a power
Word which is was kind of giving us a reference for the whole dungeon and we rolled that actually using the index card RPG tables and that word came up with rage so we were’re kind of using that as the example of well everything in the dungeon should be connected we ended up
With rage I don’t know what we’re going to do from here but that’s what we got um and then we said the we got we rolled up ageless Greystone ruins punctuated by strange Stone pillars and ancient gateways and then we said destroy a there was something else that we rolled
We got destroy a green gem that is driving people into rage now in this case we do want to go into a dungeon but we this idea of this gem came up right there so where are we going uh this is driving people into rage we really didn’t go with the
Driving people into rage we also rolled I believe this was from the shadow dark banish the hunter in the sorcerer’s Tower and who is the hunter maybe that was a kind of monster so this seems like this actually the sorcerer’s Tower is ended up being a
Tomb like a barrow so we were using the we were rolling stuff up but then we were kind of just using it as inspiration and going in our own Direction so we had we rolled up a name that was like Barrow of The Lost Hero so
We had the idea that maybe the hunter is a large orc we might use like the ogre stats for and we wanted to use Undead in here so we said maybe this is a mystical burial site where a green gem has been stolen activating a long dead hero the hunter
Who is risen with his Undead guards may be served by goblins who is tormenting the countryside until the gym can be returned um and then that’s when we had the idea that maybe the the hero could have even been an orc hero and they might have been killed on the edge of a
Battlefield um we so the big issue that we were wondering is if okay if it’s this ogre is going to be Undead we had maybe in life the ogre had com had coveted this gym but now the gym is gone the ogre has woken up with his Undead Goblin and orc
Soldiers so we got Undead that’s not human Undead here two ways to win physically defeat the monsters or put them to rest by returning the gym to the ogre so we like that because the ogre may be tough by the way I was looking just before this started
At the O I was like I hope there is an ogre in Shadow dark and there is an ogre in Shadow dark and it is tough it is tough so we may have to to scale this down um may have to do that because I was noticing where is okay here we go
Ogre I’m not exactly sure how how the monsters are organized in here they’re alphabetical except for they’re also there’s like some kind of type in here as well where they’re alphabetical so it’s not purely alphabetical there’s some kind of categorization that I don’t understand where is hag
Oh here we go ogre so it says ogre a massive dimwitted brute with tusks and a heavy frame often Lords over goblins and Orcs okay makes sense it’s ac9 it’s it’s hit points 30 though it’s got 30 hit points in here great club plus six so it’s rolling with a plus six
Which does two D6 damage so that’s a lot we’re thinking about our first level heroes and their number of hit points if they’re going to fight it fighting a plus six creature that does 2d6 damage is a lot and this is written out as a level six creature level six
With 30 hit points so we may have to make some adjustments here or go down to make it just a large orc or something like that but on the other hand uh that may be I like the idea of two ways to win you could physically put down all
The monsters in here we’re going and putting them down or we can figure out what to with the gym that’s going to put them all down so if you’re a weaker I like the idea that if you’re a weaker party then well the gym is the answer
But who knows you might luck out and be able to kill something but I want it to be possible one way you could do it is it’s like man that’s basically impossible to take out the ogre if you’re around low levels but maybe it shouldn’t be bgd says you can work this design
Task at both ends so far you’ve been working from the top down starting with the world in the quest today you can switch by designing five kickass encoun counters and then wrap a themed story narrative around them this helps you fight against scope creep too that’s a
Good point yeah we do want to fight scope creep because we were talking about well what do we do with this gym that we if you’re we need the gym to be in this five room dungeon because it would make sense that the thief you a thief stole
It and was you know gotten out and that means that uh they’re rampaging looking for this gym the undead woke up and now they’re looking for their gy gy and it’s someplace else but we really didn’t want to have to go and find the gym and then
Another adventure come and bring it back for fighting scope creep we decided we need to put this all in one James says maybe the hero went and searched of the Mage who owned the tower uh and was cursed in the process of slaying the Mage oh that’s
Interesting because yeah we did kind of drop the idea that there was a mag’s tower that could be the ruin like why did why did he turn Undead we didn’t get that this is more top down kind of stuff uh but we could I’m going
To put in here uh the ruins could be the ruins of that mage’s tower that the maybe the orc was attacking or this ogre guy was attacking the and he did te it down or he did succeed but was cursed with unlife as a result something like
That he was probably attacking suce and he succeeded probably killing the Mage and taking this Crystal that also gives us an idea or take the gym that also gives us the idea uh about what what are the Gym’s Powers because if you if you use the
Gemm to put down the undead then you don’t get the treasure the gym is a treasure right but if you do then you could potentially take the gym at as as treasure so that needs to be valuable but this would also like link the powers to the
Major do not like the term major major of the uh Tower and its previous owner who was slain so we’ll use some type maybe we can come up with a maybe there’s a good magic item in here no well let’s just let’s check that out we do have magic items in here let’s
See looking in the shadow dark book Genie lamp gloves Goblin Bomb Uh I don’t see Gem of something uh but of course we we can or here’s an amulet Amulet of secrecy The Amulet of secrecy is a heavy flat pendant carved with a litted eye benefit you can you cannot be detected by divination magic such as scrying or a
Crystal ball while wearing this amulet but it’s cursed you constantly have the Sensation that you’re being watched so we could take inspiration from some other thing that a wizard might like to have Amulet of Vitality but we also need a reason why the the the ogre kind of warrior wants an amulet
Of Vitality a gold amulet with a red ruby teardrop at its Center your Constitution stat becomes 18 plus4 while wearing this amulet uh well that’s something that a warrior would want but we can think about that we can take inspiration from some existing magic item or maybe something’s going to
Come to us as we go right here also the tower can have below grade levels hence the dungeon and maybe the above grade portion crumbled a long time leaving a dirt Mound hence the barrel I let’s um yeah I think this this Tower let’s not have the tower let’s have the
Dungeon the Barrow beneath it be what you’re going into I think later I had I used to run like I had a one shot about a tower that was like a Wizard’s Tower a long time ago that was love craft related maybe it’ll be time to bring that out
Sometime BG that’s when you just ignore the alternate location swap the Mage tower for the barrel and keep things consistent being loose and interpretation is the key yes invert the Mage Tower and make it a mage’s oblet deep within the Barrow yeah the inverting it turn turning it over like it’s
Crumbling yeah let’s see okay so uh good point about that uh the gym could be worth a lot of money right right obviously you want to bring a a priest seems like bringing a priest would be a good idea to a place like this if it’s
Got Undead but we don’t want this to be a cakewalk with the priest uh we’ll have to see how that goes within the rule system um obviously the gym is missing taken from the ogre probably by a low-level Thief who did not know what he was doing
Um we got the problem so we said okay the gym can’t be in the Tomb it seems like but actually the gy gy has to be in the Tomb but we’ve got to come up with some reason why the ogre and its servants don’t grab it the thief may
Have died in the Tomb that’s what we’re thinking now and you’re going to encounter the body of the thief in an Indiana Jones style trap and the gy went someplace that you’ve got to get it out of but that the undead don’t notice there’s going to be some reason for that
Raging Undead have begun tormenting the local Village at night okay so we said raging Undead have begun tormenting the local Village at night this was kind of our startup this this discussion this is because or a startup for the actual you know passage that could go with it was
An ancient Battleground where great orar hunter was slain in life he was obsessed with the possession of the gem with some kind of powers he was buried in it with a tomb on or near the field with his Goblin bodyguard who slew themselves to serve in death recently the tomb was
Discovered by a thief who found the gym in the ogre’s claws shocked by his Good Fortune he took the gym but when he did he awakened the ogre and his soldiers the thief was slain trying to escape and then something happened to the gym so
The ogre can’t reach it and uh does not even know that it’s there you know in the barrel with him the heroes responding to the undead threat have tracked the source of the undead to this Barrel which they are about to enter to try to dispatch the threat I want to put
Some Ooze in here um all right so that’s basically where we were so we’ve got entrance and guardian I kind of think we should come to that one last seems like ENT oh there’s power word and it got slid way down so entrance and guardian but I’m
Kind of thinking that might be the one that we do last we’ll see when it comes up naturally but we got to think about puzzle or role playing challenge propose a dilemma make the players make a critical Choice big room setback big danger that’s nearly unwinable cascading Into the Heart of
Darkness the climatic battle so this is uh the undead ogre guy that’s going to be where that is so we know what that one is that one we got to make that cool we don’t want it to just be an undead ogre we need make sure there’s something cool going on in
There and then a reward and twist as well so it strikes me that the puzzle is a good place uh for the acquisition of the gym or the attempted acquisition of the gym we want to start on action with this entrance uh we do know like so we’re
Talking about why is this not plundered we want a timer threat and treat in each one that’s what bgd was saying uh but the philosophy here asks why this has not been plundered but of course in a this one actually has so let’s say it may not be that they fight
I think that we need to start on action we need to start with an undead fight to set the tone here but I don’t think outside Pro Heroes might want to want to go in during the day anyway they might want to go in during the night whichever
One it’s be dark in the Barrow anyway so this is perfect for the TR for torches and everything going in uh the the heroes so our our entrance and guardian is probably not the actual door to this Barrel we can describe that open because the thief went in and never came back
Out but now the undead are coming out and going back in so the heroes find the Barrow Barrow’s door Disturbed it’s long long seal uh it’s uh seal which held for so long whether that’s a big rock or whatever it is held for uh many years or longer whatever has been
Broken there are tracks uh the tracks you followed I don’t know is this something we’re reading aloud I don’t know yet we to go do an editing pass and clean up and things like that the tracks the heroes follow may not do read aloud we’ll see have followed clearly uh enter this
Barrow and it’s it’s pretty easy let’s just say that it’s pretty easy to get the the door open because it’s in use maybe the undead aren’t really thinking about like sealing it up and defending it uh easy to get the door open because their job is like protecting inside because they ritually killed
Themselves so easy to get the door open uh but it is dark inside and so the first room that’s actually the entrance Guardian I think needs to trap uh or possibly needs to trap the heroes inside and uh have the first encounter with the uh ogre’s Undead bodyguard basically the the first the
First uh first whatever of The Bodyguard first wave first encounter Undead bodyguard centuries that’s what they’re designed to do that’s why they killed themselves to make sure that his sleep wasn’t uh disrupted so we’ll start off with that with this fight we’ll make sure that’s cool but we’ll start there but
Then the key here needs to be what happened to this thief and we need I think I think this idea of a puzzle see a dilemma make the players a critical choice but this is where you could potentially find the gym let’s see what people are saying in the
Comments Sable says my favorite adventure Dungeon Crawl I ever designed was an osr adventure with this random floating Wizards Tower suddenly teleported above a lake then crashed the dungeon is tilted 45 degrees and half submerged that’s a cool adventure location let’s go down here bgd says especially the One-Shot
Adventures of this kind it could be helpful to resist wiring up all the elements of the surrounding story narrative to a very high degree otherwise all of that novel writing can squelch emergent storytelling at the table which is where the real fun of the story happens that’s true and and also
What’s the point like how much of that do we need in all these kinds of cases I would like to find out because I want to be able to build out more of these type of these this style of Adventures and we have this idea of making up these 48 page
Books how many of these One-Shot Adventures could go in a 48 page book and still be reasonable I’m not sure but we need some type of but that’ll give us a page limit and a a word limit as well if we’re to do more of these like I
Would like to do for specifically for Rabia and theophany so if there was a 48 page book of uh of one-hot Adventures that would be great but that means how many words does each one need to to have that that how many words does each one
Need and you can’t spend all those words on creating a whole bunch of backstory you need to spend the words on the actual dungeon itself Robert says the gym could either inflict damage on evil monsters or something uh inflict damage on Evil Monsters uh yeah or something collapsed on top of
It okay something collapsed maybe yeah and a crevice is like one of the things that I was thinking it also could have fallen down a crevice oh water oh I like it being potentially at the bottom of a pool uh could add water in here Jam at the bottom of a
Pool or uh swallowed by a fish or something like that how do you get how do you know it’s there and get it out of the fish or perhaps the gym has a Consciousness and controls the monsters BG says it hasn’t been plundered because the commoners know
That they have that all who have tried to delve the Barrow depths have disappeared Without a Trace no that yeah that’s that’s what I’m thinking that’s that’s kind of the direction I was going Lyn Lynn says I think you might want to go with something along the lines of the gym is
Out of its proper place and needs to be put back by a mortal hand yes I’m SK skipping down a little bit Yeah I think the undead Goblin guards that’s that’s where we go hi Pat Pat says I like the idea of a diversion to break up the otherwise linear
Adventures oh wild barley says translucent fish Jim could make one slightly luminous stand out and good morning to all good morning wild barley yet could be my large translucent fish yeah okay what’s the puzzle what’s the puzzle um puzzle or role playing challenge but we we talked a lot about
What puzzle means here yesterday what does a puzzle mean and doesn’t necessarily mean puzzle like um like actual thing the players themselves are trying to sort out doesn’t have to anyway pH says and maybe the gym is part of a ritual that keeps the undead coming back after being
Defeated yeah so the the five room dungeon oh so uh let me go over here what page in the index card RPG is this let’s see room design 90 and encounter architecture that I think that was it to refresh ourself on the art of good room design I’m gonna I’m looking forward to
Going through the index card RPG I think I do want to build it out I mean we we can use the uh the V index card vtt in the coffee shop uh I believe so we’ll put that in as an experimental idea but also uh I think I want to build
It out myself as well in playing cards.io and that’ll give me an excuse to go through this again as well because I do like its philosophy well somebody may have already put it in here but 114 that’s what I was thinking I let you know okay so scene two so role
Playing CH according to the index card RPG it’s saying now that everyone is warmed up move them deeper into the map and propose a dilemma that’s why I put dilemma over here so we need a dilemma do they bargain with the bad guy or Proclaim their defiance how can they
Convince a foe to help them is what this says a dilemma that mean we could so instead of a puzzle about a fish instead of a puzzle about this fish or it doesn’t have to be a fish but if we’re going that direction or the gym in general instead
Of a puzzle about the gym what about a dilemma about the gym now that’s exactly what’s going on if you put the gym back in place the undead will rest that’s exactly where that’s exactly where we’re going so you can either try to fight all of the
Undead and kill them all or you can use the gym putting in its proper location but that means you don’t get the gym five room dungeon Ultimate Guide to the five room dungeon room two puzzle or roll playing challenge so index card RPG used the term dilemma uh but let’s so let’s see
Uh this is I’m on roleplaying tips.com I’ll put the link in here if you need it five room dungeon so the PCS are victorious over the challenge of the first room and are now presented with a trial that can be solved with with uh or a trial that
Cannot be solved with steel this keeps problem solvers in your group happy and breaks the action up for good pacing make make room to a puzzle skill-based problem or a roleplaying encounter if possible room two should Shine the Limelight on different PCS than room one change up gameplay offer a
Variety between the challenge and entrance to the challenge at the end note uh change up gameplay and offer variety between the challenge at the entrance and the challenge at the end note if room one was this type of encounter then feel free to make room two the combat encounter room two should
Allow for multiple solutions to prevent the game for stalling right so we need multiple Solutions a dilemma a critical choice about this gym multiple Solutions uh we do need okay we’re gonna have this is where I think we should have the jump jump scare what should get this kicked off of the Dead
Thief oh okay so could the water or the fish have something to do with the Trap could this have to do with the um trap that killed the thief so this is if you make it past the undead guards this is what would would have been there as part of this Orcs
Barrow so room two ideas magic puzzle such as a chessboard tile floor with special squares an AI blocks access to the rest of the complex and must be be be befriended not fought a buzzer panel for the apartments but the person the PC is looking for has listed themselves
Under a different name which can be figured out through the previous Clues you’ve dropped uh let’s see the dirt floor claw crawls with poisonous snakes that will Slither out of the way to open to avoid Open Flame a few might follow at a distance and strike
Later uh once you figured out what room two is try to plant one or two clues in room one about potential Solutions this ties the adventure together a little tighter with delight will Delight the problem solvers and be a backup for you if the players get stuck okay
If you arm the party party with the knowledge they need the gym in the first room have the gym midden in the pool have the gym hidden in the pool in the second room then have a neutral monster the party can uh RP to help them get the
Gym at the bottom of the pool okay so do we need yes so let’s let’s put a note up here on the entrance we need To hint at the existence of the gym of the gym here and that might be the first the heroes know about this letting the heroes know there might be more to this than just uh the The Killing uh killing again reking all the undead there may be another solution so that’s when that
Needs to be this needs to be Perhaps Perhaps an engraving on the wall uh we need a neutral monster maybe Daniel says Orient of the gym placement has different effects toward Undead depending on how it’s replaced oh that could be what if you get it wrong
Oh is there a way to get this wrong I G make note of that uh I’ll just put the note down here is there a wrong way to return the gy which which could result in a worse outcome bgd says if the party is unsuccessful in listing aid from the
Monster give the PCS a way to fail forward the cost at a cost as they retrieve the gym wild barley says this design architecture is really similar to the approach the tomb of Horrors was designed with I’ve also survived that module myself and we definitely uh definitely designing a similar uh and we
Definitely designing in a similar Motif uh I was thinking wild barley that could be I don’t think I’ve played the tomb of Horrors uh tomb of Horrors RPG module okay oh oh yeah this an original one okay so no I’ve not played that uh but I was thinking about one of
The the the Randall mour Adventures is it the first uh Randall mour Adventures Adventure that seems also also seems to be structured in this way which I know he played at least twice hey Michael what if the gym has healing properties but is bound to the dungeon
Sanctuary uh which was once a cleric order if the gym is not inside the sanctuary it keeps bringing the dead back oh that’s interesting like it’s healing and it just keeps healing uh will the players use the gym to have some bonus and healing spells and let the dungeon keep bringing the
Dead back and menacing the region or will they leave it there that’s interesting well Lynn says I suppose the undead might like their freedom and do everything they can to prevent you from putting the gym back in its proper place now I was thinking that since the the
Ogre covets it that he wants it back so he’s after you and if you just give it back to him then uh he just accepts it bgd says ideally the puzzle monster should be scary enough to have the party consider combat but they should note that the foe was not immediately hostile
Open the door for negotiations and role playing at one point they had a a oh wait that Michael um yes okay so let’s um this is almost like a chamber Guardian as a chamber Guardian so let’s see uh as the PCS I think I’ve used Heroes and PCs we
If we write this up we’ll do an editing pass and clean all that up too as the PCS go deeper so they they pass the undead goblins go deeper into the Barrow I’m thinking um do we have a list of random traps how are we going to kill
This um K this thief I’m I mean I’m thinking an easy one would be like Donovan wasn’t it Donovan in the in the original in Indiana Jones in the very beginning they go by and they the undead or the the husk of the guy and we gotta
Figure out why he’s not Undead if it’s important I mean we don’t want to get too bogged down like bgd is saying but it’s not automatically making things oh unless unless the thief is animate animate oh that’s interesting I was like no no the thief needs to be dead we need
Some reason why the thief isn’t Undead but we could the thief could be Undead well now that’s interesting what do you do with this Undead Thief but spit it upon oh I like this but spit it upon uh Spears so you go in uh like that as the
PCS go deeper into the barrel into the Barrow they trigger a trap that’s something like a spear trap uh they they trigger a a retractable spear trap or maybe spiked great like it may or I I I kind of like a spiked a gate uh spiked gate trap that will uh with barbs
So this is that’s intended to smash uh I’m probably not describing this very well but uh at the moment but uh that is intended to smash uh Intruders as they walk through so these things come out of then with spiked uh Barbed spikes that hit you in the center
Here and this is what maybe this is what got the uh Thief um and it’s going into some water here Robert says handling the gym could carry dangers perhaps a special glove or Gauntlet is needed otherwise you become a you become lunch yeah they could eat [Laughter]
You don’t want to become or become a lich but then yeah then you got to add something in about the gauntlet Undead shouldn’t be able to touch the gym otherwise they could move it wherever they wanted and hide or destroy it right but they don’t know
It’s there I think the idea is that they’re not all that smart and so they think that it’s left the I mean what do you do if you’re Undead especially if you’re an orc you go rampaging around and and beating things up and and killing things I don’t think they
Performed an exhaustive Sur church for the tomb that’s what we’re going with so this this needs to be out of the way something that Undead brains wouldn’t think of wrong ways are always fun fighters in the Tomb of Horrors disintegrated himself by using a scepter the wrong way
Yeah The Sword and the Dales yeah the The Sword and the dals yes yes that’s it I think I think we got to play that on the morning grind not the morning grind on uh dinner on a board game sometime once we get back to din on a board game
Streaming I think the sword and The Dales is one I wouldn’t call the puzzle monsters a chamber Guardian since we want room two puzzle to be distinct from room one vers task and purchase and and purpose the monster just lives there and you’ve just barged into its
Living room yeah well now I was actually now threshold Guardian comes from the hero’s journey but Doug has been using the term chamber Guardian for and the hero’s Labyrinth for someone who is protecting a certain room of knowledge which doesn’t have to be knowledge the chamber Guardians Doug was saying can often be
Administrative like behind a desk you often find these characters sitting behind desks and things like that and they’re in charge of knowledge so I was intending to invoke that here what incentive does the now Undead Thief have to keep the gem from the guardian though is he somehow able to resist the
Thrott of the hunter I don’t know let’s see I don’t know um and smash if they walk through um but this time they find uh but uh but this time uh the heroes likely narrowly Escape uh or narrowly avoid avoid the Trap so they they might get caught in it but
They they narrowly avoid the Trap see it coming whatever and find the body the mangled body of a thief still attached um still attached to the uh to the to the spikes the thief has become Undead and is unable but is unable to get himself off the
Spikes you might be able to talk to him so so you his his mind may not be completely gone yet and so you could talk to him like you could kill him like oh my God that’s he probably needs to like Roar at you in the beginning might be pawing at you um
He might start and want the gym so we need I like the idea we got this um this area so he got caught in this as he was coming out right oh am I am I coming up with Skyrim things yeah so the thief mishandled the
Gym and became Undead because he has a warning not to grasp the gy yes so he needs he needs to have some type of warning uh about this we on wants the gym uh and door may have a warning for the heroes probably about the OG the undead ogre he
Awakened bgd says when you have a fetch Quest elements in your in your five room dungeon it can be fun to curse the items that imbue magical mechanical penalties on the bearer during the covery and travel like the one Rings effect on Frodo and Lord of the Rings yeah it
Curse well they may need may need something to defeat the ogre it could curse you I’m afraid this is going to be pretty tough if they just try to fight it out if they’re also cursed well maybe if they’re cursed they would know I gotta get I gotta I
Gotta get rid of this thing if it’s cursed but on the other hand I think it should be good the gym should be good to tempt you to not leave it like the reason to try to fight the the ogre and just do this by brute force
Would be that you get to keep the keep keep the keep the gym which you wouldn’t want to do if it were cursed we could end up with two factions of the undead oh ooze wait a minute uh someplace we’re going to put ooze some place in here
Um so could this Undead Thief guy be part of the be that neutral kind of character guy uh the gem is also here but it has fallen down a crevice bgd says it doesn’t have to be severe or permanent but if the McGuffin that you need makes things harder on the
Bear it provides an interesting challenge and a tactical Dimension to he who carries it uh okay let’s uh let’s say that we’ve got the potential for the the gym uh link Powers major but it could also so have some type of curse uh that is inflicted on the bearer
Okay maybe the thief reasons that for uh with the group to help them take the gym because he wanted to keep his undeath and the ogre just wants to rest if the ogre gets it he rests well the thief might also want it to rest like now I mean this does this
Isn’t really a good life here now you’re Undead attached to this this trap here uh so he dropped it when he was smashed by this thing having been dropped by the thief when he died when when he died the first time so it’s it’s down um he may try to
Convince the heroes to help him him maybe to get him off of the spikes know help me help me it needs it needs to be pretty it can’t just be a conversation just be be kind of gruesome here but even after he’s off the spikes he really can’t move because his
Body is so mangled he needs to be let to rest or put to rest perhaps on one of the ferary beers uh of the goblin guards you could lay him out there um and he wants the the gym but he’ll tell you if you don’t of course you could just hack him apart
Right there some some people might decide to not believe him especially if he scares them and then hack this guy apart or turn him or whatever oh it could also be kind of a a a GRU some scene uh say so we should have some kind of note note that if
The priest if you got a priest with you tries to turn Undead uh in here uh on him he can’t run and is clearly in great pain from the Turning attempt in pain and agony from the effect of the turning and this might be what Clues the heroes in something else going
On this is fun this is fun but then he ask for help to get free of the trap in exchange he helps the group to get the gym yes uh let’s see he asked the party for help uh so we we said that right uh yeah
Asked the heroes to help him and that’s when you can find out what’s going so this is where you could find out the secret to helping put down this ogre the gem has falling down this crass and into water because this is why like we don’t have like the goblin soldiers I’m seeing
These these like the goblin soldiers especially these the goblin soldiers that you fought through they’re not like intelligent enough in the ogre to be like hey let’s let’s let’s turn let’s toss this entire place looking for this gym Daniel says Thief is because they’re like their ritual made them you know
Warrior Guardians Thief is the big bad evil guy the whole time uh misleading the party to recover the gym opens the door to non-combat towards the guardian Hunter well and we do have the idea of this this at the end we got come up with a reward and some kind of twist or
Something the gym could be animating Undead so good reason to find it is to destroy it or return it to the proper place to defeat the local Undead yes yes uh first room and he wants the gym okay so the gym the green gym one inventory
Slot if you pick it up um has fallen down down a crass and into a pool uh at the bottom a number of uh so this if we’re going to have it eaten then this would be where a number of translucent fish are swimming this could be a good place for a thief
To climb down it’s not easy to climb down to the pool oh we might also think about light here we got to think about light too because this is this is old school stuff here um so this could be an ideal ideal for to use ropes so this could be ideal for a
Thief as in a living Thief not one that’s Undead and uh hanging on spikes so this could be ideal for uh a thief in the party and also uh to make use of ropes and uh those those spiked those iron spikes those iron spikes everybody always carries
Around uh to make this a dangerous climb down to this pool the fish can get in but they kind of get stuck there and there can be other there could be other OB yeah there could be other objects down there but really I mean who’s been in here this I I’m I’m seeing
This is kind of something that’s been broken away uh so this is uh the water has eroded uh because the water water flowing uh into the Barrow uh came later and eroded out the wall which fell into a sink hole that’s why we’ve got this thing so this is not
Something that’s been built into this Cavern this fell into a sink hole so that that’s which which is where the pool is this is a lot of fascinating detail but it’s also content and backstory the players may never discover in the one-hot session it’s good to focus on
The end-game specifics of timer threat and treat yeah okay so I was actually just thinking about that here um we we we gave us uh some lists what all that meant timer threat treat so treat was the elements of the encounter that the party can explore use collect or
Otherwise interact with okay so that’s gim in this not always treasure sometimes mundane item save the day so okay so we got trick in here uh bjd says I would also be looking for opportunities along the ways to tie these encounters Back Together cohesively by introducing that power
Word rage in ways that are shown rather than told to the players well so we need to have rage um oh so when the thief is speaking uh remember rage and his uh and rage as his driving force oh speaking of rage you could hear uh the undead ogre
Bellowing deeper bellowing deeper in this uh in the burrow uh Barrow and what is this and that might propt uh the PCS to inquire or to uh by inquire or or the thief to provide to volunteer information about what that is James says maybe the corpse the dead
Rogue could have a length of rope on it making the gym and the crass easier to reach that’s a solid treat uh yes yeah so that that needs to be a rage likee Bellow what is he looking for uh so I mean he’s looking but not well because he’s not really intelligent so
Like he could be you know wandering around um his burial chamber looking for his um gem you know that’s not there kind of like the drunk looking for the keys under the under the light uh information about what he is and what he is looking
For uh if the parties if the party does not have rope uh some could be stuck to the the the thief’s Rope could be attached uh to the Trap that he was trying to use to escape and got that out so treat here we do have Gem and a potentially useful
Rope okay the threat okay we had uh trap we did have you could hit by a trap and then a reaching then the the thie zombie Thief reaching out but that’s not the big deal because this is not a combat encounter but okay there was that then what do you do about
That um but then there needs to be something down there at the bottom so the the since this is highlighting the non-combat characters there needs to be a threat or something that you get down there it’s like okay who are we going to send down there maybe this is only something that
Maybe one person can go into anyway uh it looks like uh it looks like only one person can fit down don’t where the the gym fell so we’re going to have so the idea would be we got players on top and then one person going down oh see you
Later Lynn I know this is this is so much fun I’m glad you recommended this bgd I’m glad and I’m glad I went ahead and did it too I wasn’t sure I was in the right mental mindset the first when it was first brought up but now it’s
Going well Jim cursed could trigger those details circumventing curse requires information yeah the Rope will only matter if the party doesn’t carry their own rope maybe it’s not so good what party travels without rope well and everybody’s got one in their crawlers kit so we would be
Expecting them to have rope but if they don’t then it’s there um but what happened to the player who goes down so can fit down where the gemm fell uh fell anyway uh so one player is going to have to descend one character is going to have to descend if they want
It um insert climb DC and fall insert and no note fall damage maybe you don’t really know what you’re going into maybe the entrance is so small so you don’t just look down and go like oh uh it’s dark down there anyway so is so small that you really can’t see down
There so somebody’s going down there into something they don’t really understand anyway uh drop in a rock does uh result in a splash uh we were talking about that the other day we did talk about that so Robert was talking about that and I think wasn’t Lynn actually talking about
That Lynn just left but I think there was discussion about using chat GP to do this it seemed like to not a tremendous amount of success Robert of course has the most success with that because he’s the most skilled in the prompting and all that um to a dropping the rock does
Result in a splash and people might know there is water down there uh they will also have to take another torch so they’re going to be one-handed down there then what happens when you’re down there has a so the gym needs to be glowing so you can oh wait a minute
That’s that’s it a rumor of cave sharks there’s a there’s a shark down there um so we could have the could have the fish eat it idea uh also now we could also have some other type of creature down here some kind of the chamber Guardian um that could help them
Out uh like a frog guy don’t we have like frog guys what’s like a frog guy thing they have frog men in in the in here there isn’t a whole lot of detail on any particular monster but let’s see p see e FG yeah I don’t see frog
Dude but it could be something like a frog Dude down there kind like a goom character or something like that down there um frog guy um CH who challenges the translucent fish is kind of cool though I like the translucent fish you’re waving around the torch you see something slightly glowing you’re
Waving around the torch and you see the largely translucent fish and then oh no this glow moves because it’s inside one of them is there some way to like how uh could we end up with solutions for how you get this back how big is this gym and how big is this
Fish so the gym takes up one inventory slot that’s just standard it’s a gym I was thinking the gym originally was like you know something like this but it could be uh it could be smaller or the fish just could be really big I oh yeah like a deep one analog too
Yeah icrpg has a deep one analog in uh what once were men page 143 what once what once were men a ragged set of webbed claws where hands were once a weapon wound inflicted with this uh a weapon wound inflicted with this attack will itch and burn drown Gods the way you
Drag the way they drag you below the water disappearing into the Merc taking weapon damage each round below make a con roll or hold your breath and negate the damage or make a strength roll to break free if taking drowning damage twice be stunned for one round so yeah we could put something
Down there this is GNA be a character who’s not really well equipped for combat we need a timer too right yeah we need a timer what we got to get we got to make this decision or the the timer could be like after you talked to the zombie guy
The zombie Thief a timer that’s happening down there timer is the party slowly comes to entropy themselves healing becomes less effective gear starts corroding slightly oh that would be a timer across the whole dungeon I was wondering if they were going to be trapped in here too so I’m
Put the question up here like that’s an that a dungeon timer is an interesting idea I I I was going to put up here when they fight these guys need to be trapped in this first room like with a gate that falls behind them if so then we uh then we can have
A whole um whole dungeon timer but I was thinking about something that we need to uh to to speed up this oh we’re down here I got to get this gem I got to do something and uh I’m under some type of timer Jim is Hollow a hermit crab uses it a
Home party has to offer suitable replacement yeah the fish could be glowing that’s how you know it’s in the fish because the fish is glowing an intelligent crab or it’s like or there’s something that’s down there that’s like the the crab guy in Moana who’s got all the junk on his [Laughter]
Shell if cursed then fish Undead too an undead translucent fish uh and we need a timer uh don’t have forever to get the gym why why why the ice oh y because the F oh yeah because if the gym is just sitting there then it’s not going to move and you’re
Like why would it be difficult to get this out um Isis thawing stray says when melted fish can escape the ice of the cavern yeah so so don’t have forid with the gym if it’s in a fish then the fish could be about to escape or like salmon trying to jump out
To get into the the into the water into the water that goes out just brainstorming here bgd says have the water level rise to threatening the party as a timer or have the water draining away someplace taking the fish in the gym with it yeah yeah so that would be that’s the
Other the fish are leaving uh yes okay well actually we’ve been going for an hour and a half today so I think this is a I got things to do I don’t know what I’m going to do today I don’t know if I I was anticipating
Using the entire day to clean but I’m still behind on some other things I may have to do some other things hopefully some kerosene will show up so I can eat up the house I’m not cleaning if the house is not going to be warm I’ll be
Sitting right here but all right so I guess we continue with this tomorrow we will continue with this tomorrow uh think on this I’m gonna think on the timer for this um fish thing or the getting the gym in general so think on it all right everybody have a
Wonderful day enjoyed it I’ve had a great time go forth be creative be constructive and grind on later everybody
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