Travel in ttrpgs

This is a topic many others have tackled. I'm writing mostly to get my own thoughts on the matters sorted. I've come to dislike most of the travel procedures that I stumble across and I wish to delineate why and what I think needs to be done differently. 

The issue with most attempts at exploration rules is that they only use exploration as an enhancement for the logistics and combat parts of the game. They don't create a framework for exploration that allows for a deep tactical possibility space, much less tactical infinity. In travel rules there is commonly only one right answer, and the rest is a complex procedure for resolving that answer. This produces unengaging gameplay and a lot of wasted time mathing out exact rates of resource drain.

The prototypical 'hexcrawl procedure' consists of rules for:

* Travel distance per X time increment, possibly using hexes for an easy abstraction.

* Attrition of resources.

* Chance of- and specifying of encounters, including weather.

In this system players generally know very little of the surrounding land and thus make uninformed choices of where to go and what path to take. They then spend time resolving whatever attrition mechanics the game comes with and may run into encounters which pull them out of the exploration and into other more well-functioning procedures. A lot of attention is given to getting the minutae of white-room travel speed and food consumption just right.

I think what we want is an exploration system, akin to an open-ended combat system, to tie active gameplay considerations to the act of exploring. What we need is a framework for providing obstacles that contribute to a risk of failure in the exploration itself. 

Travel system 0.5

Generate a hex map with regions of contiguous zones of singular types of terrain. For each zone, determine a special type of path which is unique to the zone. Stock the hexes with unique interesting features and landmarks. 

Each path is a type of terrain or terrain feature, the associated cost to travel (barrier), the associated risks (hazards) and the potential benefits (boons). 

Also predetermine rives and major paths which pass through the hexes and mark them on the map. 

When the players wish to pass through a hex they either know of a path to follow or they must generate a path. If they do not like the path they have available they must find another path, stay where they are or go back the way they came. 

To generate a path roll a d6 on the Path table associated with the terrain of the hex. On a roll of 1, substitute the special path for the region or the specifics of a path travelling through the hex. This is not the only path in the region, but it is the path you find which will take you from your position to the desired exit from the hex. Optionally, you can instead pick a path from the path types of the terrain and roll a d8. On 1-6 the path exits the hex in a specificed direction and on 7-8 the path ends inside the hex. 

To travel a path, pay the Barrier cost and check if you are subjected to any of the hazards of the path and if you benefit from its boons. If a hex feature is on the path you discover it automatically as you travel. You count as being on the path until you move onto another path in the next phase. 

After a path has been generated through a hex the GM makes a note in their hex key about the path type and which faces of the hex it connects. 

When two terrain types would intersect, such as forested hills or a swamp, generate one path from each and apply all Barrier costs, Hazards and Boons. The exception is the premade paths, which effectively overwrite the surrounding terrain. 

Premade paths:

1. Dirt road
1. Barrier: Accessible to light vehicles.
2. Hazard: Encounter risk +2/6.
2. Stone road
1. Barrier: Accessible to any land vehicles.
2. Hazard: Encounter risk +2/6
3. Ice (in winter, overwrites water features)
1. Barrier: 1 VIG to walk. 0 VIG to ski or skate. 
2. Hazard: Can't make camp (fire melts the ice)
4. Boat (rowing, overwrites water features)
1. Barrier: 1 VIG
2. Hazard: 1/6 of becoming wet. 
3. Boon: Can fish.
5. Boat (sailing, overwrites deep water features)
1. Barrier: Requires favorable wind
2. Hazard: 1/6 of capsizing in storm
3. Boon: Can fish. 

Example: Forest Path table

1. Wild trail + reroll
1. Barrier: -
2. Encounter risk: +1/6
3. Campsite: +1/6
4. Boon: Game animal 3/6
2. Meadows
1. Barrier: Accessible to light vehicles.
2. Encounter risk: 2/6
3. Encounter distance: Distant
4. Campsite: 6/6
5. Boon: 1/6 of Common herb
3. Glades
1. Barrier: -
2. Encounter risk: 1/6
3. Encounter distance: Far
4. Campsite: 5/6
5. Hazard: 1/6 of becoming Lost. 1/6 of annoying insects. 
6. Boon: 1/6 of game animal. 3/6 easily hidden campsite. 
4. Brush
1. Barrier: 1 VIG. Impassable for horses.
2. Encounter risk: 1/6 
3. Encounter distance: Close
4. Campsite: 3/6
5. Hazard: 3/6 of becoming dirty. 3/6 of becoming lost. 2/6 of annoying insects. 2/6 of poisonous plants. 
6. Boon: 3/6 of Common herb and 1/6 of Uncommon [Herb]. 
5. Weald
1. Barrier: 1 VIG
2. Encounter risk: 1/6
3. Encounter distance: Short 
4. Campsite: 4/6
5. Hazard: 1/6 of becoming dirty. 3/6 of becoming lost. 2/6 of annoying insects. 
6. Boon: 1/6 of Common [Herb]. 1/6 of game animal (d6 rations). 
6. [Roll on other terrain table]

Optional rule: Navigation check

To simulate competency in navigation, include a Clarity check (or your system's equivalent) when generating a path. On a failure, you discover that the path leads in a random direction rather than to the intended goal. You get one free check per Phase but can spend 1 CLA per retry during the same phase. 

Optional rule: Getting lost

Getting lost happens when you don't know how you current path connects to the way you came from. Mechanically this is represented by you being unable to trace your way back the way you came. If you wish to return to the face through which you entered the hex you must generate a new path to follow. Following the same path you were on will be treated as travelling along a random path in the hex and thus risk depositing you in a random neighboring hex or the same hex; The GM does not need to reveal the result of the roll. 

If you use skill for navigation, a critical failure (nat 20 in my case) will cause you to become lost. 

Design notes

The core feature that makes the system work is the possibility of failure. If you run out of vigour then you can't go on at all unless you rest. If you are low on vigour then you risk death or humiliation from any number of hazards and encounters. The weather acts as a random modifier to the difficulty, requiring extra planning or large margins in supply, which competes with goals of efficiency. The season acts as a global difficulty modifier but also uniquely attenuates some hazards, like biting insects not appearing in winter. 

The main gameplay comes in the form of choosing what path to take in this particular moment. Because each path comes with both unique detriments and benefits it can be situationally optimal or deleterious, allowing the current state and goals of the party to be the random factor which motivates choosing a particular path. There is system mastery both in learning the tables for particular types of terrain and for learning the particular paths that are present in a specific region of the land.

The system aditionally interacts with keyed features in hexes by tying them to specific paths, allowing for an intuitive mechanic by which hex features are discovered (or missed). 

The system can seamlessly be used to stock hexes with prepared paths, for a more curated experience of exploring a local area. 

My houserule is that Vigour is recovered one per phase of rest with a ration of food while Clarity is recovered as per the base rules. This means that CLA is plentiful and easily restored near civilization and rare and precious far out in the wilderness. This makes the navigation easy close to holdings but risky far out in the wilds where getting lost can cause a significant impediment to your return journey.

There could be specialized feats feats which makes navigation much less costly/more efficient, and allow for a ranger archetype. 

. 

Herb magic for Mythic Bastionland [WIP]

Buildings are people made the excellent post Cleric spells are Herbs and I want to use it for Mythic Bastionland. 

Here is my version adapted (with some modification) to the Mythic Bastionland ruleset. 

(So far I've only finished the mechanics on the level 0 common herbs, will add level 1-4 later. Descriptions of the herbs are still in progress).

Idea for magic for Mythic Bastionland

I've been smitten with Chris McDowall's project of bringing his Odd ruleset into the land of medieval fantasy. Being an incurable tinkerer, I am inspired to adapt it to a more stereotypical high-fantasy genre.

Here I take inspiration from GLOG magic for the frontend and vaguely from Earthsea for the backend. I think it seems pretty neat. 

Magic rules.

Casting a spell

Casting a spell requires the ability to clearly enunciate the words of power. If casting a spell from a scroll or grimoire, two hands are required.  

When casting, choose a Spell that you know or which is available to you through a scroll or grimoire and the Power to cast it with. The spell costs that many points of WIT to cast, subtracted after the casting. Certain items or other creatures linked in a ritual can provide the Wit on the behalf of the caster. 

Roll as many d6 as the Power chosen. The number of [DICE] and the [SUM] of the roll will determine the size of the effect, as described in the individual spell. Each die that shows 4+ also causes an additional spell of the spell-myth to trigger, using the same [DICE] and [SUM]. All triggered spells take effect simultaneously.  

If two or more dice show 6s then the spell has upset the Balance. Roll a d6. 

1: The next omen of a random myth is triggered.

2-3: the next omen of the closest myth occurs. 

4-6: The next omen of the spell-myth is triggered.

The progression of the omens is independent of any individual caster, and thus two casters ignorant of each other can push a spell to its culmination prematurely. Wizards often prefer that no one else dabbles in the same spell-myths as they do.

Example Spell-Myth

The Flame

A crackle and jump and then a sudden crescendo, tongues of red, hot, dancing, consuming bursting all around, afraid of dying

Ritual of Awakening: Take an ember from a fire which has burned a man and bring it into the heart of a blazing inferno. 

Mastery: You are immune to harm from flame and heat. 

Spells:

1: Torchlight: A cold blue flame burns in your hand for [DICE] + [SUM] turns, illuminating the area but consuming nothing.

2: Fire shield: Flames lick at your footsteps and dance around you and heat emanates from your person for [DICE] + [SUM] turns. It deals ([DICE] - 2) damage per round to everyone in your zone. You're immune to damage from heat and fire and the heat opposes any harm from cold. 

3: Fireball: At your fingertip appears a small droplet of liquid fire, iridescent and pure. At the end of your turn it jumps towards where you point, within [SUM] zones. At the beginning of your next turn it blossoms out into an explosion with a great roar. It deals d10 + [DICE] damage to everyone in the zone. 

4: Bend Flame: The nearest flame becomes animated for [DICE] + [SUM] rounds. It will jump between objects and characters at random on its turn. By spending your action you can guide its movement and control its properties. You can grow or shrink it [DICE] size categories, make it jump one zone, make it quiet or loud, or make it produce more or less smoke. If uncontrolled it acts upon your current emotion, fleeing if you are afraid, hiding if you are duplicituous, growing large if you are bold. Like any fire it deals 1 damage per size category per round.

5: Imbue fire: The next item you touch is imbued with fire without being consumed. It burns for [SUM] hours and deals [DICE] damage when touched. 

6: White flame: The next flame you touch becomes white and burns smokeless and pure. Anything it touches is burned in thin lines rather than whole areas. It will cleanse what it touches from disease, spells and possessing demons by burning away their essence. A fire shield of white fire blocks all spells from affecting you. The effect will not spread; new fire ignited by the white fire burns orange. 

Omens

1: At a hearth or campfire a child is playing with the flame. They pick up the embers and drop them against each other, giggling at the sparks and heat. When their sibling joins in an ember is knocked out and burns their foot badly. 

2: A village is burning a great bale of old detrius. A small speech of commemoration is held, but a spectator drunkenly stumbles into the fire. When dragged out they are mysteriously unharmed. Foul sorcery is suspected and witchhunters may be summoned. 

3: The well is dry and the eel is dead. The stones are warm, hot even. Then, a barn burns. An alms-taker becomes suddenly incensced by fiery spirit, commits to convincing everyone of the might of the sun. A pyromaniac slinks away to the next village, to go on a spree. 

4: Smoke over the horizon and a reddened sky. Soon ash and billowing clouds make day into night. Animals are driven out of the wildlands and cattle and horses flee their stocks. 

5: In the nearest Holding a spark catches the roof of the poorest home. Before long the hue and cry brings the water, but the house has already burned and the fire is spreading. Everyone in power suffers from a fever. 

6: Deep in the earth the very stones become lit aflame. The fire dies out in treetops and town, but bursts forth through the land every day. The nearest hex becomes a zone of firelands. In a season it is but a charred wasteland. In an Age it will recover. In it a small bonfire burns eternally, holding the Vis of the Myth.  

Example Sorcerer

The Singed Sorcerer

The flame obey the bold, they loudly proclaim.

Property:

- Grimoire (Torchlight, Fire Shield, Fireball, Bend flame, Imbue fire, White flame)

- Bent firwood staff (d8, long)

- A firehorn and a firesteel

Feat - Hardened

When you would suffer only 1 damage (before reduction from armor) you can choose to ignore it.

Vow - Desensitized

Lose d6 GRA when you would suffer discomfortable touch or physical sensation.

The scar

1: Your leg

2: Your hand

3: Your face

4: Your back

5: Your chest

6: Your mind

The lesson

1: Tolerant of minor pain

2: Smell fire a mile away

3: See well in the dark

4: You can immediately stop yourself from burning by stopping, dropping and rolling

5: With flint and tinder you can always start a fire

6: You know how to make fires which water cannot put out

Mythic Bastionland does something New

Chris McDowall's Mythic Bastionland has entered my life like a whirlwind. I've tinkered with Forbidden Lands for a long while but the game never got to the point where it did what I wanted. Seeing MB has made it obvious to me where my disagreements with trad game design lie. I wish to highlight where I think McDowall is further expanding the scope of OSR play.

The front cover, taken from the Bastionland blog [1]. It was called 'Primeval' but later switched to 'Mythic' to avoid connotations of dinosaurs and the Flintstones, according to the Discord.

Random Encounters

A common feature in adventures and advice from the OSR games is to include random encounters. The method dates back to the earliest incarnations of the game in the form of the rosters of potential foes one can encounter in a dungeon, and later also evolving into a representation of a monstrous ecology of the wilds. It solves some key problems in the playstyle:

1. Random encounters reduce the cognitive load of the GM relative to prepared encounters.
2. Random encounters can act as a way to convey environmental features like monster populations or faction presence. 
3. Random encounters can serve as a durable attrition mechanic to reinforce that aspect of expedition play. 
4. Random encounters can create unexpected and inspiring scenarios.

These are powerful boons, but the third one is probably the most vital. Expedition play is required for random encounters to truly make sense. I believe this is why they are relatively impopular in neotrad games like D&D 5e. Making encounters random isn't without its drawbacks:

1. Random encounters provide unconnected prompts which are likely to fail to hook the game.
2. Random encounters can harm the pacing of an emerging or structured narrative.

Thus any individual random encounter is worse than a encounter prepared specifically for the scenario. Their advantages lie in what they contribute to the overall game structure.

This is where I believe the system of the Myth encounters from Mythic Bastionland provides exciting innovation.

The Myths

The myths were developed by Chris McDowall to support hexcrawl play for his upcoming game Mythic Bastionland. There they have come to effectively replace the role of the traditional random encounter. 

A myth consists of 6 "omens", an evocative name, picture and description. The omens are themelsves encounters and are generally only a 2-4 of sentences long but are rich in actionable detail; they usually feature creatures or people, a location, potential energy/conflict and some evocative sensory information. They are written to be agnostic of specific locations but include specifics of the surroundings where they take place. They are also tied together by the common theme of the Myth, which can be an upcoming event or a monster. One encounter could be dealing with the consequences of a monster's rampage while another could deal with the problems caused by those who try to hunt the monster. 

The GM places 6 myths in 6 different hexes on the map. These hexes are the epicenters of the myths, but the effects spread more widely. During the travel procedure a dice is rolled every 8h not resting in civilization and there is a 33% chance of triggering the next omen of the closest Myth. This mechanic ties the myth only loosely to a location and lets its omens find the players where they are. There is a risk of encountering the omens of random myths. The omens once they hit the table are fully real events and locations of the game; if the omen calls for a salt bog then there is and will remain a salt bog in this hex. The GM uses the prompt of the omen to adapt it to the situation where it was encountered, which is generally quite easy given the ample amount of supplementary information and inherent potential energy involved. 

The myths are listed as numbers on the map. They thus stand out and are easily referenceable thanks to little else needing to be recorded on the map sheet. Their corresponding myths are recorded in a separate map key. 
Map made in Hex Kit [2] using the excellent No Strange tiles by Thomas Novosel [3]. 

I believe the magic of the myths lies in those connections between omens. Because the rules are hard these connections carry the same reality as the encounters themselves even after them having hit the table. Because the information of the whole myth is indirectly encoded in the encounter this very effectively awakens wonder and interest when experiencing the encounter; it poses the open ended question of "what does this encounter imply about the future encounters?" which has real correct and incorrect answers. This is a delicious problem for the players to ponder about as they continue playing and does a very good job of drawing one into the game world.

Better random encounters

There are some significant advantages with myths over regular random encounters. They heightens the significance of whatever event or creature is their foucs, which is a very agreeable proposition for a game about fantastical events of monsters. By being short and limiting the number of omens they also help the GM focus on only the most exciting parts of the myth, which helps cut down on rumination and overprep. For most monsters I've become convinced that it is more appropriate to write them as myths than as set encounters in any one situation. Likewise for events and Fronts. This one tool thus drastically streamlines my GM toolbox. 

I consider myths to now be one of the more useful tools for a sandbox, next to node-based plots and keyed locations. 

There is more to say about Mythic Bastionland but I won't bother the reader with a recap when the playtest document is available for free on the Bastionland blog. I recommend checking it out. The rules are well designed to support the intended playstyle of episodic play with time passing in months and years over the course of a campaign. The simple and evocative knight templates make for excellent chunks of content to both empower a player and kick them into the NSR playstyle. 

References:

1. McDowall, 5 july 2022, Mythic Bastionland Playtest, BASTIONLAND, https://www.bastionland.com/2022/07/primeval-bastionland-playtest.html

2. Cone of Negative Energy, 27 feb 2017, Hex Kit (1.0.0.0) [desktop application], Itch.io, https://cone.itch.io/hex-kit 

3. Novosel Thomas, 18 feb 2022, Thomas No Strange Tiles Pack [digital art asset for Hex Kit], Itch.io, https://thomasnovosel.itch.io/strangetiles 

The case for Extrinsic power

Concepts

Player character power can be categorized according to wheter it is intrinsic or extrinsic. The borders between these states are blurry, but that does not negate the importance of the distinction.

Intrinsic power is that which belongs to the character. In D&D your proficiency bonus exemplifies the principle. It is inimically bound to your character and cannot be removed by any means. It empowers you in almost everything you do. 

Extrinsic power is that which is only conditionally at your disposal. It is the spells in the wizard's spellbook, the ally that joins the party temporarily or the magical blessing found by praying at a shrine deep in the dungeon. Extrinsic power is most often also fictional power.   

It is for humans an automatic reflex to treat anything which we have complete control over as intrinsic and to expand our identity to encompass the thing. My physical strength is part of me and I have to readjust my identity if it deteriorates. The borders of my lawn are in full rebellion and only nominally under my control, and my identity is as a consequence not changed even by great upheaval in the garden. The main difference between something being viewed as intrinsic or extrinsic is trust in the accessibility of the item.

Intrinsic powers

D&D 5e and many other modern games and media follow a paradigm of intrinsic power. It is the core trait of many PC RPGs, where character power is almost entirely determined by level, based on how long you have played. In these games, encountering a challenge you cannot overcome imediately is a sign that the developers intend for you to come back to face it when you have gotten stronger, although these games tend to only put you up against fake challenges that you can overcome without adjusting your tactics. Hollow Knight is an example of such a game, where all power rests in your character and the moves you have learned and your skill at utilizing them. Upon death you lose your position on the map and the carried currency, which represents playtime but does not meaningfully hinder your progress beyond that. The one piece of extrinsic power relevant to you is that your soul meter, used to cast spells, holds a smaller charge after death until you can defeat the shade that spawns near your death point.  

In Hollow Knight almost all your powers are protected inside the identity of your character

Extrinsic powers

This can be contrasted with games with an extrinsic focus. Among PC games, the strategy games tend to exemplify this style. In a game like Age of Empires your power lies in your economy, your production and your military power. Each of these aspects are represented on the battlefield as units and buildings that are vulnerable to disruption. Your troop production capacity can be broken by an enemy's attack, your fighting capability reduced by losing or mispositioning your troops. The main intrinsic power available to you is in the form of the resources you have accumulated and the tech tree of your faction. 

In Age of Empires your powers all have a physical location on the map and are vulnerable

In roleplaying games extrinsic fictional power comes most often in the form of items, allies and sometimes positioning. 

Items are special in that they can be intrinsic or extrinsic, and how they are treated reveals which paradigm one operates under. 

Let's look at D&D 5e. Intrinsic power is the ruling paradigm. A character gains their power from their class and their levels in that class, and to a lesser degree from their race. They also have tools at their disposal, but key here is that the tools are more for flavour than power. A rogue gains their power from their level of sneak attack, which comes from their accumulated character level. They can equip a two-handed sword, but their ability to deal damage will decrease because they are not proficient with the weapon. They can lose access to their weapons, but the game does not include any rule for being disarmed in such a manner or any advice for how to handle that kind of gameplay. The game is designed around the idea of power being something tied to the characters and relatively constant from moment to moment. The paladin wears heavy armour, but it is their ability to wear the armour rather than the armour itself that is the key trait. Once a set of plate mail is gained it is almost universally assumed that it is going to stay attached to the character. If it were to be damaged, that is considered unbalancing and an attack on the character, the barrier to decry "dick move" is low. The item is more a function of the identity of the character than a tool.

A typical level 11 D&D 5e party. Their might is largely uncoupled from their belongings

Despite this, the default state of items is to be extrinsic. They have a physical reality independent of the identity of the wielder which produces many emergent scenarios. At my work the things I produce are at least as determined by the hierarchies and systems built to support me as my own skills. When I travel home I do so on my electric bike. The speed at which I travel is determined by the bike, not by my own competency, and the same would be true for someone else who used my bike. 

I prefer extrinsic power

The whole reason I bring up this disntinction is that I think there are merits to the extrinsic approach to power in ttrpgs. I believe the approach leads to benefits in both balance and agency, but first  I will point out a couple of important benefits of intrinsic power.

1. It is easier to create a closely directed experience around. When a character has a set power level then any challenge they encounter can be predetermined by comparing it against that power level. For a game that aims at providing a power fantasy that does not require investing thought, it is beneficial to be able to know the tools the character has at their disposal so that the challenge can always be overcome. Shooter games moved away from conditional HP to intrinsic HP, making HP always regenerate so that a player is always at full health before each challenge. 

2. It feels good to be powerful, and personal power immediately available is the most tangible power around. For a game that aims at a power fantasy it is beneficial to evoke this simple truth. Permanent items always feel better than consumable items, even if they equate to equal levels of ability to affect the world.

3. Essentialism is a common theme in fantasy. Races are considered to carry some sort of essence that makes them special, that is inimical to them being of that race. Elves in LotR are very long-lived, not because of anything they eat or any special biology but because they are elves. Barbarians in D&D can evoke the Rage because they are barbarians, not because the rage is some force that anyone could learn to harness. Keeping this legacy reinforces the fantasy feeling of the narrative. 

Dynamic balance

The maybe biggest benefit of a focus on extrinsic power is the built-in balance it can afford a game. With external power, a core conceit is that power is never truly limited. A character can conceivably be as powerful as they need to by employing external solutions like specialized gear and help. 

This means that whenever the players encounter a challenge they always have an option for overcoming it: go and get more help and the right gear from somewhere else. The deciding factor is no longer whatever grants them their XP but rather what limitations prevent them from taking this power. 

Availability and Time are the two main keys that guard external power. A king's army will not serve any random vagrant and access to their powers requires extensive preparation. Time limits set the boundary for which acts of preparations are feasible. In strategy games these limits are employed aggressively with build timers, resource cost, number of builders, positioning of builders, tech trees etc. Logistics can be said to be a significant sub-aspect of availability. 

In video games following the internal power pattern dynamic balance is still sometimes created. Dark Souls and earlier Pokémon games are examples of such design where a player can grind content to outlevel it, thereby allowing an "easy mode" to exist in the game without changing any rule or setting. Dark Souls also includes some key extrinsic power factors in the form of rewards for exploration (like items and convenient bonfires) that can advantage a player. These items and bonfires effectively become intrinsic powers once found, since they remain accessible to players throughout the game. A midgame twist in dark souls deprives the player of a key bonfire and this loss acts as an attack on their identity, meant to evoke feelings of loss and wrath. Many players report that these moments where they discover previously unknown paths and bonfires are some of the best parts of the games, and I believe it can be pretty directly tied to the surge of ideas of new possibilities brought forth by the change in power dynamics evoked by these mechanics. 

Focusing on extrinsic power in TTRPGs

How to build TTRPGs focusing on extrinsic power is already known; the principle is pretty much the same as the one of building a good sandbox. Powers tied to items and features out in the world, factions with powers on a scale relevant to the players and challenges in general tied to the fictional world all help create an environment of dynaimc challenge. It is my hope that understanding in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic power can still be helpful in a GM's or designer's work. 

A small template for building a challenge in an extrinsic power framework:

1. The challenge: Something the players cannot overcome with their current power (intrinsic power + whatever they have access to at the moment when presented the challenge). 

2. A time limit.

3. The extrinsic factors. 

* Items

* Favors or opposition from NPCs

* Environment 

* Terrain

* Injury 

* Disease

* Magical blessings and curses

Each challenge should have a number of extrinsic factors available to the players (not necessarily directly, they only need to be reachable within the time limit to be available) that allow them to tip the scales in their favour. Advice for sandbox campaigns invariably encourage the GM to create many of these things, and they will thus by default be available to players even when they encounter emergent challenges otherwise too difficult for them. 

On time limits

Time limits are often maligned by players who dislike the pressure they bring to the table. This is a serious concern as it harms the goal of abnegation. For this reason it is important to consider the individuals at the table when deciding upon a type of campaign. An alternative to strict time limits can be procedures for attrition over time, as a softer "deadline" is often less stress-inducing. Still, time limits are essential for external-power challenges to function. With infinite time there is nothing but pride stopping the adventurers from fetching an army to defeat the single owlbear. When racing against the clock they are instead encouraged to be as efficient as possible, as more time allows for more opportunities down the line. This tension between the potential to solve any problem fully in the moment and retaining the opportunity to solve future problems produces a persistent and dynamic challenge. 

A game with a structure that motivates players to pursue adventure even without pressure can bypass the need for time limits. Such structures could be a linear campaign where players have agreed to follow the lead of the GM, character goals of heroism or other mechanics that reward aggressive play. 

Freedom in rpgs

Renfri

Watching the second season of the Witcher TV series does not fail to bring up memories of the first. I find it quite pleasing that the rather high quality remains mostly unchanged, even if the material in the first season remains just a bit stronger. There's something special about Cavill's portrayal of Geralt. 

Freedom and fate and the cruelty of choices and the lack of them remains a theme, but I find that it came across strongest in the ark centered around Blaviken. The evil prophesy created its own prophesied villain, but the story also leaves the mystery of if it is just fallible men or truly magical reality. I get the impression that in the story the two are one and the same, human fear and ignorance being as mighty a primal power as any other. 

Such situations, where choice square up against destiny are highly dramatic and well suited for a show like this. It's a meeting of immense powers with equally great importance in our world as in the fictional one. Thinking critically about choice and responsibility remains one of the strongest ways to foster a deep and resounding moral character. 

Negadungeons

It is unfortunate to eschew it with little thought in favor of ease of play when it comes to ttrpgs. A blog post spurred my disagreement enough to post my own take. The offending advice in question is a showcase of ways to bring players back into the negadungeon by way of curses that manifest when attempting to leave the dungeon. 

Keeping players on track is an age-old problem, but I feel it slightly egregorious that it should rear its face in the lair of the negadungeon. The design has sprung out of the OSR where player agency remains such a high priority. The last thing I would want to do if I included a negadungeon in my campaign would be to afflict my players with a curse to force them back inside. It would easily cause suspicion of railroading and antagonistic GMing. For a linear adventure pursuing the plot might be expected of the players, but in a negadungeon that expectation is intentionally subverted. Forcing the players to pursue it anyway robs it of its storytelling power, making it little more than a self-indulgent gorefest. Tomb of Horrors works on the principle of being a challenge, something distinct from the concept of the negadungeon. 

But still, there is something interesting about a fate that actively resists being avoided. In the case where the GM uses fiction to guide the players they are inadvertedly acting as the hand of fate. This puts the player in the position of being able to very tangibly accept or reject their fate. For normal gameplay this isn't the most interesting choice, as rejecting fate is usually a recipe for poorly paced meandering, but what if it was intentional?

Most rpg systems include reward systems of some sort, most often taking the experience gain design pattern and tweaking the conditions for gaining that experience. This has a similar effect, but lacks the fictional backing of the GM's hand punishing wrong moves. There is no rebelling against experience without changing the system itself, which is usually beyond the bounds of the player characters. The fictional punishment hold the key to making fate gameable. 

Fate itself

The most common fate is as we've established for the PCs to experience the content that the GM has prepared. In the playstyles where railroading is a risk this is often in the form of an pre-established plot. This type of fate is in many ways powerful, containing a depth of experience when accepted, but is for obvious reasons also the least interesting to reject. In practice it is inadequate for enabling the choice to accept or reject the fate. 

A lesser variation of the same phenomenon is the side quest or adventure, where a shorter plot is used and often with the assumption that players may miss it or choose to not pursue. This is potentially more useful, but invariably tends to lack the backing by the GM that makes felt the hand of fate. The choice to reject a side quest is rarely made as interesting as accepting it. 

A sandbox-style campaign is built on the premise that characters will explore and forge their own destiny free of outside influence. This type of destiny is less available to GM-intervention by its nature, but the emergent gameplay can produce interesting moments of contrast between a player's set goals and the reality of their situation. Strong and deep procedures for events in the campaign help produce the foils to the ambitions of the players, but self-imposed destinies unfortunately tend to lack the thematic strength of those imposed by outside forces.

My suggestion is that in order to include Fate itself as an object in the campaign the GM should design an "inverted plot". A normal plot functions by way of events with clues towards further events that constantly call upon the player to affirm their ambitions to follow along. At many intervals events are also used to drive the plot along. To invert this is to create events which drive the plot in a certain direction but which are completely counter to a character's motivation or belief. The character can attempt to reject the direction of the encounter, and only in doing so do they actually progress along the inverted plot. If they instead complete the encounter as preplanned and follow its directions they immediately reach the fullfillment of the Fate, which should of course be something undesirable for them for the choice to oppose it to be at all relevant. 

An example:

Rhackbal the far-sighted encountered a demon which cast a spell upon his thread of fate, cursing him to lose his precious wizard lair. After the session the GM takes the opportunity to create the "destiny" in the form of 7 (a suitably mystical number) events that will befall him. These events will each pose a risk of him losing the tower. They can be linked, but vital for the feeling of a curse is that some of them appear unrelated. Unfortunate Rhackbal will have to fight off all the nonsense that fate throws at him, but fate being fundamentally dramatic allows us an excuse to build these as encounters that are intentionally difficult but defeatable. 

This is at its heart much the same as Fronts from the PbtA genre, but a vital difference lies in that I advocate an detailed approach. This is not a method for giving life to the background of the game world but rather a specific type of meta-level challenge to encounter. It is a tool to consider. 

This is as of yet untested, but please, do tell me if it produces any success or failure. If using this tool I suggest informing players at session 0 but to not tell them when an encounter is because of fate. The tool achieves its purpose when players consider their stance and the correct side in every encounter they meet.