Die Drop World: Procedures for hexcrawling and dungeoncrawling

How to get around in a fantasy world

These are rules you can use to gamify travel and dungeon delving in an RPG, to create a sense of risk because of the possibility of running out of supplies and to give players the ability to push their luck or play it safe. These procedures make travel problems more abstract, using the Black Hack’s usage die.

Die Drop World Procedures for Play

The following rules are based on Cairn’s encumbrance rules.

Procedures for Overland Travel:

1. Overland travel is mediated through a usage die, which represents the party’s food and other needed supplies while in the wilderness. As the party travels, they roll the die once or more times, depending on the terrain. If they roll a 1 or 2, they move down to the next die in this order: d20>d12>d10>d8>d6>d4. After a d4, you run out of food.

2. The party uses just the one die to represent food for all of its characters.

How many slots does food take up in your party’s inventory? It depends on how large your party is, since each person needs their own rations. Use the following chart to know how many slots you need:

If your usage die is a:

—d4, divide the number of members of your party by 4, rounding up.

—d6, divide the number of members of your party by 2, rounding up.

—d8, you need the same number of slots as the number of party members.

—d10, you need one and a half (1.5) as many slots as the number of party members, rounding up.

—d12, you need twice (2) as many slots as the number of party members.

—d20, you need three (3) times as many slots as the number of party members.

If you want to go above a d20, simply add a second usage die and use the slot calculations for each die separately.

These numbers will also tell you how many slots-worth of food you need to buy to raise the dice.

You never can buy less than one slot’s worth of rations to raise the die. For example, a d4 for a party of two takes up one slot, as does a d6. But you still need to pay for a slot’s worth of rations to raise your usage die from a d4 to a d6.

3. You may distribute the food as you like, among the members of your party, as long as you maintain the above numbers. As you drop from one usage die level to the next, you don’t need to recalculate the number of slots you are using until you want to use them. Then simply use the table above to figure out how many slots to free up.

4. Every time the party moves into a hex with “regular” terrain (which is understood to be plains), they roll the usage die once.

When they move into hexes with any of the other terrain besides swamps or mountains, they roll two of the usage die and use the lowest roll.

When moving into hexes containing swamps or mountains, they roll three of the usage die and use the lowest roll.

When moving on a road or boating downstream on a river, the party rolls the usage die twice and uses the higher value.

If the road or river passes through any special terrain, the number of dice rolled is reduced by one (because the ease of travel on the road or river somewhat reduces the difficulty of movement through the terrain).

For example, if a road goes through a mountainous hex, only two dice are rolled and the lowest is used.

5. To find locations inside hexes, the party will usually have to search for them. (The GM should decide if something is clearly visible. For example, a tower may not need to be searched for.) A search requires an additional roll or rolls of the usage die, based on the terrain, as above.

6. Entering a location requires one roll of the overland usage die for the entire time the party is inside.

7. The party can replenish supplies by hunting or foraging. In order to hunt or forage, first you need to roll the usage die, to represent the supplies used during the time spent hunting and foraging. Again, the number of usage dice rolled depends on the terrain. Then, the party rolls a d6. If they roll 3-6, they increase the usage die one level (i.e. from d6 to d8). The party can attempt to hunt as much as they like, but they must roll a usage die or dice every attempt.

8. If the party runs out of food, each party member should incur one point of damage per round of travel, hunting or searching.

(Alternatives to this are possible. One is to apply standard Cairn rules concerning deprivation and state that they can't replenish HP or ability scores until they get food, plus that they fill a slot with Fatigue every day they go deprived, which would translate to three rounds in the current procedure. A second alternative is to start by reducing HP by d4 each round. Once HP is depleted, STR is depleted by 1 point each round. Again, neither can be replenished until they eat, and then replenishment proceeds at the usual rate for HP and ability score replenishment, though probably without the need for medical care.)

Random encounters

The GM rolls for a random encounter every time that:

1. The party moves into a different hex.

2. They spend a round searching for a location.

3. They spend a round hunting or foraging.

There are different random encounter tables for different terrain types.

The rolling procedure is first to roll a d6. On a 1, there is an encounter. To determine the type of encounter, roll 2d4 and consult the table for the terrain type. Roll another d4 or d6 to determine how many of the creatures are encountered. Remember to roll a reaction roll, because NPCs are not necessarily hostile.

4. Roll for a number of gold pieces that NPCs are carrying, if they are the type that use money, perhaps a d4 for every NPC. The remains of some NPCs may be worth money (pelts and the like), but you’ll have to use a round preparing them before you can start taking them back to a settlement.

“Standard” terrain encounter table:

2 Hobgoblins

3 Soldiers

4 Traders/travelers

5 Wild animals (dog, boar, bear, or other)

6 Bandits

7 Kobolds

8 Trolls

Mountain and rolling hills encounter table:

2 Giants

3 Bears

4 Wolves

5 Dwarves

6 Hunters

7 Trolls

8 Giant hawks

Forest and canyon encounter table

2 Hobgoblins

3 Orcs

4 Wolves

5 Hunters

6 Elves

7 Bandits

8 Wyvern

Lake and swamp encounter table

2 Sea hag

3 Brigands

4 Elves

5 Fisherpeople

6 Snakes

7 Orcs

8 Giant catfish

Missions and Rumors:

At the outset, use a d20 to roll at least three missions or rumors up from this table and present them to your players. You may need to fill in specifics to make the story clear or hide details from the players so they don’t understand the full story. You can decide that some rumors are false. Replace them with your own after you use them, if warranted.

1 There is a relic at a location or in a dungeon. People in the settlement believe that it is a symbol of their town and should be returned to them. They will pay for it.

2 The evil being in a “dungeon” is sending out its minions into the countryside. Kill it for a reward—though you’ll have to prove that you actually killed it.

3 A person from the settlement has been kidnapped by NPCs or an NPC. Retrieve them for a reward.

4 There is a party of NPCs that has been causing problems. Negotiate with them to stop or forcibly stop them, for a reward.

5 Take a message to the other settlement, for a fee.

6 There is supposedly a treasure at a specific point of interest. No one so far has found it.

7 One of the individual NPCs who lives in the region can teach a spell.

8 There is a natural location where the water, earth, plants, or other elements have (limited) healing powers. People will pay for samples.

9 If you assassinate the ruler in the other settlement, this settlement will pay you.

10 Take this box to one of the NPCs. He will pay you. DO NOT OPEN IT.

11 The residents of this settlement want you to convince a group of NPCs to attack or otherwise undermine the other settlement. They will pay you once the job is complete.

12 A resident in this settlement wants to woo one of the NPCs in the wilderness. Find out what would help and they will pay you for that information.

13 An NPC living in the other settlement or in the wilderness has been acting strangely. Their family or enemies or an authority figure in this settlement wants you to find out what has been going on.

14 The sage has predicted that the blood rains will come again this year. Someone must leave an offering to the deity at a point of interest. The settlement will pay you for it.

15 An explorer went missing in a dungeon. Please find them.

16 Two rich people in town are having an argument about the physical nature of a location, for example, how far the swamp extends. They want to send a surveyor to check out the location, but they need a party to take him there.

17 This cursed item needs to be taken far away from the settlement, because it is making the residents sick. Throw it in a pit in the dungeon. The sage says that that will cure the residents. If you do it, the townspeople will pay you. (Though if they don’t recover, how will you prove that you did the task?)

18 One of the NPCs in the wilderness is rumored to have a deadly disease. You must visit them and kill them, before it spreads. They won’t be happy to be killed.

19 People have seen a strange person or creature in a specific location. If you can find out the truth of the situation, the residents of the settlement will pay you.

20 The king is coming in a couple of months. No one has been able to get out to see the state of the roads in this region. If he shows up and they aren’t in good shape, we’re all in trouble. Please travel the entire length of the road and report back on their condition. The settlement will send the local ditchdigger with you, to make sure you actually do the job. They’re anyway going to be the person who will have to fix the roads, eventually, if anything is wrong. Just a warning, though: they often get really drunk and are a big annoyance. Keep them safe, please, or no pay!

Procedures for Dungeon-Crawling

1. A turn in the dungeon occurs when 1) the PCs move into a new room, 2) the PCs engage in a full round of activity in a room, such as searching for hidden items, or 3) the PCs finish a combat encounter.

2. Each turn in the dungeon, the players should roll the usage die for their light source. A torch starts as a d8. A lantern is a d12. Each extra torch or extra oil for a lantern takes a slot.

3. Each turn in the dungeon, the GM should roll a d6 for encounters. On a 1, the GM rolls on the encounters table.

4. If all light sources are depleted, the PCs can move back toward the exit of the dungeon. (The players don’t have to have mapped the dungeon; we assume the PCs mapped it.) Every turn, the GM rolls for encounters. On 1-3, the GM rolls on the encounters table. PCs are impaired in their attacks and the NPCs are enhanced in their attacks.

Dungeon encounters tables

(Roll a d6 for type and then a d6 or d4 for number, if appropriate):

1 Wizard’s tower

1 Orcs

2 Goblins

3 Acolytes

4 Kobolds

5 Gnolls

6 Golem

2 Ruined castle

1 Bandits

2 Banshees

3 Vampire bats

4 Demon knights

5 Gargoyles

6 Ghosts

3 Mine

1 Kobolds

2 Goblins

3 Skeletons

4 Troglodytes

5 Ogres

6 Dwarves

4 Cave

1 Cave bear

2 Bats

3 Wolves

4 Sverneblin

5 Drow

6 Duergar

5 Deserted fort

1 Orcs

2 Invisible stalker

3 Draugr

4 Ghost

5 Gargoyle

6 Brigand

6 Dungeon

1 Wizards

2 Bandits

3 Troglodyte

4 Orcs

5 Gelatinous cubes

6 Skeletons

7 Garden in Faerie

1 Elves

2 Unicorns

3 Wood trolls

4 Treants

5 Boggarts

6 Dryads

8 Barrows complex

1 Draugr

2 Skeletons

3 Ghosts

4 Zombies

5 Mummies

6 Crypt things

9 Ruined monastery

1 Estrie

2 Gargoyle

3 Ghost

4 Clerics

5 Acolytes

6 Demon knights

10 Hobgoblin town

1 Hobgoblins

2 Hobgoblins

3 Hobgoblins

4 Goblins

5 Gnomes

6 Kobolds

11 Giant rat burrows

1 Giant rats

2 Giant rats

3 Giant rats

4 Wererats

5 Bandits

6 Giant black widow spider

12 Spider web maze

1 Giant black widow spider

2 Giant black widow spider

3 Giant black widow spider

4 Giant aranea spider

5 Giant phase spider

6 Orcs

13 Swamp maze

1 Sahuagin

2 Black hags

3 Large crocodile

4 Shambling mound

5 Giant aquatic spider

6 Giant snapping turtle

14 Ruined town

1 Bandits

2 Orcs

3 Fighters

4 Brigands

5 Wild dogs

6 Kobolds

15 Old manor house

1 Bandits

2 Banshees

3 Ghosts

4 Shadows

5 Invisible stalkers

6 Gargoyles

16 Cult campsite and structures

1 Acolytes

2 Acolytes

3 Acolytes

4 Ghoul

5 Golem

6 Hellhound

17 Witches’ village

1 Witches

2 Witches

3 Witches

4 Skeletons

5 Trolls

6 Werewolf

18 Dense hills

1 Wild dogs

2 Harpies

3 Wolves

4 Centaurs

5 Wereboar

6 Brigands

19 Forest

1 Boar

2 Black bear

3 Brigand

4 Pseudo-dragon

5 Wood trolls

6 Treants

20 Canyon

1 Fire beetles

2 Blink dogs

3 Mountain lions

4 Bugbears

5 Brigands

6 Rattlesnake