Here we go again! Another day, another challenge. This time around we are creating a complete TTRPG adventure from scratch. And this in about 30 days. Let's see if this tight time constraint will impact the quality of it all.
So after my first try of a challenge, I try another one. Game Jams have been around since a very long time. They range from different topics, to either create a complete (video) game from scratch or create some additional content for an existing game (think mods and the like).
To be honest it is not my first time I do something like this. I participated in the past on the BoardGameGeek Solo Game challenges. With mixed success. I'd managed to create something, but it didn't win something. Not that I expected to do so. And I don't think I'd win this time around as well.
This game jam focuses around Knave Second Edition (Knave 2e), created by Ben Milton. It is a somewhat rules-lite approach to the OSR movement, that focuses on old-school RPG gameplay.
Knave 2e is an exploration-driven fantasy RPG and worldbuilding toolkit, inspired by the best elements of the Old-School DnD movement.
Ideas
The initial idea I had is the following:
The adventurers stumble upon a dead body hanging on a tree. Around his neck is a wooden placard with the words "IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT" scrawled in blood.
This should evoke already some questions in the players. Who's fault is it? Why was he hanged? Who hanged him there? I hope that this is already a good enough hook, for people to be interested.
As a general theme, I think guilt could work here. The theme should connect all the bits an pieces of the adventure together. An adventure without a theme, is just half as good. This could also help anybody that is interested, to check if it fits into their current campaign or not.
Goal
So there are different goals I want to achieve with this adventure (apart from winning, I guess).
- The adventure should be an introductory adventure for Knave 2e and into OSR in general. Since Knave is compatible to OSR, it shouldn't be to hard to convert it to other systems that are OSR compatible. This also means I can take some other materials and use it. Ideally the adventure provides enough XP to level up.
- I want to include a small hexcrawl into the adventure. The reason here is, that Knave (as self-proclaimed) is a game about exploration, so that should fit right into it. Again this is also something you could potentially do in a old-school game (Wilderness Exploration), so it should go into here.
- The adventure should be small enough to put it onto a Pamphlet.
Challenges
OSR style adventures have a bit of a different style on being written than let's say modern day modules for Dungeon & Dragons. The key difference is, that you should write situations and not plots. This leads to the player solve the situations with their ingenuity.
So for example, what you would read typically in modern adventures is: "To solve this trap, players can make a DCXX whatever check to disarm it." So the resolution is directly baked in. Same goes for puzzles. The players have to figure out the specific solution.
You don't find such things in old-school style adventures. Rather: "There a big hole. What you do?"
I think this paradigm-shift is the hardest for me. I haven't played that much OSR (apart from good old Baldur's Gate 2 on PC). I've recently started a small campaign with others (where I'm a player not the GM), that is OSR, so I might have some experience.
Old-school stuff also tends to be quite a bit more lethal.
So players beware.