Folding Tables

And in that Dungeon

There was a monster 

Wait, what Dungeon?

So, I had to come up with a good name for the table style I have been writing about lately. I started with Kitchen Table ... Dropleaf was a possibility , but I have settled on Folding Tables for now.

There are several parts to a Folding Table.

1.

The number of items is larger than the dice or die used on the table.

2.

Items on the table are eliminated or scratched off as they are encountered or used.

3.

Modifiers are applied to the roll to reflect the game state, the narrative position, where the characters are etc. 

Examples are in previous posts. The table is not a static thing, the table is not an artifact, the table is not sacrosanct. The table is mutable, the table is not the answer, the table is part of the process.

Monsters, Wandering

So, how do the monsters wander and what are their habits in their habitats? Let's take Level One of Salt Palace, which my open table group has just cleared out; I don't think they will mind some sharing of secrets...

14 caves, caverns, and spaces, Jaquaysing around, containing an ecology of spiders, giant shrews, zombies, and skeletons. The D6 monster table looks something like this:

1 Spider

2 Giant Shrew

3 Skeleton

4 Spider Nest

5 Zombie

6 Zombie Spider

7 Skeleton Crew

8 Giant Lizard

An astute observer would see that there are 8 possibilities on a D6 table. They would be correct. This is a variation of the flexible table several posts ago. On the diagram of the level are a series of modifiers ranging from -2 to +2. These are applied to the monster roll. The initial set of spaces is at a -2, transitioning to a -1, then 0, then +1 and +2 on the periphery, at interstitial areas, and at connection points with other levels or zones of the dungeon ecosystem. They are NOT assigned to rooms, but to areas, often overlapping. 

Upon the initial descent it is highly likely the brave adventurers will encounter spiders of varying description (after the -2, a roll of 1 to 3 yields spiders), giant shrews, and the occasional skeleton. As the various parties push further into the dark, modifiers shift and the mix of monsters follows suit. The adventurers can feel things changing, meet more undead in one direction, find a nest of spiders in another, and surprise a giant lizard as they go deeper into a tunnel.

That procedural dynamism is one thing that brings the place to life, and the overlapping zones allow flexibility, especially in an Open Table. Does the group tonight have more lower level characters? Push the negative modifier further ahead. Big party? Pull it back.

Further, I can carry that modifier onto the monster, thereby ratcheting the challenge up or down. If they are in a +1 zone that Spider card gets fierce, adding +1 to everything: 3 or 4 HD, +1 damage, and more chances of dangerous additional abilities. 

And, of course, there is a higher chance of treasure... +1.

How I Make Monsters Now

They have to be simple, clear, visually accessible, and fast to run without a lot of details, or just the right amount of details.

NPCs can be different from monsters, or not, so they may be more complex, nuanced. We can return to them another day!

 For my stripped down running of the game, they have to be on note cards. It helps to have some procedural surprise built in for me as a player in the game. It really helps to have just a couple of numbers to keep track of during an encounter. For example, spiders in my current dungeon crawl...

First roll determines hit dice: two, three, or four

The next roll is the number of spiders, which riffs off of the hit dice. There are probably fewer bigger spiders or more smaller spiders, and the number is probably a d6 or maybe two.

The attack damage is directly related to the hit dice, with bigger spiders doing the bigger damage. 

Armor class is 10 plus their hit dice, and that number is the same DC the characters need to beat to avoid paralysis.

Finally there are a series of quick yes or no questions. Rolling a D6 5 times quickly with a 1 to 3 being NO and a 4 to 6 being YES, we quickly determine what kind of spiders these are, how they behave. They could end up being camouflaged zombie spiders in a web network or ambush spiders who can shoot entangling webs. I can be as surprised with the encounter as the other players!

These are all dials of course, so if the party is in hot pursuit of another creature, the wandering spider may be just a distraction. If the dice indicate that the room is inhabited, then it may be a bigger group of spiders that the party has to contend with. If the party decides to leave, I note it down on my map as a discovery in the world that has been made, so that future explorers may encounter the same thing.

Monsters can also be easily dialed up. For example, the other night the party encountered a spider web covering a entrance to a great canyon. These are proper giant spiders, none of that 4 HD nonsense. So a quick doubling to 6 HD makes them a real menace that needs careful planning: AC 16 2D6 damage...

Yikes 😳

The party returned to the canyon with the fireball scroll, and, that worked well. What they have realized since is that without the spiders, the giant moth population has really escalated!