Since childhood, I have amused myself by creating or modifying table-top games. Most have remained in my head or in text documents on my PC, but occasionally I put some effort into bringing the concept to the table. For the past two or so years I’ve brainstormed an OSR (“old school revival”) style RPG that takes place in a postdiluvian, sword and sorcery world called Urth. This concept is not supposed to be novel or ground-breaking. Instead the design would aim to exemplify a familiar genre to such an extent that it would seem truer to type than any existing system or setting. The game would be called “URth,” capitalizing the UR to emphasize its primeval themes in both the setting and game mechanics. More specifically, URth was inspired by Hyperborea, ACKs, and OSE.
This post is a rough outline of the Setting and the Map Generation. It will be the first in a series of posts about my development process of the game.
Setting
Synopsis
Ancient apocalypse.
Human societies built underground dwellings to survive the cataclysm. Since then, the humans have moved out and the monsters have moved in. Adventurers explore these structures to find treasure, arcane technology, and lost lore. They may be motivated by a desire to make safe the above ground human settlements from the dangerous creatures that dwell in the subterranean world. But it is not only the underworld that threatens the light of civilization. The wilderness teems with feral men and the occasional monstrosity venturing from its lair. Cities are lorded over by powerful psionics who do not share power willingly.
- The world of Urth is thematically distinct, but amorphous. Game Masters will create their own version of the world through a mix of procedural generation and personal choice.
- Modules, characters and places with proper names, etc. will be made available, but the GM will determine the locations and details based on their version of the world.
Postdiluvian World
- Elder world-spanning civilization (Atlantis analogue)
- A cataclysm (possibly involving psionics) destroys this civilization
- Survivors build underground complexes inland to escape flooding and climactic chaos
- Centuries pass with survivors gradually venturing above ground
- Survivors move out of complexes and build new settlements
- Some complexes meet bad fates and the survivors never make it out.
- Cataclysm has transformed geography (flooding of coasts for example)
- It has also transformed flora and fauna making them more exotic and ferocious
- Isolation within complexes has inhibited ethnic mixing, so human races are multitudinous and distinct.
- Separate regions may have had different survival strategies and some regions of the world may have been worse affected than others
Civilization
- No Tolkien demi-humans!
- Various human races that are more distinct than real-world human races
- Mostly city-states and tributaries. Empires, feudalism, and nation-states are rare in their pure forms, but they, along with any other type of geo-political structure, has at least a modicum of representation.
- Cities are often ruled by powerful psionics whether oligarchically or autocratically.
- The technology is befitting of a sword and sorcery setting. Roughly “iron-age.”
Underground Complexes
- Caves/natural volumes. May be connected to artificial structures
- Antediluvian complexes created by the pre-cursor civilization. Very rare. Commonly temples, factories, fortresses, and vaults. Usually found near coasts or under the sea.
- Postdiluvian bunkers. Made by survivors to house remnants of pre-cursor civ. Have many residential areas and small rooms. Many new settlements were built on top of old bunkers. Sometimes connected to other complexes by extremely long tunnels. Often found inland and in mountainous regions.
Monsters
Social monsters
- Ape-men
- Mutant troglodytes
- Other feral humans
- Lizardmen
- Giant Ants
Solitary or Bestial
- Gigantic, mutant, and/or psionic versions of mundane creatures (giant snakes, acid-vomiting lizards, psionic monkeys, colossal sea monsters, subterranean octopi, etc.)
- The above, but clearly inspired by myth and paleontology (griffins, hydras, dinosaurs, sabre-tooth cats, etc.). I want to avoid dragons and instead have various dragon-like creatures.
- Ancient automatons (robotic guardians)
- Inter-dimensional psionic parasites (demons)
General Game Mechanics
Big picture
This is a standard pen and paper role-playing game. There is a Game Masters (referee) present and one or more Players. Dice are used in event/action resolution.
The game is influenced by the early versions and playstyles of TSR-era Dungeons and Dragons. There is an emphasis on Game Master fiat, rulings over rules, procedural generation, structured exploration of world, sword and sorcery tropes, simple mechanics, a full “gameplay loop,” strategic play, and focused adventuring.
There are some areas where URth differs from TSR D&D. There is no Vancian spellcasting; psionic powers, arcane pre-cursor technology, and alchemy are the replacements for magic in this world. There are no Tolkien-inspired races or monsters. There are no classes nor is there leveling. There is not as sharp of a division between mundane fighters and characters who use supernatural powers. Instead, it is expected that all player characters will utilize abnormal abilities. There are Gods, and technically other planes of existence, but nothing like the planar-alignment system in the D&D multiverse. Many tropes related to D&D classes, magic, alignments, and races have in turn been eliminated.
Structured Play and Time Keeping
One of the complaints that many OSR enthusiasts have lodged at modern RPGs is the lack of structure in play and the neglect of precise time keeping. The only real structure is during combat encounters, where the game becomes incremented into turns and freedom of action is more tightly controlled. The modern rulesets no longer provide systems for dungeon exploration, travel, NPC interaction, domains, etc., but in older editions of D&D, these things were given explicit mechanics and procedures. For example, dungeon exploration, like combat, was paced by 10 minute (in game-world) turns and there were consequences for wasting time such as wandering monsters and the exhaustion of resources.
URth carries forward the tradition of explicitly and pervasively structuring play. Players should be afforded freedom of action for their characters; having room to improvise solutions in the game world is essential. Nevertheless, I would explicitly proceduralize the various “modes” of play. Here is a list of such modes:
- Combat Encounters
- Site Exploration
- NPC Negotiation
- Overland Travel
- Domain Management
- Production (crafting, researching, etc.)
- … and more
Proceduralization provides the GM a scaffold by which to resolve events in-game. A proceduralized game will also feel less arbitrary to players and so they will invest more into it. A design principle for URth is that every part of the game should have a procedural foundation. That being said, the structure should not be so specific as to weigh down play with crunchiness. GMs will therefore be free to arbitrate, but will have a core procedure to support them within each mode.
For example, interactions with NPCs are often improvised in modern games. The GM may have a vague notion of the NPCs motivations and some charisma/persuasion checks will be rolled. In my experience these interactions have generally felt weak. As both a player and GM, I rarely felt like the diplomacy was meaningful or that a social puzzle had been solved or unsolved. Instead, I would want to create a general interaction procedure that would feel a bit more “gamey,” in a good way. Less on the spot flip-flopping by GMs unsure how to roleplay the NPC or struggling with maintaining an improvised character act. Less flippant die-rolling. Any time PCs and NPCs attempting to persuade each other, there should be a sort of diplomacy mini-game. I do not know how it would specifically work as of yet.
World and Region Generation
I want a relatively standardized way that GMs will go about creating their version of URth. This will include a procedure for the general laying out of the world, swiftly followed by a zoom into the main Region where the initial adventures will take place. The GM can choose or roll for the Region type:
- Archipelago
- Desert
- Boreal
- Tropical
- Steppe
Each of these will have tables for terrain features, races, monsters, events, adventure hooks, etc. The idea is that each Region type has a distinct vibe and helps enforce a theme. It also will help GMs limit scope.
The size of the Region can vary, but should be large enough for the Players to explore, but not so large that much of the content generated is never encountered. A good rule of thumb is 50-200 sq. miles. The Region Type may call for a larger or smaller size given the density of terrain. For example, an archipelago Region may need to be larger to account for distances between islands.
The Region is mapped via tessellated, equilateral hexagons known as a “Hex map.” Hex maps are useful because they organize the Region in a digestible format for the GM. Hex maps are not usually shown to players directly; the players map the region to the best of their abilities as their characters explore.
A Region will include at least one Mega-Complex (the analogue to a Mega-Dungeon) and a Major Settlement. The Mega-Complex will serve as the primary site for adventuring. The Major Settlement is a place for the characters to trade, rest, network, intrigue, research, etc. Such settlements may present dangers of their own. There will be NPCs (non-player characters) to interact with.
As the party of characters do explore the Region, various “Site of Interest” will be procedurally generated or otherwise conjured by the GM. These give the party opportunities for smaller adventures and missions. Examples include smaller settlements and complexes. They may also be natural formations, monster lairs, battlefields, stashes, etc. In both civilized areas and the wilderness, the characters will trigger random events and encounters that may test their capabilities or provide boons.
Summarization
All of the above is pretty standard for a classic TTRPG, which is exactly what I am going for with URth.
Similarities to OSR/TSR D&D:
- Proceduralization of game modes
- Strict Time-keeping
- Game Master fiat
- rulings over rules
- procedural generation
- structured exploration of world
- sword and sorcery tropes
- simple mechanics
- full “gameplay loop”
- strategic play
- focused adventuring
Differences to OSR/TSR D&D:
- Psionics replaces Vancian Spellcasting
- No Tolkien demi-humans (Elves, halflings, dwarves, etc.)
- Dragons are different
- Character progression is quite different
- No cleric analogue
- Most adventurers utilize supernatural powers of some sort
- Planar/deity system is different
- More Proceduralization.