Redbeard's Ravings

Thinking out loud:  suppose you’ve got an episodic megadungeon campaign.     Each session, the group picks a location in the megadungeon to explore.   Sometimes these locations are already deep within the dungeon.   Now, a well-designed megadungeon has multiple entrances, some of which provide ready access to deeper parts.   But what if those entrances haven’t been found yet?   Reality impedes our gaming quite enough – how much time do we spend just “getting to the good parts”?    I'm pondering a game mechanic - whether a random roll, skill check or something more or less involved that can shorten that process.  I haven't made one yet, but I'm putting this out here for feedback. Some groups may spend precious game time working through the map (newly restocked as a megadungeon should) attempting to avoid encounters.   Other games or groups may just hand wave away this difficulty and start play deep within the dungeon. ...

Resource Management is one of the pillars of what I consider to be Old School role playing.   One of the limits on your resources is the encumbrance system of your game.   Especially in a game where the majority of your experience is derived from treasure recovered, there’s a balancing act for the player to manage of how much equipment, how many supplies, and how much treasure they can carry.   One of the key resource mechanics in 5 th edition is resting, by which character abilities recharge and hit points (always an abstract measure of stamina) can be recovered.   In order to really make this matter to 5 th edition players, consumption of supplies must be a part of the rest mechanic.   So I have a house rule that rations and water must be consumed in order to get the benefits of a rest. Encumbrance Many original games and most new style games have encumbrance systems that don’t get used at the table, so you need a simple and quick system. ...