Surely a sign of my growing madness from prolonged exposure to the Gonzo Gaming Necronomicon, but I started throwing together a hexcrawl setting for Synnibarr.  

Hear me out, now...

So, the v2 book mentions that, besides the named island regions listed, "throughout both God's Teeth and Sapphire Deep are islands, varying in size, every 100 to 500 miles."  Hmm.  The example adventure is on an island, the "base town" is on an island, and there are all kinds of island encounter tables.

This seems like a theme.

So I went ahead and took the One Page Wilderness Template, and started throwing dice.  The Synnibarr adventure tables are pretty tight in scope - they basically come down to "a place, some monsters, maybe an adventurer or two, traps and treasure".  But the tables for islands, in particular, give us a range of island sizes, and a range of terrain types.  As it happens, the upper range of island size is 110 miles (although the range there is weird - 50-110 miles?  Any of you dice savants know how I'd roll that?).  Given that the islands are listed as "100 to 500 miles apart", I went ahead and used a hundred mile to a hex scale, and threw for an island, 1-2 on a d6.  

Which comes out to a neat little archipelago - one that greatly resembles a Traveller subsector!  (This seems relevant.    )  I came out with 28 islands out of 80 hexes, each with a size and a terrain.  Next I'll go to a combination of the good'ol "stock a hex like a B/X dungeon room" method and the Trav system generation tables to figure out what's where.  

... to be continued

That sounds awsome!  The new version of Synnibarr is sounding really cool.

As Benoist says, God save our souls but seriously it sounds fucking awesome.

Quote from: Drohem;540467That sounds awsome!  The new version of Synnibarr is sounding really cool.

Actually, this is using tables from Chapter 15 ("Adventuring") in v2 (the 1993 version).  All the tools are there, I'm just doing the dice-o-mancy to get a result.  (I'm waiting on an updated playtest document for v3 - supposedly a lot of changes/updates from the last version that went out - but there's not a lot in the way of setting info, there, mainly it covers character generation and combat.)

For example, here's the "Island Type" table, reproduced:

1 Marsh/Grassy (I'm interpreting this as "roll hi/lo, marsh on low, grassy on hi".)
2 Forest
3 Desert
4 Jungle
5 Rocky
6 Mountainous
7 Volcanic
8 Choose (I'm reading this as "some kind of fantastic terrain, roll again for base type".)

The cool thing about islands is, none of these results are totally crazy within 100-500 miles from each other.  (And, y'know, fuck it, it's Synnibarr.)

Next I diced 1-2 on a d6 for settlements on each island, came up with 7 settlements.  

Here's a neat little trick I've been using, lately:  The 1e DMG has a table for generating settlements, but it assumes a 1 mile hex, and only has a settlement appear on 1-14 (percentile).  If I'm just populating a map with 5- or 6-mile hexes, I'll use a d20 for that table, and get settlements for roughly 3 out of 4 hexes (with ruins coming up on 15-16).  However, if I've already got all my cities placed (since Synnibarr's sparsely populated enough that all cities are referenced in the setting chapter, I'm assuming none are in this archipelago), I can just roll a d10 on this table, and come up with settlements ranging from "single dwelling" to "town".  Using this trick, I come up with two single dwellings, one thorp, one hamlet, three villages, and a town.

Now, the setting in Synnibarr assumes a society with access to crazy technology, but one that's just coming out of a dark age, so most settlements are pretty primitive.  That seems like a good fit for Judges Guild tech levels, no?  I'll let you know what I come up with.

TL:  What I decided to do was, use Traveller's TL scale (rolling 1d6 for TL) with the following modifiers:

+1 for a population seemingly too large for the size of the island it's on
+1 for harsh terrain (desert, rocky, mountainous, volcanic)
+1 for "fantastic terrain"
+1 for "single dwelling"

So, for example, I've got an island 8 miles across, mountainous terrain, and a hamlet of 200 people.  That doesn't seem outrageously small to support 200 people (It's better than a full JG hex, if we call it even 10% arable land, it should support 640 people according to Ready Ref Sheets, and that's not counting fishing).  So +1 for harsh terrain, *roll roll roll* we get TL5 (4 plus the modifier).  That's enough to give us SMGs, plate armor, mortars, simple computers, and radio, with ground cars and fixed wing aircraft for transportation (although I don't think there'd be room here for a landing strip).  With this system, a 6 with all 4 dice mods added on would give us TL10 (laser rifles, space suits, high-tech armor - but no power armor - grav vehicles and decent computers) - not out of line with Synnibarr, by any means.

Here's the list:

8 miles, mountainous, hamlet (200), TL5
10 miles, fantastic (grassy), town (2500), TL7
30 miles, grassy, village (900), TL2
70 miles, grassy, village (600), TL4
40 miles, rocky, single dwelling (9), TL3
110 miles, desert, thorp (80), TL5
100 miles, fantastic (mountainous), single dwelling (, TL4
20 miles, marsh, village (600), TL5

50-110 would be 2d4+3. Or possibly 3d3+2. Or with Zocchi dice you could use d7+4. Or you could have base 50, plus roll 6d10 at TN 6 and count the successes Or if you want a linear spread, you'd have to go probably [d8+4, reroll 8s] and maybe something else wacky happens on an 8.
Good Luck, sounds interesting.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;54054050-110 would be 2d4+3. Or possibly 3d3+2. Or with Zocchi dice you could use d7+4. Or you could have base 50, plus roll 6d10 at TN 6 and count the successes Or if you want a linear spread, you'd have to go probably [d8+4, reroll 8s] and maybe something else wacky happens on an 8.
Good Luck, sounds interesting.

Thanks - I knew there was an obvious answer I was overlooking.  (Frank Mentzer would have mocked me roundly over at DF for missing that one.   )

Maybe. But actually...here's a better answer. The above only gives it to [nearest 10 miles].
[d6+4]x10, +d10 gives you an exact number from 51 to 110.

Ok, so some of these islands are big, and I'm not going to try and key them all out at this level of detail.  Still, one roll for the larger ones seems a bit... sparse.  So we'll say, for the time being, one roll per digit of the island diameter.  (1 roll for single-digit, two for larger ones, 3 for the hundred-mile rocks.)  I'll read "special" as "has an adventuring site" (as described in the Synnibarr book, pretty much your standard ruins/fortresses/temples - i.e., "NOT DUNGEONS", haha).  Those will require a little more attention (and will, themselves, have plenty of monsters/treasures/traps).

Aaaand, here's where we get to the "applying common sense to adjusting rolls" section of sandbox prep.  Out of 18 monsters, not nearly enough have treasure - so I adjust things to where roughly half have lair treasures, matching the proportions in the B/X stocking table.

Quote from: DestroyYouAlot;540545Ok, so some of these islands are big, and I'm not going to try and key them all out at this level of detail.  Still, one roll for the larger ones seems a bit... sparse.  So we'll say, for the time being, one roll per digit of the island diameter.  (1 roll for single-digit, two for larger ones, 3 for the hundred-mile rocks.)  I'll read "special" as "has an adventuring site" (as described in the Synnibarr book, pretty much your standard ruins/fortresses/temples - i.e., "NOT DUNGEONS", haha).  Those will require a little more attention (and will, themselves, have plenty of monsters/treasures/traps).

Aaaand, here's where we get to the "applying common sense to adjusting rolls" section of sandbox prep.  Out of 18 monsters, not nearly enough have treasure - so I adjust things to where roughly half have lair treasures, matching the proportions in the B/X stocking table.

Chapter 15 changed?

Quote from: WoS v2, p.3328. Fate has absolute control during the game regarding rolls and interpretation of the rules. Fate may not, however, deviate from the rules are they are written, for if he or she does and the players found out, then the adventure can be declared null, and the characters must be restored to their original condition, as they were before the game began...

9. Players may attempt what is known as "calling Fate." This means that is a ruling is disputed by a player and he challenges Fate and is found to be absolutely currect, the player may receive double gaming points for the entire adventure...

There are reasons for why Synnibarr is infamous, and these are two of them.  Synnibarr players are notorious for using these two clauses to their advantage, and the best know how systems and language works to make the most of them.  (That "may" term, in light of #8, isn't a conditional: as with legal language, "may" reads as "must".)

That's just a few things that need to change for Synnibarr to leave Joke Status.

Quote from: Bradford C. Walker;540549Chapter 15 changed?



There are reasons for why Synnibarr is infamous, and these are two of them.  Synnibarr players are notorious for using these two clauses to their advantage, and the best know how systems and language works to make the most of them.  (That "may" term, in light of #8, isn't a conditional: as with legal language, "may" reads as "must".)

That's just a few things that need to change for Synnibarr to leave Joke Status.

Ahhhhh...  but you see, these rules are from Basic D&D, which has no such admonition.  

(And if anybody called me on it, I'd pull another rule from yet ANOTHER game: The HackMaster Smartass Smackdown Table (HSST).    )

Quote from: DestroyYouAlot;540553Ahhhhh...  but you see, these rules are from Basic D&D, which has no such admonition.  

(And if anybody called me on it, I'd pull another rule from yet ANOTHER game: The HackMaster Smartass Smackdown Table (HSST).    )

This is priceless.

I want to play this version of game seriously no joke.

Ok, rolled up all the inhabitants of the monster lairs (although not the number appearing), and the contents of all the adventuring locations.  The monsters in those aren't rolled up, but I did roll up the adventurers.  (1 in 6 are "variant races" - as it happens, there are 30, so I went ahead and numbered the list for easy rollin'.    )

Here's what we got, so far:


Hex Key
0102 – 60 miles, jungle, trap
0108 – 8 miles, mountainous, hamlet (200), TL5, trap (T)
0202 – 8 miles, rocky, special (temple, 4 rooms, 8 traps, 1 monster, 1 adventurer (alentian))
0301 – 3 miles, desert, monster (titanium scorpion)
0302 – 11 miles, forest, monster (psi leech), trap
0303 – 10 miles, fantastic (grassy), town (2500), TL7, special (fortress, 4 rooms, 3 traps, 3 monsters), monster (thermal drake, T)
0304 – 60 miles, forest, special (cave, 1 room + 1 secret room), trap
0305 – 30 miles, grassy, village (900), TL2, monster (mutant vampire)
0402 – 50 miles, fantastic (desert), special (ruined fortress, 2 rooms + 1 room), monster (storm drake, T)
0403 – 70 miles, grassy, village (600), TL4, special (temple, 16 rooms, 4 secret rooms, 6 traps, 6 monsters, 4 adventurers (mage tiger x2, shaman, ninja) + pets/droids)
0404 – 18 miles, mountainous, special (ruined tomb, 4 rooms, 9 traps, 4 monsters), monster (small thunder lizard)
0406 – 30 miles, jungle, monster (flying lion)
0408 – 40 miles, mountainous, monster (small elemental drake, T)
0502 – 50 miles, desert, trap, trap
0505 – 40 miles, rocky, single dwelling (9), TL3, monster (mutant baboon, T), monster (giant rat)
0507 – 5 miles, desert, monster (mole mutant)
0604 – 3 miles, marsh, special (fortress, 12 rooms, 18 traps, 4 monsters, 1 adventurer (armored mantis))
0606 – 40 miles, fantastic (forest)
0702 – 60 miles, desert, unguarded treasure
0707 – 17 miles, jungle, trap, trap
0802 – 13 miles, desert, special (ruined tomb, 15 rooms, 5 traps, 3 monsters, 1 adventurer (scarlet tiger))
0804 – 110 miles, desert, thorp (80), TL5, monster (mutat, T), special (ruined fortress, 4 rooms, 3 traps, 4 monsters, 1 adventurer (archer)), unguarded treasure
0807 – 20 miles, forest, monster (giant tree spider)
0903 – 100 miles, fantastic (mountainous), single dwelling (8, underground oasis), TL4, monster (rontu bieel), trap
0905 – 50 miles, volcanic, monster (flying lizard), monster (midnight sunstone drake, T)
0906 – 90 miles, desert, trap (T)
0907 – 100 miles, volcanic, unguarded treasure, monster (sun drake, T), special (tomb, 4 rooms, 9 traps, 4 monsters, 4 adventurers (mage warrior, priest of Berava, shadow warrior, war lott) + pets/droids)
1005 – 20 miles, marsh, village (600), TL5, monster (T.T. fly, T), special (temple, 4 rooms, 3 traps, 4 monsters, 1 adventurer (giant) + pets/droids)

("T" in the hex key is for treasure.)



(The "blank" settlements are towns or villages, the rest are "T" for "thorp", "H" for "hamlet", and "C" for "camp" (or "single settlement").)

Quote from: DestroyYouAlot;540553Ahhhhh...  but you see, these rules are from Basic D&D, which has no such admonition.  

(And if anybody called me on it, I'd pull another rule from yet ANOTHER game: The HackMaster Smartass Smackdown Table (HSST).    )

Okay, you're taking the piss on this.  I get that.

I'm not kidding when I say that those bits from Ch.15 got used. The times I know of, personally, involved incidents where players trying to get their guys into the ranks of Immortals figured that something didn't go right and pulled this off.  (Notes were not followed in the first incident; rule got misapplied in the second, and found out after the fact.  Adventures got nullified; those players got their guys through Immortality Quests on the second try, with different dudes as Fate.)  Players being what they are, most of them see clauses like that and use them to check GMs when they feel like they're getting screwed; all that "Cult of RAW" stuff we bitch about with D&D4 had one of its roots here.

And yes, this matters because concerned players will make it matter.  Not using Synnibarr RAW has actionable consequences, and it's not unreasonable (in light of said clauses) to say that using foreign product violates the RAW requirement.  Stupid?  Yeah.  Dick move?  Quite likely.  Possible?  You better believe it.

This is why I'd like to see those clauses removed from Synnibarr v3.  It's just drama waiting to happen, and that's no good for anyone.

Quote from: Bradford C. Walker;540721Okay, you're taking the piss on this.  I get that.

I'm not kidding when I say that those bits from Ch.15 got used. The times I know of, personally, involved incidents where players trying to get their guys into the ranks of Immortals figured that something didn't go right and pulled this off.  (Notes were not followed in the first incident; rule got misapplied in the second, and found out after the fact.  Adventures got nullified; those players got their guys through Immortality Quests on the second try, with different dudes as Fate.)  Players being what they are, most of them see clauses like that and use them to check GMs when they feel like they're getting screwed; all that "Cult of RAW" stuff we bitch about with D&D4 had one of its roots here.

And yes, this matters because concerned players will make it matter.  Not using Synnibarr RAW has actionable consequences, and it's not unreasonable (in light of said clauses) to say that using foreign product violates the RAW requirement.  Stupid?  Yeah.  Dick move?  Quite likely.  Possible?  You better believe it.

This is why I'd like to see those clauses removed from Synnibarr v3.  It's just drama waiting to happen, and that's no good for anyone.

Eh - I mean, I doubt we're likely to see that stuff in the new version (certainly there's nothing of the sort in the playtest notes I've got), but it being in v2 seriously doesn't affect me in the slightest, 'cause I'm a big boy (and my players aren't dicks).  There would be serious social pressure against anybody in our circle that actually tried to rules-lawyer their way past a situation like that (in anything other than a veeeeery good-natured manner).  I can see where you're coming from, it's just not an issue for me.

(And, honestly, I'm not taking the piss, here, I'm kinda psyched to run this.)

BTW, I moved some of those drakes around to more appropriate environments (desert for the sun drake, volcano for the thermal drake), and so they weren't quite so on top of each other (even at 100 miles per hex, drakes wouldn't tend to make for great neighbors).  Interestingly, I did have a look at the auras for the types I rolled up, and it looks like "good dragons/bad dragons" got ported into Synnibarr from D&D.  So the storm drake on the same island as the town there isn't quite so silly as I originally thought (presumably they pay it tribute for protection, which is why they've managed to reach such a large size and high level of technology).

Also, there are actual "dragons" in Synnibarr as well, they're just only found on the interior of the world (apparently the radiation on the outside will kill them).  They're not quite as generally bad-ass as drakes (shocker, there  ).