Time to Pick the Map for My First Pocket Setting

I've been toying with the idea of Pocket Settings for years. I see a Pocket Setting as something that can be detailed in 16 pages or less - preferably, much less. A setting that will handle adventuring from 1st level, through about 5th or 6th, after which the world the PCs will likely be exploring the world at large (or the outer and inner planes).

These generated maps are from https://watabou.itch.io/perilous-shores , and are free for anyone to use. Heck, if you do decide to turn one of these maps into a setting of your own, I'd love to hear about it.

I'm partial to the first map, as it has a natural barrier to the southwest, that could be inhabited by humanoids and serve as a borderland, while there is also a water route to the mainland.

Three Lakes is definitely cool. Surrounded by mountains, it serves as a natural barrier to keep the PC's in the local area, at least for their initial levels.

Nice sized area with plenty of locations to explore and a large, centralized lake.

Another isolated setting, with water to the south, mountains to the west, east, and north, with a marsh as a possibly method to access the large world.

Tell me what your thoughts are...

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Free OSR - Blackmarsh (Setting)

When I found my way back to active gaming, it was initially as a player. It wasn't long before our then-current DM for the 5e Early Beta playtest felt he was burning out, and asked me to take over the DMing reigns. I was nervous, as it was well over a decade (at the time) that I had run a game session, let alone a campaign, but I dove into it eagerly. My ruleset of choice was AD&D 1e / OSRIC and my setting was the excellent sandbox, Blackmarsh. The rest, as they say, is history.

In the days when man knew only the working of stone and fought for their existence against the orc and the goblin, the sky turned to ash and down fell the fiery mountain onto the land. The world tore open and the grey waters rushed in. Those who survived the impact were lost as boiling clouds rushed out in all directions leaving a wasteland in its wake.

The Mountain That Fell left a gift; magic. Near and far, those of learning and strong of heart discovered new powers to shape the world. In the desolation around the Smoking Bay the adventurous found viz, magic in physical form. And there was more, scattered amid the landscape were strange artifacts and stranger creatures that survived The Mountain That Fell. For a time men, dwarves, orc, goblins, and other races braved the dangers and fought each other in the wastelands. Then the elves came into Blackmarsh expelled the feuding races, drove the monsters out, and healed the land.

In the present day, many come to Blackmarsh to harvest viz, kill monsters, or seek the strange artifacts left by The Mountain That Fell. The only force that stands against the wilderness is the Blackmarsh Rangers. Anyone who is willing to defend the land and its people are welcomed into their ranks. Powerful kingdoms outside of Blackmarsh are beginning cast a covetous eyes toward the land's riches. Will the adventurers of your campaign become wealthy and powerful? Or will their bones join the many that have sunk into the swamps?

Blackmarsh is a complete, ready to run setting for your campaign. It can be run as its own setting or an expansion of your existing world. Contained in Blackmarsh are 17 geographical entries, 78 described locales, and one detailed town; Castle Blackmarsh. Each entry provide one or more adventure hooks to use in your campaigns.

Rob's Note: If you can afford it the hardcover print option comes with two blank pages in the front and three blank pages in the back that you can use for handwritten notes. The inside covers are also blank. The printing process for hardcovers wraps a heavy paper protector between the covers and the first and last pages of the book.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Toying With the Idea of Detailing a Small Setting Via The Tavern

Map 1

I'm always stunned by the amazing apps available at watabou for GMs. I'm even a Patreon backer.

Now, I'm considering designing a small "pocket" setting here at The Tavern, shared via the CC and likely "generic" OSR.

The first thing I need to decide on is the style of Map to use at Perilous Shores.

Note that this is probably not the map I'll be using, but I'm looking for some input on style to go with. Let me know in the comments which color/presentation you prefer and why.

Map 2

Map 3

Map 4

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Deal of the Day - Against the Darkmaster Core Rules

Remember Rolemaster? Consider Against the Darkmaster to be Rolemaster Remastered ;)

Today's Deal of the Day is Against the Darkmaster Core Rules. Normally 25 bucks in PDF, until tomorrow morning it is on sale for 5 bucks.

Against the Darkmaster is a tabletop Epic Fantasy roleplaying game of high adventure, heroic action, and heavy metal combat.

If you put together works like The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time, sprinkled them with a bit of Labyrinth and Dragonslayer, and put everything in a blender together with a healthy dose of classic Heavy Metal, you’ll get a typical Against the Darkmaster game session.

Travel to distant lands, face terrible dangers, uncover ancient items of power, and gather the armies of the world under your banner to defeat the ultimate Evil.

A complete rule system, including:

• Unified d100-based action resolution mechanic
• Huge variety of character customization options
• Detailed travel mechanics for long overland adventures
• Flexible magic system with over 300 spells
• Tactical combat and brutal Critical Strikes
• Immersive rules for character driven adventures
• A Bestiary with over 60 fearsome creatures
• A full introductory campaign in three parts

 

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Humble Bundle - All I Need to Know I Learned From Star Trek

Space. The final frontier. 

I was asked yesterday if I was a Trekkie or a Star Wars fan, and I answered B5. But damn, if the original Star Trek isn't a very close second.

If you are a Trekkie, the All I Need to Know I Learned From Star Trek Bundle on Humble Bundle may just be up your alley.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Bundle of Holding - The Halls of Arden Vul (Huge Mega-Dungeon)

The Halls of Arden Vul is a HUGE megadungeon! I have it in print, and it is in multiple volumes, and in truth, I never finished perusing it. It is THAT massive. As Halls of Arden Vul is the latest Bundle of Holding, I'm now planning to pick up where I left off in my reading :)

The Halls of Arden Vul Bundle is just 24.95 in this bundle, which includes VTT maps, which is huge if you and your group are VTT players.  Note: Halls of Arden Vul is 1120 pages, which is fairly large ;)

Adventurer! We've resurrected our July 2022 Arden Vul Bundle featuring The Halls of Arden Vul, a vast megadungeon from Expeditious Retreat Press for D&D, AD&D, and other tabletop fantasy roleplaying games. Originally published in five volumes in 2020, the 1,100-page Arden Vul is one of the largest megadungeons published for old-school gaming, with more than 2,000 keyed encounter areas spread across ten main levels and 15 sub-levels. The scale of the Halls and the variety of experiences ensure no two groups encounter the Halls in the same way. In fact, the same player group might run several different parties through the Halls and never see a given area twice – even the entrances.

For just US$24.95 you have a new chance to get this revived offer's DRM-free .PDF ebooks of The Halls of Arden Vul Complete (retail price $109), the pay-what-you-want Maps of Arden Vul, and The VTT Maps of Arden Vul for virtual tabletops.

Prepare to Beard the Halls of Arden Vul!

Arden Vul is the most ambitious megadungeon ever created, with over 1,100 Pages of Incredible Adventure. This First Edition compatible fully-bookmarked PDF product features:

• 2,162 Encounter Descriptions
• 14 NPC Factions
• 10 Massive Levels
• 15 Extensive Sub-levels
• 7 Dangerous Exterior locations
• 149 New Monsters
• 332 New Magic Items
• 69 New Technological Items
• 44 New Spells
• 189 New Books through which PCs can gain a deep understanding of the dungeon
• A full NPC appendix with 10 competing parties at 3 levels of power
• Over 140 original pieces of art, including 28 full-page illustrations!

All of this is mapped via 33 Amazing Maps that you can download for free at The Maps of Arden Vul. As we have gotten requests for VTT player's maps we have created The VTT Maps of Arden Vul for free as well. If you know you want the physical copies, just head over to the Arden Vul Bundle and get everything Arden Vul in one fell swoop.

There has never been anything like Arden Vul, and there never will be again.

Welcome to the Halls of Arden Vul!

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Cold Weather Gear & Exposure Rules Lacking

For the overwhelming majority of Americans, and consequently American Gamers, it's cold AF outside! Perfect weather for sitting inside around a fireside table with friends slinging dice....

While I did go out this morning, I spent as little time outside as possible (understandably) and otherwise kept myself occupied with non-ttrpg gaming. Anything outside requires layers, hats, gloves, and better footwear unless my time outside of a car or building is less than 30" or so at a time....

When considering gaming and cold weather I'm immediately reminded of the time my gaming group was getting ready to play Annihilate the Giants (HackMaster version of G1-2-3 Against the Giants) and we were told we'd be heading out across the tundra. I think we, ok I, spent hours outside of the game table planning provisioning for the trip. Figuring out what we needed for gear, how many pack animals, and HOW to pack said animals. Since this was HackMaster, I had to assume I needed "extra" gear and I had to figure out how to spread out the gear so losing some pack animals and equipment wouldn't result in losing all of some aspect of the gear (as-in if mule #7 falls into an inaccessible crevasse my Archer wouldn't lose all his arrows).  IIRC I actually had "npc" sheets made up for each mule, listing gear, calculating encumbrance, etc. .....

....yeah I can really drill-down on the crunch/details when motivated.

My current group, not that we've played in FOREVER!!!! (hint hint Mr. GM) is pretty much on the far opposite side of the detail spectrum. I think we'd spend 5 minutes getting ready, maybe spend a set amount of coin and any gear we need, within reason, is hand-waived.

I'm not saying either extreme is correct, or even my preference, probably because most game systems I've seen don't do a good job with the provisioning aspect and/or dealing with weather extremes. Now as far as equipment goes, I'm sold on HackMaster's Goods and Gear, and that's not my normal HackMaster bias either. It's a good book, although it has a few issues borne from it's publishing process (In short, Hasbro kept pushing their approval back in a delay to come out with their own, inferior, book and in the end KenzerCo cut it's losses and published as-is without fixing a few errors).

Now as far as figuring out the effects of cold weather.....my eyes tend to gloss over when reading the Wilderness Survival Guide and trying to figure out the saves and "Personal Temperature". Yeah...if anyone has a lead on something easier for figuring out weather effects, send it my way.....

In the meantime......stay warm:

This is us tomorrow....