Ranger's Hideout

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
I also like the name Dragonspine Mountains better than Dragonback. The latter makes me think of the title of the movie "Brokeback Mountain".
 
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Malrex

So ... slow work day? Every day?
I also like the name Dragonspine Mountains better than Dragonback. The latter makes me think of the title of the movie "Brokeback Mountain".
Heh...I got no control on the Dragonback Mts...its my partner's world.
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
Roger that.
I'm going to have to step away from this for the next several days.
Perhaps some others will chime in.
 

Ice

*eyeroll*
I downloaded this and skimmed it a bit at work. Looks pretty neat. One funny error that made me laugh is on page 14 under the Bear Maw. It reads "The Bear Maw is a skinned brown bear that is fashioned into a great cloak..." This conjured up an imagine in my head of someone walking around with this hanging off of their back:

skinned-bear-2.jpg

I am not sure if that's what you were going for. 🙈

I would change it to read like this:

"The Bear Maw is a great cloak fashioned from an enchanted brown bear hide.
The hood of the cloak is the bear’s fearsome head, toothy maw and all. The bear's claws hang from the sides of the cloak.

Three times per day, for 1d6+1 rounds,
The wearer’s head can transform into
the visage of the brown bear. The wearer may
bite for 1d8+1 damage. This damage counts as magical."
 

Ice

*eyeroll*
Page 9, entry 1: "Trapped fog and mist sock in river canyon."

I have no clue what that means.

irrelevant thought: Socks of Fog and Mist would be a sick-ass magic item.
 

Malrex

So ... slow work day? Every day?
Page 9, entry 1: "Trapped fog and mist sock in river canyon."

I have no clue what that means.

irrelevant thought: Socks of Fog and Mist would be a sick-ass magic item.
Good call on the bear cloak.

My Granddad would take me on a boat and when it was foggy he would always say the 'fog has socked in..'. Basically means visibility is reduced.

But yeah...now I'm thinking of Socks of Fog and Mist...and what I could do with that...
 

Ice

*eyeroll*
OK, I finished reading it.

The format of having a bunch of short 1-shot adventures for a ranger or a small group is good. The ADVENTURE AND TRAINING thing on page 4-5 is good since it is so concise. It would be very easy to riff off of 👍. Formatting wise, I think it would be better if they were all on one page, rather than being spread over two, but this is a tiny nitpick.

I like most of the random encounters. The animals are funny. The Sasquatch is creative and comically Northern California. I'd be excited to roll the skunk to see how my players react. (y)

The two weak encounters (I think) are:
"#11, Brambles!" I am not sure how I would run this. It could be more interesting if it was sentient, talking brambles or something, rather than "oops you fell into some black berries, take 1 damage." though having said that, it sounds kind of funny.

and

"#11, Clan Valkurians." I could't find these guys referenced anywhere else in the adventure. Why not just call them barbarians hunters or something rather than attaching a proper name to them? It's easy to riff off of stuff when you are not trying to parse proper nouns, or flipping through the pages to see if the encounter is mentioned anywhere else.

I have mixed feeling about the page 8 map. It's very detailed, but it seems like it would be impossible to run this adventure without showing the players the map. How did you use this map when you playtested it? Did you just print it out and stick it in front of the players and say "where do you want to go?" The crappy, squished image quality of the map is a huge drawback for doing this. If a player version with no numbers on it was included that would be great. You should include it as a PNG file in the DrivethruRPG download.

In terms of the actual entries, the formatting on the numbered areas is all very good. Some of the entries could use a few edits for clarity, but overall, very easy to scan for information. Nearly all of the information feels useful. (y)

The location maps are also quite good. (y)

The weakest link of this adventure are the NPCs.

There is potential, but overall none of them are very interesting. Dramen Blarr could be a lot more interesting. I agree 100% with Squeen that he needs more something. Give him lots of flaws, make him a one legged paranoid nutjob, make him a talking, weed-smoking stump, I dunno. What are his motives other than to heal his leg? Does he have any notable quirks?

The other two ranger NPCs are also kind of boring. What is their relationship with Dramen? What are their motives? How are they different than Dramen? If i was DMing this, I wouldn't have any idea what to do with these characters and I would probably just scrap them.

Area 3 could also use some more information. Maybe just a paragraph. Who are these these centaurs? What is their relationship with everyone else in this forest? How would they react to the PCs showing up other than 'not attacking.' How are they chastising the female centaur and the satyr? Do any of the centaurs have any hooks or valuable information? Is there any kind of behavior to whcih they will react especially positively or negatively?

The Lizard Men in area 6 need more info. Maybe another paragraph or two. What are their motives? How do they related to everyone else in the forest? Any hooks or useful information?

In the chasm, Borgvat , Voresh and Orc Mom need a bit more development. Who are they and how do they behave? What do they want? Do they have any hooks or useful information for the PCs? Is there any kind of behavior that they will react especially positive or negative to? It seems like Voresh would be very interested in saving his mom if possible. I feel like the players that I play with would end up befriending them and then try to murder Dramen, and the adventure doesn't help me navigate that possible path.

Moving on to the magic items. They are pretty complex, which is largely good, however, they should have some drawbacks and downsides. Maybe Maelstrom can only be recharged by leaving it in a rainstorm for an hour. Maybe when you are wearing Bear Maw, you have to eat as much as a bear does, and you smell like a bear

The Belt of Gripping is the weakest link here. It's a good idea but it needs a rewrite.

I'd rewrite it like this:

"Belt of Gripping:
This belt is a strand of dirty yellow fabric, resembling flypaper. When the wearer presses any normal object against the belt, it will cause it to adhere, as if stuck by glue. Stuck objects can be pulled off by the wearer with little resistance. The belt’s magical properties also reduce the weight of attached objects by 50%. When not worn, the belt may also be stuck to the stationary objects (rocks, trees, etc) to function as an anchor or grappling hook, allowing someone to descend a wall or cliff with use of a rope. Once at the bottom, the owner may say a command of release to have the belt detach and fall. It cannot thrown like grappling hook however, and must be attached to a stationary object by hand.

This belt is highly prized by thieves."


It would also be good if you included all of the magic items in card format, so you could just print them out and hand them to the players. Since the magic items are complex, telling the players what they do could get very muddled and waste a lot of time as they write it down.

Also for the love of the groundwater deity, please include ascending ACs. This will take you an extra 2 seconds per entry, and will make it much easier to use with a variety of systems. DO IT FOR YOUR OLD BUDDY ICE.


All and all, pretty good. There are a lot of great things about it. I could actually see myself running it.
 

Malrex

So ... slow work day? Every day?
Also for the love of the groundwater deity, please include ascending ACs. This will take you an extra 2 seconds per entry, and will make it much easier to use with a variety of systems. DO IT FOR YOUR OLD BUDDY ICE.
Ice--thanks for all your feedback!! Some good stuff to work on in there. Dramen may become a weed smoking stump...we shall see! I may take another look at the orcs and the lizardmen--maybe increase the faction idea and use them against each other or something.
For the cardstock with magic items--never done that before, but I like the idea of it. Ill have to look into it.

For the groundwater deity!....I may look into ascending AC and adding it. Seems very taboo to me...but if I do it...then you will know it was done ONLY for you (and if it isn't you can curse at me).
 

Ice

*eyeroll*
Ice--thanks for all your feedback!! Some good stuff to work on in there. Dramen may become a weed smoking stump...we shall see! I may take another look at the orcs and the lizardmen--maybe increase the faction idea and use them against each other or something.
For the cardstock with magic items--never done that before, but I like the idea of it. Ill have to look into it.

For the groundwater deity!....I may look into ascending AC and adding it. Seems very taboo to me...but if I do it...then you will know it was done ONLY for you (and if it isn't you can curse at me).
Here's an example of how you can include Attack Bonus and Ascending AC in your stat-blocks. They are just contained in brackets. This is an example taken from Hole In the Oak (by Gavin Norman), which was written for Old School Essentials (which uses Descending AC and THAC0). As a DM, doing the conversion on the fly is easy enough, but it does suck up brain power that could be used to pretend to be a weed-smoking, talking stump.

Hole in the Oak.PNG
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
OK. I'm back at it. Sorry for the delay.

Page 5
SpecialAreaRangerHideout-5.png

As stated earlier, I'm not much into the character head-shots that have become all the rage, but...whatever. These aren't too bad. Just fix the white backgrounds.

Also, the characterizations are a bit too true-to-troupe and could use something oddball to spice them up.

The whole ranger-buddy-sytem is fine, but not really fleched out. Why are they there? It seems a bit too much like, "Well, everyone in a highly-functional medieval society has to a a profession...so these folks went to Ranger College." Now this is their career-path.

Byrce taught me that's his definition of "Renfair"---the fantastic made mundane. These three NPCs are de-clawed...mundane. Even their (clever) magical items are just highly functional utilities to aid in their profession. High-tech camping gear. How convenient!

Adventure/Training Hooks

Lakrosha: It a nice idea to have a contest (hunting and fishing competition), but you didn't flesh it out. You say it's up to the DM---but, doesn't that kind defeat the value/utility of this product?...I mean...come on! Also, I think you just Renfair-ed the Lizardmen here too. Now they're just a bunch of indigenous people dressed up in lizard suits. Where's the danger and wonder? Don't waste the fantastic for mundane purposes---it diminishes them.

I'm going to jump ahead to Area 6, on page 15-16 to finish this topic.

SpecialAreaRangerHideout-Area6.png
The Buckler shield comes across as "video game-y" for me and invokes no sense of "magic" and instead is more ultra-modern utilitarianism via magic. Some more BS to pimp your character. There is no map for this area, so it has no object-permanency in my mind. In fact, with the layout having it tucked in between two other larger areas, it kind of falls off the radar. The "friendly native" vibe using lizardfolk is kinda weak---why aren't these humans? Not much potential energy in the environment. Tell me, what is "cool" here for the party/ranger to muck with? Just seems like the player's PC is going to "get introduced" by The Dude (Blarr), maybe compete in an unspecified contest, and then "have some new friends". Yawn.

Suggestions: At least make the Shaman female instead of male. Maybe she has a kinky inter-racial love/hate thing-y going on with Dramen (unless he turns into a tree stump, of course). Consider changing to humans---or go more exotic and invent a bizarre niche race/creature and have the journey to their village be treacherous, off-beat, and full of wonder. Flesh out the challenge/contest to give the product more value added. If you keep it lizardmen, up the danger ante and make it a task like "steal item X from the lizardman's camp".

Also, not a huge fan for the stat-block format. Something slightly more like Ice's (above) would help them stand-out a bit more.

The Bear: This task seems like a more natural fit for what you are trying to do with the product. I like the idea of a wounded bear, but would it be possible to put something (e.g. a farm or settlement or forest exotic) in danger to elevate the tension in the scene? The arrow of shrieking is good. Magical, but not overly so (again note the trend of utilitarian magic),. More of an "unusual item" as tool for the PC's backpack. I like it. Rather than having it's shrieking last 1d4+1 rounds, I'd make it more irritating like 1d4 days with no way to stop it short of a dispel magic. Also, maybe the bear wandered into a pool of ancient magic that mutated it and drove it insane.

Maybe that a more general recommendation for you. Your magic items seem to be universally beneficial. Uber-useful and almost application perfect. Put a little more Yin-Yang into the mix. Make the players have to choose to shallow some bad with the good. Adventuring is trade-offs. It's no crime if found magic is totally orthogonal to the situation.

Lastly, the bear picture adds little. We all know what a bear looks like. Or is the bear an NPC so it has to submit a head-shot to audition for the adventure? I would stop focusing on just the actors---what is more compelling to the mind about D&D (play) are the exotic locations and bizzare situations. Try to enhance that vibe. Create a mood. Currently, it's lacking.

SpecialAreaRangerHideout-p16.png
 
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squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
Laughing comically is the goal of every RPG session...
The above quote from EOTB in the 5e thread is something worth keeping in mind. The world has to play the straight-man, but in the back of your mind you need to be thinking, "Have I set the table properly so that when the guests arrive there will be good times and laughter?"

What about this adventure lends itself to crazy PC hi-jinks or awkward situations? You seem to be making it too easy for them to be heroic. I find it works out better when the players play the bumbling fool to everyone's amusement. Taking D&D too seriously is a dead-end, in my opinion.

Just a thought.
 
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Malrex

So ... slow work day? Every day?
Ok, welcome back...rebuttal:

Yeah, the headshots..lol. I was excited about learning how to do layout so enjoyed putting any kind of art with the words. I'm a big fan of art...but I agree that it needs to add something so I've been working on that--sometimes less is more. But I was surprised when I received the email from a Bear with its headshot for the audition...how could I say no to that type of effort?

The lizardmen village is a bit weak. I'd probably switch it up to the more alpine Triturus (newt men) now and work on a suitable contest. But my initial thought is that the contest wasn't really that important---go find the biggest deer and bring it back to camp or whatever. The main idea for the contest is that rangers would utilize their tracking skill to help them win the contest....or since this is a 2e supplement, maybe they have the fishing non-weapon proficiency and could utilize that.

I always liked lizardmen and seemed like every time I encountered them as a player they attacked immediately..but they are neutral, so I wanted a village where someone could roleplay with them. Plus, they could be a potential faction option against the orcs. This is also a "Special Area", hence the title, not necessarily an adventure--if befriended, the ranger could return to the lizardmen camp and maybe see if the lizardmen know anything about Sakatha in the Cult of the Reptile God, or if they have any helpful ways to interact with lizardmen that are near the Caves of Chaos, or maybe something else that a DM has going in their campaign...I was viewing it as more of a resource for a ranger character rather than a fantastic or bizarre adventure--save that for when the rest of the group can play. This is for a 1 on 1 play night when people still want to play but the whole group isn't around.

I wouldn't do humans though...the area is supposed to be far away from civilization. It makes sense to me because of the setting we play in at our table--but I failed to really describe the setting to everyone else. Maybe when Coppercore is released, it will help, but I could add some details in the introduction of why these guys are way out in the middle of nowhere in 'Ranger School" and what their purpose is...except one won't be a guy now but a weed smoking stump named Blarr?

I am attracted to Ice's example statblock with the bolding. I could see it adding pages to the overall adventure however. If I have 5 different monsters in a room--that stat block layout might take up half a column/page suddenly....but it is easy to read so maybe extra length doesn't matter. Stat blocks are tough...seems like every retro-clone has its important info that needs to be included...problem is that I don't think people really care about the retro-clone--they just want to have the stat block usuable to them in their favored method to play. I wish there was just a universal O5R statblock or something that everyone just agrees to use that makes everyone semi-happy.

The Bear--yes...the quest is kinda boring. But remember, this is more for 1 player vs. 1 DM. You don't have any other help, you are by yourself. I think I screwed up and should of added what level this quest/task should be for (I did that for my druid one). But imagine you are a Level 2 ranger, going up against a HD 5 bear. I think there could be some tension to that...It's supposed to be an opportunity for a ranger to use their ability to affect animal reactions.

Too easy to be heroic?...What if they screw up their reaction roll with the bear? They are going to have to flee and try something else. What if the ranger wins the contest and the DM decides the lizardmen are pissed about it and go after him/her...too easy?

Magic Items--Ill take your comments to heart but when every magic item has a negative with a positive, I can see players just sorta rolling their eyes and not even bothering to use magic items. Part of the awe of magic items is finding something cool..right?... but then you want me to keep dashing that with a negative for every magic item they find? Almost feels like a DM "Gotcha" moment...But I agree, not all magic should be perfect, and sometimes a negative can be seen as part of just an unusual quality rather than a negative. I could do that to some, but I wouldn't do it to all.

A situation to use tracking for a contest, a situation to use an ability to affect animal reactions, later on with the orcs--using stealth....using/practicing skills of the ranger class...sensing a theme? A Ranger supplement? ta dah? Sounds like I failed in that aspect.

Here's a scenario I was going for:
Other players: "So you played last night without us? We understand, but what did your character do?"
Ranger: "We were just sorta roleplaying out some ranger skills...I tracked a deer and helped out a bear. Nothing too crazy. I got a little XP though and now I'm caught up with the rest of the group. "
Other players: "oh, ok..cool. We are excited to play tonight."

Rather than:
Other players: "what did you do?"
Ranger: I discovered a magic mutating pool that was messing up animals, and I saved the entire forest from its evil magics by blowing a magic unicorn horn that I discovered from this woman lizardman that had a crush on this ranger dude, who is a total stud by the way, but she lived in this cave with a rainbow colored demon......"
Other players: "WTF, this is BS! Sorry I had to hang with my family last night, but man..that sucks. How long until you finish that adventure..."
Ranger: Probably another week or so and then you could come back and join the play group. Heh, yeah...you loser, you totally missed out. I'm now 2 levels higher than you and got a cool video gamey buckler.
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
Let me know if you grow tired of my dude-you-are-seriously-missing-the-point critique, and I will abandon the effort. In my mind, I am trying to serve the role of editor and force you question your choices. You ultimately decide what stays and what goes.

To that end...

I would say you are limiting this product by the scope of what you think about how it should be used. Your preconceived notions about the action is a neat-and-tidy 1v1 session with the D&D and the player being trained gets a skill bump (unless combat goes badly).

I would counter with: "Then this is a railroad. You have a mental map of how this thing plays out and as a result are limiting player choice."

Would do you say to that?

I think you should just make a cool location that is the answer to the question the player implicitly asks the D&D when he or she goes looking for someone to train them. What unfolds, how many other players get involved, and how long it takes should solely be a function of what the player does and how deep he or she wants to go.

In another thread, you mentioned that you loved the idea of a world that was infinitely deep---more and more layers in the direction the player chooses to explore (a recent comment on Byrce's blog lead me to a review in which Bryce labels this as "Rob Kuntz hidden depths"---an entire dungeon in a petal of a flower that can only be unlocked by obscure magic.). With "Ranger's Hideout", you are not supporting this principle to even a small degree---you've already decided how quickly the action plays out and the depth is exactly 1 (or zero if you are a C programmer).

That's what I meant when I said "you are setting them up to be heroic"---Blarr WILL accept them as apprentice, the Lizardmen WILL let them complete in the contest, they WILL find the bear, etc. == ZERO EXPLORATION, ZERO EMERGENT PLAY. It feels staged. There are no branch points. Player agency lost (in a Theme Park-ish woods). Where in this product does the DM get surprised by what happens next?

Lastly, the utility and market-ability of this produce is being limited by restricting it to tie-in to your partner's world. My advice is to ditch the connection. It's only hurting you. His campaign is not different enough from vanilla 2e D&D (from what I can tell) to add much---so just detach and free yourself creatively. I think it will broaden its mass-appeal.

Again, say the word and I'll stop banging on my (out-of-tune) drum.
 
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squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
I am wondering if this paragraph in Byrce's most recent review was aimed at my character-fetish-bashing tirade earlier in this thread...
Bryce said:
Are RPG’s about the story the DM is telling? Are RPG’s about an antagonistic DM? Are RPG’s about the DM at all? Are RPG’s about the pedantic way some people roleplay their characters, forgetting they are a part of the group? No, RPG’s are about the players and their characters, together. The story is emergent but it IS about them.
Just curious.
 
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Malrex

So ... slow work day? Every day?
I don't want you to stop banging your drum at all. You are providing some great insights...see below.

"A world that was infinitely deep---more and more layers in the direction the player chooses to explore"
--yes. I agree with this and do like it and usually strive for it.

I think you got a point. I agree that this product doesn't support what I like--because there is a problem with it. Looking at it with your lens, I agree with you--it's a railroad. Wasn't really my intention for that to be the case...hmmm..

So what is the problem with it that makes it a railroad?--The idea I was going for was to have this location...that a character could return to again and again as they gained levels. So the location becomes essentially a 'Book of Lairs' for different levels of a ranger. There is stuff going on, but maybe at different times (or in this case, dependent on character levels) which restricts the character's choices to only one or two things--go hunt the bear....go do a lizardman contest, etc. But having all these mini adventures near one location THAT are for different levels--that's the restriction and thus the problem. The level restrictions for the quests/tasks makes it a railroad. Would you agree?

Instead....I could do what I usually do... have the whole place slated for level 3-5 or something. A pipe-smoking weed stump would be the grantor of rumors (i.e. insert rumor table), and then the player could choose what they wanted to do in this area..... Doing one thing may lead to another thing. Or the character could return to 'base camp' with the stump and maybe learn more...Activities could happen according to a timetable (i.e. orcs kidnap lizardmen during the hunt contest) to make things feel more alive....

Just another adventure.....

The challenge I was going for was to try something different and have that "book of lairs" type feel for a 1 vs. 1 type adventure. A vibe that focus on a specific class. 1e play doesn't really deal with skills and proficiencies and I'm assuming mostly everyone hand waves an increase of skills. Is it so pedantic to have a series of adventures that may have situations where new skills and/or proficiencies (in 2e's case) may be learned? Is it not 'emergent' play to roleplay with a trainer and really get to know the NPC a little bit better? A NPC that could become a tool to deliver future adventure hooks/rumors? Or to do a quest to gain a special ability?

Your Paladin raises a level and you can summon a horse?
Cool... ok go train and now you have a horse....Done.
Or actually, we could play Red Prophet Rises and you could find your horse!

The whole Special Area line was going to focus on each class. Why does a druid receive Pass Without Trace at a certain level? They just magically get it? Or do they have to adventure for it?....I was going for an adventure reason!

"You ultimately decide what stays and what goes." Nope...not this time. I'll probably keep it as PWYW for past buyers and art, and I'll probably make it all black and white interior-- but I'm trying to follow your dream here that everyone can pitch in and we create something better and that everyone can eat free fish and shit.

So I guess my question is:
1. Sounds like the challenge was too great and the idea of having mini adventures focusing on different level ranger skills/proficiencies doesn't work and should be scrapped. So do we just do a regular ol' adventure for a party of adventurerers with the area and 'weird' it up a bit? And what level shall we make it for?
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
Not so fast! Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just because I've been a harsh critic, doesn't mean the whole concept in flawed.

I like the idea of a product that is based in a wooded area that offers many OPPORTUNITIES for a ranger-class to hone/gain new skills. Just as it's much better that the Paladin get's his horse in Red Prophet than by a snap of the fingers, it would be neat for a DM to have an environment that plays to a ranger's strengths. I'm just suggesting a more subtle hand and a less cut-and-dry approach.

Keep the mentor-figure---I think it a good mechanic for assigning the mini-quests that will result in skill-acquisition.
BUT...
  • make him harder to find initially (that's your first adventure and exposure to the setting) and potentially unwilling to help (real risk of failure and a viable alternate path)
  • make him more mysterious/enigmatic (not the Dudliest Dude or Principal of "Rangers' School")---he's yoda, Batman Begins' Ra's al Ghul, or Carlos Castenda's shaman Don Juan Matus.). Ditch the other "Super Friends" or make them really odd wierdos that live alone in the woods and don't like people much (...running around naked on all fours wearing a fox-pelt on their back).
  • make the lairs/quests less "set up"---i.e. a bit more "Gygaxian Naturalism" where they live and breath beyond the character's needs and the ranger-PC is "intruding" a bit more. Let the player decide how much they want to get mixed up in the crap that's going on, beyond their self-serving quest. Blarr/stump/PhantomStranger can routinely lay low and warn the PC "not to get involved" and that "they're not ready".
  • flesh out the sandbox-y nature of the setting. Make some things relevant to the ranger's needs and some thing orthogonal to "get in the way" or stumble upon (Easter Eggs!). D&D should mirror life a bit and get messy at times. Knutz Deep. IMO, you tend to be too much a utilitarian.
  • Provide a bit more guidance to the DM up-front on the utility of the product. Describe the layout. Play test(!) and report on how things played out in your campaign as an example.
  • If the player is loving it---don't rush him or her out the door. Make it possible for the party to join in. THEY decide what the main attraction is, not the DM.
  • Forget about the page-count. It's a freakin' PDF. Break-up/delineate the sections/lairs a bit more and flesh them out.
  • Put the (improved) area map up front! (and in the back...)
  • MAKE ... IT ... INTERESTING !!!! (quirky, evocative, mysterious, interactive)
  • MAKE ... IT ... AWESOME !!! (or why bother)

Malrex said:
So I guess my question is:
1. Sounds like the challenge was too great and the idea of having mini adventures focusing on different level ranger skills/proficiencies doesn't work and should be scrapped. So do we just do a regular ol' adventure for a party of adventurerers with the area and 'weird' it up a bit? And what level shall we make it for?
Whoa there Sneaky Pete! That's not how things work in the world of "free fish shit". It's still your baby. Every project needs a founder that's motivated to scratch a personal itch---otherwise it's doomed. Just because the work-load is daunting, you can't just "assign it to the group". I'm calling BS. You are getting help from the community. That's all. If your heart isn't in it at the moment---that's cool too. You don't owe me anything for being an opinionated, nit-picky, bastard. I'm having my fun. You should too. It's a hobby---not a job.

Lastly: Don't just listen to me! I have no credentials! Get some more opinions. (Lurkers speak up!)
 
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squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
Maybe a way forward is to cross-pollinate a bit. Make it a "Special Area" (still a dull name, how about "Boot Camp") for Druids & Rangers. It's just a cool forest sandbox with a whole bunch of stuff going on and many explictly opportunities for both those classes to pick up new skills. That way, the two class-needs will lend some diversity to the area and make it feel a bit more alive and less railroad-y.

Also, it's the OSR way to not focus on levels (CL) so much. Make the tasks largely simple and less combative---like steal X from the lizardmen's mud village (low level)...but maybe if you screw up (or get greedy) you get yourself in way over your head/level and tied to a spit for tomorrow's dinner (...then maybe naked fox-pelt ranger-chick shows up on all fours, unties your ropes with her teeth, and then crawls off into the woods without uttering a single word).

What's more, I think the quests your teacher sends you on should come off as absurd, pointless, and dangerous at first blush---like a mad-man's scavenger hunt. Only afterwards should they make any sense.
 
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Malrex

So ... slow work day? Every day?
Whoa there Sneaky Pete! That's not how things work in the world of "free fish shit". It's still your baby. Every project needs a founder that's motivated to scratch a personal itch---otherwise it's doomed. Just because the work-load is daunting, you can't just "assign it to the group". I'm calling BS. You are getting help from the community. That's all. If your heart isn't in it at the moment---that's cool too. You don't owe me anything for being an opinionated, nit-picky, bastard. I'm having my fun. You should too. It's a hobby---not a job.
Yeah...Ill be the founder. Ill do the work. I'm not assigning a work-load to others...but what I meant is I am asking for ideas and help shaping this thing if its fun for people--that's your dream way of doing these type of things, right?. Getting the whole community together and sharing fish and ideas? This is the gift economy you believe works? I'm trying to pave a road to that glorious sunset Squeen and to take you with me....I'm on this adventure to discover this "non-economic motive for adventure production"....and I'm asking the community to help show me the way....

I have 3 big projects ahead of this one, but I do plan to get this finish.

Following your bullet points:
1. I love that idea.

2. So is he a mysterious figure or a weed-smoking stump--or maybe there is both? Need a vote on that. May change the Super Friends into Dark Rangers instead...vicious hunters who will continue to make things hard for the PC and want to take over the ranger's territory.

3. Ok, I can do that.

4. Dark Rangers will make things difficult. Things wont be cut and dry and the ranger PC can discover things...make things more sad, difficult, and depressing..got it.

5. I caught that mistake when I was working on the druid one. I can rectify that and make it more clear.

6. I'm struggling with this one a little bit. Goes back to if this will remain a 1vs1 type adventure or for a group. It's difficult to balance things. I know this is old school and things don't necessarily need to be balanced, but are you catching my drift? Same for focusing on levels...I wouldn't have too if I just set a level on this thing. The idea was to have a place for different tasks/adventures for levels 1-10 for a solo ranger. But the way you are saying to set that up--I don't think what I had in mind will work unless there is an Appendix that scales the encounters--and that seems totally out of character for OSR. I'm not opposed to having a dungeon though that's more focused on group play.

I guess I'm still wondering if I should just scrap my main idea and make a cool location/adventure that may be helpful if a ranger is in a group. But when you mix mages and thieves for example, a ranger may not be inclined to use their sneaky skills, etc. I can change the way the adventure was written...it IS more railroady or story-mode.

7. I'll plan to have a PoD option when finished.

I could combine Druid and Ranger together...but that goes against what I'm trying to do--have a 'Special Area' (open to new ideas for what to call the line of adventures if its too dull) for each class.

Just got an idea! I think what might be better and would follow my initial vision:
Take the Ranger's Hideout--Dramen's Camp and list a few ideas of how characters could increase their skills by level (help the bear, etc.) but basically make it a bullet list of ideas.
Then have a fighter's school...bullet list of ideas, etc.
Then a wizard's tower
Thief's hideout, etc.
Combine all those together into one big supplement. So if someone wants to train, instead of handwaving it, the DM has some fleshed out NPC's and a location to work with and maybe some ideas to spark something for 1 on 1 play if not everyone showed up.

THEN
We take it a step further.
We take each "Special Area" and have an adventure centered around it.
So for this one...we have the ranger's camp...we set it for levels 3-5 or whatever...its for group play....and we make it epic. It will be the type of adventure that might be beneficial to have a ranger in the party, etc.
Sorta like how Red Prophet allows a paladin to have a moment and get their horse, we could do that for the ranger in this adventure.
I think this route would completely take away that railroad feel and take away the 'balance' issues of level and number of people. You would get that epic adventure you would crave, and Id still have a project that had my initial vision. Plus, the special area supplement could be sorta a advertisement for future adventures centered around those specific areas...you read about the bard area and get to wonder for a few years what the adventure will entail.....cool shit? I'm leaning heavy on this route...



Finally...anyone who plays D&D has credentials in my book.
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
I can sense your creative passion catching fire now. Perfect. Kill that bear man!
 
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