SCHEDULE
Our next scheduled game is Tuesday, June 17. Downtime orders for all characters are due no later than 18:00 on June 14 (Saturday). Please remember that besides a broad description of activity, or a list of specific activities, orders which are contingent on the results of prior steps in the orders may be issued. If you have questions related to planning your characters orders, would like to execute orders for part of the period before deciding on subsequent orders, or have a group or one-on-one play-by-email or mini-session in person or on Discord/phone that is also possible. All such actions, however, need to be resolved by the deadline.
PLAYERS & CHARACTERS
We have a new player, Josh, who joined for the June 5 session. I'm hopeful that he will continue with us. Thanks very much, Cole, for inviting Josh. Everyone please feel free to invite new players, even just to try it out, any time.
- Castlemaine
- Calvis Mulroney (Andy O), May 31
- Nicole Connery (Andy O), May 31
- Shay McFarland (Barry F), Jun 17
- Patrick Cartney (Cole W), May 31
- Finnan Fitzpatrick (Cole W), Jun 17
- Keith McHugh (Josh L), Jun 17
- Tralee
- Connor Ryan (Cole W), May 31
- Cieran Keane (Justin H), May 31
- Eoin Sweeney (John S), May 31
- Castlenoe
- Connor Hely-Hutchinson (John S), May 31
- Sean Gavan (Adam M), May 31
- Castle Island
- Colm Stewart (Barry F), May 31
TIPS & TRICKS
Monthly Upkeep Rules
When a character has insufficient funds to meet their monthly upkeep costs when they are due, their funds go to zero and they are evicted from their lodgings. It's assumed that such characters scrape by and survive, however. Because they are living rough, their risk of disease and infestation is slightly higher (still only 3% and 4%, respectively, in the current weather and uncrowded conditions) than it would be in proper lodgings.
Players may not voluntarily forego upkeep costs, and if necessary the referee will automatically liquidate gems, magic items, or other valuables for gold in order to cover those costs. Players may not have one of their own PCs give anything to another. The mundane supplies assumed to be accounted for in upkeep (torches, arrows, rations, etc.) must again be paid for rather than provided for free once an upkeep payment has been missed until the next one is met.
The rules provide for taking out loans for characters of wealth and standing. Putting a valuable item in hock, is a means by which a character might prevent such an item from being immediately liquidated.
The Dungeon
The dungeon is possibly the most game-like, rather than simulation-like, component of AD&D. The whole concept is fairly absurd, but as a referee I try to keep even this element as simulation-like as the game rules permit. Here are rules you should be aware of in order to play this component skillfully:
- Dungeons versus Lairs
Dungeons are different from "lairs." Lairs are described in the Monster Manual for each creature type which might live in one, and are the places, often underground, where monsters live in their normal "ecology" with their eggs, young, and any other non-combatant members of their group. In lairs there may be pets, slaves, servants, livestock, and so on of other species, but generally it is a one-species environment. Perhaps most importantly, this is where the "treasure types" listed in the Monster Manual will be found.
Dungeons, on the other hand, often contain a more random mix of monsters. In contrast with lairs which are well-organized to withstand invasion, dungeons are defended only where creatures have holed-up against other creatures, sometimes in order to defend treasure they've found. The dungeon is more controlled by the game rules than by the fiction of the world. The content of lairs is driven by the rules of the game, too, but the dungeon rules create more game than fiction by comparison. The dungeon rules put lesser threats and lesser treasure rewards near the surface, and increasingly dangerous foes and greater treasure rewards literally deeper below the surface. - Time and Risk Management
Everything in the dungeon takes time and time costs resources and increases risk. Recall that 1 turn = 10 minutes, 1 round = 1 minute, and 1 segment = 6 seconds. Movement and mapping takes 1 turn per 1" of movement rate, that is, a character with a movement rate of 9" traverses 90' in the dungeon, while mapping / exploring, in 10 minutes.
The greatest risk in the dungeon is wandering monsters. Despite the rules mentioning wandering monsters 16 times in the DMG, including an entry in the glossary, the rules do not indicate the frequency or chance of these occurring. From the example of play, however, one can infer that on a 1 in 6, checked every 3 turns, a wandering monster is encountered. Sometimes this is a monster from another area of the dungeon and sometimes this is a monster that wasn't already known to be present. Such monsters have only, at most, individual treasure (pocket change). Loud noises increase the frequency and/or likelihood of wandering monsters. The Basic rules indicate in a dungeon wandering monsters appear on a 1 in 6, checked every 2 turns. The classic AD&D module T1: The Village of Hommlet has one area where the check is 1 in 12 every turn, and another where it is 1 in 6 every turn.
I will default to 1 in 6 every 3 turns as a base case, however it will vary from one dungeon or dungeon area to another. Which you can discover by tracking time and watching when I roll.
With that in mind, skillful play requires consideration for how long various typical activities use: - CORRIDOR: move & map 10' per 1" of movement rate, 1 turn
- CORRIDOR: pass previously explored 10' per 1" of movement, 1 round
- DOOR: search for traps, open, or listen, 1 round
- ROOM: mapping and casually searching 20' X 20' area, 1 turn
- ROOM: thoroughly searching after initial examination, 1 turn
- SECRET DOOR: checking for in 10' X 10' area, 1 round
- SECRET DOOR: thorough examination to find means of opening, 1 turn