This is the first of many posts in my work to create for us a mission generator that is both easy and fast to use. This effort actually dates back to as early as the Ronin campaign that some of you may remember (I forget how long ago it was... over a year?). Unfortunately, for balancing and streamlining issues, the original concept had to be abandoned. However, its development continued until about seven months ago when I dropped the project entirely to focus on other more important issues (school). The last version can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9ol0oi85vysjol9/WwJYrcbfQh/Tables - Mission Generator 1.4.xls This will be the foundation for which I build our new (and hopefully improved) system. My reasons for implementing a dynamic mission generator are fairly simple ones: Creating an interesting but BALANCED experience for players is very time consuming to do by hand; without an established median, it is too easy to accidentally give one player an unintended advantage over another. A semi-structured mission design mechanic will help give a more fair experience for everyone since everyone is affected by the same rules. Less time spent handcrafting standard combat missions will allow for more time developing interesting special events, RP interactions, and other game mechanics... or if nothing else... more time for me to have a real life. I will be reserving this space for future major updates.
Here are the two different structures I want to experiment with: Map Structure This could be something similar to your standard board game. Each player or group is represented by a playing piece on the map. Each turn allows the player to move to another location on the map. Mission and events would be dictated by where or how you move on the map. This apporach is very similar to the original concept of the Ronin campaign except interaction with the map would be more structured. The other major difference is that you would have more direct control over what enemies you faced and how many (a major weakness of the Ronin campaign). The major problem with this is that it would require creation of a dedicated campaign map for any location we fight on. This would significantly reduce the number of new locations we could visit (a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it). The other major problem is that it would require more than a small amount of additional rules for the campaign map as well as creation of some system to easily implement updates on the map. I have some old resources that started to address this, but they are neither complete nor simple enough to my liking. Here is an example of some of the work I've done on it (created over a year ago): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9ol0oi85vysjol9/pu0T_TpD20/campaign tools (OLD)/Strategic World Map Rules 2.3.doc Branch Structure This method is very similar to the first link I made in the previous post. Think of this as something similar to a progression bar with multiple branches... or a choose-your-own-adventure book; as you progress through certain missions new ones would open up to you. The missions and conditions could be affected by your previous successes or failures. The really nice thing about this is that it would, at least initially, require less effort to create a working system than the above map structure. The problem with this approach is that not only would it make things more predictable, but it would remove a fair degree of freedom from the player. It is also not as visually appealing for the less invested players; people would be forced to rely on more charts or spreadsheets (no one likes that, not even me). It is possible much of this could be reduced by smart design, although I can't be sure at this point. A not very pretty example: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9ol0oi85vysjol9/WwJYrcbfQh/Tables - Mission Generator 1.4.xls Anyway, there you have it: my next 400 pound gorilla I intend to make my bitch. Anyone with comments, questions or suggestions feel free to post below.
First crack at something different: This is a sort of hybrid approach to the two previously mentioned systems. In this case, there are three main "Regions" with each region broken up into 4 or 5 "Zones". An individual zone could have various characteristics and chances of certain encounters (friendly or hostile) such as npc patrol npc convoy supply cache npc outpost npc rescue/capture mission Random encounters could be modified as needed to fit with the campaign. Progression along a zone branch could be achieved by reaching "x" number of victories over the enemy. Multiple victories or losses could affect mission difficulty modifiers; this would help offset zone modifiers listed above. For example, a string of victories leading up to an assault on the enemy's HQ could improve the "Enemy HQ" Zone modifier from -2 to 0. However, if met with constant defeat, defense of the Player's HQ could jump from +2 to 0 as well.
Zone Attributes (work in progress) Region = each zone is one part of a larger region. Biome = defines temperature of environment and other extreme conditions (volcanic, toxic, thin/no atmosphere, etc.) Terrain = secondary to the Biome category, this further defines terrain conditions as needed (plains, hills, mountains, swamp, urban, etc.) DMG = designates assigned Dynamic Mission Generator (raid, assault, patrol, etc.); this will be further defined later Modifier = bonus/penalty that affects mission parameters
updated to format that is easier to edit: Note: players may move one adjacent or diagonal zone per turn. Alternate version:
and another alternative: Note: As mentioned before, players may move adjacent or diagonal. Grey squares indicate connections by lines (ex. Zone C1 connects to Player HQ, Zone B2, Zone C2, and Zone C5).
The DMG will be spit up into three different 2d6 charts: Patrol, Outpost, Assault Patrol the most common zone you will encounter represent outlying areas that hold only minor strategic value mission objectives could vary between search and destroy, escort, recon, etc. mission success in this zone matters less Outposts more uncommon than Patrol zones. represent staging areas, forward bases, and supply depots that hold significant strategic value mission objectives would include everything from Patrol zones as well as raid, defense, and capture missions mission success is important, but not absolutely essential Assault least common of all zones represent strategical command headquarters; extremely important strategic value mission objectives would include everything from Outpost and Patrol zones as well as assault and extract missions mission success is paramount to completion of campaign Specific mission parameters have yet to be made, but I'm looking at something that gives the player some control over mission objectives while still allowing for some encounter randomization.
i'm tired, so I'm not posting pictures. here's the dropbox links instead: Dynamic Mission Map (template) : https://www.dropbox.com/s/dibdlknz3tsu6ct/Dynamic Mission Map v0.7.xls Dynamic Mission Generator (work in progress) : https://www.dropbox.com/s/7uivm13iig84y8k/Dynamic Mission Generator v0.3.xls A big thanks to Trev for his insight while working on it today. Note: both are very very similar to the examples shown a couple of posts before. I could definitely use some input on fleshing out the "Outpost" and "Assault" tables. Both should be distinct from each other and the Patrol table, but it should give you a general idea of what I'm aiming for.
DMM updated with more fleshed out rules. Find it here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/84troh1nfr2b8hd/Dynamic Mission Map v0.8.xls
since this project and our current campaign are somewhat connected by the rule changes being made, i will just link the most recent update here: http://www.theskjaldborg.com/index....and-upgrade-cost-evaluation.7421/#post-151847
the more I've been using roll20, the more I like it. I will likely be converting the DMM to incorporate it: other notes: one hex represents roughly 1,500 km^2 only regular NPC forces will be physically represented on the map. Lancer unit positions (PC & NPC) will be recorded secretly by the GM. certain actions may reveal their positions. regular NPC forces will always move first in a given turn. movement will likely be based on walking MP, but then reduced by 1 (subject to change). a single turn on this map will represent 1 week (subject to change).
