wordswords

Exploration - Dive into the unknown

Ever since I've played Trophy Gold I'm obsessed about the Hunt Roll. Since then I've read every instance of the Labyrinth Move from which the Hunt Roll originated and looked at many different exploration and travel procedures like the underclock, the hazard die or the exploding encounter die. I don't think the Hunt Roll is perfect. But it's one of the rare cases where a player facing mechanic supports moment to moment exploration. I like intuitive and responsive mechanics more than I like procedures.

A very short summary on how the Hunt Roll works in Trophy: When a player presses on towards an immediate goal, they roll 1-2 D6 and take the highest result. On a 1-3 bad things happen right now. On a 4-5 bad things happen with less immediacy and the player gets 1 Hunt Token. On a 6 the player just gets the Hunt Token. Players can trade 1 Hunt Token to find something worth 1 Gold or spend 3 Tokens to achieve a goal agreed on by the GM.

There was a time where I had considered going full on Trophy Gold for Grass & Rubble. But Trophy Gold is completely centered around this mechanic. You need Gold to survive and the Hunt Roll is the main driver of tension and pacing in the system. What I don't want for my game is the meta currency. G&R is much more grounded in NSR philosophy, it's not a story game.

I had experimented with many iterations, some have been playtestet. The current draft is by far the most condensed.

Exploration

Most of the time the GM will set a scene and describe your immediate surroundings. Asking questions is your main tool to explore the world. The GM will answer honestly and give you all information that could possibly be available to you. To uncover more, you need to describe how your character engages with the environment, how they move forward or investigate.

Delve Roll

When you press on into a new area, linger in a place for too long or draw attention, you make a Delve Roll:

On a 1 trouble strikes: Make a horrible discovery, encounter a threat or face issues with your gear. If you are in a hurry or vulnerable, you get blindsided.

On a 2-3 trouble emerges: Make an unsettling discovery, find signs of an approaching threat or have complications emerge. If this is rolled a second time in a row, it escalates.

On a 4-6 it’s quiet: Describe a curious, ordinary or weird detail in your environment.

The Delve Roll doesn’t determine the success of your exploration, it tells you what else happens. It's up to the GM to determine what that means. Depending on the immediacy, you may need to react with a Risk Roll or a Dread Roll.

The Delve Roll is just a specific Luck Roll taken from Electric Bastionland. The procedure follows the same rhythm as every other part of G&R: The GM describes a situation, the players say how they act, the GM calls for rolls, interprets the outcome and narrates the new situation. The standard mode of operation has the players roll simultaneously if they carry out multiple actions or, if they act as a group, has the leader roll. The GM can decide to resolve disconnected situations individually but is encouraged to view the situation as a whole.

I'm aware that it's a very loose mechanic that puts a lot of creative weight on the GM's shoulders. But it fits my playstyle very well. Two players each rolling 4-5 results in the same scene may be interpreted as an urgent approaching threat or as two completely separat complications. Maybe one players flashlight begins to flicker and the other finds traces of an anomaly nearby. Some guidelines for possible trouble:

Furthermore I plan to expand advice when it comes to "scenic" conditions like darkness, radiation and airborne hazards. The frequency and results of Delve Rolls should be informed by the places the players explore.

Darkness: If you lack a light source, darkness hinders your actions or makes them impossible. The GM may call for a Dread Rolls before you act. Sharing a light source during hectic situations can also lead to momentary hindrances. Flashlights last for a long time but the Zones electromagnetic currents are unpredictable. Periodically check your light: On a 1 it flickers before it goes out, on 2-3 it dims (count a repeated 2-3 result as a 1) and on 4-6 it's unchanged.

Airborne hazards: Being exposed to toxic gases, infectious spores or radiated dust inflicts hindrances, harm or weird afflictions. In most cases you can protect yourself with a gas mask. One filter lasts for roughly 15 minutes. Especially dangerous environments require full hazard suits. Periodically check the filters condition: On a 1 breathing becomes hard and you have 30 seconds left, on 2-3 you feel it depleting (count a repeated 2-3 result as a 1) and on 4-6 it's unchanged.

Radiation: Most forms of radiation are hard to notice. If you lack a detector, Look out for subtle warning signs like flickering air, the smell of ozone, tingling skin or the corpse of a fellow Vulture. Periodically check for radiation sickness: On a 1 it's serious or gets worse, on 2-3 it's light or gets worse and on 4-6 it's unchanged.

Exploration in a hostile environment will unenevitably be risky. And spending more time exploring will raise the chance of encountering threats and depleting resources. Although most excursions will go for a day or two and sleeping outside of town is rarely a good idea, the players will be able to mitigate the grind by resting.

Rest

If you spend an hour or more in a safe place, each player can take one rest action like bonding, field-crafting, clearing conditions, studying something, or similar activities. The GM will check if danger strikes and interrupts your rest actions before they resolve (1), approaches after you have resolved your actions (2-3) or if everything stays quiet (4-6).

I don't tend to think in turns but I can't deny that a turn like structure emerges naturally. The players will make Delve Rolls which often lead to Risk Rolls, Dread Rolls or specific Luck Rolls like the ones described above. What the Delve Roll doesn't provide is general information about the scene. It doesn't prompt the players to ask questions and it doesn't help the GM to come up with general details. You could say it lacks the nuances of PbtA or story game like moves. I still like it. It's not as procedural as the common Dungeon Exploration Cycle. In the end it provides the GM light weight tools to create tension, conflicts and resond to players actions with costs and consequences in an intuitive way that fits my general playstyle and the rhythm I'm going for.