Monday, July 11, 2011

pre-DCC zero level play

N4 Treasure Hunt is one of only a handful of adventure modules that I have run more than once.  Each time the reactions have been good to great.  It was written by Aaron Allston, whose original Strike Force book for Champions I still consider one of the greatest supplements ever written for the hobby.

The basic deal is this: the PCs begin play captured, on a slave ship.  Unlike the last installment of the Slavers module series, where your mighty heroes bust out and kick ass, you are zero-level chumps who only escape a cruel fate because the ship runs aground in a storm that drowns most of the slavers.  So you free yourself but it's still storming, you have no equipment, slavers may lurk around any corner intent on recapturing you, you have no idea where you are and on top of that all, you suck.  It's a helluva way to kick off a campaign.

As far as I know, the rules included in the module for 0-level play appeared nowhere else.  The lynchpin of the system was this chart the DM kept on each PC, tracking their class-like activities.  If Bobert the PC started using the bardiche they took from the half-orc, then the DM would get out his sheet for Bobert and mark a plus sign next to each class that could use polearms and a minus sign next to each class that was forbidden from using such weapons.  If Bobert tried to cast the sleep spell found in the spellbook, the DM put a plus next to 'Magic-User' and a minus on every other class.

The module is scattered with opportunities to attempt different class abilities, which effectively sorts the PCs based upon what they do to survive, rather than upon any plan or desire. It's an interesting effect.  As soon as any character earns the XP needed to reach 1st level the DM looks at their tally sheet.  If someone has a lot of plusses next to a single class, that becomes their class going forward.  Otherwise you use categories that are net minuses to weed out various classes.  E.g. "You used an edged weapon in every fight, so you definitely can't be a cleric."  Alignment was similarly tracked.

The other thing that I really like about this module is that the biggest treasure in it is a small seaworthy vessel.  The cover art basically depicts the last scene of the adventure, assuming anyone survives.  Since the slaver ship is blown off course the small island setting for the adventure could be plonked down in pretty much any sea hex on your overland map.

If you choose to track down a copy of N4 and run it, please note that there is one part of the module that I think doesn't work.  There's a ghoul encounter.  It attacks the party early on, before anyone could possibly reach first level.  And it does so from surprise, while the party is asleep in a place they have every reason to think is safe.  With its three attacks per round and paralysis ability, that ghoul could easily turn into a total party kill.  Paranoid parties will post a watch and smart ones will run from the encounter (at least the members who survive the surprise segments), but there's still a strong potential for total disaster.  The last time I ran N4 I'm pretty sure I downgraded the ghoul to zombie stats.

19 comments:

  1. I want to track that module down now :)

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  2. The inspiration for doing my own zero-level rules on ye old blog came from reading this module.

    Glad to see that it works in practice. When I read the ghoul ambush, I instantly thought TPK myself.

    Besides downgrading to a zombie, did you run it pretty straight? Or did you take some of the railroad elements out? The advice for GMs in the back seemed like some of the heaviest handed advice I've ever read.

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  3. I don't recall ever needing to take out some of the more egregiously railroady sections. But yeah, I would have readily ignored, for example, the advice that stealing one of the pirate ships was impossible.

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  4. THANKS for telling me about this invaluable sounding resource!

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  5. You know, I had a GM run a CoC game where we all started as amnesiacs, and the GM handed us character sheets based on a series of early decisions. It was an interesting, if occasionally problematic, approach in that game, and it's cool to hear that it worked out well in The Treasure Hunt module.

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  6. I don't have my books handy, but I'm pretty sure a similar idea for zero-level characters starting out this way appeared in.... was it GREYHAWK ADVENTURES hardcover? I never owned TREASURE HUNT, but I remember seeing a similar system in something I owned.

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  7. The Badger King is correct; a zero-level system exists in Greyhawk Adventures also. I've eyeballed it, but it never seemed to grab me. The sample adventures that were provided for 0-level characters in GA were not compelling to me. It looks like Treasure Hunt is significantly more compelling, what with slavers and other coolness.

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  8. Can you write something up about Alston's Strike Force? I can't find a copy and want to know how hard I should try.

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  9. I do not understand the zero level thing. 1st level PCs are already damn fragile, they already know little enough to be nobodies etc ("One spell / One wound / One saving throw"). They are initiates. Real adventurers - the kind who could be considered semi-powerful protagonists and might be found in an adventure fantasy story - start around level three. So what I am not seeing is why go through the extra motions of yet another degree below being a mook?

    (This does not imply the module is bad; rather, I am not understanding some of the online love this concept gets.)

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  10. Zak: Sure. Maybe in a day or two.

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  11. The zero system used here reminds me of one of the earlier Final Fantasy games, which I'm sure had a similar system of allocating class. I think it was either II or V.

    Can you write something up about Alston's Strike Force? I can't find a copy and want to know how hard I should try.
    Ditto. With that build-up, Jeff, you've got to give us more detail!

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  12. I have to agree with Melan; the chance of a TPK exists at the lower levels anyway. One would have to "dumb down" the monster stats to prevent total TPK in any encounter. The attraction to level 0 play may be that character creation is an actual part of game play, rather than a separate activity that happens before play. Of course, if the players are familiar with the rules, they could make choices that would guarantee their eventual character class, use of the spell book and defending oneself with a bit of a wooden spar from the wreckage would guarantee a career in magic.

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  13. @The Badger King, yes, there were 0-level rules included in the Greyhawk Adventures hardcover, although I couldn't say if they are the exact same rules.

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  14. @DaveL: I ran a PBP game on RPG.net and used the the N4 system to start the players at 0 level for exactly that reason. I thought ti would be fun to see what PCs we ended up with if the choice developed through in-game decisions.

    I found it produced mostly fighters and clerics, to be honest. Part of that was likely due to the fact that the Dungeon adventure I used wasn't designed for the N4 system and offered little in the way of developing a potential mage. I sprinkled in a couple of scrolls, and opportunity to try some thief skills, so I'd like to think the classes all were represented.

    A fun experiment, not sure if I'd do it again though.

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  15. DaveL: I'm not against the possibility of a TPK in any normal adventure situation. I'm against half the party waking up dead when I've already marooned them and then given the impression they are going to sleep in the one safe place on a monster-infested island.

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  16. I have had this module for years. It has inspired me to try and run something like it for many years. The problem I have found is that some of my players balk at the idea of starting at zero level. They quote things like Melan said about 1st lvl characters being frgile already. Yet, the thing that I see as an amazing possibility is a group of "normal" humans and demi-humans coming together, forging an alliance and becoming adventurers is an amazing idea!

    I might need new players, but this is always something that is buzzing around in the back of my head. Thank you Jeff for talking about this.

    I also agree that the ghoul thing is a little much.

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  17. Mr. Joseph Jorkens11:24 PM

    Melan: For me personally, the point is definitely the character creation through play, something others have already alluded to. I'd be fine with dumping the characters straight into level 3 or any level after the creation stage was over with, if I felt that was what was called for; I do agree that if the 0-level play takes a long time, following it with level 1 is just prolonging the PCs' opportunity to get smushed at any whim of the dice (thus discarding any benefits gained from playing through level 0, no less), but as noted, you don't have to run it that way if you don't want to.

    Does that help make sense of it?

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  18. I think I still have a copy of this. I will have to go dig it up.

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  19. Anonymous3:13 PM

    I've run this module twice, and the second time I skipped the ghoul; it simply didn't fit the disaster-movie feel of the game.

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