The Hexcrawling Game: Part 2 – Intentions

OK, I lied. No actual house rules yet. What I want to do instead is lay out what I am trying to accomplish with this exercise. What do I want to have at the end of it?

The Hexcrawling Game: Part 1- Rules as Written

The adventures I ran most in my youth were hexcrawls; specifically, Isle of Dread (X1) and the Volturnus series (SF0-3) for Star Frontiers. Looking back, after reading a lot of good articles on hexcrawling in the last couple of years, I didn’t run them well. I want to do much better when the Crusader Kingdoms campaign (which seems less aptly named all the time) moves into it’s wilderness exploration phase. So, I have been doing a lot of reading, and even ran Mutiny On The Eleanor Moraes (SFKH2) as a one-off to practice. Based on this, I have decided I want to house-rule the ACKS wilderness adventuring rules a little bit. Most importantly, I want to move to a movement points model as similar as I can get to the one from Avalon Hill’s Outdoor Survival game, as described in this Damn You Gygax! article at Delta’s D&D Hotspot. However, not wanting to screw up the delicate balance of ACKSonomics, I don’t want to change the actual distances moved per unit of game time.

Session 11: In Which the Legion Spins the Wheel

Tuesday, 21st day; 9th month (Horse); year 734

The Legion undertakes another expedition into the Pyramid of Sabban-Ka, intending this time to find Ulzain’s tomb. They take only a dozen of their best henchman, hoping that they will fare better with a less cumbersome party. On their way in, Thirleiro finds another secret door in the corridor that connects the Halls of Pleasure to the rest of the 5th tier. The secret door leads to a corridor, at the end of which is an archway obscured by a strange, shimmering field. Hovering in mid-air just beyond the field is a copper-plated staff carved in the shape of a pair of entwined snakes.

Session 10: In Which the Legion Loots the Tomb of Sabban-Ka

Sunday, 12th day; 9th month (Horse); year 734

On the day after the Legion returns from their foray into the Pyramid to rescue the templars, Spinello hosts a feast for the henchmen in the tavern wing of their stronghold. He attempts to arrange things in the Fortenzan style. The Cynidicean servants do their best to follow his instructions – which call for foods, beverages, and musical instruments alien to their civilization. The results are…interesting…but entertaining enough to keep spirits up among the battered members of the party.