In the previous article of this series we played out our first scene of our solo ODnD campaign using the rules provided by the Mythic GM Emulator. In this article we are going to incorporate something new into the mix to handle the business of crafting an adventure location from scratch so that we might add a little substance to the campaign.

To achieve this goal we are going to look at a book called 'The Location Crafter'. This is a supplement for use in conjunction with the Mythic GM Emulator and I'm very excited to try it out and see what results we can get. Let's have a go!

Solo RPG Using Mythic GM Emulator and OD&D - Part 3 - Crafting a Location

The Location Crafter utilises something called a 'Region', which is essentially a defined space within the adventure that is going to be explored. In this campaign our character Mona the first level Magic-User is about to explore a cave she discovered behind a waterfall hidden within the forest. This cave will be our Region.

Within our Region we need to define its Locations, Encounters and Objects. These need to be listed with more common elements first, leaving the more unique elements until last, as follows:

Locations:

• Tunnel
• Crawlspace
• Burial chamber
• Beast's Lair

Before I continue working through the rules outlined in the Location Crafter, I have another neat little idea I'm going to incorporate, which is something I thought of while drifting off to sleep last night! Imagine that in our fantasy world all regions are influenced by the various nature spirits, which cover various spiritual or magical elements, such as fire, metal, stone, light, earth, time, wind, shadow, cold, water, sound, spirit. There are many variations of these kinds of elemental lists. My idea regarding these elements are a simple table to roll on, which includes each element. The result of the roll can inspire a location we might not otherwise have thought of. It's a matter of interpreting the result in the context of the Region being explored. The table will look like this:

1. Spirit
2. Sound
3. Time
4. Shadow
5. Cold
6. Light
7. Stone
8. Earth
9. Wind
10. Water
11. Fire
12. Metal

Let's use this table to think up some more locations that might exist inside our cave.

1d12 = 2

Result: sound

The idea is to imagine where a sound spirit might thrive inside the cave. So we need to think of a location relating to sound. The first thing I think of is an area with very smooth hard walls that acts as an echo chamber, perhaps there are cave paintings which depict the location being used as a place of music because of it's sonic possibilities? Let's add this to the list of Locations.

Let's make a few more rolls:

d12 = 7, ll, 3

Results: stone, fire, time

For stone I immediately thought of a stone circle which exists inside the cave somewhere. This is quite a neat idea. For fire I imagine an ancient fire pit, perhaps used by a lost civilisation who once dwelled in the cave. Time is a tricky one, but I immediately think of space and the planets. Perhaps an ancient calendar of some description is calved into a large stone?

Here is the updated list:

Locations:

• Tunnel
• Crawlspace
• Echo Chamber
• Fire pit
• Stone calendar
• Beast's lair
• Stone circle
• Burial chamber

I've placed things in an order that seems logical to me, making sure that the more interesting locations which could really push the story in a different direction are towards the end of the list.

I've added this whole concept to my own solo rule system for future use as I think it's a neat idea. I'd recommend doing this. It's worth keeping a notebook of some description to add your own ideas for solo rules so you can develop your own rules for use alongside whatever other rules you're using for your campaign.

I will complete the lists using the methods outlined above.

Locations:

• Tunnel
• Crawlspace
• Echo Chamber
• Random
• Fire pit (U)
• Stone calendar (U)
• Special
• Beast's lair (U)
• Stone circle (U)
• Burial chamber (U)

Encounters:

• None
• None
• None
• None
• None
• Ghost (U)
• Special
• Random
• Stone circle (U)
• The Beast (U)

Objects:

• None
• None
• None
• Glowing worms
• Stone idol (U)
• Flint arrowheads
• Special
• Random
• Dart Trap (U)
• Special

I have placed a lot of entries of 'None' in the Encounters List. This is simply because a first level Magic-User is very weak in OD&D so I don't want the character to be killed too soon! Elements marked with a U are unique Elements which are not repeatable. We will get into Random and Special Elements later, but I am genuinely quite excited about these types of elements as it ensures that as a solo role player you never know what you might uncover.

Now we have our three lists, we are almost ready to continue with the adventure, but first we need to roll up the first scene inside the cave (which is also the second scene of our adventure). To do this a d6 is rolled for each list. Here goes...

d6 = 2, 5, 3

Results: crawlspace, None, None

Before describing the scene, I have a question for the Fate Chart, so I consult my Mythic GM Emulator.

Question: Is the cave dark?

Odds: Very likely

Answer: Yes

This means that Mona needs a source of light. I discussed using a 'Quick Start' character creation method in the previous article. I will apply these mechanics now and add some torches to Mona's Character Sheet, remembering to deduct her total number of Gold Pieces accordingly. In OD&D 6 torches cost a single Gold Piece.

Mona enters the mouth of the cave. After passing along the tunnel within the cave mouth it's not long before she loses the light. She stops momentarily to light a torch and continues along the tunnel which begins to narrow. In the distance she sees a large rocky ledge above her and out of reach where a wider tunnel opens further into the depths of the cave. The beastly tracks abruptly stop just before the ledge suggesting that the beast has leapt up onto the ledge and out of sight into the murky blackness of the tunnel. Below this tunnel at ground level is nothing more than a tight crawlspace. It seems Mona has no choice but to take this route.

I think this is a good stopping off point as we have covered quite a lot in this article. In the next article we will play out the scene and see what happens.

Be sure to check for more content. In the meantime:

• Follow me on Twitter @crawlersolo
• Check out my YouTube content at youtube.com/c/SoloDungeonCrawler

See you next session...

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