Stranding the Wilderness Part 2 - Constructions

For various reasons I've been looking back on my old Stranding the Wilderness post and decided to finally give it the Part 2 treatment! This time we're talking about gameable constructions, specifically for use with OSE[*1], but also widely compatible with whatever you want to hack it into.

Now this particular example assumes a degree of fantasy / pre-modern focus as well as waiving a bit of resource management in favor of giving players an interesting place to dump their currency.[*2] While I think both a more sci-fi post-apocalyptic approach would be very interesting (and apt for something inspired by Death Stranding) as would a resource management mini-game, we can save those for a potential part 3! Anyways let's jump right into the meat ~!

Your average Hex Crawl probably has a few predetermined roads and paths of least resistance, but we want the players to truly be shaping this wilderness and crafting their own shortcuts. Let’s assume the local government has given adventurers carte-blanche on making constructions in a local wilderness (until such a time as the wilderness becomes incorporated), thus granting our adventurers permission to build. Let’s also assume that these “stranded constructions” waive the requirement for local monsters in a 3 mile radius to be cleared, rather it only requires stable land and at least one “strand” of an active path, road or rail to a nearby town for the transportation of building materials.

Emergent Paths - In Death Stranding, every time a path is walked it slowly erodes the terrain to make it easier to walk on, as with real life cow paths. We’ll call these emergent paths. Each time a group passes through a hex we’ll mark one tick for it in our notes. When it reaches 6, that hex now has emergent paths: Players can move one free hex space for every 2 hex spaces traveled on emergent paths. Players can also intentionally create an emergent path by doubling their encounter chance and halving their movement rate as they pass through a hex. Emergent paths are the cheapest (though far from safest) way to expand strands into the wilderness. They also suffer from inactivity twice as fast (more on that later).

Roads (500 GP per Hex) - Roads are dedicated constructions that cost half as much when built over emergent paths. Roads double travel speed and reduce the chance of encounters by one step. Roads can also be built to navigate over rivers, valleys or bogs and other more hazardous terrain by paying an additional 200 GP per hazard.

Watchtowers (600 GP) - A watchtower can be constructed on a hex both to allow the party a safe place to camp without fear of ambush, and (if manned) never be surprised by encounters in the hex. Additionally watchtowers improve reaction rolls by +2 to the hex it’s built on and on all adjacent hexes.

Trading Posts (1,000 GP) - While the simple shacks and tents of a trading post don’t provide much in the way of comfort, they do attract local merchants and provide plenty of facilities for healing and crafting. Players looking to quickly restock on rations or flip heavy artifacts at a reduced price would do well to place one near the dungeon itself. Seems like the perfect place for a bounty board too…

Donation Boxes (200 GP) - Donation boxes allow higher level players to deposit equipment they no longer need for 1/4th the item’s GP value in XP. Lower level players can take some of these items once per session. The number of items they can withdraw is equal to 5 minus their level.

Rails (1,500 GP per Hex) - In a more industrialized game you may consider adding railroads and rail stations as a means of near instant fast travel and an opportunity for big business. Rails are built at a 500 GP discount if it’s built alongside a road on the same hex.

Anchors (3,000 GP) - In a more fantastical game, you could instead have players altering and anchoring leighlines for teleportation between costly Anchors. This process takes 2 weeks of dedicated ritual on each Hex to create a leighline if one isn’t present, after which Anchors can be built along the leighlines for easy teleportation.

Postal Services - Looking to get information from the capital? Want to sell an especially nice artifact but don’t want to travel all the way to the shore? Need a very specific herb that doesn’t grow in the region? Postal services (perhaps a faction) can move freely and easily along any active strand that players have developed and do so at twice the speed. While Porters can only ship items that are man-portable, they only charge 1 CP per hex traveled per parcel (or 1 SP for heavier items). This fee is tripled if there are any Emergent Paths they must travel over at any point in the journey.

Spectral Chalk (5 GP) - This durable spectral chalk lets players leave messages for other adventurers. These messages can be no more than 10 words long. If a separate player group finds the message helpful then the writers are awarded XP equal to 10 minus the number of words used multiplied by 5. [Ex: The message "Dragon Nest Above" at the foot of a sheer cliff would award 35 XP to the writer if a group finds it helpful. For added flavor perhaps limit the script to a set of 20-30 predetermined words[*3]]

Community Construction - These allow groups of players to announce constructions that may benefit the whole campaign, and to which any group may contribute. Players may be donating GP to build an important bridge, finish a sprawling road project or hire an expert smith for the local trading post.

Stranded Construction Variant - Any OSE construction may be built as a stranded construction variant, with a couple of important bonuses and caveats. Much like the aforementioned constructions in this list, they don’t require you to clear land to construct, instead only requiring a “strand” of an active path, road or rail be connected to the construction’s hex. They also cost 10% less to construct than their average counterparts! However, be it a town, a keep or even a resplendent wizard tower, stranded constructions (as with all constructions listed here) are at risk for inactivity.

Inactivity - A kind of reverse of emergent paths and why we can afford to elide upkeep costs for many of these constructions. If a construction hasn’t been used by any player group for more than 3 months it begins to fall inactive. Inactive constructions begin to show signs of wear, reclamation by nature and abandonment by the NPCs that once tended to them which grows more obvious each month. The construction remains on the map, but who knows if goblins or ghosts might one day take residence in these forgotten places. Inactive rails become roads, inactive roads become emergent paths, inactive emergent paths disappear entirely, as the wilderness heals to what it once was. When a stranded construction loses its strand to civilization, it immediately becomes inactive.

What this means is that player groups at all levels of dedication and character progression can contribute something unique. Lower level players can catch up faster thanks to time (and life) saving measures like roads and watchtowers put in place by higher level players. Simultaneously, by keeping these constructions in use, the lower level players ensure higher level players are never worried about returning to an inactive ghost town or having a path erode behind them. Even the lowliest party can leave their mark by proccing an emergent path no one knew was about to finish.

And thus the Wilderness becomes Stranded.

[*1 : Why OSE? Well I frankly don't overly love the system, nor do I plan to run it myself any time soon. But I have played it before and appreciate how it interfaces with one of my (if not most) favorite versions of D&D: The Rulecyclopedia. Given that we're also talking about high fantasy adventure it also seems an appropriate baseline!]

[*2 : A scrapped idea for resource management went a little something like this: "Harvest Hex - This is a long-term downtime action that allows players to deforest or mine a hex for essential construction resources. Consider having dedicated Factions to help enable players to do this more efficiently, and consider what other groups may see when the infamous valley of death is getting strip-mined." ]

[*3 : For funsies let's do 35!

1. Here
2. Above
3. Below
4. Forward
5. Back
6. Right
7. Left
8. Move
9. Run
10. Hide
11. Attack
12. Statue
13. Horse
14. Dragon
15. Kobold
16. Skeleton
17. Treasure
18. Surprise
19. Friend
20. Speak
21. Follow
22. Beware
23. Fear
24. Keep
25. Door
26. Floor
27. Clue
28. But
29. And
30. Turn
31. Pit
32. Crown
33. Foot
34. Day
35. Night

Neat!]