NOOB CARCOSAN MEISTER'S QS

[raritus]

Hello, twisted beings under a black sun:

As a Carcoluvva & prospectin' GM for it, I have a few burnin' questions, more like a fishing expedition into you CarcoGMs' nether realms of the mind... Onward:


One primary question about CARCOSA, before trying to visualise how it's to be "run"... If you please:

As written, what is the best way to run Carcosa (the LOFP's version)?

a1. As a "normal" (mapped superdungeon-world, using all of LOFP's rules about mapping, etc.),

or

a2. the CARCO-GM ignores the hexes, creating the map, mapping the precise geographical accidents clearly, etc.; ie., run it more "freeform" ("After a couple of days in the wasteland you spot a village (referring to hex XXXX in the map)")

or

a3. something completely diff'rent...?



How do you guys/gals run it?

Thanks!
R

[strangebrew]

I haven't actually RAN Carcosa, but if I did, I would start the characters in a citadel/castle/etc on a single hex as members of that community, with a dungeon nearby or under the settlement. It would eventually shift into more of a traditional hex crawl/exploration map. I'd probably give them a copy of the Carcosa map, or maybe a blank hex map if I was feeling ambitious, and let them wander the doomed dunes.

Also I would run it using OD&D and the original Carcosa booklet (Supplement V), not the later edition using the LotFP set (although I hear the former is a beautiful book and that the latter is a solid rules set). I would recommend at least trying to track the original down and considering OD&D.

[geoffrey]

May 15, 2013 19:42:19 GMT -6 strangebrew said:

I would run it using OD&D and the original Carcosa booklet (Supplement V), not the later edition using the LotFP set (although I hear the former is a beautiful book and that the latter is a solid rules set). I would recommend at least trying to track the original down and considering OD&D.

If anyone can find a free, pirated pdf of the original, he has my blessing to take a look at it. But I wouldn't pay for an original printing. Here's why: The textual differences between the two printings are exceedingly minor, virtually unnoticable. You can use either printing of Carcosa with any old-school rules set with no problems. The only two major textual changes are not changes per se but rather additions:

1. The LotFP publication has two points of interest for each of the map's 400 hexes, rather than only one (as in the earlier printing). Thus in the LotFP printing you get 800 points of interest rather than 400. In other words, you get the original 400 points of interest plus 400 more.

2. The LotFP publication includes within its covers the beginning module Fungoid Gardens of the Bone Sorcerer. This module is like Carcosa's B2: It gives you a starting home base, several wilderness encounters within a few miles, and a cavern complex. All, of course, Carcosa-style. The original printing didn't include this module. Which leads to my recommendation...

Start your Carcosa campaign with the Fungoid Gardens of the Bone Sorcerer. It will give you and your players a good "feel" for Carcosa and how it differs from vanilla fantasy settings. Once you've internalized that feel, you'll undoubtedly be filled with a great many adventure ideas of your own.

[raritus]

Hiyas!

All that input's very fine & dandy but hasn't answered my original carco-question ;D:

Do I ignore the "hexo-cartography" aspect (a more descriptive Carcosa, oh my!), or do my players need to absolutely bring them crayolas every session?


Thanks again!
R

[Ynas Midgard]

This is how I handle stuff like that: if a setting/module/supplement is written for a given set of rules, then use the original rules, except where it is explicitly said otherwise. For instance, Carcosa states there are, by default, only two classes and no demi-humans; it does not say anything about dungeon-crawling or hex-crawling procedures, so you are assumed to be referring back to the rules you use (LotFP, OD&D, or whatever system you run Carcosa with).

In other words, it like with most board games and CCGs: use the original rules unless told otherwise.

[paulg]

Pick a starting spot on the map. Grab some blank hex paper, and draw the terrain for that hex and a few surrounding it. Give that map to the players, along with a few rumors about what might be nearby. Let them choose where to go, what rumor to follow. Let the players slowly expand their map, at their own pace, as they explore and move through hexes. For your own sanity, you probably should ask them to make a choice at the end of each session about where they're going next, so you can prep for the following session.

I don't think it matters much what rule set you use---OD&D, LotFP, BX, or whatever.

[stevemitchell]

"I don't think it matters much what rule set you use---OD&D, LotFP, BX, or whatever."

Or you can take a few whiffs of the Indigo Lotus, then pull out your copy of Sorcerer's Apprentice #7, and use the Mythos gods and monsters stats therein to play with Tunnels & Trolls as your rules!

[skars]

May 28, 2013 21:02:18 GMT -6 stevemitchell said:

"I don't think it matters much what rule set you use---OD&D, LotFP, BX, or whatever."

Or you can take a few whiffs of the Indigo Lotus, then pull out your copy of Sorcerer's Apprentice #7, and use the Mythos gods and monsters stats therein to play with Tunnels & Trolls as your rules!

I'm using the Isle of the Unknown for my DCC RPG campaign and it has been great. (just to support what others are saying..)

[stevemitchell]

Did you start your guys at 0-level on the Isle itself, or had they already gone through the funnel by the time they got there? And I agree; Isle is an excellent product.

[ritt]

May 28, 2013 16:49:43 GMT -6 raritus said:

Hiyas!


Do I ignore the "hexo-cartography" aspect (a more descriptive Carcosa, oh my!), or do my players need to absolutely bring them crayolas every session?

R

Coloring in a black-and-white map with crayons or colored pencils as you explore it?

That actually sounds like a lot of fun!

[raritus]

Not to my players!



R