How to model Khromarium

[mabon5127]

One of the sites on Hyperborea that to me is most intriguing is the old part of Khromarium left vacant of civilization by the Green Death. Horrible magics and super science released as experiment were suddenly left unattended and the creatures and lost souls attracted to the conflagration make for a most dangerous place.

Because of the vast nature of the area I will be using more of a hex crawl philosophy. The hexes will be made up of the following types:

Open areas: open to the sky. May be entered from other areas easily.

Open Ruins: open to the sky. May only be entered from other areas by designated pathways. 1d6 random encounters to clear.

Closed Ruins: covered, constant darkness or semi darkness. May only be entered from other areas by designated pathways. 1d6 random encounters to clear.

Planned Area: as any of above but with a planned encounter of a longer term campaign importance.

For last Friday's game the characters had to enter the old city find an artifact and leave before a rival group found it.

I created a section of the old city called "The Palace of Athanasios" made up of approximately 20 hexes.

They had to find an artifact, The Window of Sha Kulgan, within a Planned Area known as the Garden of 1000 Pleasures.

Several other planned areas were created and the other hexes were of the open, open ruin, or closed ruin varieties.

They were captured within the planned area "the Market" by Ghasts......

I believe this method will allow me to add a variety of areas and encounters within areas without spending tons of time detailing.

Still working though things but I feel better taking on this big a project this way.

Suggestions of what others are doing would def be helpful!

Thanks!

Morgan

[Ghul]

That sounds great, Morgan. I've used this section of Khromarium in my own campaign, too. I've had the poor, insane, and destitute camping in the alleys and ruins, I've had strange hauntings and enormous rodents, I've intimated Hyperborea's ancient past (from millions of years before the Hyperboreans dwelt there), the twisting towers betraying inhuman occupants from that elder age. There is so much you can do in this shunned section of the city. Cults might dwell there, secret societies, and so forth. I did place Matt Finch's "Tower of Mouths" somewhere in there, too, and it worked out quite well. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[chrisj]

For my version of Khromarium, I've tried to avoid over-detailing the place. I want the players to feel like it's a huge, sprawling place that they'll never fully comprehend. They know their home base neighborhood and how to get to a few other places, but the rest of the city is a confusing, dangerous mess.

I also want to retain a sense of mystery for me as the DM. I find I'm more creative on the fly if I've just sketched an outline and left the rest as a blank slate.

Chris

[mabon5127]

May 20, 2013 19:49:48 GMT -6 Ghul said:

That sounds great, Morgan. I've used this section of Khromarium in my own campaign, too. I've had the poor, insane, and destitute camping in the alleys and ruins, I've had strange hauntings and enormous rodents, I've intimated Hyperborea's ancient past (from millions of years before the Hyperboreans dwelt there), the twisting towers betraying inhuman occupants from that elder age. There is so much you can do in this shunned section of the city. Cults might dwell there, secret societies, and so forth. I did place Matt Finch's "Tower of Mouths" somewhere in there, too, and it worked out quite well. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

That's the fun of the area it can be anything. I'm stealing some of your thoughts btw.

Morgan

[mabon5127]

May 20, 2013 20:17:18 GMT -6 chrisj said:

For my version of Khromarium, I've tried to avoid over-detailing the place. I want the players to feel like it's a huge, sprawling place that they'll never fully comprehend. They know their home base neighborhood and how to get to a few other places, but the rest of the city is a confusing, dangerous mess.

I also want to retain a sense of mystery for me as the DM. I find I'm more creative on the fly if I've just sketched an outline and left the rest as a blank slate.

Chris

I agree completely. You encapsulated my thoughts better than I did! The hexes are very sketchy. Random encounters can become permanent denizens.

Morgan

[kslacker]

I'm thinking that Lesserton & Mor (from Faster Monkey Games) could be a good resource for populating the 'ruined' portions of Khromarium. I've used it before in a different game.

Links:

fastermonkeygames.com/
mutantsmagic.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/lesserton-mor/