Setting Up Foes for Solo/Co-op Games

As we continue to share parts of our design for a new set of solo/co-op TTRPG rules using our Dungeonmorphs, we’re revisiting something we created for our 2nd DungeonMorphs Book: the foe ladder.

The core of the concept is the quest will have a number of likely groups of foes.  The general number and types of groups can be fairly easily determined by the quest & environment.  If the PCs need to raid a temple, then there will be groups of acolytes, guard patrols, maybe a guard patrol with a couple dogs or other animals, perhaps fiendish lieutenants or else medium level priests, a high priest, a recently summoned creature, and so on.

This time we’re taking the idea of determining foes in a different direction.  For our new game, you’ll still want to brainstorm a list like this, but it won’t be used in the same way.  The previous incarnation had you create a list of possible encounters, then roll among them to randomly pick one and cross it off.  So if your list had 9 groups of foes for encounters, and you were to roll a d6, those last 3 encounters couldn’t be picked until you crossed a few others for #1-#6 off. (As you cross one off, the higher numbered encounters go down by one in the list.)

In our new approach, the encounter chosen will be mostly determined by the room size/type and other environmental factors.  So if it is a wide cavern, it might be home to a kobold village. Or if it is a narrow corridor, it might be a guard checkpoint.  But that same narrow corridor might be where a bulette breaks through!  You never know.

To use this approach, you’ll want to make a list of what factions are involved–like is our temple filled with priests and guards, or are there monks too?  What additional creatures might be lurking about either in adjacent chambers, as pets, visitors, and so on?

When you actually go to explore, in the new system it will tell you this large cavern is home to a barracks or small village. You then look at your factions list and see what is the best fit.  For example, the kobolds make their village here so you have 3d4 warriors (the rest are on patrol) and 3d4 children/elderly.  Sometimes  the game engine will direct you to an expected group of foes but at other times the unexpected may occur–like that creature (a bulette in our example above) breaking through the wall  or an ooze or other creature falling on you from the ceiling!

If the encounter is one you could have predicted, that’s ok–after all, your PCs will have clues such as an echo foretelling that the cavern is huge or the sound of water betraying there is an underground stream ahead.  So if your PCs have some educated guess of what is ahead, that doesn’t necessarily break immersion.

The overall point here is that creating a list of possible foes in advance isn’t going to ruin the adventure.  You won’t know which will be used and exactly where they are.  Rumors about the place that the PCs gather would often tell them who runs it and how many foes there may be.