Vagueposting- Static Module & Creature Designs is a Feature not a Bug + Party Size Dynamics

Something I've been thinking about recently is the differences between video games and tabletop games, especially in the design or and mechanics behind how the game works with a plurality of players in a single instance, party, or map.

In most co-op video games where the co-op is optional or drop-in and drop-out, the challenge of the game's enemies tend to scale up in damage and/or health in proportion to the number of players currently playing the game. There are exceptions to this; in games where multiplayer is expected or even required, such as an old school MMO, enemies do not scale on purpose as to make grouping up encouraged. Did this concept come around from tabletop games?

Art @Stephen Andrade

Even now, tabletop games are a very social and "word of mouth" hobby. Despite what some believe may believe even with the explosion of "geek chic" in popular culture, very very few people actually play tabletop games even after things like Critical Role and a wider audience. It is still a microhobby- and of those few, almost everyone who does does so because they had a friend that did first, or began a group to play with their friend circle who was interested. It has been this way since tabletop gaming's inception; I would struggle to think of any hobby more social then tabletop gaming.

Notice that in pretty much every monster manual, adventurer module, blogpost, etc. everything is almost always static. In other words, an orc will always have 2 HD of health; the game is not written to "scale" this enemy up or down with the players level or more importantly the number of players.

Now obviously there are practical reasons why this is- why create such bloated rules or math for something so inconsequential? If the DM has a group with only one or two player characters, they could just artificially lower the number of monsters, or grant magic items for a powerful one-shot kind of experience that patches over this issue. No author or publisher is going to want to waste all that space in books for something so fiddly and situational.

I want to make it clear that I am way too young to have been around for the oldschool D&D days. I am not a classic grog playing with Gygax or Anderson. This is 100% conjuncture; but I get the feeling that classic D&D groups may have, at least subconsciously, allowed for more players leading to more power for the purposes of boosting game recruitment.

Once again, let me stress that I know this isn't some genius level marketing tactic done on purpose by old TSR back in the day; those creators were very focused on a totally different kind of game experience then modern OSR games- group dynamics were different. Tabletop roleplaying today tends to focus on smaller numbers of individually controlled characters, where as in the past characters often controlled small armies or squads of units. I don't want to pretend that I know otherwise. But I have a strong feeling that the intentional or unintentional reluctance to change the fantasy space to accommodate the players, both in terms of "dumbing down" for new players or weakening monsters or challenges for small or unprepared groups acts as a strong motivator for game recruitment.

Think about it- a party with five characters will always be inherently stronger then a party of four; even if that last character is weak, like a first level wizard or a poorly rolled character, they are still providing more damage, more carrying capacity, more resources and/or skills in game terms, and another player to bounce ideas off of. Having the game be a "player vs DM" arena with a harsh and challenging world really encourages people to have a strong party- and in this case, more players directly correlate to more strength. It's the classic throwaway line in D&D adjacent media, or nostalgia bait movies and TV shows- "oh you gotta show up for the game this Friday, we're going to fight a cave troll!" or something to that effect often comes up. I wonder how true it really was; either back in the day and now.

As a bonus; how does party size affect the game? These are just my observations when I run games; and may not at all apply to your experiences.

Big Parties

• More Powerful (obviously)
  
• Individuals are less important / mistakes are punished less as there is a "safety net"
  
• Generally slower and less stealthy
• More "risk averse" (more people to get browbeaten by)
  
• More mechanically oriented / requires Caller moreso
  

Small Parties

• More individually engaging
  
• Characters are more developed
• Higher camaraderie / victories more earned
• Has more "Epic moments" (individual actions are more impactful)
  
• More roleplaying oriented
  

12 Decadent Noble Guests & Their Dirty Secrets

Okack's Hand [3]

[1] Lady Elu

This mysterious and graceful woman arrives everywhere naked. Despite how scandalous or illegal this may be; her nudity is constantly hidden from sight by a trope of expert and highly trained eunuchs, infertile women, and prepubescent children. They jump, dive, stretch, and pose to follow her every move to keep her nudity from being revealed to anyone as an extremely expensive and decadent form of “clothing”. She is well versed in art and history.

Dirty Secret- She was once a tomb robber in her youth and most of her fortune came from thievery.

[2] Count Gareek Olmanson

Massive, broad-shouldered man with slightly discolored skin on his chest and back. Extremely strong but not very intelligent. Mostly tries to impress others by his martial prowess and ability to bend swords with his bare hands. Jumps at the chance to break doors or throw out rowdy guests even when completely unnecessary.

Dirty Secret- He's a bastard child between his father, the count, and a hill troll.

[3] Lord Okacks

Dapper gentlemen who removed one of his own hands and replaced with it a magitech robotic replacement. There is a bright red ruby in the center of the palm, and magical runes etched onto the back of each knuckle. It can move as easily as a normal hand, but sometimes grips too hard or seems to have a mind of its own. Lord Okacks denies working on and invented other body parts, and drags his feet at the mention of creating prosthesis for others.

Dirty Secret- His mechanical hand was possessed by a demonic spirit and often clutches at people's throats or reaches for knives without his control. It also sometimes scratches runes into wood when Okacks is asleep or not paying attention; the runes reveal the secrets to the spell Summon Demon. He hires prostitutes and young orphans as servants to strangulate to death to feed the hand's demonic hunger, but it gets more aggressive each year.

[4] Prince of the Canopies

Monkey-prince from a far away rainforest. Rides a giant, highly trained secretary bird as his mount and rains down fruit with gold painted on its skin to onlookers. Carries an ivory spear and has an avoidance of shorter races. Poor grasp of the common tongue.

Dirty Secret- If his feet every touch the ground he is never able to return to his homeland and claim himself King one day. He will weep openly if this happens and challenge whoever caused him to touch the floor to a duel. To the death.

[5] Duke of East Mountains

This wealthy duke has, through alchemy, training, and a robust constitution, become immune to the venom of every snake in the Eastern Jungles around his home. Wears sleeveless attire to show off his bite marks up and down his arm, and even carries around a Black Killer in a silver cage around with him, which he allows to bite his arm to show how truly immune he is.

Dirty Secret- His Black Killer had its venom sacs removed and replaced with harmless black ink. He actually is immune to almost every other snake, and gets a +2 to saves against any kind of poison, but the Black Killer is too deadly for him to practice with and he hasn't figured out any method. Actual Black Killer venom causes 1d100+50 damage, which could easily kill him.

[6] Neero Cobbleson

Born to a common shoe-maker, Neero's skill and efficiency has allowed his family upward social mobility. His shoes are the best in the land, and almost everyone in the party has a pair of his, due to their comfortable fit, good traction, durability and fair price. While wealthy, he is firmly part of the nouveau riche and is mostly ignored by the other nobles at the party. He is constantly trying to get their attention and be accepted here.

Dirty Secret- All of his shoes were made by captive shoe elves/gnomes. He keeps one locked in his room at the noble manor, in case someone requests a shoe repair or refit. If given freedom, the shoe elves will make Neero himself into a pair of magic shoes that can travel seven miles in one step exactly once, but will destroy Neero's soul in a horrible, torturous death.

[7] Sir Omnsan

Wealthy landowner who is always seen drinking the finest of red wines. Has a scar along his face, but other then that looks exactly as his father who can be seen in his family portraits, which he brings with him everywhere. He tells the story of how he could the scar from a wolf bite at every social gathering where he can get away with it. Is known for being a sorcerer and is rumored to be constantly seeking methods of attining immortality.

Dirty Secret- Omnsan is a vampire. His scar was indeed from a wolf, but from a animal companion to a vampire hunter who tried to kill him. Omnsan's portraits are indeed of himself in the past, but spread rumors about himself trying to find immortality and magic as to hide his vampiric immortality. He would gladly prefer to be thought of as a immoral sorcerer then his secret be known.

[8] Gef the Good

Unimportant 3^rd born son of a noble. Light blonde hair with huge, puppydog eyes. The nicest person here by far. Never expected to take the throne or be of political importance, so mostly just sits off to the side and secretly passes the servers a few lumps of silver mined from his home province. Killed an orc once, still has nightmares about it. Every since the orc killing incident he has had incredible bad luck and tries to avoid any balconies or standing under chandeliers.

Dirty Secret- Once stole a cookie from his younger sister.

[9] Commander Jamis Aurleus III

Military commander, considered the finest outfit in the region. Known to flog soldiers on the back of the leg as a punishment for laziness or unnecessary cruelty to enemy civilians. Well regarded by the nobility as a gentleman fighter. Still not married despite having graying hair, probably won't ever. He takes along his two best soldiers with him everywhere he goes, paranoid about assassins.

Dirty Secret- The real father of Gef, Jamis raped his mother once on military campaign. Is extremely worried about people finding out about it, thinks that Gef's behavior is all for show and he is a ruthless killer bent on killing Jamis and taking his lands as revenge. Gef is clueless.

[10] Arch-Bishop Issa Cantorii

Very affluent and respected high priest of foreign, bird-worshiping religion. Tries to bring religion to the moneyed' without being annoying or no fun about it. He has a gorgeous blue and gold songbird perched on his shoulder, which has a branch from a white-wood tree worked into his clothing for the bird to perch on. He sometimes whispers parables to the bird, but mostly cites religious teachings and invites others for soul-searching meditations with him.

Dirty Secret- Notoriously corrupt, as all church officials are, but was so corrupt that his best friend and fellow bishop was turned into the songbird he now carries. The only way to turn his friend back to normal is to convert someone richer then himself, and it is a daunting challenge indeed.

[11] Muela of the Manmade Pass

Young dark haired woman from a mountainous region. Despite her wealth, still cannot find a suitable husband and is only tolerating meeting with the arrogant types at these events to find a mate. While an elitist and a silent type, is lonely and desperate for attention. Her lands have had sightings of all kinds of crazy and powerful monsters killing bandits and invading armies. She is constantly followed around by a cadre of happy peasants that throw rice and drape silk before her feet.

Dirty Secret- Muela can turn into monsters of 6 HD or less. Beyond having to have heard or seen the monster, or a good depiction of it, there seems to be no limitation or restrictions on her power. She also loses control of this ability sometimes when emotionally strained or physically exhausted; she killed her past two lovers on accident this way and is trying to find someone who could live with her.

[12] Lady Swan-Wing

Albino noble woman, wears wonderfully crafted blue fabrics shaped around her body in the shape of a great fruit. Her servants attend to her with parasols of varying thicknesses, keeping the worst of most of the light in a room off of her even from lamps and candles to avoid hurting her skin. She is a talented musician and plays several instruments.

Dirty Secret- Cannibal. Her skin became lighter after eating her first victim and it has continued to get worse; soon her skin will become partially transparent and you could see her organs. She eats the hands and fingers of musicians to claim their skills. She has gained such skill that she can cast magical songs that put their victims to sleep if they fail a save, or a frenzied song that makes animals go into a wild, frothing rage and bite their handlers.