Running the Game

Time Die

One way to track time while traveling, exploring, or during an encounter is to use a d6. Start the d6 with the "one" side facing up. After each round, flip the die to the next highest side and check for encounters. After you've cycled through the whole die, check for rest, food, light sources, etc. Then begin again.

• During an encounter, one full die represents a minute.
• While exploring, one full die represents an hour.
• When traveling, one full die represents six hours.

The Basic Procedure

You have probably been using a set of rules (more accurately a procedure) that you never read in any rulebook. And not just a little. It is probably the bread-and-butter procedure for your gaming group, even if you haven’t understood it as such. At first blush, the procedure hides itself as “conversation.” But I suspect that is just evidence for how powerful, how transformative and how natural this procedure is. I will quit stalling for now, but expect me to bloviate at length on what this procedure means; here is what I call the “Basic Procedure”:

• Step 1. The referee describes the situation, what the player-characters see, hear, smell, taste or feel.
• Step 2. The players ask clarifying questions about the situation, if they so desire.
• Step 3. The referee answers any such questions that are immediately observable by the player-characters. If ascertaining the answer would require player-character action, the referee informs the players what they must do to obtain the answer, and resolves such actions if the players wish to do so. Upon the resolution of such actions, the referee answers the question and gives any other pertinent information.
• Step 4. Based on the information at hand, the players state what actions their player-characters take.
• Step 5. The referee and players resolve all such actions. If the situation changes (which it almost certainly will), repeat these steps.

From The Basic Procedure of the OSR

Landmark, Hidden, Secret

Landmark information is automatic and free. Players hear landmark information the first time without asking, and if they ask, they can be reminded of it as freely as they heard it at first. Learning landmark information doesn't take up any fictional time and doesn't pose any risks.

Hidden information isn't automatic - players have to ask to learn it. And it often isn't free - there is often some fictional cost that must be paid to learn hidden information. However, unlike secret information, there is no chance of failure. If the players ask the question and pay the cost, they will learn the hidden information.

Secret information has no guarantees at all. It is the opposite of automatic, and it's always expensive. It's not just that players have to ask for secret information, as they do with hidden; there is also a chance the judge will continue to withhold the information, unlike any previous type. To learn secret information, players must roll the dice and win. That extra risk, not just of injury but of failure, is what makes secret information more costly than hidden.

From Landmark, Hidden, Secret

Information, Choice, Impact

Information ... Players cannot make a proper choice unless they have enough information! ... Asking for more information should be rewarded! If they ask smart questions I give them great answers.

Choice ... No easy decisions. ... there have to be multiple actions the players can choose between, and deciding between them shouldn't be easy.

Impact ... Everything you do matters. ... when your players have made a choice, things should happen so that they look back and think "huh, we did that!". ... This is the payoff for everything before this point, and without it your game is going to feel flat.

From The ICI Doctrine: Information, Choice, Impact

Hex Crawls

Hexcrawling Rules: Variable Movement, Time & Risk, Travel Actions, Getting Lost, Sleep & Starvation

Hex Terrain: Draw some mountains (or hills) and maybe a coastline (or lakes), Draw some rivers, Draw some forests, Draw some badlands, deserts or wetlands, Name your regions, Draw some settlements, Draw some roads

Hex Connections: Each hex is connected to six adjacent hexes, The easiest way to give players information about the connecting hexes is just give them the map, A map showing the adjacent hexes isn’t the only way to give players information about adjacent hexes

Key Hexes: Landmark information is automatic and free, Hidden information is earned by asking for it and accruing some cost, Secret information is never guaranteed but always costly

Random Encounter Tables: Unique random encounter tables allow you to give personality to each region, The encounters on the table should not simply be mindless fights, Random encounters are best suited to games that emphasize player choice and meaningful consequences for their choices, Context-sensitive encounter tables can also be added to make the environment even more dynamic, A simpler way to mix up encounter tables is to include two separate tables for each region to represent day and night encounters

Calendars & Forecasts: Adventures occur in a certain space and time; Changes in the seasons and weather also provide useful information for players to make decisions, along with providing a sense of realism to your setting; Holidays are also a fun way to embed your setting into the temporal dimension; The classic method for incorporating seasons and holidays is to keep strict time records of the fictional time in your setting

Factions: The hexes represent land, controlling land is an avenue power, and there are definitely more than one group in your setting that want that power; Factions don’t usually work together

History & Rumors: The past is just as important as the present, you likely have already been developing ideas for your world’s history, You can also embed history in rumors

Summarized from Hexcrawl Checklist: Part One and Hexcrawl Checklist: Part Two

Dungeons

Dungeon Checklist: Something to Steal, Something to be Killed, Something to Kill You, Different Paths, Someone to Talk To, Something to Experiment With, Something the Players Probably Won't Find,

Summarized from Dungeon Checklist

Post-Session

The reactive potential of tools is also why my most important prep occurs immediately after running a session. While I’m writing out my recap of events (something I’m indulgently excessive about), I have a set of questions to ask myself:

• Did the players encounter any interesting NPCs that it would be fun to add to my Recurring Characters table?
• Did the party wrong anyone who might hold a grudge against them? What form might revenge take? (Put this on the consequences table).
• Does anyone feel that they owe the party a favor? What might they do to settle the debt? (Put this on the consequences table).
• Review all the table entries used, and restock anything that needs it.
• What parts of the session were rough, and what tools or techniques would help them work better in future?

from Prep Tools, Not Adventures

Converting OSR Material

Attributes

Each of the four attributes in Fell roughly corresponds to one or two OSR abilities.

Hit Dice, Ability Dice, Hit Points/Protection, and Armor

For AD, give them the die that is one step up from the one closest to their number of HD rounded up.

Give beasts and beings at least 1 HP per HD and up to twice their highest AD.

Depending on how good they are at shrugging off harm, give them some armor--up to one third their highest AD rounded down, but never more than 3.

Use the table below for guidance.

Damage

Typically, use the damage dice as is. If there are multiple dice, raise the die by one or more steps. If the damage would be significantly more than d12, add bonus dice and keep the highest result when rolling harm.

Saving Throws

Saving throws convert to tests with the relevant attribute. If the effect being saved against comes from a PC or an NPC, it's a contest.

If you save...

• by powering through (save vs poison/death, paralysis/petrifaction), use STR
• by quick reflexes (save vs wands, breath), use DEX
• by strength of mind (save vs spells/rods/staves), use INT
• by force of will (save vs spells/rods/staves), use WIL

Alternative Spell Lists

Most OSR-compatible spell lists should work with Fell with minimal conversion, such as the Magic-User Spells and Cleric Spells from Old-School Essentials.

If a spell causes harm or healing, follow the damage guidelines above.

If a spell requires a save, it's a contest.

If a spell uses levels and its level is higher than the casters WIL, the difference between its level and the casters WIL is added to the DN to cast the spell. In such a case, a test must always be made to cast the spell.