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u/EtchVSketch

▲ 23 r/Mcat

The biggest thing they do is help you get used to terms and the context that they're used within. For example chemistry is a huge weak spot for me and the gen chem, ochem, and biochem ones really helped me figure out where the line is drawn between them and what the core focuses of each are.

Also the periodic table one is great because it's a super clean overview of trends. Definitely a valuable resource if you're someone who functions better via heuristics and systems rather than rote rehearsal.

MCAT aside the series is just rad. The AVSI to Medical Ethics was great and I'm planning to read the avsi on fire once I'm done with the MCAT ones. God I wish I was sponsored by them I'd be able to cover admission fees with commission.

u/EtchVSketch — 12 days ago
▲ 211 r/osr

So I'm about 40 sessions into Stonehell with Shadowdark and it's been amazing. The players are having fun despite there being a total deathtoll of nearly 20, many of the players are new to OSR so they're just now building out their "player skill" chops.

That said, they're turbo cautious and will inch forward just enough to find a tiny bit of treasure and then immediately bail. This is really bogging down the pace of the system and I'd really rather not solve this issue by making the dungeon less lethal. What I'd like to see is a more even spread of choices: sometimes they hole up somewhere and sleep in the dungeon or sometimes they push on even without full hp. Full disclosure this is largely because I'm getting a tad impatient to get to stuff beyond the first 3 floors so maybe I'm attacking the wrong problem but yeah.

I figure that the move here is to encourage and use hooks/rumors to pull them in? Maybe there's another option I'm not considering? Honestly I'm all ears to suggestions or examples of how you've dealt with this in your own games.

u/EtchVSketch — 13 days ago
▲ 27 r/osr

I'm about 40 sessions into a Stonehell table and a core part of the game has been my players redirecting the waterfall from the entrance into various areas of the dungeon. It's added a ton of depth as there aren't many places in a dungeon that will go unaffected by a torrent of warm water.

I'm working on my own dungeon and the "waterboard stonehell saga" got me thinking; what are some good examples of dungeons with a lot of interconnectedness? Really any example of "doing X in one area causes a proportional Y response in another area." My preference is interactivity that isn't STRICTLY npc/monster/faction based (that's a given in any dungeon).

I'm defining interconnectivity as different from interactivity similarly to how a square differs from a rectangle. Traps count but only if their being triggered has a secondary/tertiary effect. A pitfall trap is interactive, a pitfall trap that causes a secret passage to the dungeons prison block to open is interconnected. We can dispute the semantics in another post. Dungeons plleeaassseeeee.

But yeah. Water level/flow is the classic example but magic, mechanical elements, plant growth, snow, landslides, moving statues, moving platforms, or any other thing a player can use to alter a dungeon counts. Whatcha got for me?

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u/EtchVSketch — 15 days ago
▲ 28 r/osr

I feel pretty good about my ability to layout dungeons and inject faction politics but I'm trying to get better at writing rooms that spark curiosity in the players.

Any suggestions? Honestly even tangential ones are welcome if you think they'll be valuable to someone newish to writing osr style dungeons.

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u/EtchVSketch — 16 days ago
▲ 30 r/Mcat

Non-trad, life got rough and my various sources of part time income got sparse BUT IT COULDN'T KEEP ME DOWN WE ARE SO BACK BOSS

u/EtchVSketch — 17 days ago