Mechanics: Pointcrawl Adventuring

Mechanics:

Pointcrawl Adventuring

Sequence of Play

per Watch

1. Decide action: The players decide what to do this watch. 2. Challenges: The referee determines what obstacles the party faces. 3. Description: The referee describes the party’s journey and the obstacles encountered, asking players for their actions, as required. If monsters are encountered, follow the procedure described for Encounters in Old-School Essentials. 4. End of the watch: The referee updates time records, with attention to exploration resources, spell durations, and the party’s need to rest. 5. Set up: The referee describes the next region or path(s) available to the party.

The Watch

The watch is a unit of time providing the pointcrawl a suitable sense of scale. In HMS it is set at 2 hours (12 turns). Watches are used when the party:

• Explores a new path or region: 2 watches.
• Traverses an explored path or region: 1 watch.
• Discretely bypasses a region: 2 watches. While bypassing a region, all monsters are treated as unaware of the party. Bypassing a fully explored region takes 1 watch less. Note: some exceptional regions or paths may take more or fewer watches.

Movement Rates, Encumbrance

and the Pointcrawl

If encumbrance reduces any party member’s movement rate to 60’ (20’) or less, each pointcrawl action takes 1 additional watch. Party members who can move faster than the standard 120’ (40’) do not move more quickly at the pointcrawl scale.

Parts of a Cave

Pointcrawl

Region: A coherent zone of interlinked natural features, halls, and chambers. Path: An abstraction of the passages and crawl-ways connecting two regions, including minor chambers, crevasses, branches, and dead ends. Paths use the challenge of the region the party is travelling towards.

Exploring a Region

Arrival: The party gets an initial impression of the region, immediately obvious paths, and possibly some major and obvious features. First exploration watch: The party discovers some additional features and paths. Second exploration watch: Reveals remaining features, paths, and hints to hidden areas (if any). The region now counts as explored for the purpose of bypassing it.

Interacting with Features

When the party explores a feature, play defaults to the Dungeon Adventuring rules (e.g., searching takes 1 turn unless otherwise specified). The referee should keep in mind that 12 turns equal one watch. The referee may tally turns spent using a d12, advancing the adventure clock by another watch whenever the tally reaches 12.

Imprecise Distances

The pointcrawl uses time to emphasize uncertain distances between locations. Ranges and movement rates: When the party encounters a challenge or interacts with a feature, all scales are in feet.

Challenges

Every watch the referee should roll on the Challenges table to determine encounters. This may be a [super] natural obstacle, trap, or monster. Time and location: The referee rolls a d12 to determine when the challenge is encountered. A 1 indicates the start of a watch (turn 1), a 12 the end (turn 12). The challenge’s precise position corresponds to the time spent travelling. Distance: Challenges are encountered 4d6 x 10’ away (1d6 x 10’ if surprised).

Resting

Frequency of rest: PCs must rest one full watch per three watches of activity. Penalty for not resting: Pressing on without rest imposes -1 to attack and damage rolls until resting for a full watch.

Avoiding Encounters

The party may avoid most monsters by ducking into side passages or tunnels, dousing their lights, and waiting a watch for the monster to go away.

Chance of Avoiding Monster

• Monster unaware: 11-in-12 (roll 2d6).
• Saw sound or light: 5-in-6.
• Had trail or scent: 3-in-6. Alternatively, they can hastily scramble away (see Hurrying).

Hurrying

The hurrying party halves travel time, but with a 1-in-6 chance of getting lost in an explored area (4-in-6 in an unexplored area).

Escaping From

a Pursuing Monster

• Dropped distraction: 11-in-12 (roll 2d6).
• Territorial monster: 5–in-6.
• Hunting monster: 4-in-6.

Lost

When a party is lost roll 1d6: 1: Party returns to starting region or path (location). 2-3: Spends +1 watch and returns to starting location. 4–5: Spends +1 watch and reaches their destination. 6: Spends +1 watch and reaches an unexpected adjacent location. Additional challenges: Spending an extra watch means the party also faces one more challenge. The nearest region serves for regional challenges.