Jump to content

Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules


Steve Long

Recommended Posts

Before diving into Born To Be Wild, I decided I'd try to polish off one or two HPAs that I've been plinking away at for some time now. Having unfinished stuff sitting on my hard drive ain't right! :)

 

So, I've just now finished one: Into The Unknown. It's not an adventure but a set of rules for creating and running expeditions. It discusses who you need to have on your expeditions, what sort of supplies you need (and how to obtain them), native bearers and other hirelings, and events that might happen along the way as the PCs proceed toward their goal in the blank parts of the map. Lotsa good stuff. ;)

 

It'll be awhile before I get around to laying this out, esp. since I will have to struggle with creating tables, but I'll finish it soon as I can. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

 

I think it could even form the basis for a nice mini-campaign: say, a 5-6 episode game where you have to go into the heart of Darkest Africa to find some lost civilization or something. The planning and survival of the expedition becomes a major aspect of the fun. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

 

I think it could even form the basis for a nice mini-campaign: say' date=' a 5-6 episode game where you have to go into the heart of Darkest Africa to find some lost civilization or something. The planning and survival of the expedition becomes a major aspect of the fun. ;)[/quote']

The wonderful Dark Continent RPG from New Breed (the folks who run Fanboy 3 here in Manchester) is one of the very few games to touch on this aspect of exploration, let alone have it as a major feature of play; and as much as I like it I find that few people want to learn yet another system. An HPA on the subject will be very welcome indeed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

 

In point of fact it was Dark Continent (which I got a copy of from David Salisbury himself by trading him my personal hardcover copy of Pulp Hero) that inspired me to write up these rules. I even mention that in the HPA -- credit where credit is due, and all that.

 

One of the best parts of DC is that it comes with mostly-blank maps of Africa that you have to fill in. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

 

You know, a lot of people find it all very tedious (and I can see where they're coming from), but I've always been nerd enough to enjoy planning expeditions. Back when we were playing AD&D, and the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide had first come out, I had a lot of fun planning for the Tsojcanth expedition, deciding whether it would be better to use sheep as pack animals/sustenance or use mules to carry rations in and treasure out.

 

This should be an interesting read.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

 

In point of fact it was Dark Continent (which I got a copy of from David Salisbury himself by trading him my personal hardcover copy of Pulp Hero) that inspired me to write up these rules. I even mention that in the HPA -- credit where credit is due, and all that.

 

One of the best parts of DC is that it comes with mostly-blank maps of Africa that you have to fill in. ;)

 

That last bit makes it sound like "Source of the Nile" ! I remember one game where we found a huge inland sea in the middle of Africa, which got named "Lake Bottersnike-Gumble" after the intrepid lady explorer who discovered it !:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

 

"She-Fiends From Planet X!" definitely sounds like it could be fun

 

I think people will enjoy She-Fiends. It's kind of a departure from the usual HPA mold in that rather than being a single-session adventure, it's more of an adventure that you build up through foreshadowing and campaign events over several game sessions before the main action begins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

 

In point of fact it was Dark Continent (which I got a copy of from David Salisbury himself by trading him my personal hardcover copy of Pulp Hero) that inspired me to write up these rules.

Hmm, was that at GenCon 2005? If so then your personal hardcover is quite probably the one sitting on the shelf to my right... Dave very kindly agreed to pick one up for me, along with the secret decoder ring :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

 

BAck when Beyond the Mountains of Madness came out, a friend of mine converted it for the Deadlands game he was running. We actually spent 4 whole session running around New York City finding items we needed and stocking the ship. Plus, after that we still had to go to Australia to pick up tons and tons of Pemican we had special ordered. The planning and supplying was fun and exciting due to a rival group trying to sabotage our expedition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

 

I had my pulp heroes go to Point Barrow AK. I told them to plan for once there, very poorly stocked stores. They found it interesting to plan for I told me resupply problem and I would track consumption of goods. I am happy to hear that Steve will codify the rule for this, makes it easier on us stressed GM's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

 

So, Steve.......any word on the various other HPAs mentioned here and elsewhere? I mean, I know you're busy with one or two other things this year (:D) but you had mentioned getting these out before you got too caught up with other stuff. Any chance of that happening? :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

 

Actually I've sort of gotten distracted working on my new campaign. I should go back and finish up some of that stuff once I reach a good stopping point' date=' though. Thanx for the reminder![/quote']

 

No problem :) I just gotta have my 'She-Fiends' and 'Into The Unknown' as soon as you can get to them ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

 

She-Fiends may take awhile; I might want to revisit it a bit. Unlike most HPAs it's not really designed to run in one night, but rather to sort of spread over a campaign like a simmering sub-plot, then eventually take center stage. Come to think of it, it might work better as a part of the forthcoming Pulp adventures book, rather than as a stand-alone. Hmmm, have to cogitate on that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...