Death in the Dark - Meaningful Torchlight and Light-based Initiative

Some find that torches and light management generally to be easily forgotten during play. Something easily glossed over. This omission comes, often unknowingly, to the detriment of both the atmosphere and play of dungeon-delving adventure. So, what to do? 

This house-rule bakes light into initiative, taking light source management directly into and during combat. Presenting new dilemmas and meaningful choices as your party manages light to tip or rebalance combat in their favour - will they attempt to light that new torch or try to push on despite the disadvantage?

Once you have trained your players (and possibly even yourself) to regularly consider the darkness, and their provisions against it, you can start to use light/dark more and more in all different facets of play. Here’s how it works:

Use side initiative: roll once per round of combat (before the round begins), the highest roll determines which side (monsters or party) acts first.

• Monsters roll 1d6.
• The party rolls a d4 with no light, a d6 with one light and a maximum of d8 with two or more light sources (but the more spare light sources the better).
• (Alternatively, the party rolls 1d4, +1 per active light source, to a maximum of +2)
• The party wins ties but a light source is destroyed in the process.

The Role: 

Like the Caller, Mapper, or Chronicler roles, your group might appoint a Lightkeeper (Pointman, Underscout, Warden, etc). This player:

• Tracks the party’s active light sources.
• Rolls for initiative.
• Optionally, manages marching order and/or makes all the encounter rolls (though this can be its own separate player role).

The Lightkeeper player could use a simple tracker like this, with a number of counters/tokens/beads equal to whatever torches/lanterns/runes/lightbulbs/flashlights/glow-rods that the party possesses, placing them in the light bonus boxes or spare light 'pool' respectively. 

 LIGHT?:     

 ▢     ▢

(d6) (d8)

   POOL

[‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾]

[                     ]

[________]

Or

 LIGHT?:     

 ▢     ▢

(+1) (+2)

   POOL

[‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾]

[                     ]

[________]

On Light Destruction, Tips and Optional Rules:

• A light source is automatically destroyed on matched initiative rolls - the party cannot elect to lose initiative, so it's best to carry more than 2 light sources. 
• As the DM, don't neglect to describe how each light source is destroyed. How a light source is destroyed is deeply tied to the context of the combat - a giant bat might bite the candle out of your hand, a lamp might get flung into a nearby pool of slime, a candle might be dropped and trampled in the jostle of combat, a gnollish arrow might pierce your lantern or the darkness itself might swallow up the light of a torch leaving nothing but a burning ember. This description is important.
• Destroyed light sources cannot be reused, torches cannot be relit, lanterns cannot be repaired or refuelled.
• This form of light source destruction is in addition to light source depletion via rolls on the Overloaded Encounter Die.
• During daylight or well lit sections of the dungeon use normal d6 vs d6 side initiative.
• Your party will often run at the maximum initiative bonus but don't worry, they will burn through light sources quickly enough.
• Lanterns. Lanterns are better than torches in that they can be covered when the light wants to be hidden (unlike torches which must be extinguished and therefore, destroyed) and again, unlike torches, are not destroyed/depleted by overloaded encounter rolls that cause light depletion, they just run out of oil. Lanterns are only destroyed on joint initiative rolls. But feel free to house rule this as you see fit. 
• Use a good, workable encumbrance system. If using a slot-based encumbrance system, one torch should take up one slot. 
• Light Destruction on initiative roll draws is the most elegant thing about this - you can continue to use d6 vs d6 side initiative with just this tweak. 
• Dwarves have infravision, not dark vision so they still they still benefit from light sources in combat.
• Populate dungeons with monsters that target characters carrying light sources and creatures/traps that target light sources directly. 

Optional: Deader in the Dark
You can increase the severity of the darkness by altering the light to die size threshold. For more severe play; players without any light automatically lose initiative, roll 1d4 for initiative with one light source, 1d6 with two light sources and a maximum of 1d8 with a three or more light sources. Light source destruction on tied initiative rolls continues as normal. However, automatically losing initiative can become a predictable IGOUGO. It looses the 'appeal' of players managing to win initiative, despite their disadvantage, only for the monsters to predictably snatch back the initiative and effectively have 'another go' - performing their actions back-to-back.

Optional: Dungeon Scarring

If you want dungeon DARKNESS to be a fantastic and corrosive phenomenon, to feel like a living force that hates you - consider Dungeon Scarring. For every 10 minutes the party spend without a source of light (or whenever encounters are rolled for) the characters suffer from dungeon scarring - each affected player must pinch off a piece of their character sheet, no more than a few millimetres, that or poke a hole with a sharp pencil. To be even harsher, you can enforce dungeon scarring for each initiative roll the party makes without a light source. Your players will never forget their torches again. 

Postscript:

This is something of an adaptation of a method employed by James Young, which in turn I believe was inspired by Veins of the Earth's initiative system. Also, check out this cool meta house rule for initiative by Benign Brown Beast and this mega list of different initiative systems by Knight at the Opera.

The Hunting Die - Improving Encounter Rolls, Again!

The Hunting Die - Improving Encounter Rolls or, a Predatory Encounters/Underclock Alternative

Rather recently, I shared PREDATORY ENCOUNTERS which is a method to increase the number of random encounters and create a greater sense of tension in your games. Now, I'm sharing another method, a slight twist on the random encounter roll called 'The Hunting Die'. First, check out ANOTHER UNDERCLOCK by James Young, which deeply influenced this post (and special thanks to Goblin's Henchmen). Now, let's get into it: 

Take your Overloaded Encounter Die, usually a d6, decide on a formula you like (examples, here, here, here, here, here, here, here) and have encounters occur on a 1. THEN grab another set of polyhedral dice - big, scary ones. These are your Hunting Dice - they represent the dungeon inhabitants searching out your players. You'll only ever use one of these dice at a time. This Hunting Die starts as a d20 and is rolled simultaneously with the overloaded encounter die. 

Use the overloaded encounter die as you would normally, fulfilling its results as they occur (light depletion, dungeon effects, etc), with encounters happening as normal on results of 1. At the same time, you are rolling the Hunting Die. The Hunting Die only comes into effect on results of 1. Rolling a 1 on the Hunting Die triggers an encounter with the dungeon's 'main faction'. Rolling any other result causes the Hunting Die to decrease one Die size, but more on that later. 

What? 'Main Faction'? Huh? This is whichever faction, being or entity is most dominant in whatever area the party are currently in. For example, C.H.U.Ds in the Cannibal Clan Sewers, Doleful Shades in the Katabatic Cave, the Driller-Killer himself in the Lair of the Driller-Killer or the Slime Duke and his cohorts but only in the slimy northern chambers of the Chaos Kings's Megadungeon. This is not to say that the dungeon's dominant party should not appear on your usual, regular encounter table but it's good to promote encounters with the dungeon's main movers and shakers - you wouldn't want to run a vampire dungeon and encounter no, or not many vampires, would you? It's happened to me. Rolling two dice for encounters has its quirks, overloaded encounter die results can trigger at the same time as the Hunting Die encounter and if both the Encounter Die and Hunting Die roll 1's, you know what that means, double encounter!

For example

After rolling the Encounter Die and the Hunting Die (whether the Encounter Die results in an encounter or not) reduce the die size of the Hunting Die from a d20 to a d12. This represents that the dungeon inhabitants are getting closer to finding your players. Reduce the size of the Hunting Die each time it is rolled and does not result in an encounter (any result other than 1). Continue to reduce the Hunting Die after every encounter roll until it rolls a 1 and triggers a faction encounter. After the Hunting Die's encounter is resolved, the die resets in size back up to d20. This helps to keep both the feel of rising tension and the idea that an encounter can occur at any moment.

If the players draw attention to themselves you have a few options. Instant reduction in the size of the Hunting Die, or, if the characters are particularly overt, instantly roll the Hunting Die with the Encounter Die regardless of how much time that has passed. You can even do both at once. How you play this is up to your discretion as a DM.

Tips, Tricks, Options, Opinions and Alternatives 

• Keep the Hunting Die visible. Your players should know how close they are to being attacked, but, keeping die based will ensure more tension than a static and obvious 'right now' point. Consider it being a player role to keep track of the Hunting Die and roll for encounters.
• Certain actions may permanently reduce the maximum size of the Hunting Die. The Hunting Die max size will only reset to d20 if the players leave the dungeon. These actions may include sleeping in the dungeon, stealing particularly important treasure or killing dungeon leaders. 
• A more unforgiving option is that the first faction encounter, the Hunting Die only resets to d12. The die never resets to d20 until players leave the dungeon.
• There is no bespoke method for stealth with this method but reward your players for being sneaky and trying to waylay or hide from their pursuers. There is no reason to not have your players hide. It's fun. 
• This method also works for wilderness or overland encounters. For example, in the Mutated March of the Mad Mage you'd be pursued by the Mad Mage's Mutoids and in the Splendiferous Spirelands your party would be questioned by a patrol of Sir Spike Spiral's Spiny Spearmen (and so on). In particularly large regions consider local lairs, landmarks, hideouts, towns, etc when considering what/who the Hunting Die should represent. Consider that the Hunting Die encounter may have different results during the day and the night.
• Just as the Overloaded Encounter Die has things occur on any result of 1 through 6, could this be applied to the Hunting Die? For example, a result of 2 on the Hunting Die could represent that the Faction Encounter is close by. Any hasty/loud action could alert them. I would not do much more than this for the sake of my own cognitive load. 
• Consider how a Hunting Die's encounter should be different to a standard encounter. In dungeons and other underworld spaces, these encounters should, more often than not, be hostile, like white blood cells attempting to extirpate any outside intruders. 

An Epilogue on Encumbrance

This whole post was inspired by James Young's 'Another Underclock'. The one thing this method does not take into account is encumbrance as James Young's system does. I can only think of this - and it's slightly dumb - the more encumbered the party, the larger the faction encounter becomes. For example, if you are using encumbrance levels and your most encumbered player has an encumbrance of 4, then the faction encounter has an additional 4 HD. This works better for encounters with lots of individuals, the party are moving slower and their pursuers can better organise, so an extra eight 1/2 HD goblins - ouch. But this works less so for lone wandering monsters. Why would the minotaur have an extra 4 HD because the party thief is carrying too much treasure? It doesn't quite fit. Perhaps encumbrance could affect chances of the party being surprised or someone on encumbrance '3' would cause the Hunter Die encounter to be triggered on 1, 2 or 3 - but that might result in far too many encounters. 

PREDATORY ENCOUNTERS - IMPROVING THE RANDOM ENCOUNTER

PREDATORY ENCOUNTERS - IMPROVING THE ENCOUNTER DIE WITH TENSION, STEALTH & DUNGEON REACTIVITY, OR - A SIMPLE UNDERCLOCK ALTERNATIVE

Do you want encounters to occur more regularly?  

Do you want the dungeon to respond to your players' foolishness?  

Do you want your players to feel hunted and pursued?

Try the Predatory Encounter Die!*

The dungeon has found them - all art is from Down in the Dungeon, 1981

Standard Encounter Rolls

At its most basic level, the typical encounter roll looks like this:  

"Every 10 minutes, roll 1d6. On a 1, a random encounter occurs."  

Overloaded Encounter Rolls
A sagely fellow (Necropraxis I believe) once asked “what about the other numbers?”. Overloaded Encounter rolls largely function the same as Standard Encounter rolls, save that there are results for rolls of 2-6. Meaning that rolling is always meaningful. These results typically include things such as light source depletion, a description of the environment or signs/spoors/omens/clues that hint at nearby wandering monsters. Everyone has their own formula for a good Overloaded Encounter die. Until I share mine, find some here, here and here (but there are many more). BUT, some still felt this roll was lacking - ‘is 1-in-6 frequent enough?’ or ‘this is fun, but still feels static’. I know I have certainly run dungeon sessions and one-shots where due to the whims of the dice, there have been no actual encounters. Many have tried to fix this, which leads us to…

The Underclock
Somewhat recently, Arnold K of Goblin Punch tackled this problem by introducing The Underclock which is essentially a countdown to a guaranteed encounter. The Underclock does a few things, it is meant to ensure an encounter, suggest that the dungeon is responding to the actions of the players and create a sense of tension, a feeling of pursuit. However, in practice, (I have played in games with the Underclock) it introduces too much predictability  - players feel safe when the Underclock is high, plus it's just that bit fiddlier than rolling a die. But what if there was…

Another Way - The PREDATORY ENCOUNTER DIE
What if we could combine the variated, meaningful results of the Overloaded Encounter Die, the tension of The Underclock and ensure encounter frequency in a simple manner? That's this method. The standard encounter roll becomes a measure of the dungeon’s awareness as it shifts and searches for the players. It's very simple, surely done before, but, this is it:

They are hunted

How It Works
1. Start with a d6 (this is your Encounter Die) as standard.  
2. Roll it whenever you would normally check for encounters, every ten minutes, every three rooms, etc.
3. If the result is 6 (or higher), an encounter occurs. 
4. Results of 2-5 trigger standard Overloaded Encounter effects (light depletion, environmental signs, etc.) according to your taste. In addition to any effect on rolls 2-5, the encounter die increases in size (d8 → d10 → d12 → d20) as the dungeon hones in on the party. When you next roll for encounters, do so with the new die size. Encounters continue to occur on a 6 or higher. The probability grows - the monsters are getting nearer!
5. A result of 1, lowers the Predatory Encounter Die size by one increment. 
6. Importantly, the Predatory Encounter die also increases in size whenever player characters make loud noises, allow intelligent/organised enemies to escape or otherwise draw attention to themselves.
7. Once an encounter does occur and is resolved (or the party leave the dungeon), the encounter die resets back to d6. However, the minimum encounter die size can increase if the dungeon becomes particularly alert.  
8. Hiding successfully for 10 minutes (which still requires an encounter roll as time passes) can reduce the encounter die back to a d6. 

Encounter Probability by Die Size

Die Size_____Encounter Chance

d6__________16.67% 

d8__________37.5% 

d10_________50% 

d12_________58.33%  (weird!)

d20_________75% 

It works! The probability is weird and lumpy but your players will get it, big = bad. This method is meant to be player-facing. Let your players see the die grow, make them roll it. Having it out on the table will give rise to tension and be a constant reminder that something is looking for them and that it is getting closer. However, if the encounter rate seems too high, check out the alternate method below.

The dungeon takes its prisoners

Tips, Adjustments and Options

• A roll of 1 on the encounter die can represent a lull or lapse in alertness and lowers the die size by one.
• What constitutes a rise in the encounter die? You know already, explosions, throwing skeletons down wells, kicking down doors, any kind of demolition/destruction, if intelligent enemies are able and allowed to report the party’s location, and depending on your setting and opinion - the use of firearms. Anything that feels like it should increase the dungeon’s alertness levels - should.
• If needed, use a small tracker to help keep on top of the encounter die, all that would be needed is 5 boxes, labelled d6 through to d20 and a bead to place on the current encounter die size. Let the players see this.
• When hiding, players should think about how and where they are hiding and describe it as they would any other action, such as with inspecting and disarming traps for instance. If your system has a stealth skill, that can be used only if an encounter is rolled while the party is hidden. On a successful stealth roll, reroll the encounter die or bypass the encounter - it's up to you. Their description and hiding place may give them a bonus or malus to the roll. It might be so good they don’t even need to roll!  This will increase that particular feeling of stealth in your games and allow for scenes I’d never or very rarely seen before - the DM describing the party hiding while a monster walks past them. I can see the various rolls, results and DM description in this classic LotR scene.
• This is optional; If players severely disrupt the dungeon, increase the minimum die size (e.g. it defaults to a d8 instead of d6). Perhaps if the party steals the all-important Blue Jewel or the Dragon’s egg, slay the High-Priest, get sprayed with stinking monster-bait, stab the dungeon’s beating heart, insult the Goblin Queen. Any dramatic event might qualify and reducing the minimum die size would be bespoke to whatever caused its rise.
• Generous DMs can offer a reprieve by temporarily using a d4 encounter die that cannot trigger encounters.
• Predatory Encounters are tougher than regular encounter mechanics, this is ok. It will make your players tougher in kind.

The Alternate Method

• However, to reduce the encounter rate, consider this - remove the out of turn and automatic increases to the encounter die. Instead, during a 10 minute turn, ask yourself as the DM, 'do the player's actions warrant an increase in the size of encounter die?' if yes, increase the die size, if not keep the encounter die size and roll as normal. There are no automatic increases with this method, instead you would immediately roll for encounters with the current die size whenever the party do anything that might draw attention to themselves. Otherwise, the mechanic remains the same.

Why Use this Rule?

This slight change for rolling for encounters retains meaning with every roll, creates tension, meaningful choices and gives the dungeon another avenue to feel like a living thing.
- It maintains traditional encounter mechanics while adding a rising feeling of escalation and responsiveness.  
- The dungeon feels more alive, it can react more dynamically to the players' actions and will feel less empty.
- The dungeon responds organically, the more players create a ruckus, the more alert its inhabitants become in trying to find them.
- The encounter die, always increases in size. Players will feel hunted, pursued, like the intruders they are. Even after an encounter, there is no assumed safety or reprieve unless earned.
- Encounters remain unpredictable. Players never know exactly when the next encounter will happen, but they know how much more likely it will be. HP low, Encounter Die big 😱, let's roll…. a 3! Phew!
- Stealth and caution become meaningful, not assumed. As stated, players can attempt to lower the encounter die size by hiding, taking special precautions or otherwise satiating the dungeon. I understand adventurers are assumed to be moving quietly at all times but this change brings that behaviour to the fore. Player’s will devote time to hiding (which they would never otherwise do) and search out places to hide. Using Predatory Encounter rolls is like a stealth system in of itself, the higher the encounter die size the harder it is to hide. 

 

Try it out in your next session, see how the game changes.
Let me know how it works for you, what you tweaked or changed and if you like this post, do follow. I’ve got a small post about making light a mechanically important resource coming very soon. It has some elegance to it if I do say so myself.

No exit

*(It's so simple, I'm sure a million people have thought of it before me)