The Cliffhanger Table
A repost from my old Patreon
So in hexcrawl or "west marches" type games you are supposed to make it back to a safe area by the end of the game session so that next week you can set out on a fresh expedition. But what if you don't?
I have the rule where you have to be within 1 hex/movement of a "safe" settlement per level. If you are level 4 and a couple hexes away from town you don't have to roll. BUT, there are some modifiers to how many hexes away:
Additions to effective distance
(meaning you count as being further away from town)
+2 if you are in the middle of a combat
+2 if you are out of critical supplies (like food)
+2 to a character willing to "be a hero" and help the rest of the party
Additions to effective level
(meaning you count as being closer to town)
+2 if you have enough critical supplies (food, water, heat) to last for a week
+2 if some other character in the party is "being a hero" to help you escape
+2 if you are in a temporarily safe area (like in a hunter's camp sharing a fire)
If you still aren't close enough, what then?
Roll a single d8, d6, and d4 for each character and consult the table below. There is only a single roll of the dice. If the d4 result says "you take a d6 damage" then it references the same d6 rolled for the "by who". If you get a special combination (see below) you add those results to what you generated. Note this assumes that you have a stable of characters in the west march game and that you can switch characters when one is absent due to rolling on the table.
What happened (d8)
1 "You were saved by..." (return next game as normal)
2 "You were found by..." (miss the next game)
3 "You were chased by.." (miss the next game, must lose equipment if over-encumbered)
4 "You were attacked by..." (miss one game, begin next game reckless and out of luck)
5 "You were robbed by..." (miss one game, lose all equipment)
6 "You were imprisoned by.." (lose all equipment, must be rescued to play character again)
7 "You were tortured by..." (as imprisoned, but d6 is potential extra d4)
8 "You were maimed by.." (as tortured, but suffer a permanent injury based on d6
1.) Toe 2.)Finger 3.) Eye 4.) Hand 5.) Limb (d4). 6.) death.
By Who? (d6)
1 "the nearest traders"
2 "the nearest locals"
3 "Robbers and thieves"
4 "Slavers"
5 "Cannibals" (even die total) or "Undead" (odd die total)
6 "Animals"
Unfortunately.. (d4)
1 "You suffered some minor bruises" (no notable effect)
2 "You became delirious" accrue d6 stress
3 "You were badly hurt" accrue d6 damage
4 "You became quite ill" accrue d6 illness and contract a disease based on the d8
1-3.) The Vapours 4-6.) The Dread Rot 7.) Leprosy 8.) Rabies
But amazingly (if the dice results are these numbers, these results ALSO happen)
1-1-1 "in your journey you learned of a secret location of fabled treasure"
2-2-2 "you ended up having to get married to a local in a strange legal requirement"
3-3-3 "You ended up taking a long detour." You miss one additional game but gain 500xp.
4-4-4 "You were captured but quickly caught a sickness from another slave. You were cast out immediately". You do not miss any games, but contracted dread rot.
5-5-? "you lost a limb to their appetites before escaping blindly into the night". Lose a limb (d4) and roll again next week.
6-6-? "You were adopted into a pack of wolves/apes/molemen. They nurse you back to health over a few weeks". Miss d4 games, but pass that many healing checks.
1-2-3 "through a suitable tale of guile, luck, and courage you gain a small treasure" gain 250 silver worth of coins/pelts/drugs
2-3-4 "you saved the life of a local who vows to serve you for life in gratitude" gain the result of a free henchman (based on the d6 result)
3-4-5 "you are able to gather an extra spear, blanket, and light source" gain some additional gear as appropriate to the d6 result.
4-5-6 "you managed to pilfer a horse, rowboat, or other means of conveyance. " gain additional gear as appropriate from the d6 result and you may roll again next week if you were imprisoned due to your escape.
8-6-4 "they picked your bones so cleanly, and scattered them so thoroughly across the region that you may never get a proper burial."
Bonus note: When rolling a d4 for a limb. 1 = right arm, 2 = right leg, 3= left leg, 4= left arm
In OSR systems treat Stress, and Illness as penalties to saving throws (diminishing by 1 per week) and treat Damage and Illness as HP loss.