Overland
#1
Overland is a survival, exploration sandbox, inspired by games like Minecraft. I spent some time writing and rewriting the rules, but when I found RPG Solo, I figured I had to try in this format. Usually, this game ends in death. The trick is to find a meaning to that death.

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My father was a lumberjack, did I follow in his footsteps?

Yes, but...

As I grew, I learned the way of the woods from my nearly silent father. Quiet but strong. He would heft his huge ax upon his shoulder before heading out in the early dawn as the amber sun rose over the horizon. He would not wake me, so I had to sleep lightly lest he leave before I opened my eyes. I would trail behind him in the dark, frightening guttural sounds coming from the shadows.

When I grew, I became a lumberjack as well, but it was never something I loved. Not like him. I was always more interested in exploring new vistas and dark places. Not chopping wood all day. I left home when I realized that I needed to live, to experience life on my own. I took my ax and a torch and just started walking.

I walked through deep, green forests where the sun barely filtered through the leaves. Did I stay there?

No.

I walked through misty rain forest, giant vined trees looming overhead and strange monkeys chittering out of view. Did I stay there?

No.

I sloshed through tepid swamp, moss hanging from trees like witch's hair. Unseen slithering things gurgling and splashing under the brackish water. Did I stay there?

No.

I trekked through blazing desert, scurrying from what little shade I could find to the next. The heat made the air waver like water and I learned to drink from the cacti that I found. Did I stay there?

Yes, but...

It was three days into the desert that I ran out of water. I should have planned better, but you know what they say about hindsight. Too far to go back now, I could merely push on. I knew that I would die if I could not find water this day. My skin was dry and baked like hard leather and my face felt alien, a stranger's face. Ahead, I saw a depression in the sand. Was it an oasis?

No, and...

I got excited and dashed towards the depression, ready to throw myself into the water. It was too late when I realized that it was no oasis, but a deep pit leading into the earth. In the side of the pit, a cave entrance looked ominous and uninviting. Yet, I heard a sound. A drip of water. I listened closer, believing it was a trick of my sun maddened senses. Yet, I heard a second drip.

I lit my one torch and held the ax in front of me like a weapon and walked through the cave entrance. Was there something in the cavern before me?

No.

The cave tunnel was dry and dusty. Every sound seemed to echo and assaulted my ears. If there was anything hostile in this cave, I would not be sneaking up on it. I edged forward, dreaming of a pool of cool subterranean water. Did the cave keep going?

Yes.

Was there something in the cave?

No.

Further down I crept into the cavern. My shoulders ached from tensely holding the ax and torch out in front of me. I was dehydrated and starting to hallucinate. I saw demonic faces in the shadows which disappeared when my torchlight stuck them. Did the cave keep going?

Yes.

Was there something in the cave?

No.

I sat down in the dust and ate my last bit of dried meat. It barely went down as I had nothing to drink. I sat in depression for a while before getting myself back up and walking further. This cave will be my savoir or my death. Did the cave keep going?

No.

I don't know how long I had explored the cave when I came to a dead end. The cave just stopped. I would have sobbed had I any water in my body to spare. Starving, hungry and exhuasted, I resolved to make it back to the surface. Did I make it back up?

Yes, but...

My torch ran out just as I reached the entrance of the cave. I dropped the steaming piece of wood and cloth. Overhead the moon was full and lit the desert around me. I could travel at night and try to find a way from this hell. I climbed out of the pit and made off North by the stars. Did I make it out of the desert?

No, and...

As I trekked through the darkness in the sand, I heard a howl far away. Then another closer. I strained to see what foul beast would utter such a chilling call, but could see nothing. I took up faster, walking as quickly as my tired legs would take me. Ahead in the moonlight I saw a twisted shape, a thin shaggy beast on four legs. It's eyes glowed in the luminescence and chilled me to the core. It howled and I heard two others reply behind me. Did the beasts attack?

Yes.

The beast in front of me sat patiently, staring poisonously at me. Then I heard a rush and the spilling of sand behind me as one of the other two rushed me. I spun and swung wildly with the ax. I'd used the ax all my life to cut trees, but never to strike a moving creature. Did I hit the rushing beast?

No.

The beast bowled into me, knocking me over. It's dripping maw smelled like dead flesh as it breathed into my face. I held the snapping teeth at back with one hand on his neck. The hand with the ax, I tried to cut into his pelt. Did I hit the beast?

No.

The beast pivoted before I could sink the ax into his side and it bit into the sand only. He grabbed hold of the free arm in his strong jaws and held me as I heard the other two beasts closing in. The flesh tore on my arm as it bit deep to keep hold. Did the other two beasts reach me?

Yes.

Did the beasts slay me?

Yes, and...

The three beasts began to tear at my body, snapping chunks of flesh away with sharp teeth. I thought of my father on the day I left telling me that it was a dangerous world. He did not know how true that was.
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#2
Wow! Good job. This was a fun read. I'm a Minecraft fan myself.

It's funny how sometimes it seems the Virtual Game Master just wants you dead and other times I see it helping people. I don't know if you have to get on its good side or what. Undecided

Thanks for sharing and welcome to the site!
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#3
I'm curious about what rules you used for the simulation. Could you elaborate a bit on that? I really enjoy the chance to play sandbox style games like this. Thanks!
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#4
Yay, a fellow evil self-GM! Keep killing those PCs, man.
It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims.
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)
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#5
Fantastic descriptions! Your Overland concept looks like a lot of fun. I look forward to reading more like this :]
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#6
Thanks for the kind words, all. This is a fun application. I've been playing around with the Overland idea trying to find a good balance between fiddly rules and more improvisational play.

This one is much more mechanical and fiddly...tracking health, food, resources. The story is emergent, but not nearly as fun to write or likely interesting to read. I think games using this site should be more freeform.

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8 = 2[d6]+2[d6]+4[d6]

4 = 4[d6]

1 = 1[d8]

3 = 3[d6]

Starting seed: The date is 1st of the month Oak, 1224. I am a miner living in the plains.

7am - The day started off cool and I wrapped my cloak around my shoulders to ward off the chill. I had heard about the treasured splendors under the ground in this realm. I was itching to sink my pickaxe into stone. I knew that first I needed some shelter and food before I set out digging. I went looking for a stand of trees to build a small shack from. Did I find any trees?

Yes.

Not too far was a nice strand of trees. I had no other tools than my trusty pickaxe, but I would not dull that by chopping down trees. I worked to pull branches down to fashion a primitive ax. Did I craft an ax?

No, and...

My first attempt failed and I even broke the branches I pulled off. I looked for some stronger, thicker branches. Did I find materials?

Yes, but...

I found a great branch that would be perfect for an ax handle, but nothing to use as the blade. I looked around the woods for a flat stone or anything that I could use. Did I find an ax head?

No.

11a - Having no luck, I tried chipping a piece of wood into an ax head. Did that work?

Yes, and...

12a - Hah! I was able to fashion a crude ax and I tested it against a tree. It took a bit of work, but I cut the tree down! I started stacking up wood to build a shelter from. Was I able to chop down a second tree?

Yes, but...

1p - I chopped down a second tree but on the final blow, the ax glanced off at a strange angle and cut my leg. It's not too deep, but I need to keep an eye on it to keep it from becoming infected. (health 3, was 4). I now had a good bit of wood but realized I needed just a bit more to build a rough shack. Did I cut down another tree?

Yes.

2p - I gathered the wood in my hands and began carrying it to a nice open spot on the plains. I would be able to see from every direction and I had a nice view of the small strand of trees. Did I construct the shack?

No, but...

3p - I started to build the floor of my home but got distracted. A sound in the distance unnerved me and I wanted to find the source. I scoured the plains for an hour, but never found the maker of the sound. Maybe that is best anyway. Did I make any progress on the shack?

Yes.

4p - I stepped back and looked at the floor of my domicile. It wasn't large by any means, but I was proud and knew it was a good start. Did I make any progress on building the shack?

Yes, but...

5p - The walls are done, but I ended up wasting some of the wood I had gathered. A real carpenter wouldn't have cut half his boards too short, but I'm doing the best I can with what I have. I hiked to the trees again to chop down some more. Did I gather the wood needed?

Yes, but...

7p - I gathered the lumber, but it took longer than I thought it would. It's now getting dark and my stomach is growling. I have no food, so will probably go without dinner tonight. I started working on the roof of the house, hoping I could get it done before dark. Did I build the roof?

Yes.

8p - I was so proud of the little house, I did a dance right there on the spot. It's just a floor, four walls, a door and a ceiling, but it's mine. I feel like I could build something much nicer next time. (Building now is "SL"). I remembered my stomach and went looking for fruit or berries...anything really, to eat. Did I find anything?

Yes.

9p - The darkness closed in and I had almost given up when I found a small bush of berries. I tried delicately picking them off to keep from squishing them. Did I collect the berries?

Yes, but...

10p - I gathered the berries, but I ate most of them on the way home and had only a few left for tomorrow. I barely found my shack in the darkness and barred the door against whatever things roamed at night. I lay down on the hard floor, cushioning my head with my cloak and tried to fall asleep. Did I get rested?

Yes.
Oak 3rd, 1224

7a - I awoke feeling refreshed (health 4). Now that I had my little home, I decided to gather some food to last me for a while. Did I find any food?

Yes.

8a - I found apple trees just beyond the strand of trees I had cut down. They were red and sweet and I started pulling them from the tree. Did I gather apples?

Yes, and...

9a - The tree limbs were hanging low from having so much fruit on them. It made picking the apples easy and I quickly gathered two days worth (2 food). I'd like a few more days worth of food, so I continued picking. Did I gather more apples?

No, but...

10a - My arms were full from the apples I had picked before and I was not able to get more, however, I noticed a curious outcroping of rock while bringing the food back to my house. This might be a great spot to start mining. I went back to the apple trees to pick a few more. Did I get more apples?

No, and...

11a - I started picking more apples and realized that the rest were overipe and rotting. At least I had picked all of the good ones off, but there's no more to be found on this tree. I went looking for another food source. Did I find one?

No.

12a - I went to the rocky outcroping and hefted my pickax to bite into the stone. Did I successfully mine stone?

No.

1p - The stone was harder than I thought. I'm nothing if not persistent though.. Did I successfully mine stone?

Yes.

2p - I reduced the rock into a pile of useful stones. Maybe later I will build a new house that is more durable. I started digging down further. Did I mine more stone?

Yes, but...

4p - I got more stone (2 stone), but I'm really having to pound this stuff and I'm beginning to worry I might break my pickax. I've only dug a bit into the ground now, but I want to go further. Did I mine further?

No, but...

5p - I hit a harder vein of stone and it's shiny. I'm hoping it's a metal, like iron or copper at the least. Is it iron?

Yes.

6p - It will be dark soon, but decided to have a go at digging out the iron. If I could smelt it down and make better tools, this process would be faster. Did I get iron ore?

Yes.

7p - Happy with my find, I walked back to my house as it was getting dark. The stone was left in a pile where I was quarrying, but the iron ore I brought back with me to the hut. I ate three large apples and wondered if I could ever get sick of the wonderful taste of them. My belly full, I lay down to rest. Did I sleep through the night?

Yes, but...

Oak 3rd, 1224
7a - I slept through the night, but I heard noises outside my door. When I stepped outside in the morning I saw footprints in the grass near my house. I hope whatever it was does not come back...
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