Random Adventure Jam: A Remake (Also Podcast!)

This week we're doing something a little different. I just launched a podcast HERE that is going to become an audio component to this here blog. Going forward the Arkcast will become an extension of the blog posts or sometimes an entirely other thing depending on my wildly shifting moods. Now you can still read what amounts to show notes below but I'd really appreciate if you'd give the audio a listen and leave your feedback here or on Twitter. Now on to remakes. 

Remakes and Dragons

Remakes and remasters are common enough in our media that most of us have a dream property we'd love to see modernized in some way. Whether that is updated CGI or a less problematic narrative while keeping the core of what we enjoyed intact. However, tabletop RPG modules or adventures (Whatever you want to call them) are unique in that even though we're reading the same print of Keep on the Borderlands or Rime of the Frost Maiden our interpretations of that text and the game experience we get at the table are going to be wildly different from one another. Even with the same group of players with identical characters you will be hard pressed to have an entirely equivalent experience. So, if we're sure you can just pick up the old thing and run it back again to have a good time, why change anything?

For that answer dear reader I ask you to come with me to a time before ludonarrative dissonance. When the most OSR thing conceivable was a random encounter check. A time when all ogres were quantum and the choices were bolted on to railroad tracks. This was my world three years ago. A time well before I was even aware of an RPG scene outside my little physical bubble. These were simpler times which is to say that they were boring. I was moving from trad system to system homebrewing as I went wondering where the fun had gone. Then on Reddit of all places I discovered Into The Odd and Chris McDowall's blog after that. Then the others and their systems and adventures. Story games. Adventure games. And so many hybrids. I fell in love with the whole thing and I couldn't wait to show my players.

My excitement was met with confused looks and a single burning question that excitement had failed to answer. Why? We have 5e at home you see. You could just homebrew all of that stuff you like from your silly indies since its all so modular and light. So I did. For a long time. But, each time I could feel their interest being piqued more and more. Until finally I had the chance to show them another way. So, I decided to insert a dungeon of my own making into an ongoing campaign using all of the procedures and cool bits I'd internalized over the years to run a soft dungeon crawl still using a traditional system but in a classic way. It turned out great. Better than I could have hoped. 

Let's fast forward a bit. Years pass. Tastes change. I change. I've been learning along trying new things and absorbing as much as I can from my favorite luminaries here in the blogosphere or even Twitter when people aren't too busy arguing over the latest discourse. But, I see my prompt from the Random Adventure Title Generator and all I can think of is my old dungeon. Well, I could just grab the old notes and spruce them up nice enough to publish right? How hard would it be to finally convert it to the prestigious dragon game adjacent system of my choice and run it again once more with feeling. As it turns out; very hard.

It was still all there. The notes, the map, and all the other little bits having survived several moves remain mostly intact. But, the stuff on the page? It's like body horror. It reads like I wrote it. It looks like my handwriting. But something is so wrong. It's the uncanny valley made manifest and all I want to do is take a flamethrower to it. 

I could just burn the whole thing down and start again but not all of the ideas left here are bad or unfinished. Some just need some extra polish or some modernization. But, things like the presentation and those godawful memes need to be put to the torch for good. It needs a refresh. A remake. But, where to start?

Re-Setting Goals

Before we dive into the nitty gritty of what exactly we are changing we need to lay down some expectations and confront what can be our most helpful friend or most diabolical enemy in this remake. That being of course nostalgia.

Before we waste a whole lot of time chasing the dragon of nostalgia let's get one thing straight; if your goal is exactly reproduce the experience of running the adventure the first time you will fail. Full stop. Nostalgia is a powerful drug that tricks you into thinking about the glory days like they were flawless little pastoral scenes out of a Bob Ross painting instead of their very flawed reality. But fear not this is a remix not the original. Which means you will get something different if not a little better. After all, some of my favorite songs are covers. 

Now, that doesn't mean you should avoid nostalgia entirely. By choosing to remake this old thing instead of making something entirely new you are conjuring some nostalgic feelings regardless. What you should be aiming for here is a more thoughtful presentation of that nostalgia. Got a fan favorite NPC, or a monster, or some cool magic items? Bring it back. Just remember not to fill the place up to the brim with You Had To Be There references as that is also an easy way to alienate any new players you have at the table who weren't there the first time. Balance the old with the new to keep nostalgia in its place. 

Re-spect

Moving forward to another very important bit every remake needs is; Respect for the original, but not subservience to it. One of my favorite remakes if you would pardon the video game reference is the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2. From the layout of the RPD Police Station level to the shlocky B-Movie cringe dialogue the remake oozes respect for the original.  But, it also isn't afraid to zig where it saw the original zag such as with the plot and new updated mechanics more befitting of a modern experience. It's quite simply a better game than its predecessor. Not many remakes can take that title video game or otherwise but the pursuit of a better experience while respecting the ground tread by the original should be the goal for our own. 

With the nostalgia demon pacified and our respect assured its time to gather your adventure concepts. The old ones. Yeah. The bits of art, stories, blog posts, and adventure modules that inspired the thing in the first place. If your like me and incredibly disorganized at the best of times this could take a bit but its worth it for the next part. It's time to take a trip down memory lane with that flamethrower of ours as the intention here is to burn everything that doesn't fit in anymore. At this point your tastes have changed and hopefully matured compared to the last time you've walked this road so some of this stuff just isn't going to work anymore and that's ok. Now, take your new stuff and fill in the spots left behind. What does the picture look like now? Hopefully it sparks joy. If not, well I hope you love the smell of napalm in the morning.

Re-tcon

Now, let's get specific. For my old dungeon, formerly Mazebek's Tomb now for the remake The Hallowed Halls of the Reptile Gods, I've narrowed down three pivotal anchors that made the adventure what it was. One, MBC: Bloat. The gross-out heavy Mork Borg adventure about a mad king with enchanted cutlery waited upon by a staff of ceramic automatons powered by fat and gristle. The second, Chef's Table. Yes, you heard (read) that right. The Netflix docuseries that looks at fine dining and excellent cookery around the world is one of the most influential bits of Mazebek's Tomb it would simply not be the same adventure without it. And lastly, And lastly, the culinary cannibal cult. Because how else do we have a dungeoncrawl cooking show without cannibal cooks?  

Do the oldies remain goodies? Well, in the case of Bloat it's a mixed bag. Bloat itself is super cool and you should read it but in the old Mazebek's Tomb my "inspiration" ran so deep that whole rooms were entirely lifted from its pages. That's why we have that trusty flamethrower. Chef's Table, and indeed every other cooking show I've seen since, remains immaculate. If anything I'd like to double down on this concept further as I remake the dungeon. That leaves the culinary cannibal cult. Originally, they were just bad guys from the village I had placed above the dungeon but I think they can be even better as a group of estate farmers who formed a mystery cult in reverence to the river god in order to ensure the success of their farms. In that way they can get a bit of upper class ennui and add some flavor to the treasures down here.

Concepts sorted. Nostalgia bound to our service. Respect, hopefully earned. With that out of the way I guess we have to actually work on it now huh? Eh, maybe next week.

Thanks for reading.