Procedures a co-referee can pick up cold

Stock the hex like you stock a room

Use the Basic/Expert Monster / Empty / Trap / Special roll for wilderness hexes. Covers lairs versus patrols, land hazards, settlements checked like treasure, and how to make the map quieter or busier.

Read the procedure →

Session zero for old-school play

Agree on mapping (who draws), torch duty, hireling wages, and whether gold-for-XP is in force. Death, retreat, and “we leave the dungeon” are table procedures, not mood.

Write spoiler windows only if you share modules between groups. Consent talk belongs here too; keep it short and specific, then play.

Clocks, resources, and pacing

Count exploration turns. A common habit is six turns to a torch, a wandering check every two turns, and rations marked when you camp. If a clock never changes a decision, it is decoration, so cut it.

Worked example: the party spends three turns searching room 12. Torch 1 has three turns left. You check wandering on the even turn. They hear boots, and that is pacing; you did not need a cutscene.

NPC and faction sheets that stay small

One line of want, a reaction modifier, a morale score, and where they go if they break. Two factions with overlapping claims will generate more play than a twelve-page NPC bible.

When you hand the sheet to a guest referee, they should know whether the goblin pickets talk, flee, or fight on a 7.

Teaching the table without a lecture

Hand out graph paper, set marching order, and put the lantern in someone’s inventory out loud. Then use reaction in the first occupied room so the table feels the procedure, not the speech.

If a procedure slows every turn without adding a choice, drop it. Fairness beats costume.

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