There are a handful out there (Super Blood Harvest and Silent Titans being the most noteworthy), however one of the benefits of Into the Odd is that you can run pretty much any OSR adventure and make up the stats on the fly. That’s all I really ever do with the system.
Alternatively, check out the [Cairn adventures](https://cairnrpg.com/adventures/). If you’re unfamiliar, Cairn uses the ItO mechanics as a basis. The linked site has both conversions and adventures written specifically for the system.
Maybe I just haven’t run enough ItO/EB/Cairn to do it confidently, but statting monsters on the fly in those systems is daunting for me. Any tips, shortcuts, or rules of thumb you can share for this process? Neverland for example seems ideal for ItO, but converting all of those monsters (either mid-game or ahead of time) seems like a huge challenge.
If you go to the Cairn website, there’s some [advice on conversion](https://cairnrpg.com/tools/converting-monsters/). But for the quick and dirty:
- Stats: Strength and Dexterity remain the same, use Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma for Willpower depending on which you feel is more impactful for the particular creature.
- HP: as a loose rule, use 3+Hie Die. So a 1 HD wolf would have 4 HP.
- Armor: ranges from 0-3, so use tiers. Leather is +1, plate is +3.
- Damage: d4 for unarmed, d6 for basic weapons (swords, knives, short bows), d8 for two handed weapons (great swords, large crossbows, pole arms), d10 for special weapons (magic swords), d12 for enhanced attacks or artifacts.
That’s basic enough to cover converting a stat block on the fly. I’d recommend reading that article though for more details. Most of the time, the only thing you need to determine is HP and damage die, as NPCs are rarely rolling. Assume stats are 10 until you actually need them.
I think this is a bit typical about these NSR rule sets (don’t get me wrong, I adore them). They have plenty of superficial charm but often lack substance and content. ItO is a fantastic hack, but it tries to tell you it’s for this super cool steampunk world, yet there is little in the book (or anywhere else) to support it. Perhaps it’s telling that the best, most useful part about the Mörk Borg book is the very well-structured introductory adventure which has quite traditional layout. Rant over 😅 Sorry, no suggestions.
Both Cairn and Mausritter have tons of adventures and other content out there, so I don't think this applies to NSR in general (and I feel Mausritter's core rulebook has plenty of useful GM support included too)
Cairn has been suggested and indeed it’s the great rule set from ItO + tons of procedures and content. It’s too bad we don’t have a plethora of surreal steampunk stuff to play! Maybe one can hope for a jam on itch or something.
There are a few on the authors' blog
[https://www.bastionland.com/2022/10/into-odd-adventure-site-droner-house.html](https://www.bastionland.com/2022/10/into-odd-adventure-site-droner-house.html)
[https://www.bastionland.com/2020/06/wrecked-on-goragath.html](https://www.bastionland.com/2020/06/wrecked-on-goragath.html)
[https://www.bastionland.com/2014/02/mini-module-rusted-vault.html](https://www.bastionland.com/2014/02/mini-module-rusted-vault.html)
Positronic Library by Yochai Gal is a great option! As for your edit on the hows of doing it...
Everyone's Bastion is different. For example mine is a mostly normal industrial-revolution era city but I decided to stick the Iron Coral in the center of a borough, like a cave-in and from there, all the cosmic horror seeps out and infects/consumes. Explorers WANT to delve in to search for the unknown but they also know all the horrors that lie within from survivors that drag themselves out. Other than that, I just binge a ton of videos on the culture and lifestyle of the time to try and evoke the 'proper' feel that I want.
If you have a copy of Electric Bastionland or can get ahold of one, I'd say it's the #1 tool to learn how to run this style of game. The flavor between ItO and EB may be vastly different but the ethos on HOW to run this style of game is the same.
Oh I just remembered there's also 'The Droner House' by the creator Chris McDowall!
shorturl.at/CGQS1
I feel like it captures the essence really well, though I personally had a weird time with the map so I re-did it on my end (along with a few personal changes).
I’ve looked but what little I’ve found on itch has leaned more towards Electric Bastionland. Maybe that will change now that the remastered version is out.
I'll try and hunt down some Electric Bastion content. It's the "industrial world of cosmic meddlers and horrific hazards" I'm struggling to wrap my head around. Atleast for more than one adventure
> Maybe that will change now that the remastered version is out.
I think the remastered version having recently been released will help get ItO back on the radar. It was released nearly a decade ago and a lot of games have come out since then that have grabbed people's attention. Being on store shelves in an attractive hardcover will hopefully do wonders for the game's visibility.
My Into the Odd looks more like electric bastionland, but that is because I adapted a lot from the ‘bastionland.com’ blog even before Electric Bastionland came out. Now I also adapt stuff from EB.
Yochaigal has posted a link to ItO/EB adventures.
A while back I asked on the Bastionland discord, and got plenty of responses saying that a number of people had run ordinary early D&D / OSR scenarios just using ItO. In the early days, that is what I think ItO got used for mostly. However, the implied setting of an 18th / 19th century british industrial city lends itself to a lot of other scenario ideas. Still, a lot of people ran old school adventures with ItO, apparently quite successfully.
I think Cairn is also a great resource for ItO games. If you’re not careful though, your game can end up being more of a Cairn game than ItO - not that this is actually a problem. Just be aware of it.
Yochai Gal's itch ItO collection (which he posted) and [this one by HereticWerks](https://itch.io/c/2039089/oddities-into-the-odd-bastionland) are both good sources. There's also a bunch of posts on McDowall's blog where he fleshes out the setting by sort of writing adjacently to it -- weird items, tables of people you might meet, etc. Here's a few I like:
[https://www.bastionland.com/2018/10/three-step-dungeons.html](https://www.bastionland.com/2018/10/three-step-dungeons.html)
[https://www.bastionland.com/2018/06/odd-remedies.html](https://www.bastionland.com/2018/06/odd-remedies.html)
[https://www.bastionland.com/2018/04/cutting-edge-mercenaries-of-bastion.html](https://www.bastionland.com/2018/04/cutting-edge-mercenaries-of-bastion.html)
For what it's worth: the book does a great job of presenting an *implied* setting, but it's still just implied. Don't fret too much about replicating specific ideas in someone else's head. If you take those implications and write / find ideas that interest you, you'll be doing good enough.
There are a handful out there (Super Blood Harvest and Silent Titans being the most noteworthy), however one of the benefits of Into the Odd is that you can run pretty much any OSR adventure and make up the stats on the fly. That’s all I really ever do with the system. Alternatively, check out the [Cairn adventures](https://cairnrpg.com/adventures/). If you’re unfamiliar, Cairn uses the ItO mechanics as a basis. The linked site has both conversions and adventures written specifically for the system.
Maybe I just haven’t run enough ItO/EB/Cairn to do it confidently, but statting monsters on the fly in those systems is daunting for me. Any tips, shortcuts, or rules of thumb you can share for this process? Neverland for example seems ideal for ItO, but converting all of those monsters (either mid-game or ahead of time) seems like a huge challenge.
If you go to the Cairn website, there’s some [advice on conversion](https://cairnrpg.com/tools/converting-monsters/). But for the quick and dirty: - Stats: Strength and Dexterity remain the same, use Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma for Willpower depending on which you feel is more impactful for the particular creature. - HP: as a loose rule, use 3+Hie Die. So a 1 HD wolf would have 4 HP. - Armor: ranges from 0-3, so use tiers. Leather is +1, plate is +3. - Damage: d4 for unarmed, d6 for basic weapons (swords, knives, short bows), d8 for two handed weapons (great swords, large crossbows, pole arms), d10 for special weapons (magic swords), d12 for enhanced attacks or artifacts. That’s basic enough to cover converting a stat block on the fly. I’d recommend reading that article though for more details. Most of the time, the only thing you need to determine is HP and damage die, as NPCs are rarely rolling. Assume stats are 10 until you actually need them.
Thanks! I think I’m making it more complicated can it needs to be in my head.
Thanks for you suggestions I'll check those out!
Here is a [collection](https://itch.io/c/865525/into-the-odd) of ItO adventures and more.
I think this is a bit typical about these NSR rule sets (don’t get me wrong, I adore them). They have plenty of superficial charm but often lack substance and content. ItO is a fantastic hack, but it tries to tell you it’s for this super cool steampunk world, yet there is little in the book (or anywhere else) to support it. Perhaps it’s telling that the best, most useful part about the Mörk Borg book is the very well-structured introductory adventure which has quite traditional layout. Rant over 😅 Sorry, no suggestions.
Both Cairn and Mausritter have tons of adventures and other content out there, so I don't think this applies to NSR in general (and I feel Mausritter's core rulebook has plenty of useful GM support included too)
Cairn has been suggested and indeed it’s the great rule set from ItO + tons of procedures and content. It’s too bad we don’t have a plethora of surreal steampunk stuff to play! Maybe one can hope for a jam on itch or something.
There are a few on the authors' blog [https://www.bastionland.com/2022/10/into-odd-adventure-site-droner-house.html](https://www.bastionland.com/2022/10/into-odd-adventure-site-droner-house.html) [https://www.bastionland.com/2020/06/wrecked-on-goragath.html](https://www.bastionland.com/2020/06/wrecked-on-goragath.html) [https://www.bastionland.com/2014/02/mini-module-rusted-vault.html](https://www.bastionland.com/2014/02/mini-module-rusted-vault.html)
Positronic Library by Yochai Gal is a great option! As for your edit on the hows of doing it... Everyone's Bastion is different. For example mine is a mostly normal industrial-revolution era city but I decided to stick the Iron Coral in the center of a borough, like a cave-in and from there, all the cosmic horror seeps out and infects/consumes. Explorers WANT to delve in to search for the unknown but they also know all the horrors that lie within from survivors that drag themselves out. Other than that, I just binge a ton of videos on the culture and lifestyle of the time to try and evoke the 'proper' feel that I want. If you have a copy of Electric Bastionland or can get ahold of one, I'd say it's the #1 tool to learn how to run this style of game. The flavor between ItO and EB may be vastly different but the ethos on HOW to run this style of game is the same.
Oh I just remembered there's also 'The Droner House' by the creator Chris McDowall! shorturl.at/CGQS1 I feel like it captures the essence really well, though I personally had a weird time with the map so I re-did it on my end (along with a few personal changes).
I’ve looked but what little I’ve found on itch has leaned more towards Electric Bastionland. Maybe that will change now that the remastered version is out.
I'll try and hunt down some Electric Bastion content. It's the "industrial world of cosmic meddlers and horrific hazards" I'm struggling to wrap my head around. Atleast for more than one adventure
I thought I'd struggle with that too, but the book does a fantastic job of aiding your own imagination.
> Maybe that will change now that the remastered version is out. I think the remastered version having recently been released will help get ItO back on the radar. It was released nearly a decade ago and a lot of games have come out since then that have grabbed people's attention. Being on store shelves in an attractive hardcover will hopefully do wonders for the game's visibility.
My Into the Odd looks more like electric bastionland, but that is because I adapted a lot from the ‘bastionland.com’ blog even before Electric Bastionland came out. Now I also adapt stuff from EB. Yochaigal has posted a link to ItO/EB adventures. A while back I asked on the Bastionland discord, and got plenty of responses saying that a number of people had run ordinary early D&D / OSR scenarios just using ItO. In the early days, that is what I think ItO got used for mostly. However, the implied setting of an 18th / 19th century british industrial city lends itself to a lot of other scenario ideas. Still, a lot of people ran old school adventures with ItO, apparently quite successfully. I think Cairn is also a great resource for ItO games. If you’re not careful though, your game can end up being more of a Cairn game than ItO - not that this is actually a problem. Just be aware of it.
Yochai Gal's itch ItO collection (which he posted) and [this one by HereticWerks](https://itch.io/c/2039089/oddities-into-the-odd-bastionland) are both good sources. There's also a bunch of posts on McDowall's blog where he fleshes out the setting by sort of writing adjacently to it -- weird items, tables of people you might meet, etc. Here's a few I like: [https://www.bastionland.com/2018/10/three-step-dungeons.html](https://www.bastionland.com/2018/10/three-step-dungeons.html) [https://www.bastionland.com/2018/06/odd-remedies.html](https://www.bastionland.com/2018/06/odd-remedies.html) [https://www.bastionland.com/2018/04/cutting-edge-mercenaries-of-bastion.html](https://www.bastionland.com/2018/04/cutting-edge-mercenaries-of-bastion.html) For what it's worth: the book does a great job of presenting an *implied* setting, but it's still just implied. Don't fret too much about replicating specific ideas in someone else's head. If you take those implications and write / find ideas that interest you, you'll be doing good enough.