New School Revolution

The Keys to My Heart

My day job consists largely of reading adventures and providing feedback. And while I've read hundreds of OSR modules by now, I still don't have a good way to refer to all the standard ways we write adventures! Outside of referring to a particular "house style" (which isn't unique to any publisher) I haven't really come across a relatable way to refer to all different approaches to keying.

Yes, I'm going to taxonomize a bit here. But it's for a good cause! Frankly I find it strange that we RPG types have a term for every little bibb and bobb in the scene but have yet to develop a shared dictionary around such an important part of running adventures! Of course there are many blogposts regarding keying, and I count myself among bloggers who have written about their favorite styles and so on.

But this is not a theory post. Instead, I'd simply (ha!) like to identify & label the varying keying patterns within the OSR so that we can better discuss them. Is it important? No. Will it be helpful, at least to me? Yes.

What is Keying?

Simply put, keying is how the details of your adventure (often a dungeon or other enclosed space) are presented to the reader. They describe a room, scene, point of interest or NPC so that the GM can then impart those aspects to the players. Keying typically includes details for "what happens" when a PC interacts with an element of their environment. It is usually (but not always!) standardized within a particular framework throughout the text.

There are many styles of keying and I'm quite certain the following "styles" that I've identified will fall short of every kind. The following are just the most common, and like any language they have dialects within dialects as well. And some are even combined together!

Like many before me I've created two entirely arbitrary categories, then added each keying style into one or the other:

The Rosetta Key

In the following section I've written multiple variations on the same room using each method. I'm excluding sidebars, bylines, and so on because they can exist outside of the standard key structure without affecting the methodology used. I'm going to present all of the relevant "facts" about this room in system-neutral format.
Yes, I'm using bullet points but don't read too much into that.

Reference Style

Object-Oriented Keying (OOK)

This particular style of keying is likely the most common in modern OSR modules, though it can take on many different shapes and variations. It emphasizes "usability" at the table (a loaded term, I realize) with minimal text styles. It attempts to mimic the core gameplay loop of most OSR play, that is: Look > Interact > Resolve. It functions a bit like a software user interface, where details and interactivity come from clicking on an object. That's why I've decided to call it "Object-Oriented" keying (or OOK), because it closely resembles a programming concept that packs information into neat, self-contained packages.

Let's take a look:

A square, 10ft x 10ft room with walls made of stone. The wood floor is covered in dust, and nearly every available inch of floor has been given over to boxes. The noise of the tavern above is almost deafening. There are no sources of light here.

Key Features

  1. A preliminary descriptive statement with public information only that is not necessarily designed to be read aloud, if it were no hidden information would be revealed.
  2. Important and interactive features are highlighted with bold text. In some texts bold items are underlined instead; the impact is the same.
  3. Bold items appear as a bullet point, with the assumption that the information they contain is usually not provided unless a PC interacts with that object.
  4. Each relevant bullet point usually (but not always!) begins with that same word, in bold.
  5. Sub-bullets describe hidden information or features.

This style is popular throughout the OSR, especially in adventures for Old School Essentials, Shadowdark, and Cairn. The Grotesques' Grotto by Amelia Luke, Nightmare Over Ragged Hollow by Joseph R. Lewis, and my own Feast of Tegny Wood are but a small sampling of examples of this style.

Some writers add flourishes to this methodology by adding dynamic environmental details and mechanical nuance outside of the key, e.g. "The lamps here all glow green." or "Do not roll for an encounter in this area."

Varieties

Occasionally adventure writers will follow this keying method in most aspects except for the third feature (bolded items appear as bullets). Instead words are bold or underlined simply to emphasize relevant details. You can see this in The Chateau Amongst the Stars by Anthony J. Zinni and The Waking of Willowby Hall by Ben Milton, for example.

Other variations will include headers for each major object with bullets below (see Aberrant Reflections by Directsun).

Finally, the bullet points aren't always there, nor is the indent. But the structure still works!1

Parentheticals

Closely related to the object-oriented keying, the parentheticals style has fallen out of fashion in recent years, and I've really only seen it in some very good OSE2 modules! It makes great use of space and forces the writer to think about what the most important details in a room, but personally I found reading all the text in parentheses really drained me, mentally. But it is efficient!

Let's take a look:

Pitch black (no sources of light). Square room (built from stone, 10ft x 10ft). Wood floor (covered in dust). Boxes (covering every inch of floor). Noisy (shuffling footsteps, laughter).

Searching the room: Boot prints in the dust lead to a bare spot visible on one of the floorboards near the west wall. Pressing down on the far end loosens the board. Hidden underneath is a jewelry box with 423gp inside. A string on the bottom is attached to a poison needle trap (d4 DEX damage) hidden in the wall. Cutting the string disables it.

Opening the boxes: Requires a pry bar. A wine box on the far wall is already open and filled with blankets. Moving the box reveals a hidden passageway in the wall.

Key Features

  1. A preliminary descriptive statement with public information only. Minimal details only.
  2. Bold details with public description in related parenthesis.
  3. Interactive and hidden information appear as new paragraphs. These do not necessarily relate to the descriptive statement. Sub-paragraphs or bullets are uncommon.

Examples: Winter's Daughter by Gavin Norman, Holy Mountain Shaker by Luka Rejec.

Landmark/Hidden/Secret

Inspired by the original post on Anne at DIY & Dragons, this method is more of a set of principles that can be applied to nearly any keying method. In short, information is divided into three categories:

Designers will usually indicate which detail falls into which category through unique symbols (such as an "empty" bullet) or by simply appending a letter (such as H) before each detail.

Let's take a look:

A square, 10ft x 10ft room with walls made of stone. The wood floor is covered in dust, and nearly every available inch of floor has been given over to boxes. The noise of the tavern above is almost deafening. There are no sources of light here.

Key Features

  1. A preliminary descriptive statement with public information only.
  2. Interactive features are provided as bullets, divided into either Hidden or Secret.

At first glance this feels very similar to the predominant keying method, but in actuality it is wholly different in its approach. Information must be presented in a very particular method, with heavy emphasis on how obvious important information is to the PCs. This provides a clarity of play that is frankly not that common! For recent examples of this method see Sharky by Idle Cartulary, A Familiar Tower by Directsun, or my own Beyond the Pale.

Narrative Style

Prose

Prose is the oldest keying method, and possibly the most varied. At its most minimal it can appear as hyper-efficient technical writing or as multi-paragraphed columns that feel almost like short stories!

Let's take a look:

A square, 10ft x 10ft room with walls made of stone. The wood floor is covered in dust, boot prints lead to a loose floorboard hiding a jewelry box with 423gp inside. A string on the bottom is attached to a poison needle trap (2d8 damage). Sealed boxes of food and wine fill the room, except for a box of blankets on the east side. The box can be moved to reveal a secret tunnel. The noise of the tavern above is almost deafening. There are no sources of light here.

Key Features

  1. Paragraphs only. No bullets or indents.
  2. Bold text is often (but not always) used to highlight important details.
  3. Information is not divided into public & private details.

Initially this style feels very efficient, but the minimalist presentation can make it slightly tougher to run "at the table" when information isn't split up into public/private segments. The additional challenge in writing in the prose style is in keeping the text minimal while also providing the GM with as much information as needed.

These days prose has largely fallen out of favor among OSR adherents, though a few recent titles have bucked that trend successfully. Some recent examples include Fever Swamp by Luke Gearing or Wildendrem: Valley of Flowers by Jedediah Berry and Andy McAlpine.

You can also see this keying methodology in earlier OSR adventures like Anomalous Subsurface Environment by Patrick Wetmore, The Spire of Iron and Crystal by Matt Finch, and What Ho, Frog Demons! by Chris Kutalik and Luka Rejec. Of course, it was quite popular long before, even appearing in the Expedition to the Barrier Peaks by Gary Gygax!

Boxed Text

Perhaps the best-known label for keying I've come across, boxed text was for decades the traditional method employed by TSR, third-party supplement creators, and D&D enthusiasts alike. A lot of OSR creators (myself included) often say that boxed text steps on the player's toes a bit with regard to agency. The worst offenders will even tell them how they feel!

Let's take a look:

Blinking against the blinding light of their torches, the party finds themselves in a pitch-black square room of approximately 10ft x 10ft, with walls made of stone with a dusty wood flooring. Nearly every available inch of floor has been given over to boxes. The noise of the tavern above is almost deafening, as the noise and merriment above continue on unabated.

Boot prints in the floor lead to a spot on the west wall, where a small gap is visible on one of the floorboards. Pressing down on the far end loosens the board; hidden beneath is a jewelry box with 423gp inside. A string on the bottom is attached to a poison needle trap hidden in the wall. Any character that lifts the box without removing the trap must save vs. poison or die. Cutting the string disables the trap. The boxes are all firmly sealed, except for a box labeled with wine on the east wall. The box is filled with blankets, and can be moved to reveal a hidden passageway in the wall.

Key Features

  1. The public details within the boxed text are meant to be read aloud to the players, rather than interpreted by the GM.
  2. Subsequent information is provided without any regard to whether it is public/private or has an interactive element, or cost.

While this method has received a lot of criticism over the years for its flourishes, length, editorialisms, and so on, it was very popular for nearly four decades (and still is, for many). It does mimic the kind of writing one might find in a fantasy novel, and leaves very little to the imagination. For some this can be very helpful, especially if the ultra-minimalism of modern OSR texts doesn't work for you.

There are many examples of this style in the older TSR works, such as Destiny of Kings by Stephen Bourne and The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh by David J. Browne and Don Turnbull. Today, Dungeon Crawl Classics adventures continue to make use of this method (see Doom of the Savage Kings by Harley Stroh and many others). One of my favorite adventures (The Blackapple Brugh by Kyle Hettinger) makes heavy use of this style).

Special Mentions

"The Dudinack"

This keying method is fairly uncommon and rarely done well, but I love it. Famously it appears in The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford by Chance Dudinack, so that's what I'm calling it here. Basically it involves combining NPC details and location entries into a sort of "quest-hook" style approach at keying. It - is - so - good! I want to see more like this.

Bertha, Tavern Owner

Slight, with a constant scowl. She will do anything to keep her tavern running. Anything.

Conclusion?

I'm quite sure that there are many keying styles that I have overlooked. And perhaps the two buckets I created don't make sense to anyone but me, a person that reads OSR modules every day! That said, I hope this post helps clarify some of these design trends in a way that is helpful and doesn't create unnecessary discourse.3

Until next time!

  1. Originally I called this style "The Bold & the Bullet-point."↩

  2. Interestingly this style was not always the "house style" for Necrotic Gnome, who originally preferred the "Parentheticals" approach.↩

  3. Yeah, right.↩