These Dice Look Funny

Underground Races: The Grue

2012-01-23T09:54:00.000-08:00

It is pitch black. You are likely to eat something.

The Grue are a nearly-savage race of the Underground. The Exiled Empire conquered the more civilized factions and incorporated them into their society, but pockets of barbarian Grue still raid small hamlets and mushroom farms from time to time.

Physically, Grue are newtish, slimy lizard men with elongated limbs, a short, thick torso, and bulbous eyes. Their mottled skin comes in many colors, oranges and greens and blues, but dark browns and grays are the most common. Grue are omnivorous but prefer red meat, which they rip apart with their short but sharp teeth.

Grue society is dualistic, split along gender lines - each family is ruled by its egg-mother, but tribes are governed by a male chieftan. Grue shamans are male, but Grue gods are female. Grue craftsmen are male, while Grue artists are female. Player character Grue tend to be those who reject these customs.

Grue

Strong: A Grue's wiry limbs belie great strength. They begin with a d6 in Strength, which they can raise to d12+1 through advances.

Infravision: Darkness is their ally. Grue halve penalties (rounding down) caused by normal non-magical lighting.

Light Sensitive: Grue are susceptible to bright light. Anything brighter than a couple of torches or moonlight inflicts a -1 penalty on all Trait rolls.

Amphibious: Grue are semi-aquatic. They can spend a number of minutes underwater equal to ten times their Vigor die before checking against suffocation; check every 30 minutes after the initial dive. Grue prefer damp spaces but unlike many amphibians do not have to spend a certain amount of time in the water each day.

Outsider: Their appearance and savage cousins don't help Grue at all. They have the Outsider Hindrance.

Fighting optimization

2012-01-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

I've come to realize 4th edition DnD just isn't quite as much fun without fully optimized characters. This means, of course, at least an 18 in starting attribute scores, a +3 to-hit proficiency weapon, and Weapon Expertise (if you truck with splatbooks, which I try not to).

Naturally, this limits a lot of character options.

Conclusion: Start each character on equal ground. Everyone chooses 2 ability scores; these are guaranteed a +5 to-hit, minimum, plus whatever weapon bonuses there are. Weapon Expertise is now banned.

This puts everyone on the level of an 18 stat plus WE, which means you can actually explore some of the more interesting options in character builds (battleragor vigor from the Martial Power book, for instance) without sacrificing full optimization.

Inspired by Nethack:

2012-01-01T16:26:00.001-08:00

Inspired by Nethack and other roguelikes, I've created a new 4E status effect:

AMPERSAT'd

You have been been turned into an @ sign!

While in this state:

-You never grant Combat Advantage

-All actions except free actions are considered Standard actions.

-You may not be the recipient of actions granted by allies through powers, class features, etc.

-Your move speed is 2

I imagine a dungeon where this is a permanent effect on one level: all the monsters are marked with a corresponding colored letter; all potions, magical items, and scrolls are unidentified until used; death is permanent...the possibilities are endless.

Hounds of Tindalos

2011-12-29T10:11:00.000-08:00

Updating on Tuesdays got away from me somewhat.

Without further ado, here's a couple of the notes I jotted down for what was supposed to be a holiday game except I got too tired to run it. The full adventure may be available soon.

Hounds of Tindalos

"All the evil in the universe was concentrated in their lean, hungry bodies. Or had they bodies? I saw them only for a moment, I cannot be certain."
Attributes: Ag d8, Str d8, Sm d6, Sp d6, Vg d6
Skills: Fighting d8; Notice d8; Stealth d8

Pace 8; Parry 6; Toughness 7 (2)
Edges: Berserk, Combat Reflexes, Dodge
Special Abilities:
Armor: Incorporeal, +2 Armor
Bite, Claws: d8+d6, AP 2
Fleet Footed: +2 Pace, d10 Running die
Go For The Throat: Hounds of Tindalos seek out their opponent’s weak spots. On a Raise on the attack roll, they hit their opponent’s least-armored location.
Teleport: Hounds do not provoke free attacks when withdrawing. They ignore height modifiers and simply appear up to 8 game inches away from their prior location. Hounds may take a full action and “run” just like anyone else.

Redcoats
Attributes: Ag d6, Sm d6, Sp d8, St d6, Vg d6
Skills: Fighting d6, Notice d6, Shooting d6, Stealth d6
Pace 6; Parry 6; Toughness 5
Edges: Block, Level Headed, Musketeer, Quick Draw

Gear:

Musket (2d8, AP 1, 10/20/40, Reload 2)
Bayonet (Str+d4, Reach 1)

1 in 6 will have the Tracking skill at d6; if Redcoats need any other skill, there is a 10% chance that one of their number has it at d6.

Tech Trees and Research

2011-04-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

This is cross posted from the Pinnacle forums.

I have been playing a lot of Civilization, Alpha Centauri, UFO: AI, and other assorted turn based strategy games lately. I've also been thinking of the old game Syndicate.

I was wondering if anyone has ideas on how to incorporate weapons research into their games. And I know the obvious answer is "just give them the stuff you want them to have!" but that's not going to cut it this time.

Here's a system off the top of my head:

Use the Showdown! point values to determine the cost of weapons/ammunition. Say the PCs want to research some fancy powered armor. A Battle Suit is 12 points, +2 for the Pace, +2 for the Strength bonus, +3 for the +1 Shooting bonus, +3 for the jumping stuff, so 22 points. That's the amount of research points they need to accrue in order to start building Battle Suits. We can assume that at least one prototype is built when research is finished, and to simplify things, the prototypes are reasonably functional (no crippling design flaws).

Research points are acquired via a research team. Each researcher has a d6 in Knowledge (R&D). At a basic level, you're rolling a single d6 for a single researcher; the second researcher adds a Wild Die. A third researcher adds a +1 bonus, and so on up to +4 for 6 researchers. Two more researchers up the R&D die by one type, while another two up the die type by another step. A research team may not exceed 10 members. If two teams of 10 members work on the same project, their Wild Die is upped to a d10.

A project gains consistent research points every session equal to the average number of XP handed out to the group. This is merely an attempt on the designer's part to speed up this process. At the beginning of every session, the research team(s) roll their R&D die; the amount of raises and successes are allocated towards the project each team is assigned to. A failure indicates no progress; a Critical failure subtracts d6 points from the project. A single researcher is assumed to have rolled a Critical Failure if he rolls a 1 on his Skill Die.

Every time a team successfully completes a project, roll a die; on a 5 or 6, the team has advanced their die type by one step, up to a d12. For clarity, this means a team that has advanced to a d12 in R&D with a full complement of 10 members has an effective die type of d12+2, with a +4 bonus and Wild Die.

I know there's a lot of flaws in here but I'm eager to hear what all y'all got. I'd also like the players to have some kind of input on the success of the project, whether that means field tests of prototype equipment, bringing in items to reverse engineer, or rolling the bones in between sessions.

Some houserules

2011-04-20T20:49:00.001-07:00

Here are some Savage Worlds houserules I commonly employ:

Guns in Melee: I always rule that someone with a gun counts as an Unarmed Defender.

Using Guns as Weapons: Guns deal Str+d4 damage when used as clubs. If the attacker rolls a 1 on his Skill die (regardless of Wild Die), while using a gun as a melee weapon it breaks.

Bennies: Players may spend a Benny to suddenly produce a piece of common, mundane gear.

And They Fight: If a player character inflicts 4 or more Wounds on an Extra, his nearby companions have to make a Guts roll against Fear as he is utterly obliterated by a wound that would kill a god, let alone some mook.

P-p-p-p-p-poker Chips: I like the Deadlands Reloaded poker chip system so much that I use it in all of my games.

Guts: I don't use Guts unless horror is a significant factor in the game.

The Burden of Proof: After about three sessions, I no longer remind people of their Edges and Skills and such; the burden is on the players after that. By that same token, if I mess up and someone calls me out, they get a Benny and I try harder.

I consider this an obsolete houserule, but y'all may find use for it:

Fate is a Harsh Mistress: A Critical Failure cannot be rerolled with a Benny. However, spending a Benny does change it into a regular Failure.

My Inspirations

2011-04-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

So I'm moving 400 miles on Sunday, which means I'm packing all my things up. As I've been putting my books and DVDs into boxes, I'm constantly reminded of the things that inspired me. But why does this matter?

They say "write what you know," and I couldn't disagree more. I know some scenic carpentry tricks, I can use MS Excel okay, I know about roleplaying games, I like dissecting comedy and story structure. I don't actually know very much. I think we should write based on what inspires us.

Below is a list of some of the highlights. I'll do about five (+/- 1) from a few different mediums. In no particular order:

Film:

Ghostbusters
Kill Bill Volume 1
Night of the Living Dead
The Third Man
Pontypool

Webseries/TV:

Marble Hornets
Doctor Horrible's Singalong Blog
30 Rock
Slings and Arrows
The Venture Brothers

Books:

Fahrenheit 451
The Grand Admiral Thrawn Trilogy
Tomorrow When The War Began
Watchmen
World War Z
The Zombie Survival Guide

Video Games:

Planescape: Torment
Deus Ex
Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim
The Fallout series
X-Com and the derivative UFO: Alien Invasion
Doom

Music:

They Might Be Giants
Neutral Milk Hotel
Ratatat
Beirut
Godspeed You! Black Emperor

People:

Orson Welles
Bruce Campbell
John August
Gabe and Tycho of Penny-Arcade
My friends and siblings

Plays:

Macbeth
Book of Days
The Mound Builders
Lysistrata
Three and five act story structure

Roleplaying Games:

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
Deadlands: Hell on Earth
50 Fathoms
Necropolis 2350
All Flesh Must Be Eaten
Alternity

Experiences:

Seeing The Caucasian Chalk Circle in 2006
Red Theater
Doing improv
All those times I stayed up until six in the morning
Summer camp

Food and Drink:

Harp lager
Sushi (Philadelphia rolls especially)
Burritos
Barbeque
Egg in a Basket
Potatoes

Why is any of this important? I think it's good to know things, as a writer, that elicit an emotional response in oneself. How are you supposed to make an audience care about something if you don't, whether that audience is the four buddies you game with every week or 200 people in a dark theater or four million people in cinemas nationwide?

Take a moment, sometime this week, and think about what drives you to create. I'm not saying use all these things in your games, I'm saying take a minute and think about the reasons you do what you do. My games tend to feature some kind of mystery element, overwhelming odds, and an awful lot of violence; it's easy to see why once you look at what attracts me.

The wonderful thing about examining your influences is, you can get back in touch with them. And you can find things similar to those, and so learn more about the aesthetic that inspires you.

Let me know your results.

Of NPCs and Likableness, and also Star Wars

2011-04-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

So while searching for something to blog about, my brother recommended "How do I get my PCs to feel things for the NPCs?"

I've put some thought into that and I have a pretty simple answer: You can't!

We will never know what the player characters feel about anyone. What we can do, however, is manipulate the players and how they think.

I've reviewed my past campaigns, and players tended to like NPCs who displayed one or more of these qualities:

Were funny
Had skills that complemented the party
Gave them stuff
Were fun to interact with
Did them favors
Fight alongside them
Easy to remember

Looking at that list now, it sounds pretty selfish, but I could say the same things about my close friends - we pay for each other's drinks, owe each other favors, talk about things, and come from a wide variety of complementary backgrounds.

Players tend to dislike NPCs who display these qualities:

Have killed a PC in the past
Want favors for no reward
Are trying to kill the PCs
Are in any way connected to the PC's backstory

Interestingly, I was also able to gather enough information to compile a short list of traits they merely distrust:

Have ever tried in the past to kill the PCs
Act utterly altruistic
Have lengthy, complex backstories
Have goals which are not immediately discernable
Adventure with the party for some time without proving themselves to be an enemy or ally

Interesting! I think we can safely define these archetypes based on a few handy Star Wars characters:

Players tend to like the "Han Solo," a loveable rogue with a reliable skillbase
Players tend to dislike the "Jabba," who wants something for nothing and is an unpleasant reminder of who they once were
Players tend to distrust the "Lando, but the Lando from Empire, not General Lando," which is interesting because traditional writing dictates this is the most realistic type of character

I'm thinking about other characters from Nerd Mythos and how they might be treated by a typical roleplaying party...

C3PO: Dislike; annoying and worrisome, but occasionally useful. Best used as a mostly-invisible NPC
Obi-Wan: Distrust; his motives are hard to determine and I don't like that he always volunteers for solo missions
Princess Leia: Like; it was really funny when she made fun of Luke and she's a pretty good shot, let's not dump her at the next town
Gandalf: Distrust; so he says he wants to save the world but I don't get his stake in it
Mal Reynolds: Dislike; I hate that he tries to negotiate with us every time he fucks up a job.
Jayne Cobb: Like; he's funny and dumb and I'd rather fight with him than against him.
River Tam: Distrust; she's nuts and kind of creepy.

So, to recap, you shouldn't worry about what kind of people the PCs like; worry about making the players like them.* A trick on this subject is, the players only have the information you give them - if you really, really need the players to trust someone, then it's easy to tell them "your character trusts them."

*If you play in a group that's really super deep into roleplaying, this really isn't the blog for you, but I hope you stick around.

Lessons Learned

2011-03-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

So I just beat Knights of the Old Republic. I mean seriously, something like 20 minutes ago as of the time I started typing, I finished Knights of the Old Republic. Yep, I just beat an eight year old game, which is about 25 years in Computer Time.

Anyway, the point is, it's a very, very well done game. It was never boring, many of the characters were actually interesting, and it makes some impressive efforts investigating the good/evil dichotomy. I've written down a number of the things that made the story so compelling and the game so fun to play, which I will share with you now, and descriptions on how to adapt these things for tabletoppin':

Upgrades, upgrades, upgrades: Through the use of workbenches, the main character can upgrade certain special items. This means that instead of going out on quests to replace your Lightsaber +1 with a Lightsaber +2, you can use items gained from quests (scopes, armor reinforcement) to improve some of the unique items you already have. In my Deadlands game, I've used this idea once already to give the posse a telescopic scope for one of their rifles. It could be used for special ammunition, gems to place in a sword's pommel, or "trauma plates" on wears under armor. The whole point of this upgrade system is that the items are interchangeable between the gear most of the party carries.
Quests give you items, not gold: I appreciated that you mostly undertook quests for unique items or favors instead of gold/credits.
Frenemies: Even people who oppose you want things from you. Only the villains want only to stand in your way.
The Sith are all dicks: This is an important note that I hadn't thought about. Many times, there's a push to make villains sympathetic or identifiable somehow. For instance, in Inglourious Basterds, the Nazi soldiers usually come across as a lot more likable than the heroes. Not so with KOTOR, where all of the Sith, from their despicable leader Darth Malek to the lowest footsoldier are all just fucking awful people who kick babies and kittens and never show any remorse for their actions. The Republic and even the Jedi Council are portrayed as fallible and human, which makes them all the more interesting to work for.
Most of the PCs have cool sidequests based on their backstories: This is, of course, a staple of roleplaying games, and I think it's well-executed here. Almost every time you level up, your comrades reveal something about themselves, and if you talk to them often enough you eventually unlock their side quests. It's a great way to take advantage of their disparate personalities and skills.

Inspiration can be found everywhere - if you ever have an emotional reaction to a video game, piece of music, novel, comic book, or any other piece of art, take a moment to think about why that is and then use your findings to better your game.

A too little too late 4e revelation

2011-03-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

I was very, very drunk several months ago and read the whole Dark Sun book for 4e, and finally I realized what had been nagging me about 4th edition.

As some of my long time readers may recall, I have been more than willing to give 4e the benefit of the doubt. I was not terribly attached to 3.5 once one ventured outside the core books and Complete Guides, as I thought a lot of the OGL settings, supplements, and even 3rd party licencee material was pretty crappy - so I guess you could say that the fandom ruined the pretty decent rule set.

Just as there are artists who are not "actor's directors," there are games that aren't really "GM friendly." 3.5 was a blast to play and a Goddamn nightmare to gamemaster. Even with pregenerated monsters and traps, creating a quick adventure was a fucking ordeal. And forget creating your own monsters, unless you've got a lot of time on your hands and a really solid grasp on the rules.

4e is much easier to gamemaster and a little easier to create bad guys for, since there's finally some clear guidelines on what is appropriate per character level. The "it's too videogamey" complaints never resonated with me, since hey we all enjoy playing video games.

The problem, though, is that with OGL and 3rd party licensees all but shut down by 4th edition, it's become more clear that all creative decisions with 4e were business choices and not hobby choices. There's an important distinction there.

Tabletop roleplaying games are decidedly a hobby market much like model railroads, craft projects, and baseball card collecting. But those other fields have never willingly done anything that would alienate their fan base - they find out what their small but devoted group of followers wants, then they deliver improvements on their products to stay ahead of their competitors. Roleplaying games are an odd beast because purportedly, all the aspiring gamer needs is the core rules and some imagination. A product you only need to buy once is bad for business, of course.

Here's where my being drunk and reading Dark Sun while I sober up comes in. I realized that in order to play Dark Sun, I needed several other products besides the core books. I also realized that Dark Sun was released to play to the cherished memories of older gamers, the very people WOTC should avoid alienating. The product you are really selling is nostalgia, which doesn't require innovation; Dark Sun sells itself. However, in order to recapture your memories of playing Dark Sun with 4e, you need a bunch of other books, and that is where the brilliance lies. Same with Eberron, same with anything they release. Settings no longer contain everything you need to play the setting, and who besides a pair writer has time to develop a deep, innovative, and interesting setting on their own these days?

And then I read the creature guide where giant floating manta rays can teleport because they can, and then since I was still drunk I read most of the PHB and then it all finally fell into place, and after that it's a little fuzzy.

RPGs have done a very good job of adjusting to their now-more-mature target audience that no longer has twelve hour marathon sessions and probably has kids and bills (and, of course, disposable income). The disturbing new trend is not that things are easier, or that games are more user-friendly, or we've switched to a "rules versus rulings" point of view*. The disturbing trend, as far as I can track it, is that games are being run more responsibly and more like businesses, which now means that for us hobbyists, the business people have reclaimed what it means to innovate. Not to sound too Marxist here, but the major player in this fight has tried to seize the "means of production" (in this case, innovation) from of the "workers" (gamers). But there is a problem with that, and that problem is the truth all of us base our love for this hobby on: Everyone has an imagination.

If you think the hobby is stagnating, you're right, and the unfortunate truth here is that starts with you, the gamer. We have allowed ourselves to be provided for, to have whole worlds and books written for us to use, and then all of us complain about it. Well, let's knock it off, huh? Start simple: Buy a pocket notebook, use it only for gaming stuff. Write down thoughts and inspirational materials and movies people talk about and books people read and where you are when you think "hey this would be a cool place for a fight scene." Start there, then find a real human being you know in actual life to be your "bounce board" to share ideas with. Pretty soon, you'll find yourself creating a character class or a story arc or a setting. If everyone gets on board this, maybe we can recapture some of the magic that the hobby has lost, and maybe - just maybe - the people who are paid to do just that every day can be reminded that if they want our money then they have to once again be the best and brightest that nerddom has to offer.

*Rules vs Rulings: I am a "rulings" guy, I improvise a lot in my games and I'm very proud of that. All of my new players get upset when I deviate from the rules whenever it's not in their favor. Since this has happened with every one of my play groups, I have to believe the hobby has always been this way.

Okay fine

2011-03-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

After a nice mention from Tyson over at the Apathy Games blog, which I read daily (or close to), I am resolved to start making weekly Wednesday updates.

Today's post won't be terribly game related, but just something like a summary of my goals in writing for this blog. Though at the time of this writing, I just had a mental exercise idea, so actually I'll write that below.

1. Troubleshooting: My Deadlands group meets on Tuesdays, so while I would like to avoid play reports (which are often dry and boring to read), I may make mention of difficulties I encountered and how I solved them. The corollary is how I should have solved these difficulties.

2. Brainstorming: I often have talks with my brother, who is running an "Age of Mythology" style game; the two of us use each other as a sounding board about every week. I may post some of the ideas we toss around.

3. Lazy journaling: At present, I'm part of a sketch comedy troupe. I really should be doing the "daily journaling" thing to improve my writing, so I'll count these posts as "Wednesday" and my Deadlands notes as "Tuesday." There, I am learning to creatively shirk my duties. My duties to myself.

4. Escape: Without getting into details, my life is pretty awful at the moment; as almost all of us in this hobby recognize the need we share as nerds to escape reality early and often. Setting aside a few minutes to write a blog entry every week, not to mention the few minutes I spend collecting notes every day or so, should help.

And now, the mental exercise: There's a meme going around that says "look to your left, the first item you see is now your superhero identity." Okay, well, I am now going to turn the first item to the left of my computer into a player character race for Savage Worlds. Feel free to do the same for Pathfinder, 4th Edition, FUDGE, or the system of your choice.

CHILDREN OF JARDEN

Inspired by: a box of party toothpicks.

The Children are tree-like creatures possessed of a tall, slender, surprisingly heavy frame. Among the treepeople of the Northwestern forests, they have the only real reputation for friendliness and joviality, often acting as liaisons between the Ancient Trees and the Great Civilized Nations. The Children's society is unique in that it is largely centered around groups of friends rather than a traditional family structure; since the Children grow in groves from seeds that could have sprung from one of thousands of parents, perhaps there is some logic to this. It's not uncommon in the Northwest to find Children who have decided to spread their friendship to mixed-race adventuring parties.

Long Limbs: The Children have Reach +1 due to their long limbs. Their base Pace is 8.

Bark: The Children have +2 Armor due to their thick skin.

Caution, Flammable: Fire attacks add +1 to their chance of lighting one of the Children on fire.

Loyal (minor): Children of Jarden raised in the Northwest woods have the Loyal Hindrance. Exceptions exist, but must pick another Hindrance to compensate.

Unique Biology: The Children do not need to eat or breath, but being without oxygen or water causes them to suffer as if they were starving.

Yes, And: Using improv tips to improve your game

2011-01-05T02:55:00.000-08:00

Well, friends, I'm trying to get a gaming group together here in Wisconsin, made largely (entirel) of friends from the improv troupe I joined; I look forward to some fast and furious roleplaying action.

This puts me in mind of the Rules of Improvisation, which I think might be of some use to gamemasters worldwide. Here, now, are the Rules of Improv, which we should all keep close to our hearts:

1. Yes, And: "Yes, and..." is a magical phrase, full of potential and discovery. It acknowledges the offer you have just been given, then builds on it. "Yes, and" is the foundation of improv. It says to your scene partners (or players, as the case may be) "I trust you, and I accept the wrench you just threw at me;" it acknowledges that you and the players are building the world together, and it may give you things to think about.

In the game: "I cast detect arcana on the sword the Prince was using!" "I make a Notice roll" "I knock down the mayor!" may all seem like tiresome phrases; to first acknowledge and then build on these actions may enrich your game. "You detect faint strains of magic on the sword; the wizard knows this may simply mean it's very old and has been used to slay magical beasts in the past" is a great way to handle the first; yes there is magic and it's not a +5 Holy Avenger, but it's got a little history. "You quickly scan the room; there's a fireplace over there, lit, there's a table in the middle, and the orcs are all seated on solid-looking chairs" may lead to more questions about the environment, which leads to more interesting combat. "The mayor picks himself up and lowers the reward" acknowledges that player actions have consequences.

2. Don't play drunk or crazy: Onstage, this is a real problem; in RPGs, this is a little different (since it's fun to play drunk or crazy characters). Let's look at the reasons this rule exists: At the core of this rule is the concept of denial, that is, your scene partner rejecting the reality you've set up. Imagine we're in a scene where we're on the moon; if your scene partner then says you're having a hallucinogenic episode, then we've taken a step back - we're no longer on the moon, we've lost the characters and conflicts we established when we were on the moon. How's this work in roleplaying? Easy: The players only know what you tell them. If you give them unreliable information, expect them to act on it and get mad at you later.

3. Remember the Big Three: In improvisational theatre, you have about sixty seconds to establish the three things you fall back on: Relation, Location, and Motivation, or Who, Where, Why. It's impossible for the PCs to have any sense of purpose without all three of these coexisting.

Relation: How do the characters know each other? Not just the PCs, but the NPCs: How do they know the player characters? Do the NPCs know each other?
Location: Simply put, where are we? This is bigger than "Tarth" or "The Ten Towns." Location also informs the rules of the universe - is there magic? Are there feudal kingdoms? Is it the 30s? Are we balloons?
Motivation: In RPGs, this is split into two umbrellas, "conflict" and "drive." Conflict is supplied by villains first and the party's machinations second; drive is fueled by allies first and the party second. Conflict represents what's at stake - a PC with a childhood foe may find her family in danger and move the party to act; drive represents the rewards and prestige the PCs receive for resolving conflicts.

4. Don't ask questions: Okay, so, I brought this up because it's one of the Rules of Improv. For roleplaying games, ignore it; it's totally cool to ask open-ended questions like "what the hell are you doing" because honestly the players should be answering this. Don't worry about this one.

5. You will look good if you make your partner look good: In improv, it's easy to look good and funny and charming. Hell, at least two of the people in the company got dates from audience members just from being awesome improvisers. The secret is to give your partner your trust, and to give them lots of offers.

Let me break this down a little: Your players take an interest in a the mysterious lake you intended to be a mere piece of scenery; now it's your job to tie this to whatever plot you had in mind. In the end, this makes you look much smarter than you are and gives the players something to talk about - because it turns out everything they did at said lake revealed pieces of the puzzle! In reality, it was just you, panicking, adjusting your adventure notes and encounters to the thing the players were interested in. You made the players look suave and intelligent; in turn, you look like you had everything under control.

Evaluating RPGs

2010-10-26T21:44:00.001-07:00

EDIT: Tyson J. Hayes, not Jeff Carlsen, wrote the article in question. Sorry, guys.

Jeff Carlsen over at Apathy Games posted this article, which I found insightful. The point I was most excited by is that there's no agreed upon metric for RPG analysis; I also understand that everyone is out there trying to create their own experience, but once you have two thousand pretty intelligent pudgy white guys talking about the relative merits of their opinions you tend to get into trouble.

So how do we evaluate gaming in a way that we can objectively score?

Obviously, there are some things that are NOT shared by all groups:

Fun: I always have fun with my games, but the kind of fun I have is different from what other groups are doing. We can safely count out "how much fun did you have" as a quantitative measurement of a game's worth.
Roleplaying: Again, different groups get into this in different ways. We shouldn't slam a system for our own inability to roleplay - grognards, I am looking at you.

Then there are things we can evaluate based on a shared experience. As a control group, I suggested using some of the Pinnacle pregens with Pinnacle one-sheet adventures. Now we can start to look at things like:

Do the pregens have the ability to get through the adventure? I know for one I'm always alarmed when there's not a single character with more than a d6 in combat skills. Call me crazy, but I like the tactical element myself; even if you aren't so into combat, you have to concede it's more fun to win a fight on the tabletop than to lose.
Is the system an impediment to the story? This is a tricky one but I think it's worth mentioning. If you spend so much time looking up the rules that you forget what you're doing, then either the adventure needs work (calling up a bunch of esoteric seldom-used rules as it does) or it's not meant for the system.
Is the story any good? Does it have a beginning, middle, and end; does it have a clear villain; does it have a clear reason for the PCs to be involved; does it change the world of the game in some way? As a player, I want to feel like my character matters. Some of these ideas go into my own bias about how world and adventures should be constructed, so I'm open to feedback.
Is there a reason to drive forward? What's keeping the PCs from throwing up their hands and saying "nope, this can't be done?" What is at stake?

I think these are some of the ways we can evaluate a story, if not a game. This may lead, ultimately, to better stories, which should lead to better gaming experiences.

2010-10-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching "Survival of the Dead," George Romero's latest effort. And I invented a drinking game to go along with it:

Every time there's an unresolved plot hook, take a drink!

Like most drinking games, it's designed to get you fucked up as expeditiously as possible.

What a Twist!

2010-10-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a project for a while now, and I have had a thought that might make it more interesting and cinematic.

Here's where the thought came from: I hate the Adventure Deck. Hate it, hate it, hate it. It's ridiculous, game-breaking, and often runs my story off the rails. However, I do like the idea behind it, of mixing the game up and giving the players some more control.

So I thought, why not give it to the GM?

And then I thought, why not let the players choose when it gets used?

So I'm toying with the idea of a Twist Deck. The Twist Deck is a deck of cards the GM has which can be used by the players for risks and rewards. Currently, the idea is if a player spends a benny and the reroll succeeds with a raise, the player can keep the benny if she draws from the Twist Deck. The Deck would be different based on the game you're playing, but here's an example for Swarm on the Somme, a World War One-meets-Aliens campaign I've been working on with my brother.

Achtung!: A squad of German soldiers equal in force to the player characters plus allies shows up on the battlefield. Roll to determine their reaction.
How Could This Get Worse: An NPC ally is infected with alien larvae, which will later burst out of the poor sod at the worst possible time.
Fire!: A fire breaks out on the battlefield! It starts as 1d6 Small Burst Templates placed randomly. Check to see if they spread each round.
Gas! Gas!: Chlorine or mustard gas drifts onto the battlefield. It's a Medium Burst template that moves 1d8" randomly at the top of the round.
They Just Keep Coming!: A band of eight Drones, led by a Soldier, pour onto the field.
Heavy Rain: A rainstorm starts, reducing visibility to 6" for humans and 3" for most Bugs. Flying drones are grounded and gas is useless.
Stash: What luck! A cache of 1d10 potato mashers (German trenches), Mills bombs (British trenches), or rifle grenades (French trenches) is somewhere on the field.
Take It To The Maxim: A single Maxim gun is somewhere on the field. It is fully loaded and ready to fire.
Bad Luck: The GM gains a benny!
Tougher Than It Looks: One of the Swarm is promoted to a Wild Card instantly.
Out of Ammo: Damn this rationing! All allied Extras have their Ammunition reduced by one level.

There would be probably 3 of each of the "bad" cards and 2 of each "good" card, but you get the idea - plenty of options for making the battle more interesting and upping the stakes.

From Penny-Arcade

2010-09-10T07:21:00.000-07:00

I am doing a bad thing here stealing words from another man but I found the following text, from today's Penny-Arcade, incredibly inspiring:

The high point of the show for my Mom was watching "Of Dice and Men" the first night. Playing host to dramatic theatre is not, strictly speaking, in the PAX charter. We talked about moving parts on Wednesday, but if you want to talk about some moving-ass parts, a stage performance constitutes an authentic whirligig. It takes some fucking balls to put on a show anywhere, let alone in a converted convention room. Something special must have happened in there, though, because people wanted to talk about it for the remainder of the show.

My mother has never entirely understood roleplaying. I don't intend to belabor the point, but when I was a young man it was the position of our church that Dungeons & Dragons held within it the clustered seeds of apostasy. She was so bewildered by what she had seen during Of Dice and Men that she made it a point to attend our D&D Live panel, where her son and his friends played this mysterious game on stage. The devil did show up, true, and we did go to hell, just as the clergy had suggested we might. Except in the actual version of events, as has happened so many times, we stood against the King of Lies at the very gates of his damned realm and emerged triumphant.

My mother came up to me after the panel was over, saying, "I'm sorry, Jerry. I'm sorry." She wiped the corner of her left eye with her thumb. "They told me it was something else."

Penny-Arcade changes lives in a very real sense. I was motivated to finally seek help and go on medication for anxiety after learning both creaters were actively using Lexapro. Hearing that someone could affect their own mother through their passion for games in such a deeply personal way really touched me.

More Ideas for Games that Won't Get Made

2010-08-28T16:03:00.001-07:00

In The Gadget, you play as "The Gadget," a superhero cleaning up the streets in a world where traditional law enforcement has been banned in favor of "metas," men and woman with superpowers reporting to a government agency. People without powers are strictly forbidden from fighting crime, so there's no Iron Man or Batman at work in this world.

As The Gadget, you turn in criminals for cash which you use to upgrade your gear and you fight for XP which you can use to train in the standard attributes (fighting skill, strength, intelligence, endurance, speed).

Your gear is upgraded along many tiers in pseudo-scientific disciplines, such as Explosives (traps and bombs), Chemistry (gases and poisons), Electricity (ranged attacks and electrical control), Ballistics (guns and knives), and Pneumatics (exoskeletons and other devices like a grappling gun), which constitutes the main focus of the game.

The Gadget plays like a sandbox game, so you're free to build up a network of contacts and informants who give you missions once you do certain favors for them. There'd also be a small investigative component, enough to satisfy gamers who like solving puzzles but not enough to detract from the action-oriented flow of the game. A multiplayer mode is unlocked after you accomplish certain objectives, and it allows you to build up a character in advance and take on people with similar interests (eg, people who mostly play king of the hill or only play deathmatch) and similar skill levels (time played and win/loss records).

The story revolves around the Gadget making the streets a safer place first by cracking down on protection rackets and other criminals, then by addressing white-collar crime that traditional supers aren't equipped to handle, taking care of corruption in the metas, cracking a serial murder case, and finally facing off with a dangerous mutant which evolves in response to the gadgets you create.

Tarantino would be proud

2010-06-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

I write violent adventures. I try my best to treat combat like a puzzle. This is partially because I'm invigorated by tactical exercises and partially because that's what my friends were used to - we all wanted violent, fun adventures because we're all action movie fans.

But how much is too much? And how much does authorial intent inform the level of violence in an adventure? For instance, I wrote an adventure that is one combat encounter stacked on top of another, repeated until the end. I wrote it to be unrelentingly violent, but I wonder if it was too much.

Has anyone got experience with ultraviolent adventures out there?

Pills Here!

2010-06-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

I had a thought for a Savage Left 4 Dead game I've been tooling around on. Notably, how to implement painkillers. After some thought, I determined the best way is the simplest: A bottle of painkillers converts one Wound into a level of Fatigue. It is possible to become Incapacitated from the use of painkillers.

I considered a mechanic to deal with addiction, but dismissed that as not in the spirit of things.

Remember that Wounds and Fatigue are additive, and there is no Edge to take away Fatigue penalties. Additionally, Hard to Kill only technically deals with Wounds and not Fatigue. I think it's not as overpowering as I worry about.

Potential other ideas:

1. Fatigue penalties don't kick in for 2d6 rounds.

2. Fatigue will be a greater presence in this game due to numerous other Special Infected I'm creating, so maybe I will create Edges that deal with Fatigue as well.

3. Perhaps painkillers just give a bonus to Vigor for a duration.

Why am I working in this rule? Because there's plenty of "survival horror" games and a serious lack of "action horror" RPGs. I don't know what your experience has been, but I have never creeped out my friends over the tabletop, and I can't sustain the mood that horror demands. What I can do is freak out the players with impossible odds, defy their expectations about the monsters' capabilities, and repeatedly cross the line between ally and enemy to my group.

Ideas For Games That Will Never Get Made

2010-03-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

Like many of you, I also play those dern vidya games. I have a fondness for Tower Defense style games, but I am tired of the lack of innovation. Every game features an endless line of creepsm the same towers, and varying degrees of polish. They're essentially the same, much like platformers in the early 90s (also like 90s platformers, there's an awful lot of tie-ins).

So here is what I think is the core challenge: To preserve the familiarity of tower defense games but to introduce new mechanics to challenge the player.

My first thought was to change the creeps or the towers themselves, but after a bit of time I abandoned this thought experiment as it's not in line with the first half of my goal (to preserve the familiar). Therefore, we need the six basic towers I see in every game:

The cheap, medium-damage and fire rate tower (starter tower)
The fast but weak tower (machine gun)
The slow, long range tower (usually a sniper or mortar; optional splash damage)
The tower that slows down the bad guys
The tower that poisons or burns the bad guys (Damage over time)
The tower that does splash damage

Some games change up the creeps - the Protector series does an excellent job of this, with various creeps immune to/made stronger by/vulnerable to various types of damage. I think this is a good step towards our goal.

And then my mind turned towards the economy of TD games: Kill an enemy, get money/credits/energy. This is the only thing I have never seen changed.

Well, let's do something about that.

I envision a game where you play the role of an independent contractor charged with the static defense of a space colony. You have numerous contracts with various weapons companies, all of which specialize in turret defense. As one of their top customers, and due to the media attention your company is receiving, your successes and failures have a direct impact on the stock market value of these turret defense companies. Therefore, your primary means of income is not killing enemies but trading stock.

Killing an enemy with a turret made by Altair Industries, which specializes in ballistic weapons (the Rifle, the Machine Gun and Shotgun Turrets) drives their stock value up, while having a negative effect on Betelgeuse LLC (specializing in self-propelled explosives such as missile strikes, mortars, and rocket mines) as the two are in direct competition. Driving a stock price too low may result in BLLC sending mercenaries to the colony to discredit Altair Industries technology.

Other companies include CanDo Construction, whose upgrades allow you to alter the path the creeps use (through barricades, carving new roadways, moats, and other innovations), and Delta Management Solutions (whose "turrets" actually just boost the functions of other nearby turrets - a Media Team increases the stock value of successful kills, especially bosses, while Motivational Speakers might lessen the effects of failure and drive the fire rate up).

Pausing the game allows you to engage in stock trading, while randomized global events keep you on your toes - like the real market, a canny investory can cope with almost any events. Special cards are collected by completing side missions and destroying bosses, and these trump cards allow you to turn events to your favor.

Because every game now needs to have friggin' multiplayer, 4 person matches allow a dynamic market while defending separate maps. An additional sandbox mode allows players to blast away at creeps with your investors supplying money for you but only in between waves - so the resource management aspect stays at the forefront.

By combining economic strategy with tower defense, I hope to create an innovative, engaging experience without branching too far away from what the modern games is familiar with.

Zombie Centric

2010-03-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

I can't talk much about it, but I have a project in the works.

On a related note, what are your favorite zombie-related materials?

Night of the Living Dead (1968): I saw this movie when I was 10. Needless to say, a baseball bat stayed under my bed for the next ten years. This is the movie that started it all: The genre, Romero's career, and eventually this very list.

Dawn of the Dead (1978): Dawn is a good example of a filmmaker's evolution. A successful sequel, free from the characters of the previous movie but displaying a natural evolution of the events portrayed. Materialism, militarism, and the failure of the government - themes that Romero will use throughout his career - contribute to the breakdown of society in a huge way for the first time in this movie.

Return of the Living Dead (1985): Look, this movie is fun. I like it. That's about it.

Cemetery Man (aka Dellamorte Dellamore) (1994): I don't know why I like this one either. It's an existential-romance-horror-porn-comedy with zombies. I suppose I've never seen sex, violence, and death linked together the way this movie does, and I haven't seen any other movie with the thesis that we bear no responsibility for our actions.

28 Days Later (2002): The first zombie movie I saw that didn't actually involve the living dead. It inspired the "fast zombies" trend of the Aughts, and inspired me thinking about how the modern political atmosphere could be used to make movies.

The Zombie Survival Guide (2003): Finally, some nerd sat down and wrote it all out for us. Every angle of surviving the apocalypse has been carefully thought out and documented in this groundbreaking work. If only it were a bit more quoteable.

Dawn of the Dead (2004): This movie has no redeeming societal values. It is gory as shit and fun to watch. As a double bonus, it got me interested in Johnny Cash.

Dead End Days (2004): An internet serial that tackles the worth of advertising, big business, and viral marketing in our society. It's also very funny.

Shawn of the Dead (2004): Without a doubt, my favorite zombie movie. It runs the gamut from being hilarious to to gory to heartrending then back again in a trim 99 minutes. Along the way, it manages to hit on just about every trope in the genre while still taking itself seriously.

Land of the Dead (2005): This was (until Diary of the Dead came out) the weakest of the Romero series. However, I found elements of it intriguing, and I've watched it as research material. The most interesting aspect of this movie, to me, was the scavenging gang - maybe I read too much into it, but I saw those guys as what happened to the bikers in Dawn once someone organized them. The freebirds sold out.

World War Z (2006): This is to books what Dawn was to movies: Thinly disguised biting social commentary. It shows how human nature contributes to the apocalypse more than the zombies ever could.

Left 4 Dead (2008): L4D showed that zombie games could be fun, tense, and mainstream. I also appreciate its cooperative gameplay.

Pontypool (2008): Without a doubt, this is the most terrifying zombie movie I have ever seen. Every zombie movie depends on tension to make it work. Tension comes from incomplete information - and this is the only movie I have ever seen where I never knew more than the characters did. What happens when the virus isn't in the blood, or in food, or spread by the rat-monkey...but the English language? What happens when you only see the outbreak through the eyes of a talk radio jock, instead of at street level, hearing the confused reports of survivors...and the more confused reports from the infected themselves.

Zombieland (2009): Okay this movie is just fun, and it has some of the most innovative zombie kills I've ever seen.

Tell me about yours!

Kitchen Sink: The Setting

2010-02-19T19:01:00.000-08:00

I had an idea to create the most Savage setting I could recently. I've got a rough concept going on, so here are some of the notes I made:

I don't want PCs that move between multiple universes, because I want to create a single setting people can exist in. Easier that way.
There will be zombies.
Strong pulp elements.
I want everything in the core rules to be represented, from the much-maligned Superpowers AB to the powered armor. This means we need a mix of fantasy, World War II era technology, and future sci-fi.
Strong weird elements (should be obvious by now).
Enough horror that the Guts skill is necessary.
Should take place on Earth...but not necessarily in real cities. We might see a guest appearance from Arkham, for instance. Maybe "Paragon City" fills in for New York while "Lakeside" fills in for Chicago.
Should have clear-cut heroes and villains. Any anti-heroes or persons in a morally gray area exist to either redeem themselves and become heroes or slide down the slippery slope to villainy.

So here's what I'm thinking:
In the war-torn land of Avalon, a desperate King Arturian III orders his most skilled sorcerers to cast out the plague that has infected the dead of his land...but something goes horribly wrong. The disease was more invasive than anyone realized and had infected the whole of the land, not simply the bloodthirsty zombies that roamed about. The world shifted, becoming whole again only at the most convenient point...a realm known as the Waygate...or to its inhabitants, Earth.

For millenia, Earth had been the nexus of thousands of multiverses. The Waygate lay at the center of a thousand universes, each stranger than the last. Earth's convenience made it a prison for pandimensional alien gods, a visiting point for sorcerers and mystics, a battleground for the forces of Heaven and Hell, and imbued many of its artifacts with a fraction of power. The Waygate suddenly found itself merged with a strange parallel universe.

The change was instant: Wherever the Mists of Avalon spread, the dead would rise and otherworldly creatures would emerge - the elves, dwarves, and other creatures of myth. After only a few months of such things, tales spread of another wave of visitors, these from the stars above...these "starmen" wield strange technology and vast knowledge. Little is known of their agenda, save that the Starmen are sworn to exterminate the undead scourge.

Meanwhile, rumors abound that the Nazi party in Germany is beginning to learn how to harness the power of the Mist. Can the heroes stop them, before the Waygate is torn apart?

Elf, human, dwarf, orc, halfling, and starman must take up arms against zombies, gangsters, survivors, the KKK, and Nazis in this two-fisted, pulp-splatterpunk, free-for-all. If it's an RPG trope, it's included.

Modern Setting Thoughts: Resources

2010-01-05T01:48:00.001-08:00

I've been thinking about how to handle resources in Eight Kingdoms, and in modern games in general. So while that pot of coffee brews, let's talk.

In general, I think individual dollar amounts are too difficult to track in a modern game. It is one of those cases where our collective suspension of disbelief cracks, I think, and hell if I want to assign a monetary value to everything worth anything in modern society. I think World of Darkness and d20 Modern has the right idea in treating your wealth as a statistic; the problem is applying that idea to the way Savage Worlds handles dice - it's a wonderful abstraction for cinematic combat, where a lucky punch can fell a giant, but as a grad student I can't possibly roll my d4 Wealth die buy myself a flak jacket and a nice car. It's just not going to happen.

So I am looking at treating Wealth like a derived statistic: If your wealth (which I am going to call Resources, because it can represent online bargain-hunting, credit, permits, and calling in favors) is higher than the object in question, you can afford it. If your wealth is equal to the object, you can, but it's going to cost you some Resources temporarily - buying that battle-ready greataxe is good for the hunt, but it sure set you back. If the object requires more Resources than you have, then you can't afford it.

Wealth is ranked, arbitrarily, 1 to 12, with 1 meaning no income or place to live (or it could mean you're in high school and everything you own belongs to your parents) and 12 being an independently wealthy millionaire who doesn't really have to do anything. Most office jobs probably merit a Resource of 5-6.

I like this so much that I also want to use it to create Contacts. I talked about contacts earlier - they're how you track your sanity. Contacts are rated on the same scale, with 1 being an unfriendly environment and 12 indicating that at least one person in the environment would die to protect you.

Each Contact is a single NPC that represents a group of people (usually). A Contact is a group that can assist you in some way. Example contacts include Coworkers (represented by your buddy Terry), the Regular Gaming Group (represented by your GM Arny), your Family (represented by your wife Jessica), and the Police (Uncle Dave, who just made Detective). The other PCs don't count as contacts, and each Contact is be tracked independently.

As stated, each Contact is rated 1-12, and using them is penalized the lower the number is. Say you get pulled over for speeding, which is fine, but you don't want the officer to see you have an arrow in your leg, and you REALLY don't want him to see what you've got tied up in the trunk. Good thing you're Uncle Dave's favorite nephew (Contacts 8), so all it takes is one name dropped and you're off with a warning. If you had Contacts 1 for the Police, it might take some quick thinking (Persuasion -4) in addition to the name dropping.

Resources and Contacts are interchangeable, to a point. I am playing with the idea that you can lower one to raise the other, temporarily, but doing that puts a strain on either your friendships or your finances.

Now, to make things more interesting: You have a finite number of points at character creation to allot to both Contacts and Resources. Now, it sure SEEMS like a great idea to put a lot of points in Resources and just be a trust funded orphan without any friends. Unfortunately, doing so penalizes all your interactions with other people because you don't have social skills. I think it will probably also have an effect on your character's Channeling abilities, because if you have the mental block that you don't need other people, well then, you sure don't need fictional people from another reality (and one wonders how this character would have gotten into gaming anyway).

I haven't worked out the details exactly, of course, but I'm happy with the idea of it, and I'm always accepting thoughts.

Generation Gap

2010-01-03T02:50:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I had so much fun doing the last Generation Gap that I'm doing another one.

This time, we've got a lady Dwarf, who I see is Arcane Resistant. I'll go ahead and call her Dana. A raven haired lass with pale blue eyes, a bit on the smallish side, Dana looks a bit more like a halfling than a dwarf. Dana's into her adult years, not quite middle aged, pushing sixty.

Dana was born to a pair of entertainers – her father was a musician and poet, while mom was a gymnast and dancer. Dana lives in a small logging village, growing up among humans, dwarves, and one or two elves. The family has been part of the community for quite a while, moving there over 400 years ago to meet with some distant relatives. Dad's not doing too well these days, health-wise, unlike Mom, whose lifestyle keeps her active. At least Dad never had a nervous breakdown every time Dana left the house for a few hours – with a mother that protective, it's no wonder Dana is used to getting her way (leaving her with a Charisma penalty).

Dana is the middle of a big family five siblings. Her youngest sister, Mara, is also sick, which is putting a drain on the family's finances, while the next oldest, her sister Hannah, is in and out of prison for bar brawls. Her brother Kristoff, two years younger than Dana, is doing just fine, while Dana's older brother was kidnapped by slavers when Dana was very young – and Dana's oldest sister was actually sold into slavery by the State as punishment for a crime she committed before Dana was born. No wonder Mommy cottoned to her so much. Dana is now the oldest kid in the house, with one languishing, one in prison, and two children in fucking slavery. Luckily, Kristoff and Dana are close, which is great, because Hannah doesn't speak to her and Mara has actually tried to kill her once.

Between profession of her parents, having a younger brother who looked out for her, a younger sister who has spent most of her life in prison, and a youngest sister who would rather she was dead, Dana always looks for a way out of a conflict before resorting to violence. Her grandfather, an old cleric, was pleased by this outlook and promised her fortune and glory if she followed her heart, an idea Dana has held onto – because it's better than being sold into fucking slavery. Dana spent a lot of time running from her problems by climbing trees, easy to find where she grew up, which helped her avoid some of her family's chronic health problems and probably contributed to Mara's hatred of her.

As Dana started to become a young woman, she took up archery with the elves in the area, who taught her a few woodland survival tricks as well. A knight passing through the area must have seen some spirit and talent in young Mara, and she was offered the chance to become his squire. Something about his words resonated with the young Dwarven woman, who must have decided that sounded better than being sold into slavery/being kidnapped into slavery/spending time in prison waiting to be sold into slavery, and what the heck, might give her the chance to find her brother and sister – and get away from her murderous sister. With a tearful farewell to Kristoff and her mother, Dana set forth.

At this point I can either just accept the Knight career, or I can roll randomly. Being as the Knight skill package is pretty sweet, I take that. Plus, skimming the table, I see there's a small chance I can actually drag my family out of financial burden and maybe protect myself from Mara.

Dana swore an oath to defend the weak and helpless, and right out of the gateset out on an epic quest to earn her spurs (and three free skill dice) – Ol' Grampa Dwarfington was right, she was set for a long and glorious career. In the course of things, Dana's order found itself trying to end a raging war, and Dana wound up on the frontlines more than once – she honed her fighting skills, but lost an arm and wound up behind enemy lines as a prisoner of war – an unpleasant experience for anyone, but more than usual for Dana. However, prison only strengthened her resolve to survive, and she carried out her term with quiet dignity.

Eventually, her order ransomed her and presented her with a small gift – an enchanted longsword, a gift usually granted to Knights with ten more years of experience (at this point, I pull out the Fantasy Gear Toolkit and roll up a pretty sweet +2 damage bonus). Dana has recently been told by her (somewhat embarrassed) superiors to wander the earth doing good until they have need of her, a promise she is happy to oblige.

Dana

Ag d8

Sm d4

Sp d8

St d10

Vg d8

Climbing d6

Fighting d10

Guts d6

Intimidation d6

Riding d6

Shooting d4

Survival d6

Pace 5

Parry 8

Toughness 7(1)

Charisma -1

Heroic

One Arm

Pacifist (minor)

Vengeful (minor)

Arcane Resistance

Block

Gear : $100, Kristoff (Magic Longsword, d10+d8+2), leather armor, steel helmet

Character thoughts: Dana is actually a pretty sweet character – a one armed warrior dwarf-knight-lady who fights like a bitch from hell. I can see room for this character to develop, and as a GM, there's plenty of story hooks in this her. As far as negatives go, Dana is going to have a hard time getting started with her lack of wherewithal, and that Pacifist Hindrance is really going to be a problem until she gets some Persuasion or ups her Intimidation.

Edit: Uh, no Notice die, I see.

CITIZENS: The DnD room

2010-01-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

This man has built himself a DnD room, and I hate him. And yes, I am jealous.

State of the Game 2009

2009-12-31T16:11:00.000-08:00

Fellow gamers, let us review the State of the Game here at These Dice Look Funny.

Actual (or Virtual) Dice Rolling:
In 2009, I ran only two games - a solo session for a couple friends in early January, and three games in the Necropolis universe for coworkers during the summer. I played in a Dungeons and Dragons game over webcam, and am currently involved in a PBP Gamma World game on Google Wave. Friends, this is a woeful state to be in - this hobby cannot exist in a vacuum. I need to play more shit, dammit.

Professional Writing:
In 2009, I wrote one full length adventure (currently in editing) and was contracted for a splatbook with adventure included, currently sitting around 12 pages (approximately 1/3 done). I also wrote two one-shot adventures. I gladly celebrate these opportunities - they mean my hobby is finally paying off, and I find the actual writing is a wonderful leisure activity.

Amateur Writing:
Short of a few new ideas (the Metagame) and some articles on this site, 2009 was not a good year for my non-professional writing. I chalk this up to the pressures of school and my rising stardom* in the professional world.

Computer Gaming:
With my machine a few years behind the times, most of the really captivating games are sadly denied me - my greatest feeling of loss is reserved for Dragon Age: Origins. I have, however, recently gotten into Half Life 2 (finally) which I am glad to say has withstood the test of time. I also got more involved with roguelikes, my new favorite being Triangle Wizard.

Reading:
2009 was also a sad year for reading. I did not get the chance to read many books this year. I did read The World According To Garp and liked it very much.

Closing Thoughts:
I am happy to have had a chance to develop some professional cred this year and look forward to all the fortune and glory that entails. Though I wish dearly I could have done a lot more gaming, I'm happy for any opportunity at all, so I welcome Google Wave and its ability to bring people together.

In 2010, I should like to develop any one of my Five Good Ideas (Clock and Dagger, Eight Kingdoms, Zombies from Dimension X, Rig, and Bullets and Brimstone) at length. If nothing else, it would be a good year to move them from the "notebook" stage to the "actually written down in a Word document" stage.

Keep the dice rolling!

*I would not actually call myself a rising star...yet.

side note

2009-12-13T21:47:00.001-08:00

Found an interesting and well-researched article about the history of role-playing, available here. Eventually, I'd like to write a book on the subject if I can.

Sanity in the Metagame: Finally, some crunch

2009-12-13T13:07:00.000-08:00

I've long been considering how Sanity is handled in the Metagame universe (or "Eight Kingdoms," as I'm starting to call it).

SURELY if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you, right?

Right, but...haven't we seen that before? A few times? Call of Cthulhu and the World of Darkness are focused very much on retaining your sanity/sense of self/humanity in a fight against the darkness. Rippers and Tour of Darkness (two Savage Worlds settings) both tried to incorporate a sanity element into the game, neither one being successful in my opinion.

I considered for a while that perhaps channeling too much of your character would lead to them wandering around the steam tunnels under their college. Then I thought no, let's allow them to "cash in" sanity to channel, but then I realized that's just trading out Sanity for Power Points. Then I said, how about every time they gain an ability, they go a little crazier.

Finally, I said no. The game is not about a fight with sanity, really. The sanest thing to do in the Metagame is to accept the fight against the monsters. The darkness is real; the characters have a chance to do something about it; the crazy thing would be to deny all of it.

Sanity mechanics will come into play through the Fear table, which I am considering modifying, and through a checklist the GM will follow. I will probably also make the NPC Reaction Table more granular. RIght now, let's say that every item on the checklist subtracts 1 from encounter table results - which is not the same as Charisma. Finally, I will say that levels of Fatigue also subtract from NPC reactions.

Let's say your coworker Howard is a gamer. At work, you swap a couple stories about tabletop experiences, you crack the same Evil Dead jokes, and you have made a couple efforts to set Howard up with a boyfriend (NPC reaction: 10 on the table, so just this side of Friendly).
One day, you pass by Howard's cubicle and notice he's surfing eBay for firearms (GM checklist: The PC purchases a gun, so we're at 9). No biggie; in fact, you tell him that your uncle has a Smith and Wesson that needs a good home.
A month later, Howard hasn't been sleeping too well (Checklist: the PC gains a level of Fatigue from his "hobby," so now we're at 8. The Fatigue itself also subtracts one, and we'll assume Howard fails his Vigor rolls a lot to resist exhaustion - down to 7 on the table). You offer to cover for him so he can go take a nap, but you're a little annoyed that you feel you should do that.
A week after that, you tell Howard you met a guy at the game store that you think would be perfect for him. Howard tells you to go fuck yourself (No checklist entry, but the GM decides Howard's not keeping his friends these days - another -1 to the Reactions, so down to 6).
Three weeks later, Howard is putting an Ace bandage and gauze on his leg at work (GM checklist: Obvious injury, 5 on Reactions). You are getting weirded out by this guy.
Finally, one day you arrive late to work and pass by Howard's car. One window is smashed, it looks like someone keyed the hell out of one side, and you see what is obviously a pair of shotgun shells on the seat (Checklist: Signs of conflict or struggle, -1 to reactions, we're at 4 now).

Now, the thing is, that coworker NPC represents the entire workplace. With an Unfriendly result on the NPC reaction table, Howard is going to find his job in jeopardy. Howard is still completely sane (if stressed), but people look at him askance.

Metagame thoughts

2009-12-09T18:01:00.000-08:00

This is a continuation of the thought process that began with this post.

I thought of a framework to assemble PCs for Eight Kingdoms/The Metagame - a support group for gamers who have trouble determining the difference between what is real and fantastic. Except when they get there, the head of the support group tells them it's all real. As proof, he shows them the entrance to a goblin warren and says it's their responsibility to clear it out.

The man who runs the support group, who I'm calling Gary, acts as a mentor and contact for the group of PCs. I'd further thought about providing a questionnaire for people to fill out, assessing their condition and rounding out their characters a bit more.

Additional thoughts:
I'd love to publish this someday, of course, and Google Wave won't be required to play. It did inspire me a little.

There are eight character classes in the Eight Kingdoms, and each class represents the general outlook and history of a particular kingdom. The ruler of each kingdom is at the pinnacle of their character class progression - and yes, people in the Kingdoms themselves can comprehend things like one's level, hit points, and character stats.

The eight classes are:
Warrior - your barbarian, fighter, knight, and samurai classes are all Warriors. Warriors are a "tank" class.
Guardian - druids, paladins, rangers, and the like are all Guardians. Anyone who dedicates themselves to defending and advancing a cause or ideal is a Guardian. Guardians are a "pet" class with "tank" trappings.
Spellweaver - wizards, sorcerers, blood mages: anyone who uses arcane magic is a Spellweaver.
Blessed - Monks and clerics both count as Blessed...and so does the village shaman, the medicine woman, and the combat medic. Blessed dedicate their lives to a cause as Guardians do, but while a Guardian advances their cause through combat, the Blessed strive to lead by example.
Diplomat - advisors, tacticians, bards, and warlords are all considered Diplomats. They have command abilities and impressive knowledge about the world.
Artisan - Smiths, craftsmen, and Weird Science tinkerers are all Artisans. Within their world, Artisans are at the top of their craft. Within ours, they have the power to create magical devices, or to conjure useful tools from nowhere.
Conjurer - The pure "pet" class of EK, Conjurers are your necromancers, summoners, warlocks, and witches. They have access to magics taught them by their pets, and they can call creatures not of this world. Despite the dark trappings, conjuring is not evil in and of itself, but it is sometimes put to evil use. Then again, so are swords, spells, and words.
Shadow - Moving silently through the night, leaping amongst city towers, or concealing themselves amongst trees, Shadows are the thieves, rogues, assassins, and scouts of an EK group.

Like all things SW, it's all about trappings.

There are no playable races besides Human in the Eight Kingdoms, though I have it in mind that the backstory of the EK involves the misadventures of elves, dwarves, halflings, et al.

...and that's all he wrote? I have trouble ending blog posts.

Generation Gap: Savage Worlds

2009-11-28T20:22:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine has started a series of articles on random character generation with running commentary so I felt I'd follow suit. I'm therefore inspired to dig out my old Fantasy Character Generator PDF, which has just arrived in my Wayback Machine from 2004.

The rules are simple:
Let the dice fall where they may.
Where there is the option to roll on a chart, do it.
Where there is a choice to make, make it for purely mechanical reasons.

Shall we begin?

We start strong. A roll of 100 means I'm playing a Half-Folk. Great, nice Spirit bonus, the Benny comes in handy. Low Toughness, no biggie. The Half-Folk Fortune table tells me I'm unusually light on my feet for some extra Stealth dice - nice - and a couple rolls later, we learn I'm playing a woman with black hair and deep blue eyes. Great! I'm an Unusually Quiet Roman Half-Folk lady.

Next up, I can roll up to twice on the Features table. For the lulz, I do...okay, two Minor Flaws, no biggie...I'm missing my middle finger on the left hand and I have a stick out belly button. Interesting, and she'll never be a top archer with that defect. One more more roll lets me know that Llana (as I'm calling her) is extremely obese. Okay. At least it offsets that Toughness penalty. Now that we've completed the circumstances of her birth, we can determine how the rest of her life went.

Llana is a young adult, which makes her something like 15 in Half-Folk years. I make note of this for later.

Looks like Llana was born in wedlock to farrier parents. Did you know "farriers" make horseshoes? I didn't. I'm just going to call that Knowledge (blacksmithing), plus 2 steps. I'll let my GM know that I should get a bonus to farrier...ing. The horseshoe trade must be important in the area, because Llana's related to the founders of the community. Unfortunately, while her father is alive and well, Mom has taken ill recently. Worse still, her mother is fond of her, while her father treats her an embarrassment to all the family stands for - Dad evidently wanted a son to take over the farriering business, because Llana's an only child.

Mom and Pop live in a smallish town near some farmland, so Llana's not the most streetsmart of children, nor is she totally ignorant. We've picked up a d4 in Streetwise, which is sure to wow the menfolk.

Now we get to some childhood events. Here's where we'll pick up those skills. Llana apparently liked to pick things apart and put them together as a child (d4 Repair), and sometime in her childhood, a mysterious old man promised her that she would have a glorious future...perhaps driving her to success, and perhaps a blessing. Llana's parents were friendly with a Dwarven clan in the area, and a few more rolls tell me they still remember Llana, they treat her as family, and they have more or less friendly relatives (GM, take note, I sense adventure hooks).

Llana did well in school growing up (+1 Smarts), but had bad luck for one of the Half-Folk and wasn't terribly motivated (maybe due to her father's constant criticism, and almost definitely the reason for her weight issues).

Finally, Llana set off on her own (but likely not too far from home - unmotivated, remember) and took up a series of odd medium-term jobs. Her starting package gives her +1 of each Attribute except Smarts and a smattering of skills (which include a craft skill - I'll say Blacksmithing, mechanically). For a time, she worked as a woodcutter (+1 Strength), where he strength and spirit attracted the attention of a passing mercenary unit, whose captain convinced her to sign on for a while (+1 Fighting and Guts). Unfortunately, when she left, she was forced to work as a laborer, where she formed a frienship with another former mercenary, a half-orc named Grum; the two supported each other and shared everything. The foreman for their job never paid either of them (leaving here with a Major Vengeful Hindrance - Llana's tired of being screwed over by now); they decided to escape and eventually parted ways amicably, but occasionally call upon each other for aid. Llana returned to her roots and honed her skills at smithing (+2 die types in a craft skill...).

If you're keeping track, Llana has a d12 in blacksmithing by this point. She is actually one of the greatest smiths in the world, but doesn't know it. I am guessing Llana wound up adventuring as a way to make ends meet, and probably feeling directionless after her friendship (romance?) with Grum broke up.

Llana

Ag d6
Sm d6
Sp d8
St d8
Vg d6

Fighting d6
Gambling d4
Guts d6
Knowledge (blacksmithing) d12
Notice d4
Persuasion d4
Stealth d6
Streetwise d6

Lucky, Spirited

Bad Luck
Obese
Vengeful (major)

Well, we've got a fat 15 year old halfling with a bad attitude and a good right hook. Girl can also swing a hammer. Let's get her some armor and a maul to round her out, and there we have it.

Introducing: The Metagame

2009-11-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

I've been gaming on Google Wave, recently, and having a fairly good time. I have also thought about gaming as a social activity more than an escapist exercise; Google Wave is good for telling a story but not so good for having fun with your buddies.

But is there a way to turn that to your advantage? I can conceive of a world where face-to-face communication within the party is impossible, intimidating, or (better yet) dangerous. Games like Hunter: The Reckoning spring to mind, where party members might be unwilling or unable to connect to each other due to physical, moral, and emotional difficulties.

But I have an even better idea: The Metagame.

RPG historians seem to agree that Eight Kingdoms was penned sometime in the late 70s. Some are of the opinion that with better business sense, it might have quickly replaced Dungeons and Dragons, but nobody actually knows who the author was - when copies show up, their covers are missing and any mention of an author is illegible or just gone. No existing publisher claims the book, no author has stepped forward, and only an uninteresting series of legal loopholes prevent the work from simply entering the public domain. Eight Kingdoms has become a legend in the tabletop RPG community in the way of all urban legends - nobody's played, but everyone claims an uncle who went to DragonCon in 1989 and played EK in a hotel room after a bar crawl with a vendor whose name he can't remember.

Eight Kingdoms does exist. Unfortunately, Eight Kingdoms is much more than a game. Eight Kingdoms wasn't even written by anyone in this world. Eight Kingdoms is the bridge linking our real world to the world of Eight Kingdoms. Characters in Metagame are PCs who have played EK. Maybe it was a copy they picked up at a garage sale when they were twelve, or maybe they had an older brother who came home one weekend, ran a game, and then then lost interest.

The problem is, the fantasy world of Eight Kingdoms started to spill into our reality 30 years ago, and vice versa. Our world can't contain concepts like goblins and witchcraft any more than the world of the Kingdoms can contain firearms or democracy. The two worlds will tear each other apart if nobody does anything about it.

PCs will create the character of a gamer who is part of a gaming group that communicates (at least a little) via Google Wave. They will also determine who their Eight Kingdoms character is. Characters in Metagame can channel abilities from their Eight Kingdoms character to help them fight the darkness spilling into the real world. An IT technician playing a Spellweaver can use magic to his advantage, while a college student playing a Troubadour may find he can make himself irresistible to those of his gender preference.

That's the basic idea - it's pretty much World of Darkness but built around a gaming framework. It'll be more "white collar" than WOD, but who knows, it might send gamers to a darker place.

Roleplaying Games and Story Structure: Putting It Together

2009-10-08T22:11:00.000-07:00

And now, putting some of this together.

We've looked over some of the vocabulary and structure of a good story. Now, how to put it all together. I'm going to discuss character focused campaigns.

Let's pretend I'm running a DnD 4e game for two and maybe three of my friends. They're all casual gamers. Two of them have characters: an elephant-man Paladin and a human Necromancer.

Sidestepping the rules discussion about how to implement those two characters, let's instead examine how I might shape a story that involves them.

Theron's Big Fancy Guidelines, Number One: A good story comes from the characters. See also Firefly.

So we've got an obvious issue to hammer out: Why are the paladin and the necromancer hanging out, besides the obvious need for a guardian and striker?

The obvious answer I came up with is that the characters have known each other for a long time. I find I'm often able to forgive the moral shortcomings or self-righteousness of my friends, so while I can't decide that the characters grew up together, they must have been part of a community. The easiest way to do that is isolate the campaign starting area.

I've been thinking about Fallout a lot lately, so I steal a cue from it: I decide the campaign starts in an underground civilization, sealed off from a terrible catastrophe 500 years ago.

Theron's Big Fancy Guidelines, Number Two: A little backstory goes a long way. Too much backstory gets in the way. See also Star Wars Ep. 4-6 and compare to Ep. 1-3.

I decided that over the last 500 years, necromancy became a big part of life underground. When resources are at a premium, it's good to have an unskilled labor base you don't need to feed. This helps explain the character I had trouble with, and gave me an interesting little idea for creating tension once the characters reached the surface world (get to that later).

Now I have characters and a very basic setting idea. Then what?

Theron's Big Fancy Guidelines, Number Three: You must be able to answer this question: "What will characters in this world do?" See also Hunter: The Reckoning.

I started to envision their first dungeon crawl. Internal conflict didn't seem right, as I figured the community had to be reasonably stable for paladins and necromancers to exist side by side, working together for the betterment of all. Sending them deeper into the caves didn't do it for me either, nor did the idea that a bunch of goblins and other level 1 monsters somehow breach this fortress that survived untold forces.

My first solution was to involve a "proving grounds" within the community itself. I liked the idea that the community leaders would have cobbled together a dungeon in order to test the mettle of potential adventurers.

That led me to another idea: Maybe the elders didn't create the Proving Grounds (it's time to start capitalizing that for emphasis, I decide). Maybe whoever built the underground fortress did. I also happened upon an idea that the identity of the architects of this civilization has been lost. I decide to call them "The Architects" and file that away for later.

Theron's Big Fancy Guidelines, Number Four: It's never too late to add in a mysteriously named power group. See also The Flood.

So the Architects built a special training ground, and it will only open when whatever sensors exist determine that the outside world is safe to be explored. The Proving Grounds helps guard the exit with constructs, undead, and clever traps from one direction; from the other direction, it's a nice warmup dungeon.

Theron's Big Fancy Guidelines, Number Five: What is the purpose of a dungeon? See also Tomb of Terrors for an example gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Then I need an inciting incident.

TBFG, Number Six: Why these guys? Your heroes must be the only ones capable of overcoming the obstacles.

I decide to thrust the PCs into the harsh, cruel Overworld and lay the seeds for a plot by deciding the Proving Grounds have been somehow compromised. Since I'm toying with the idea that it's a postapocalyptic world, I added something akin to radiation to it. I called it "the Glow," which isn't too imaginative but I do not think my players will care. The Glow is dangerous, though nobody knows this yet, as the Underworlders don't know it exists. I decide the Glow also prevents zombies from being controlled, and may have an effect of driving golems mad. Probably it will become a roadblock to the PCs more than anything else, or at least a neat way to incorporate some magical traps, puzzles, and creatures (like a gibbering mouther).

But that hasn't answered the question yet: Why these guys? I decide to highlight the danger of the Glow by giving the players a couple allies. Maybe a zombie or two, a handful of assistants also trained for this kind of thing. However, the zombies go nuts when they're exposed to the Glow, and the assistants will serve as red shirts, dying in increasingly gory ways.

So, we've gotten our heroes into the world, warmed them up to the system, overcome some obstacles both surprising and otherwise, and killed off the nonessential characters. Now what?

CITIZENS: Bigby's Crushing Thirst Destroyer

2009-09-15T19:08:00.001-07:00

http://www.myjones.com/limited/wizards

That will be all.

Self Savaging

2009-09-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

Me, the Savage Worlds Character

I may have exaggerated some of my skillset and underplayed other parts of it (for instance, my Notice die should be a lot lower and my Repair skill should be higher). I'm going for a playable Novice character, not an accurate representation of my abilities.

Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Climbing d6, Driving d6, Fighting d6, Notice d4, Persuasion d6, Repair d6, Shooting d6, Stealth d6
Pace 6, Parry 5, Toughness 5, Charisma -1
Hindrances: Curious, Loyal, Habit (anxiety)
Edges: Ambidextrous, Command
Gear (which I would carry if I were a professional adventurer): Multitool, flashlight, steel toed boots, laptop computer, toolkit, Bowie knife, Sig Saeur 9mm pistol

Happy birthday, Howard Phillips Lovecraft!

2009-08-20T12:41:00.001-07:00

Today is the 119th birthday of Howard Philips Lovecraft, one of the most influential writers of the last century (depending, of course, on who you ask).

Lovecraft's work inspired artists like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, John Carpenter, and HR Geiger. In the Land of Nerds, where I frolic, his writings are considered one of the foundations of our shared cultural context, much like quotes from Star Wars or Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Now, his writing itself isn't what we remember: It's the mythology he created, where immense alien intelligences strive to accomplish unknowable goals in a cold, uncaring universe where the only beings who matter are gods whose very form would force mortals into stark madness. Lovecraft wanted to craft a universe that would frighten even atheists like himself, and this concept - there were things Man Was Not Meant To Know - has stood the test of time.

Some of his writing may be found here, with my favorite story (Herbert West: Reanimator) located here.

Part 3, additional

2009-08-17T13:40:00.001-07:00

Talking to a playwright friend of mine, she put forth the following:

"A plot twist takes the story in a new direction, while a reveal answers a question."

Applying this to RPGs: Plot twists make good act breaks and raise the stakes. Plot twists can go at the end of sessions. However, since they change the direction the drama moves in, they really don't fit into 4-6 hour sessions.

Additionally, a reveal can be a plot twist - new information can raise new questions.

Complicating things further, a plot twist can not be a reveal. Taking the story away from the original conflicts can't, in itself, answer questions.

Roleplaying Games and Story Structure, Part 3

2009-08-16T12:34:00.001-07:00

Back from Colorado, I am now ready to continue this discussion.

I had a thought while I was out in the mountains, that it would be a good idea to use an entry to introduce everyone to some of the vocabulary I'll be using in this series.

As previously mentioned, I have a theater and literature background. A huge portion of my experience in those fields informs my hobby, so many of the terms I use will be taken from that as well. The following list are words I may employ to help you understand what I'm talking about, already digested for use in roleplaying games.

Drama: I use this in the sense of "good drama," as in "a struggle between two or more sides with irreconcilable goals that must be resolved."

Example: A group of kobolds steals a lucky charm that has been in the family for generations; the man wants it back and the kobolds want to keep it for the luck it brings them. This simple fetch quest is dramatic.

Conflict: What do the two sides wish to accomplish? Oddly enough, it's often a good idea to leave the PCs out of the initial conflict. Most games serve the PCs as forces reacting to the conflict, rather than serving as a catalyst. Think about it - in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy is simply trying to find an old colleague and the stakes keep rising. Indy is a small part of the greater conflict, but is key to the resolution.

In our example above, the kobolds want to hang onto the artifact that the quest-giver wants returned. Though the PCs may have a personal stake of some kind in the conflict - a sister to the man in question, or a debt-riddled rogue out to make some coin - the conflict is not theirs.

Goal: How will the drama be resolved? Both sides of the conflict need a defined and easily-grasped goal.

Now, let's talk down the road here: I always vote for keeping things very, very simple. Just get the game to the table with its easy to understand goals; we all know the players will provide plenty of complexity, conspiracy theories, and hypotheses that will both slow the game down and provide you with interesting ideas for the future.

It's also very important that PCs be the only people who can resolve the drama! If a visiting sheriff or paladin can go squash the bad guys on his own, then why are the PCs doing it?

The goals of our example quest are very simple: The PCs will resolve the drama by obtaining the lucky charm. The man can't do it by himself, and he can't approach the town watch with this problem because the kobolds lair is outside the zone they are willing to patrol.

Stakes: What is at risk? You may have heard the term "raising the stakes" before; over the course of a good story, what is at risk often becomes more personal and more important. Again using Raiders of the Lost Ark as an example, the Nazis fake the death of Marion Ravenwood, which creates a desire for vengeance within Indy - he realizes the Nazis will stop at nothing to obtain the Ark, so he decides he must do the same. Raising the stakes happens over time; if you recall most CRPGs, a simple task undertaken at the beginning of the game has more sinister underpinnings and is often the opening salvo of a larger conspiracy.

In our kobold story, perhaps the PCs discover that stealing the artifact has caused monsters in the area to respect the kobold tribe, who are now beginning to unite the ogres and goblins in the vicinity to march against the town.

Challenge: If you read an acting textbook (which may not be a bad idea, and I can recommend several), the writer would talk about "obstacles." For an actor, an obstacle is anything that stands in the way of the character accomplishing her goals.

For RPGs, the appropriate term is a "challenge," but the idea is the same. A challenge requires the PCs (and sometimes the players themselves) to employ their various skills and talents to receive a reward. Rewards are sometimes loot, sometimes experience, and sometimes moving the story forward.

Unlike acting, where you must follow a script and blocking, many challenges in RPGs are optional. Your character spies a gem set into a tall statue's eye; the challenge is how the character gets it into his pockets. Strictly speaking, this is not a challenge they have to accept, but it is soluble and will result in a reward.

In the kobold adventure, challenges may take the form of traps the kobolds have set, monsters they have intimidated to stand in the party's way, and of course the kobolds themselves. Optional challenges may be random encounters, treasure the kobolds have trapped, or alternate ways to reach the lair of the kobolds.

Protagonist: In strictest terms, the principal character of a story is the protagonist. In RPGs, there is no protagonist; the entire story is told from the point of view of the player characters - even though there may be more important people in the world of the game.

Antagonist: Whoever marshals the opposing forces to the protagonist is the antagonist. The antagonist exists to place challenges in the way of the progtagonist.

Scenes: A small unit of dramatic action in support of the main story is a scene. In RPGs, a scene invariably contains a challenge, and part of the reward is advancement of the story.

With the kobolds (again), sneaking past sentries and into the kobold lair is a scene, solving the puzzle of their mechanical locks is a scene, and defeating the chief's dire wolf guardians once he throws the PCs into an arena is a scene. Unlocking a treasure chest, luring patrols into an ambush, and defeating a random encounter in the woods are not scenes.

Reveal: The PCs have reached the end of the kobolds' lair and find not only a kobold chieftan but the younger brother of the man who gave them the quest!

A reveal is not simply a plot twist. Plot twists are the result of insufficient storytelling. Reveals are just what they say they are - something is revealed, which implies it was knowable beforehand. Players need a fighting chance at working out the reveals ahead of time so they can plan for it and congratulate themselves on their cleverness.

Reveals are very obvious in hidsight. A reveal for the example above might go like this: "Oh, the missing farmer from the quest last week, he's related to the blacksmith, we just never asked! And he was the one who robbed the rich widow, like we heard about from Sergeant Grimes! He bought off the kobolds, and now he's got what he thinks was his birthright - but it looks like they took him hostage in return! I was right, though, there was someone more intelligent behind this, and Kyle was correct when he said it wasn't the Thieve's Guild."

Act: Every time the PCs accomplish a major victory in support of their goal, we have reached an act break. At an act break, the stakes must rise. There does not necessarily have to be a reveal to close out an act, but it can help.

If the kobold chieftan captures the PCs, then that's a good act break; the tables have turned and they must now somehow escape his clutches.

Climax: When the story has gone as far as it can and can go no further without resolution, you have reached the climax. In RPGs, a climax is usually a gigantic, bare-knuckled, knock-down, drag-out fight.

In our example, the PCs must defeat the kobold chieftan to retrieve the lucky charm, the missing brother, and prevent him from unifying the threats to society in the area. They do not have to necessarily batter him into a pulp, but they may have to defeat his champions so he may get away, or convince the younger brother to retrieve the lucky charm.

Leave comments and questions below, of course. Next up: The campaign format...with special guests!

Roleplaying Games and Story Structure, Part 2

2009-06-06T19:19:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about story structure first.

Roleplaying games are best defined as "episodic." Episodic structure is the same kind of story structure most TV shows use (remember, they're called episodes?) to do their thing. Of all forms of art and entertainment, I find RPGs best fit in this format more than any other, so let's investigate what episodic format is first.

Stories with an episodic structure tend to have the following traits:

The same characters developing over the course of many stories
Many small recurring characters, both enemies and allies
Each episode contains a main plot and one or more subplots, resolved within a natural period of time.
Smaller episode contributing to a larger plot developed over a season
Over several seasons, the main plots of previous seasons may resolve an even larger story

Some shows that make good use of these principles are Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, and 24. Most sitcoms do not fall into this category: Sitcoms function only if the characters do not grow. For instance, Seinfeld's writers were wizards at tying together multiple plotlines over the course of an episode, but the characters did not mature over the course of the show's run (which of course led naturally to the humor).

So, let's look at these individually:

The same characters developing over the course of many stories

Okay, that one's easy. That's what we do. The PCs develop both in terms of skill set and in terms of the player understanding them, seeing their world.

Many small recurring characters, both enemies and allies

In a good game, we know of the importance of recurring NPCs. They're useful love interests, villains, henchmen, comic relief, and allies in the good fight. This one's easy, though just take a look at it and see how it fits in with the other aspects of an episodic campaign.

Each episode contains a main plot and one or more subplots, resolved within a natural period of time.

Here's where things get real, and here's where I turn into the lecturer. Each session of an RPG campaign should have a main plot or story. In writing terms, this is called the A plot. The A plot is the major thing that must be resolved before the characters can continue on with their lives. There are usually two subplots called (creatively) the B plot and C plot. Often, a C plot involves character growth or backstory development (and so sometimes we see a minor resolution in character growth), and usually a B plot is connected to the A plot - either as a solution to the otherwise insoluble A plot or as a problem springing from it.

Individual episodes contributing to a larger plot developed over a season

Now things get tougher: Potentially, any one of the plot lines in an individual episode present a "piece of the puzzle" for an entire "season." Even the lowly C plot can occasionally provide an important clue for later. Essentially, a season has an A plot, B plot, and C plot all of its own. Just as mentioned above, a B plot it usually the solution to or cause resulting from a B plot and a C plot is typically character driven.

Over several seasons, the main plots of previous seasons may resolve an even larger story

It's the same three-tiered structure as before. One big story, fed by two little stories.

That's a quick rundown of episodic structure. Read well, for next up: How to apply this to RPGs!

Roleplaying Games and Story Structure, Part 1

2009-05-29T04:40:00.000-07:00

I'd like to begin a series of essays in which I will examine how story structure works and how to apply that to RPGs.

I'll begin by answering the question "why are you writing these essays, and what makes you qualified to write them?" I'll actually answer that in reverse order. I am a student of theater, so I tend to see the world in terms of how theatrical/spectacular things are. Roleplaying is, in many ways, linked to theater and group improv; each has a scenarios with rules, characters, and a willing suspension of disbelief in order to create a world. In my time as a student and professional I have been a carpenter, actor, sound designer, set designer, dramaturg, playwright, and director: these are the skills one uses to create a world.

Why am I writing these? It started with a DnD adventure. An official DnD adventure, no less. After we were finished, I could tell what the adventure was supposed to be, a cool little "play one evil against a greater evil" type of thing, but it wound up being a mess. My group was contracted to kill a sea monster, so we did - and somehow that turned out not to be enough, there was a lich involved as well as some kind of creature from the elemental plane of chaos, I don't know. It was, as you may gather, sort of a mess.

So what was the problem? Were we just too silly to notice the clues? Did the DM skip over sections? Did we fail to make Search rolls every ten feet?

Not really. It was just a poorly put together story. The idea behind it, as mentioned, works. I'll be spending some time over the next several days examining episodic structure, act structure, and how both of those apply to RPGs. I'll also look a little into improvisation.

Sound good?

A one act Zax met a five act Zax

2009-05-25T03:40:00.001-07:00

I teleroleplayed tonight. DnD 3.5, my friend set up a webcam, I turned mine on, I hooked up my old monitor to my laptop so I could have one monitor for character sheets and the SRD website and another monitor just for the webcam. I don't know how well my friends took it but it was nice hearing the old inside jokes, I didn't get to see them when I was in town two weeks ago.

Tim's girlfriend plays, which is great, and there was some guy Kurt I didn't really know, but he drew all the battlemaps beautifully and knew who Cthulhu is so he's okay in my book. Nice to see the group growing.

The real problem here was the story was shitty. There were like three plots going on which were supposed to be inconsistent but didn't really make sense. Clues we were supposed to get were actually made out of little metagame bullshit that was supposed to defy our expectations. What the fuck ever, Wizards of the Coast, I don't need your attitude, I need an entertaining night with my friends 500 miles away. It is like the Saw movies: Witholding information the audience can't access isn't clever, it's bad storytelling.

I don't think any offenders read this blog, but I was thinking about putting something up about story structure.

Actually, yeah. I will do that in the next couple days. Wizards of the Coast, take note. They are some of the worst ones.

A query for those inclined

2009-05-18T01:18:00.000-07:00

Mental exercise:

Necropolis 2350. Your unit has been assigned to capture and interrogate a vampire.

Vampires in this setting:
-are not destroyed by sunlight
-do not feel pain
-tend to have between d12 and d12+2 Strength
-are not affected by garlic or holy items (except those of unusual power - the Spear of Destiny or Holy Gail might do something, while your garden variety holy water does not; let us assume the group does not have access to a powerful relic)
-are sentient, free-willed creatures

How do you go about getting information from that thing?

Necropolis 2355: Garrison Lance

2009-03-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

Fritz, Chaplain of the Ordo Lazari Sancti
The Hippocratic Oath is more of a Hippocratic Suggestion.
Ag d8, Sm d8, Sp d8, St d6, Vg d6
Faith d8, Fighting d6, Guts d10, Healing d10, Notice d8, Shooting d6, Stealth d4
Pace 6, Parry 5, Toughness 9(4)
Arrogant
Arcane Background (miracles), Command, Healer, Medic!
Gear: Flechette SMG, molecular dagger, medkit, light armor
AB: 10 PP; bolt, healing, smite

Remember what I was saying about Old School?

2009-03-04T09:15:00.001-08:00

I defined Old School, you may remember, as an adversarial relationship between the GM and players.

10 Monsters I Love to Use

2009-02-28T15:57:00.001-08:00

This meme is floating around the gaming community, so I thought I'd do it here.

10 Monsters I Love Using, and Why (In No Particular Order)

1. Elves: I like using regular ol' high elves a lot. They make good enemies, at least the way I run them - aloof, convinced of their superiority, and often extremely well-intentioned.
2. Dogs: I like the idea that, in a land of adventure and mystery, there are still people who train big ol' attack dogs. Dogs are a threat that the players can identify with more easily than anything else on this list.
3. Zombies: Who doesn't like zombies? They're great generic bad guys.
4. Oozes: Creepy, inhuman, hungry, tough. Oozes.
5. Mummies: Undead warrior-priests with a vulnerability to fire are a good fit in many campaigns. Very dangerous to an unprepared party, but they have a vulnerability that many players can latch on to. They also often hang out with nos. 3 and 4.
6. Cultists: Sometimes I don't feel like making a villain with emotional underpinnings and human vulnerability. That's what zealots are good for.
7. Tree-people: All kinds. Ents, shambling mounds, animated christmas trees. They're fantastic allies and powerful enemies and they represent the raw fury of nature many times.
8. Gatormen: Alligator guys are slightly scarier than the more generic "lizardmen," merely because they paint a better picture.
9. Drakes: All the power of a dragon, none of the negotiation. Excellent when paired with cultists.
10. Ghouls: They're like a Zombie +1, and they have a creepy paralyzing ability. Additionally, they retain enough mad intelligence to lay traps, lie in wait, and even capture party members to use as bait.

Necropolis 2355: Garrison Lance

2009-02-27T08:16:00.000-08:00

Garrison Lance is lucky to have Joe on the team. Joe is a pioneer in sentrygun technology, nearly as effective as three soldiers when it comes to defending an area.

Joe, Knight Combat Engineer of the Ordo Praetorio
How am I gonna stop some mean Mother Hubbard from tearing me a structurally superfluous new behind? The answer is a gun. And if that don't work...use more gun.
Ag d6, Sm d10, Sp d6, St d6, Vg d6
Driving d8, Fighting d8, Guts d6, Knowledge (artillery) d6, Knowledge (engineering) d10, Notice d8, Repair d8, Shooting d6
Pace 6, Parry 6, Toughness 9(4)
MacGuyver, Technically Inclined
Quirk (given to philosophical musings), Outsider (good ol' boy)
Gear: Levant field mortar, flechette MG (with tripod, hopper, and movement sensor), MG control case, flechette SMG
Special ability: Joe is adept at picking the most efficient field of fire when he sets up FMGs in sentry mode. They gain an effective die type of d10 in Shooting when Joe deploys them.

Necropolis 2355: Garrison Lance

2009-02-26T10:46:00.000-08:00

Mick, Knight Scout of the Ordo Hastae Sanctae
Be polite. Be efficient. Have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
Ag d8, Sm d6, Sp d6, St d6, Vg d6
Climbing d6, Driving d6, Fighting d4, Guts d6, Notice d6, Shooting d10, Stealth d10, Survival d6, Tracking d6
Pace 6, Parry 4, Toughness 9(4)
Marksman, Woodsman
Cautious
Gear: Flechette sniper rifle, molecular sword, improved light body armor, common gear

2009-02-26T10:33:00.001-08:00

The Onion finally asks some questions I want answered: Are video games preparing our children for the post-apocalyptic future?

Necropolis 2355: Garrison Lance

2009-02-25T20:20:00.001-08:00

In 2355, a double strength Lance of Knights from all orders was assembled with the express purpose of defending secure points against Corporate espionage. With no Senior Knight, this Lance was to act autonomously, using resources and the Lance's unique structure to its best advantage. These nine Knights became known...as Garrison Lance.

Mikhael, Knight Infantry Support of the Ordo Praetorio
Some people think they can outsmart me. Maybe...maybe. I have yet to meet one who can outsmart bullet.
Ag d6, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d10, Vg d10
Fighting d6, Guts d8, Notice d6, Shooting d8, Taunt d6
Pace 6, Parry 5, Toughness 14(6)
Assault, Brawny, Rock and Roll
Habit (tucks sandwiches away for consumption), Quirk (laughs maniacally in battle), Quirk (prefers to use cestus rather than sword)
Gear: Flechette MG, molecular sword, improved medium body armor, common gear, 2 sandwiches

The perfect zombie game

2009-02-17T23:41:00.001-08:00

There is a serious lack of really good zombie games (or as Kyle calls them, "future simulators," a moniker I prefer). Good existing games include Resident Evil 4, Dead Rising, and Left 4 Dead.

A good zombie game would have the following elements:

Turn based: I'd really love this perfect game to be a turn based tactical RPG. Intelligence (and firearms) give humanity an edge over the living dead; it would be great to have a moment to make decisions.
Teamwork: You should be able to recruit or rescue survivors with different attributes who bring things to the team. It would be okay if you didn't have direct control over your teammates; perhaps they would have a "loyalty" stat that affected how likely they were to follow your orders. That said, the game should be playable by a lone character.
Gore: Yeah. We need jets of blood, spattering brain matter, and dismemberment. It comes with the genre.
Replayability: The game should focus on small human elements, perhaps with goals created along with your character. "Find a secure shelter," "go down in a blaze of glory," "rescue survivors," "get laid," "burn 50% of the city down," "find a place to deliver my girlfriend's child" could all be goals your character might be created to achieve. Each campaign should take roughly the same amount of time to achieve, and each campaign should be randomly generated around your character.
No overarcing plot: Zombies, doomsday, I think we're good. Left 4 Dead never explains the origin of its apocalypse, and I think it's doing pretty well.
Online play, DLC, and achievements: Yeah, I do want to be the guy with the "killed 40,000 zombies in a nuclear explosion" badge. I want to play a skirmish with my friends, acting in concert as the US Army's First Anti-Undead Corps, AKA the Big Dead One, as we shoot our way across town. And I want new goals, new weapons, new skins, and new obstacles available for download from time to time. Possibly "bought" with achievements.
Variety of tones and genres: In other words, the game should be able to accurately recreate the mood of each individual Evil Dead franchise movie throughout multiple plays. One character swims in ammo and cracks one liners. Another hallucinates after shooting his infected girlfriend. Yet another is one of a group of scared people trying to cope with a situation beyond their heads.

I think those are some good guidelines.

Are there girls there? If there's girl there I want to do them!

2009-02-08T23:28:00.001-08:00

d7 posted this article at his blog. As someone who has run a lot of first time groups and a couple exclusively female groups, I found it interesting reading:

Saving Throw for Half Cooties

McSlaughter Industries: Reach Out and Touch Someone...With a Sword...In the Spine

2009-02-02T16:15:00.001-08:00

McSlaughter Industries is proud to announce the return of their internship program, on hiatus for the last four years. New to the lineup, meet Ted the Financially Irresponsible!

Ted has paid the McSlaughter Brothers enormous amounts of student loan money he took from the slightly more reputable Wizard's Academy. The brothers keep him around to improve their floundering public image with evil masterminds who only see Those Two Bad Guys when they see the McSlaughter Industries logo. The Brothers are careful not to recruit a wizard who could actually challenge Vassilos' power, but it's handy to have someone around to "test-fire" traps and deal with monsters while the Brothers deal with, say, hordes of treasure.

Ted the Financially Irresponsible (WC)
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d6, Knowledge (arcana) d4, Knowledge (history) d6, Notice d8, Persuasion d4, Shooting d4, Spellcasting d6, Stealth d4
Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 5
Hindrances: Bad Luck, Loyal, Poverty
Edges: Arcane Background (apprentice wizard), Hard to Kill
Gear: Staff, Crossbow, 6 torches, 6 mana potions (which he is forbidden to use), 1 healing potion for personal use, 12 healing potions for the company
Powers: Bolt, Elemental Manipulation (fire), Light

McSlaughter Industries: We Hire Creepy Guys So You Don't Have To

2009-01-26T00:28:00.000-08:00

The McSlaughter Brothers have found it very useful, on occasion, to hire a Really Creepy Guy. In addition to the skills they tend to bring to the table (torture, mostly), Really Creepy Guys tend to wind up the target of attacks before the relatively-normal-looking Brothers do because seriously, he is creeping me out.

The McSlaughters hit pay dirt with their current RCG, the Dungeon Master, a leatherclad sadomasochist who accepted employment as a way to pay off a rather large bill at a rather exclusive brothel.

The Dungeon Master (Wild Card)
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d12
Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d8, Healing d6, Intimidation d10, Knowledge (leatherworking) d6, Notice d8, Shooting d12, Stealth d8, Streetwise d4, Taunt d8
Pace 6, Parry 6, Toughness 10(2)
Hindrances: Delusion (sadomasochist), Quirk (really creepy), Poverty
Edges: Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Hard to Kill, Improved Nerves of Steel, Marksman, Strong Willed, Quick Draw, Very Hard to Kill
Gear: Leather Armor +1, torture implements, whip, crossbow and 20 bolts, knife, 3 fire bolts (act as 3d6 damage Bolt power), 1 healing potion

Old School, New School

2009-01-24T17:31:00.001-08:00

For a long time, I have believed that Old/New School in roleplaying isn't a problem with the rules, it's a matter of approach. I've been through several iterations of this theory and finally pared it down to a simple statement.

Old School is an adversarial relationship between the player characters and GM - the GM is an active obstacle to the (inevitable) success of the player characters. New School is focused on a collaborative story between players and GM.

That's my belief. The only difference is how the story is created. It is possible, and even likely, that in each scenario a party of ragtag misfits save the world, destroy the evil wizard, and rescue the fair maiden. The difference is in how that scenario is crafted: Old School will involve a list of notes or a published adventure including a list of things the PCs must accomplish before their final goal (defeat monsters, solve puzzles, overcome traps, talk past guards), while New School will change and alter the world around the actions of the PCs (if they check for traps, there will be traps; if they rush through a dungeon throwing caution to the wind, there will also be traps).

Rules have nothing to do with it. Some settings and rules lend themselves more towards one school of thought than another; Don't Rest Your Head's dice-lite system lends itself more towards the New School, as it doesn't rely on a hero's skills and abilities so much as tendencies, while All Flesh Must Be Eaten gleefully concedes that there's no way a party could prepare for every eventuality.

I think every group falls close to the middle of Old/New, and we're only aware a disparity because every system that comes out is, in its own way, an attempt to improve the way we tell stories, and they accomplish that in different ways. 4e is an Old School system because it has a lot of ways to hurt the PCs, while Fate is New School because it does not try to come up with everything.

Sun and Shadow: Dragonfriend Professional Edge

2009-01-19T15:47:00.000-08:00

In Sun and Shadow, dragons are held in the highest regard as sacred protectors of religious sites, powerful artifacts, and sometimes even small villages. Experienced dragons are ancient wyrms of incredible power and prestige; they may play an active role in the politics of entire regions and, in religion, often have a vote in electing a new high priest (or equivalent).

Unsurprisingly, it has become a religious duty of some temples to appoint a young hero to raise a dragon hatchling so they may experience the world. The dragon and dragonfriend receive special training, learning to rely on each other and act as part of a team; the dragonfriend is entrusted to safeguard the dragon at the expense of their own life. Eventually, a dragonfriend ascends to the rank of Dragonlord, and it becomes their lifelong duty to ensure the safety and comfort of their dragon companion as well as acting as their advisor in political matters.

Dragonfriend
Requires: Novice, may only me taken at character creation, Beast Bond, member of appropriate religion
The character gains a dragon hatchling companion and becomes responsible for its care, feeding, instruction, and safety.

The dragon levels up every time the character does and is considered to be of the same Rank as the character. Each new Rank increases its Size and Pace (both on the ground and flying) by 1 and, if it has learned enough, allows it to remove one Hindrance for free. At Veteran level, the hatchling becomes a Wild Card. The dragon's breath weapon also becomes more powerful, dealing 2d6 damage at Seasoned, affecting a cone template at Veteran, dealing 2d8 damage at Heroic, and 2d10 at Legendary.

Characters must take a vow to undertake the responsibilities above. This is a Major Vow Hindrance. Unique to this Edge, characters may take this Vow in addition to their maximum amount of Hindrances.

If the Hatchling is killed, the Dragonfriend becomes responsible for exacting vengeance on the offending party and is expelled from his church until he does. During this period, the Dragonfriend receives one less Benny per session.

Dragon Hatchling
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d6, Intimidation d4, Notice d6, Persuasion d4, Shooting d6, Stealth d6, Survival d4, Taunt d6
Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 6(2)
Hindrances: All Thumbs, Clueless, Curious, Young
Edges: Charismatic, Dodge
Abilities:

Armor +2: Scaly hide
Brave: +2 to Guts checks
Breath Weapon: The hatchling's breath has not developed the legendary power of a typical dragon. It has a range of 2/4/8, affects a single target, and deals 2d4 fire damage. It can, however, set opponents on fire.
Claws/Bite: Str+d4
Flight: Pace 10
Size -1: Dragon Hatchlings are about the size of a dog.
Tenacious: Dragon Hatchlings have 3 Wounds and roll on the Critical Injury Table, just like a Wild Card. They do not, however, have a Wild Die or bennies apart of the one granted by the Young Hindrance.

Please leave feedback below!

McSlaughter Industries: Brawn, brains, and bolts!

2009-01-17T21:45:00.000-08:00

This was mentioned in a comment, and I should clear it up: McSI fits into a "modern fantasy setting;" by that, I mean a fantasy setting written recently and with a modern voice. They would be out of place in an Old School setting unless it's very self-aware; they'd be at home in Eberron or Hackmaster but not Shaintar or the Forgotten Realms.

I also forgot to mention that the McSlaughters are both Wild Cards. I will edit their entry accordingly.

That being said:

The McSlaughter Brothers are keen to hire barbarians who are the last remaining members of their tribe, seeking revenge (you'd be surprised at how many of those are running around). They usually work for cheap, fight like demons, and are easily manipulated. Their most recent hire is Grark, the Last Son of the U'hurr Clan. Though dumber than a box of dumb rocks, Grark is the human equivalent of a tac-nuke; the McSlaughters usually try to rile him up about the most dangerous target and send him on his way. Grark is also possessed of a sort of animal magnetism that many women find irresistible, so the McSlaughters occasionally direct him to infiltrate adventuring groups and distract gullible females.

Grark (Wild Card)
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d10, Vigor d10
Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d12, Intimidation d8, Notice d4, Persuasion d4, Stealth d6, Survival d6, Throwing d8, Tracking d6
Pace: 6; Parry: 8; Toughness: 10(2)
Hindrances: Clueless, Quirk (easily tricked: -1 to resist Tricks), Vengeful (minor)
Edges: Attractive, Berserk, Brawny, Combat Reflexes, Frenzy, Trademark Weapon (Ribspreader)
Gear: "Ribspreader," Magic Greataxe (2d10+1, +1 Fighting, no Parry penalty, AP 2), Chainmail, Metal Pot Helm, 1 healing potion, 1 strength potion (+1 die type for 3 rounds when drunk), 1 blast potion (deals 3d6 damage in MBT when thrown; he is strictly forbidden from using it when the Brothers are in its area of effect), 2 spears

McSlaughter Industries: Ready-made henchmen for your game

2009-01-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

"McSlaughter Industries is dedicated to providing efficient, cost-effective, and above all reliable customer service to the modern fantasy villain. By utilizing our unique, unfriendly personnel and implementing a variety of murder- and plunder-related initiatives, McSlaugher Industries is able to provide you, the client, with solutions to any conceivable operational problem.

McSlaugher Industries: Because any problem that can't be solved with an axe to the head isn't worth solving."

-McSI mission statement, first draft

McSlaughter Industries was started by Vassilos McSlaughter and brother Thraxos in order to make them very, very rich doing exactly what they love: Burning things and stabbing people. Each of the scheming McSlaughter Brothers is a force in their own right and their little band of "anti-adventurer specialists" is as much a service as it is a way for each brother to have another sword hand by their side in case the other turns on him.

In a campaign, the McSlaughters are best used as recurring villains, working for the main adversary. Though they are constantly fighting, in combat each brother becomes protective of the other (otherwise they risk losing their worthiest opponent). The McSlaughters are incredibly greedy and each may switch alliegences for the right price, though they prefer not to do this in combat. Finally, they are also darkly comic figures; Vassilos doesn't care too much about catching his brother in an errant blast nor does Thraxos mind if he "accidentally" stabs Vassilos with a poisoned dagger. Their squabbling may allow the PCs an opportunity to escape, renew the fight, or even just walk past them if it's bad enough.

Vassilos McSlaughter, former Guildmaster of the Wizard's Guild (Wild Card)
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d12, Spirit d8, Strength d4, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d6, Intimidate d8, Knowledge (arcana) d8, Notice d8, Spellcasting d12, Stealth d6, Taunt d6
Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 7(1)
Hindrances: Bloodthirsty, Greedy (major), Quirk (fights with Thraxos)
Edges: Arcane Background (Mage), Command, Common Bond, New Power, Power Points, Wizard
Gear: Quarterstaff, leather armor, 2 healing potions and 3 mana potions, Shield Ring (+1 Toughness)
AB: 15 PP, Blast, Bolt, Deflection, Fear

Thraxos McSlaughter, Cunning* Rogue (Wild Card)
Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d8
Skills: Climbing d8, Fighting d10, Lockpicking d8, Notice d6, Stealth d10, Taunt d6, Throwing d8, Streetwise d6
Pace: 6; Parry: 8; Toughness: 7(1)
Hindrances: Delusional (minor; believes he's quite smart), Greedy (major), Quirk (fights with Vassilos)
Edges: Acrobat, Ambidextrous, Dodge, Florentine, Thief, Two Fisted
Gear: 4x handaxe, leather armor, 3 healing potions, Shadow Cloak (grants Low Light Vision, +1 to Stealth)

*Thraxos is actually deficient in the cunning department.

The Dread Gazebo

2009-01-11T21:16:00.000-08:00

http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/98/Jul/gazebo.html

The Dread Gazebo (WC)
Dread Gazebos are actually a form of the Gargoyle, an ornamental guardian dedicated to protecting a given area - in this instance, gardens and parks. Like its lesser cousin, a Gazebo lies in wait until someone attempts to destroy it or desecrate its territory, at which point it awakens and quickly devours the responsible party. Usually, in this case, the entire party.
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8 (A), Spirit d8, Strength d12+4, Vigor d10
Skills: Fighting d10, Notice d6, Tracking d10
Pace: 14; Parry: 7; Toughness: 15(4)
Abilities:

Armor +4: Gazebos are solid wooden constructions.
Bite: Gazebos may bite any adjacent opponent they have grappled with their tentacles (see below) for 2d12+4 damage.
Berserk: As per the Edge.
Construct
Fear (-2): An angry Gazebo may chill the blood of even stalwart adventurers.
Fearless
Gardener: Gazebos leave no trace of their steps.
Immunity: Gazebos are immune to piercing and blunt weapons.
Infravision
Large: Anyone attacking a Gazebo receives a +2 bonus. However, unlike most Large creatures, Gazebos do not receive a penalty when attacking targets Size 0 or larger.
Size +4: Gazebos are large creatures.
Tentacles: When angered, the floorboards of a Dread Gazebo splinter and a hellish dimension is unearthed, from which issue forth a dozen or more tentacles. They have Toughness 6, one Wound, and are immune to piercing and blunt weapons. Tentacles may grapple an opponent and drag them 2" per round towards the Gazebo until they escape. They have a Reach of 6", Fighting d8, and Strength d10. The tentacles may attack as many as three opponents per round.
Weakness (fire): Gazebos catch on fire on a 4-6 on the d6. Fire attacks deal +2 damage to the Gazebo, and they must roll Spirit in order to any target with a visible source of flame.

If you can't take the heat, go back to the kitchen and play 3.5: A Very Long Post

2009-01-10T21:39:00.000-08:00

Let's start here:

http://blog.microlite20.net/2008/11/20/what-if-4e-came-before-3e/

Okay.

It's funny! I laughed the first time I read it, then I got to thinking. And with everyone else on the Internet posting their thoughts on 3e vs 4e, I guess I'll jump on the wagon. I'll be discussing some of the major gripes I am hearing, my thoughts on those, and then finally my personal thoughts on the system - its pros and cons.

First, I haven't been playing for 20+ years like a lot of the serious gamers out there, but I have been playing for 11 and GMing for 9. I'm not exactly johnny-come-lately, let's get that established.

I hear a lot of flak about 4e being too combat oriented. I'd like to talk about that first. Dungeons and Dragons, as we all know, was developed out of the Chainmail skirmish game by, among others, Gary Gygax in the 70s. Its very origins are combat simulation. Later on, it grew and attracted imitators and eventually other games were developed - but all tabletop RPG systems have one thing at their core: They are, to a one, built around the simulation of conflict. Two or more sides want something and their goals are usually irreconciliable, that's good drama. Building a system starts with combat because it's the one thing you can't simulate at the table (even if your friends are forgiving, there's just not room in the average kitchen), and combat can be twisted by adjusting those rules into a simulation for any conflict.

With that understanding, let's even look at other iterations of DnD. Remember ADnD? We all seem to, and fondly. Remember all the skills?

No?

They weren't in there. There were weapon proficiencies and nonweapon proficiencies. That included everything from languages to rope use. They didn't really get much better - you had them or you didn't. Occasional checks were made, but that wasn't the focus of most adventures. Hell, the Rogue was the only one making constant skill checks, but that was just for his thieving abilities, rolled on a percentile.

Then we had 3e and 3.5, with their approximately 4000 skills. A good step in terms of layering some complexity onto a combat engine, but an overall poor design choice. The d20 system eventually gave way to the Star Wars Saga Edition, with its much smaller list of skills - Move Silently and Hide become Stealth; Spot, Search, and Listen become Perception. This is a positive step forward, because I no longer have to agonize about where to put a handful of skill points to keep the party balanced. DnD 4e carries this to its logical conclusion: Everyone can make checks, but certain classes have aptitudes others don't. That's pretty logical to me - someone who makes a living commanding soldiers has probably picked up a bit of military history, and a chevalier who acts as his local parish's liaison to the government is more likely to know a thing about acting polite.

Basically, I fail to see how a lack of skills makes a game more combat oriented. Look at all the class abilities in 3.5 - most character class abilities are about inflicting lasting harm on another character, or avoiding bodily harm yourself. In 4e, class abilities are about inflicting lasting harm on another, avoiding bodily harm, or preventing the same to your comrades. I do not note the overall difference in the function of classes.

Yes, all the abilities are about bringing the hurt to the enemy. So? The game has always been about that. And don't tell me all the Powers prevent roleplaying - shit, guys. Every game comes down to "I attack that guy *roll* no, I missed" by 11 PM and you know it. Don't pretend you describe every single sword stroke, slice, parry, and the clanging of armor. Just don't. I roleplay with actors, designers, and playwrights - if a roomful of those guys don't feel up to that task over an entire evening, neither do you. It's foolish to say that because Wizards felt like injecting a little flavor into what's basically your normal attack, but better, you can't describe every action anymore. I call BS on that, The Internet Fandom.

The other big thing I hear is that it's "too videogamey." First, what the hell does that even mean, and two, I guess I will take a stab at debunking what I think that is. "Too videogamey" means that combatants move around a lot, you need a visual representation of the battle for it to make sense, everyone has special attacks and skills, and again things depend on action and combat. I've already discussed that last one, and I believe everyone has always had special attacks - just because you don't need to press a hotkey to use Sneak Attack or Cleave doesn't mean they've gone away. It's the same game you've been playing. A lot of groups do complain about the necessity of battlemats and miniatures, but let me share a secret: I have a whiteboard, a tape measure, and old HeroClix and HeroScape figures. Some groups use Lego figurines, which is even better. With these elements and a little imagination (remember, that thing you claim the new edition sidelines?) you can have a full and varied set of PCs, monsters, and terrain for $100. The most expensive thing I mentioned was a tape measure, and let's face it, every home should have one.

A battlemap/whiteboard/piece of plexiglass with a grid taped to the bottom and a handful of minis does some fantastic things for player imagination, in my experience. I have always found that playing with some kind of visual representation of the battlefield makes players more prone to using the environment to their advantage, envisioning combat, and (more to the point) resolving arguments. Does it restrict creativity to draw a room without a chandelier? Fuck no. The player asks "Is there a chandelier?" I say "Yes!" First rule of improv. Unless they're in an environment where a chandelier is extremely improbable, of course. By the way, improvisation rules are something all GMs should know. And a quick side note, every GM book includes rules for handling problem players; I wonder why nobody's put out a guide to handling problem GMs yet.

The other thing about DnD 4e being too much like a video game is that that's just the way our society's moving in terms of interactive entertainment. WOW, more than anything else, really made videogames accessible and cool to someone besides nerds and frat boys. I can walk across campus and hear a pair of dating English majors talk about the raid they're planning together. Can you blame serious gamers and writers for noticing that trend and dissecting the format to see what makes it work? DnD is now easier than ever to learn. It's not quite to the level of hitting a button and right clicking, but it's getting close. People want games to run fast; they can tell more involved stories that way.

So there you go. Those are my thoughts on the two major gripes I hear. I really got on a roll here, so I think I'll save my personal thoughts for another post. I know everyone wants to comment now, so I'll let you do that.

Last night's game: Some observations

2009-01-09T14:05:00.001-08:00

I played with five girls last night. Two of them were costume design students, two were fashion design students, and one was a film student. All were first-time gamers. Three of them really seemed to enjoy the game, and two of them could give a shit.

Observations:

It was more helpful to walk people through the character creation process without the book. That let me "grow" their character with them, and they could simply tell me what the character was good at. Basically, I half created two of them organically. Two others, I basically handed the book and tried to hold their hands. I think that they found all the terms and options paralyzing and that may have affected how they enjoyed the game.
I run a violent game. Thing is, I don't even think it's particularly violent by game standards - there's guaranteed to be a couple fights every session, usually including a "boss monster" of some sort. However, it would be better to start future games with new players with a couple skill challenges or traps in order to gradually introduce people to the rules.
Following up on that last one, maybe I should make a stronger point about the skillsets characters have. I should make it clearer that they need one way to directly injure opponents or they might get frustrated. One of the players had a gnome witch; while a cool concept, I didn't really spend a lot of time with her developing the character and I should have allowed her to pick another Power or given her some kind of magic herbs or something. Her powers were all support oriented - Fly, Armor, and Healing.
I got very sick after three hours of play and the game kind of ended when I developed an incapacitating headache. I think the very rich seafood alfredo that the host prepared, the godawful waking hours I've been on (4 PM - 4 AM, lately), and the fact that one of the girls is someone I'd like to date may have contriuted to the tension and self-consciousness that could have caused that.
Positive things: I've been learning to really work with character concepts. One of the players wanted to be an elephant-man, so I whipped up a race and she made an Eastern inspired "olifauntus paladin."
One of the girls actually startled me with her enthusiasm. She got there late and I didn't even know she was coming, so I handed her a pregen I'd made for another game. Not only did she pick up on the rules quickly, she took glee in describing her actions, giggled when her character felled a foe, and always looked at the board for options.
Both the costume grads really got into their characters. One of them was the paladin, the other a morally-ambiguous necromancer. The conflict those two in particular had was fun to observe. They were also keen to ask question about the rules, their options, and possibilities.
My bad: I should have allowed for more noncombat solutions to things. However, I had planned for another two or so hours of play where the group would be able to use their interpersonal skills and engage in a little bit of trickery - I just wish I'd opened with it.
My bad: A cold opening was a poor choice.

So. I hope some of you find this helpful. Leave comments below.

Thank Pelor

2009-01-08T12:11:00.000-08:00

"Are you off to play Funny Dice?"

That's my friend Peter's mom asking if we're going to be off playing Savage Worlds. I find my hobby difficult to discuss with just anyone, so I'm posting snippets of insights and ideas here on the interweblogopheratron.

Tonight: Playing SW with people who are not only first-time gamers, but girls. Characters created so far are a morally-ambiguous necromancer and an honorable elephant-person paladin who worships a god of battle.