Back to (Role-Playing Game) Basics

Finding My Way

2011-01-09T23:26:00.001-05:00

As mentioned in my last post I will continue blogging and I'll expand the scope to include other facets to my life and interests. So it is with great pleasure that I invite you to visit my new home on the inter webs: Finding My Way.

I'll continue to blog about RPG related topics and those posts will still be available at RPGBloggers.com. I'll also be sharing posts on movies, TV, music and other thoughts on my mind. As before, I'm doing this first for me as a way to process my thoughts and secondly as a way to dialogue with friends new and old. So if you find something of interest please share your thoughts as well.

Please join me in this in this blog's new home: CinderellaManJJ.blogspot.com

Follow your bliss,
JJ

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A time for change

2011-01-06T15:49:00.001-05:00

As I sit here, in poor man's first class (no one sitting next to me in coach), on my flight home, I'm thinking about what I said in my last post. This blog is me, but it only shows one side of me (and like a d20, I got lots o' sides). I think I'd like to use this blog to explore more of me than just RPGs.

The problem is, how to do that? When I launched this blog I joined RPGBloggers.com. I'm sure there are lots of things about my life that are not of interest to players of RPGs, well, at least that's what I imagine. Still, I don't want to burden their feed with a bunch of personal stuff.

So consider this post a "heads up" that I will probably be doing some housekeeping around here, possibly involving an address change. I apologize in advance for any confusion.

Follow your bliss,
JJ

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Future so bright: 2011

2011-01-05T03:23:00.001-05:00

I've been avoiding this blog post. I'm not good at setting goals. That's not true; I'm great at setting goals. Following through? Not so much. So I did what I always do to when I want to avoid something: I read. I could call it "research" since I was reading many posts by other bloggers about New Year's resolutions and goals, but let's call it for what it is: avoiding a troublesome task.

I did enjoy the blogs I read; they were many and varied. Some tackled the New Year with the ferocity of a pit bull, others were calm and serene in their approach. And none helped me figure out what I wanted to do. (However, I did find a more convenient way to keep up on blogs using Twitter and Instapaper for the iPad.)

See, I've been struggling with what to do with this blog. I haven't really been posting lately which really makes me wonder why I'm doing it at all. At first I thought I had something to say, but my voice and focus was never very clear. I'm not an authority on gaming, I can only speak from experience.

Then I thought it was to stay in touch with the friends I met through podcasting. Well, Twitter seems better suited to that. The blog did start some dialogue with others on the interwebs, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for.

I generally have more ideas then I have the time to follow up on and discipline is not my strong suit; OCD is which makes writing a post take twice as long as it should. Family, work and other commitments are all making their demands known.

And then it hits me while I'm typing that last paragraph: this blog is my thing. It is more personal than almost anything else it do. I loves me some RPGs and gaming. I love talking about them, playing them, designing them and reading them. I'm not writing this for anybody but me.

So, no resolutions, no goals - it just is. Chaotic, eclectic and all over the place: that's me.

Follow your bliss,
JJ

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Looking Back 2010

2010-12-31T13:11:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year where we take a page from Janus' book and look back at the year that has passed and forward to the next. So I'll cut to the chase and start with my resolutions for this last year and see how I did.

First under New Things:

Run at least three different games at conventions - a big goose egg there. I only made it to one convention this past year (Origins for 1 day) and I was able to sit in on one game, but not run anything.
Put together a free RPG to run in libraries - another 0. I had started work on Demigods but was not able to get it to a playable version for testing.
Development on an Old School campaign - 25%. I started work on Icosa and managed to hammer out the basics, but ran out of steam.
Run introductory RPG sessions at library - 0. Other than the initial session in 2009 I was not able to get this moving. This failed primarily to my dependance on the second point above.
Run RPG for children under 10 - fail.
Illustrating my games/play - nada.

Score: .25 out of 6

On to Improvements:

Posting an average of 8x/month - 0. I managed to hit that mark 1 out of the last 12 months. I started out strong with 11 posts in January and spiked again in April with 7.
Posting adventure logs - 0. Didn't happen.
Games in Libraries Podcast - epic fail. I couldn't get my act together to make it happen.
Participation in RPG conversations - 25%. I started off strong and once again lost steam.
Logging my reading with GoodReads - 75%. I did very well with logging, I just had a tough time finishing books.

Score: 1 out of 5

Finally Continuing Items:

Continued regular play - Yes. I managed to have probably my best gaming year to date (even if I didn't always blog about it).
Continue exploring my passion - I would have to say Yes on this as well.
Strive for a balance in my endeavors - Ha! Ok, that was a bit sarcastic. I did strive (begged, pleaded and even groveled at times), but was not always successful. I'll give this one a 50%.

Score: 2.5 out of 3

So looking back this may seem like an awful year. Really, it wasn't. Maybe I was a bit unrealistic on what I was aiming for, but I gave it a shot. I'm not mad, a little disappointed, maybe, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it. So, taking what I've learned and looking ahead, I try to follow Casey Kasem's advice:

"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

So now with this review of the year under my belt (slightly smaller thanks to plus5cha.com & MyFitnessPal.com), I can ponder my course for the next year. For that, check back on the other side of midnight.

Follow your bliss,
JJ

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Time Will Tell

2010-11-24T09:12:00.000-05:00

It's been over two months since I posted anything to this blog, and while I use this space to think through some of the gaming-related ideas going through my head, there are a few of you out there in inter-web land that visit this space and interact with me. To those that do, I apologize for my absence.

There has been a serious lack of regular gaming going on in my life, and that has a lot to do with my general mood and lack of posting. I'm getting back into the swing of things with an on-line game of Apocalypse World, my Dresden Files game is shrinking to just be me and my boys, I'm figuring out what to play with my regular face-to-face group, and I may be running some old school fantasy games at a recently opened FLGS. Things seem to be picking up just as we head into the holiday season, when life in the States seems to be at its most hectic.

So what have I been doing with my time? I've been looking inward, using the time for thought and introspection. Another birthday has come and gone, the boys are a year older and one more step closer to moving out of the house, and my wife grows more beautiful with each passing day. I'm looking to see where gaming fits into my life without taking it over completely. I'm looking at the purpose of this blog and whether it has any beneficial impact in the grand scheme of things.

Only time will tell. I promise to keep those of you that do stop by to read my meandering thoughts posted.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

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Switching Gears: Dresden Files RPG

2010-09-13T09:00:00.002-04:00

After a long absence at the Back to Basics gaming table, our crew gathered to discuss what to do next. I laid out some possibilities: finish Keep on the Borderlands, play Mouse Guard or Dresden Files, or have someone else step up and run something. My oldest son said he would run Eberron (3.5) and I offered to pick up Dark Sun if my youngest wanted to explore running 4th edition D&D.

After kicking this around for a bit, most of the table was ambivalent while my two sons were strongly promoting Dresden Files. Both had played in an awesome pick-up game at Origins (referred to in our house as 'Night of the Chupacabra') run by That Internet Guy, Ryan Macklin. My youngest was giving a pitch worthy of any used car salesman. The rest of the group agreed and the Dresden Files RPG we would play.

Before sitting in on the game at Origins this year I had not read any DF material. I was familiar with the FATE system from Spirit of the Century. After Origins I picked up the DFRPG PDF and started reading through it, hopping around to skim the topics that interested me. The game seemed very closely tied to the fiction, so I decided to give the books a try.

I burned through Storm Front and passed it off to one of the members of the B2B crew. He burned through it too and loved it as much as I did. I passed it onto my oldest son and he fell in love with it too. We got our hands on the second book and were not disappointed. I now turned back to the DFRPG to read it from the beginning.

After our group settled on DFRPG, I went to my friend's computer (we game at his house) and printed off the city creation worksheets. I had read the city creation chapter before we gathered so I felt pretty comfortable walking through this as our first session.

I've played games where setting creation is part of the process of play (Mortal Coil primarily) so I went into it with an open mind. I threw out several suggestions for a city to base the game in, including New York, Las Vegas and our hometown of Perrysburg. I thought that placing the game between the urban center of Toledo and the rural city of Bowling Green could be interesting. I was worried that we were straying too far from the urban setting of the novels. Thankfully the others thought it would be interesting as well. I like that our home was an island of safety between the encroaching urban center of Toledo and the dark and mysterious Black Swamp of Bowling Green (this gets fleshed out below).

We began to bang out ideas. We first came up with a Theme of urbanization and over-development. We didn't have to look very far and were able to name many real-world examples. We placed the (fictional) mayor of Toledo as the Face of this Theme.

Next we hammered out two Threats: the area known as the Black Swamp is the source of powerful black magic and that an outlaw biker gang is upsetting the delicate balance of organized crime. The Faces of the Black Swamp Threat are the opposing leaders of the White and Black Lodges, Native American circles of shaman. For the biker gang we chose the leader (a sorcerer to bring in another supernatural element) and his lieutenant. This will definitely be the primary Threat of the initial story arc.

Next we tackled The Balance of Power. This was probably the most confusing aspect of the the setting creation for the players to grasp. After a couple of attempts at explaining the idea behind it they finally latched on and we were off and running. We created, IMHO, a nice scattering of groups (I hope to soon post a JPEG of our graph or some other such document).

Finally we started filling in the Locations that we wanted to use. The gang really go into this. Some of the more interesting ones include Ft. Meigs, a historic fort from the War of 1812 that will be Accorded Neutral Grounds, and the Fifth Third Field, home of the Toledo Mud Hens minor league baseball team under which is lair to the city's vampires. The most interesting face we put to these locations is the ghost of General 'Mad' Anthony Wayne who haunts Ft. Meigs and keeps the peace there.

The fun didn't end there. One of the players discovered a local ghost story about Anthony Wayne. Seems his remains were were exhumed and moved to a new burial place. Along the way, some of the bones went missing. Now the Mad General rises to look for his bones. You can bet that will come into play.

Everyone is excited to get to playing. Next time we meet we'll work on character creation. I'll post the results soon

Follow your bliss,
JJ

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Meeting Gamers

2010-09-08T09:00:00.000-04:00

Some of you may not know me well enough to know that I travel for work. A lot. While I'm a bit of an introvert I do enjoy meeting and talking with new-to-me people. Especially gamers. So I was pleased to meet another gamer on my most recent trip.

He was working the desk at the hotel I was staying at in downtown Phoenix. I had approached him because I needed information about getting to the airport the next morning to head home. As he answered my questions I noticed he was reading over a character sheet. An Order of Hermes character sheet from Mage: The Ascension, to be precise.

I asked him about it and he confirmed that he was playing in a Revised edition OWoD Mage game with his friends. I told him how cool that was and how much I love the original setting for Mage. We talked for several minutes about his game, the OWoD setting and getting back into play after a long absence. Talk quickly turned to technology, ebook readers and the iPad.

Eventually the client I was training arrived for our lunch meeting and I had to go, but, like a cheap whore, I scribbled down the URL to this blog and passed him the note. I walked away feeling very glad that I got to spend a few minutes during a long business week getting to talk about games with a fellow gamer.

This got me thinking about recognizing other gamers in the strangers around me. What could I do to let others know that I played RPG's to elicit further connection and interface? Is there an RPG 'gang sign' I can throw? Maybe some d20 bling? Obviously wearing my D&D t-shirt proclaims me as a member of the gaming set, but that is not exactly business attire when I'm working.

I think the simplest way to make that connection is reading gaming materials in public. Just as that character sheet clued me in that this fellow was a gamer, reading gaming material in public will let others know that I enjoy playing RPG's. Actual game books are best as they are iconic (and often very big and hard to miss). If I'm reading the Dresden Files RPG on my iPad (beautiful PDF that it is) someone has a to practically be looking over my shoulder in order to see what I'm reading. Nope, actual books are the way to go.

This also has the added benefit of inviting the curious on-looker to enquire about what it is at I'm reading. If the person is a non-gamer this gives me a chance to evangelize the wonders and magic that is the fantabulous world of RPG's. Three times a year there is the Read an RPG Book in Public Week. no reason to wait so long, grab a book and do it now.

I'm very interested in hearing how other folks proclaim their membership in the RPG Federation. Feel free to drop a comment on this blog post and share what you do to be recognized.

Follow your bliss,
JJ

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Game Science Dice

2010-09-06T09:00:00.014-04:00

GameScience Dice in action

Back at Origins I picked up my first pair of GameScience dice. After a busy summer I finally got a chance to give them a try. My oldest son offered to run Eberron (3.5) just so we could start gaming again. Between all the summer camps, travel, holidays and what-not, our semi-regular Back to Basics campaign had fallen by the wayside (as had my blog posting). Seems the only gaming I was doing was on Skype and there we used an on-line substitute to real dice.

So I dusted off Angus the Artificer and we picked up where we left off in the module Whispers of the Vampire's Blade. But before I could start playing I had an important ritual to complete with my new dice: coloring in the numbers. The opaque dice I selected at Origins (a nice dusty orange) did not come with painted numbers.

This didn't bother me in the least. See, the first (and second) set of gaming dice I acquired (and proudly still own) did not come with painted numbers either: the red Basic and blue Expert boxed sets of D&D. Those sets even came with a white crayon for the purpose of coloring in the numbers (yes, I still have the pieces of that original crayon in my dice bag; I'm working through this with my therapist); the GameScience dice did not. No biggie, I could borrow one from my boys.

(Some of you may be asking why I didn't use that original crayon for coloring in my new dice. Well, obviously, that crayon is only used for touch-up on the original dice. Yes, it is a sickness and admitting it is the first step to recovery.)

So, for the first time in 30 years I set to coloring in my dice. The artist in me settled on a dark blue-violet (I have to justify those years earning my BFA from time to time). I started with the d6, scraping the point of the crayon over each face. You see, the numbers on each die are indented, so, rubbing the crayon over these presses the dark wax into the recesses. It also sticks to the surface of the die; not very legible or pretty at this point. That is where the tissues come in.

The next step after coloring is polishing each die with tissues (a brand without lotion preferably, generic is preferred). Well, maybe not so much polishing as cleaning off the excess crayon. Throughout this process I'm turning the die over and over in my hand, feeling each side, each edge. In this way I'm getting to know each die. I notice at the edges are crisp and sharp. I also notice the rough spot where the die was broken off the 'tree' much like the parts of a plastic model kit.

This rough spot is a point of pride with the GameScience dice makers. It proves that the dice were not put through a tumbler to polish out the blemishes. Such polishing does smooth away the blemishes, but it also rounds the edges and results in unevenly-sized dice. By the way, that's also how dice with painted numbers are made: the dice are painted then polished to remove the paint from the sides while leaving it in the numbered recesses.

By the time I finished with my dice I was ready to start rolling. I gave each a few experimental rolls. I would drop each die from my hand at varying heights over the table. We were playing on a Chessex battle mat so it provided an even and slightly springy surface.

I was surprised to see that each die would bounce one or twice and then stop, even the d20. This was way cool. The sharp edges brought each die to a stop with a minimum of rolling. No more chasing run-away dice across the table. I could see that there would be much less sloppy die rolling in my future. As we played I paid attention to the results of each roll. While I did not try to stat the rolls I did feel that the results were suitably random enough for my tastes.

The end result is that I am very happy with my GameScience dice and I can't wait to get more. They have a great nostalgic quality and I can feel reassured that the dice are going to be impartial oracles. Now I wonder if the GameScience folks make Fudge dice too?

Follow your bliss,
JJ

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Origins 2010 Recap

2010-07-08T13:45:00.000-04:00

I'm going to ease back into writing by giving my recap of Origins 2010. I spent Sunday, the last day of the con, with my boys exploring the exhibition hall, chatting with various games designers and playing a game of Dresden Files RPG. The family pass was only $10 for all three of us to get into the exhibition hall; Origins knows how to treat families right.

First I had a chance to chat with some very friendly RPG game designers: Fred Hicks, Ryan Macklin, Rob Donoghue, Jason Morningstar, Paul Tevis, Luke Crane and Brennan Taylor. Most I had met before and I was please to meet for the first time Jason (who promptly recruited me for his One Cool Thing video I posted about last time) and was able to share my recent experience with his game Fiasco. Rob was kind enough to share with me his experience reading and working with gaming PDFs on his iPad (I'm a convert now and looking to get one ASAP). It was fun catching up and chatting with all these great folks, but my sons were soon bored with dad yacking away.

Thankfully the exhibition hall had distractions to occupy them while I was talking. Doubly lucky was the fact that Ryan was looking for players for a pick-up game of Dresden Files. I had found out about the pick-up game from his Tweet the evening before. As the time neared it turned out Ryan had 4 slots open but 5 players counting me. Since I wanted my sons to experience first-hand a con game I opted to sit back and provide support as needed.

First off let me say that Ryan is a great GM. I don't know where he found the energy to run a game at the end of a long con, but he did a fantastic job. As Lead Project Developer for Dresden Files RPG, Ryan really knew his stuff. He was able to pull together some very wild ideas (a were-goat, a myth-busting organization called PENGUIN) and make it work. Ryan would go on to say the session was very Saturday Morning Cartoon-ish, but it worked, which says a lot for his mad gaming skills and the versatile FATE system Dresden Files is based on.

Let me be clear before I go too much farther that this is not a review of Dresden Files. This session was an introduction to us, but I felt very comfortable playing because of past experience with Spirit of the Century, even though I've never read one of Jim Butcher's Dresden novels. I'm coming at this from our overall experience of the game. I'm indebted to Ryan for making this such a cool play session for my boys.

I was pleased to see that my boys picked up on the mechanics of play very quickly. Their primary gaming experience to date has been D&D (Basic, 3.5 and 4). They were really sailing with the ideas of Aspects and making a fun story. Both really got into the story and their characters. They were talking about the game the rest of the day (especially El Chupacabra). This was enough to prompt me to get the PDF of the game when I got home. I'm interested in digging into the details as soon as time permits.

Now, it's not a convention if you don't spend some money. We all purchased some Game Science Dice. I've been interested in them since I saw the YouTube interview. I was pleased to see the opaque dice with unpainted numbers which hit that Red-Box-nostalgia spot. I can't wait to add them to my Back to D&D Basics campaign.

Well, that was our Sunday at Origins 2010 in a nutshell. That will have to hold me over till 2011. Next year both of my boys will be old enough to join me at GenCon. W00t!

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

I'm back...

2010-06-28T14:14:00.001-04:00

...from Origins 2010

Shout-out to Jason Morningstar who put this little film together.

More from me soon.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Researching Cthulhu - Part 2: Books

2010-05-13T12:53:00.000-04:00

For my next research topic it's time to delve into the deep and research the many tentacled Mythos of Cthulhu: ancient tomes of magic and dark deeds. Lovecraft's writing make reference to several books that have become staples of the genre. I'd like to use this element to add some flavor to Icosa.

As a departure from the typical 'spellbook' and to help add to the chaotic nature of spellcasting, magic-user spells will only be found scattered about in various texts rather than collected in a wizard's spellbook. Each player could have their own traveling spellbook from which to memorize, but I see these as notes and shorthand, it would not be sufficient for a magic-user to learn the spell from one of these traveling tomes. This would be the equivalent to the researchers notebook. I'm feel that this, along with few starting spells, will give the magic-users reason to delving into dungeons dark and dangerous. It also gives them a reason to have a home base where they can store their library.

These books can take many forms. They can be studies on a partiular subject, writings of many authors, perhaps an enclave or coven. They could be the mad ramblings of a magic-user whose mind has been lost or warped by the chaos he casts. So in addition to spells, the book should impart some knowledge. This knowledge is a way of slowly unraveling the mystery that is the history of Icosa. Spells in these books would be limited to one or two which are related to the nature of the work.

These tomes also help build the feel of an ancient lost world, one where magic was perhaps more prevalent than today in Icosa. This will help me introduce figures of note from history. Most notably I'd like to introduce famous magic-users through their works, ala Melf and Mordenkainen.

I believe the text of spells would be in an ancient tongue; except for possibly one ancient magic-using race, the language would be considered dead. This language is passed down from master to apprentice and would be considered secret. Magic-users could identify one another through the use of key words and phrases.

This approach will allow me to do away with Read Magic. Blasphemy you say? Isn't it required for reading magic scrolls? Well, no, because I'm not going to have magic scrolls, at least, not the one-shot magic spell variety. The reason for this is that I don't see a basis for this in any of the text I'm using as source material; magic scrolls feels more like a game element than a literary one. Magic is a language, you have to know the language to learn and cast the spells, so every magic-user will start out knowing this language.

What about clerics? Good question. My approach is that clerical spells (or prayers) would be written in a language specific to alignment. I envision Lawful clerical writing to be in something similar to Latin and Chaotic writing to be in an offshoot or distant dialect of the text used by magic-users. While magic-users could recognize the writing as coming from the same source as their spell-casting language, they could not read it and vice versa.

As mentioned above, these works would contain knowledge on various topics. This dovetails nicely with the various 'magical' tomes that increase statistics like Intelligence or Widsom (remember, in Swords & Wizardry, higher stats means faster advancement). These books could be written in other ancient languages that need to be researched and deciphered while the spell portions are written in the language related to the type of spells. this makes Read Languages a useful first level spell.

But I'm not sold on keeping Read Languages either. Without it characters will need to do research and that may lead to more explorations and lead to more adventures or be on the lookout to hire a knowledgeable sage. In an effort to keep the characters hungry and motivated to keep exploring, this idea is appealing to me.

Now this doesn't rule out a spell that would specifically encrypt text to be undecipherable. This could be used for special messages, secret tomes and such. Taken a step further, what if each version of the spell have a specific counter version in order to decipher it? This could lead to interesting adventure.

Or, instead of a counter-spell, what if it had a trigger word to display the text normally. I like this idea better because it gives players a reason not to kill everyone the come into contact with so that they can discover word they need to read the text. But, then again, if they do slay someone, that might be a good reason to locate someone who can speak with the dead.

Obviously clerics and magic-users would want to learn more languages. To keep it simple, they could learn an additional language for every point of Intelligence over 10. They could start with a default set and add others as they find the need. I see these two classes being the only ones assumed to be literate. Fighters would be assumed illiterate unless their background deems otherwise, such as a noble.

Well my sanity is holding out so far, let's see where this research takes me next. Perhaps to the land of Dreams?

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Researching Cthulhu - Part 1: Horror

2010-04-29T09:00:00.001-04:00

Picking up where I left off in my formula for Icosa (Elric + Cthulhu) it's time to visit the realm of horror that is the Cthulhu Mythos. I don't know why, but I'm really attracted to the idea of marrying fantasy with horror. Maybe it makes the heroes more heroic: standing up to the terrors that leave others running home and crying for mommy.

I think the seed of this idea was first planted after reading through Monte Cook's d20 Call of Cthulhu. The last section of the book was deticated to incorporating these horrors into an existing D&D campaign. It painted a facinating image of dark Druids and evil Clerics devoted to these mad gods of cosmic Chaos. I was hooked.

Coupling Cthulhu with Elric seemed natural after reading Moorcock's eerie description of Arioch, Duke of Hell in his natural form: a roiling mass of pure Chaos that would do Shub-Niggurath proud. Perhaps Elric's Chaos Lords were simply the Mythos in another guise.

My limited experience playing Call of Cthulhu has endeared me to the Sanity mechanic used in that game. I think it does an excellent job of instilling in the player the horror that comes from knowing dark secrets that should best be left alone. This seems to be a nice counterpoint the nigh-immortal and fearless heroes of modern fantasy. It makes those that survive to tell the tale more special when compared to other adventurers.

Swords & Wizardry has no built-in mechanic to handle Sanity, but it should be easy enough to reverse engineer. S&W already has the single Saving Throw which simplifies matters: a failed save indicates Sanity loss. Sanity itself can be a composite stat made up of (Intelligence x 2) + (Wisdom x 2) + Charisma. Failure means roll as many d6's as the horror rates on a scale of 1 to 6 and subtract those points from Sanity; i.e., horror rated 3 would cause a player failing a save to roll 3d6 and subtract the total of the dice from the PC's Sanity. Successful save could still cost Sanity points on some sliding scale. The scale here will depend on how frequent these horrors will be used. Too steep and I can guarantee a high rate of madness.

The frequency of these horrors is something that I'll have to play with. I expect to run into some as the players go delving into deep dungeons; the deeper they go, the worse it gets. I will really have to see how my players dig this. I have to remind myself from time to time that the low end range age of my players is 8 to 13. I'm not out for giving them nightmares, but they claim to enjoy books like Goosebumps and American Chillers. I hope to find a happy medium.

That being said, I do like heroic adventure. Unlike Lovecraft's bleak tales of helplessness in the face of cosmic horror, I want the PCs to be the only thing that is standing between Chaos and humanity (elfity? humanoidanity?); I want them to have a chance. Where Lovecraft's protagonists were leafs before the storm, I want the PCs to be mighty oaks. With deep roots (levels) they may be able to weather the coming hurricane and act as a protective bulwark for those seeking safety behind them.

More and more this campaign seems to be about the battle between Law and Chaos and surviving said battle. Perhaps the PCs can plot their own course through these stormy, tentacle-infested waters. How will they choose sides and what impact will that have?

Here's an interesting side note on Alignment as it relates to this campaign. Since OD&D was about Law, Neutrality and Chaos, I found this great (and strangely appropriate) post thanks to Grognardia on how to run OD&D Alignment from Jeff Rients.

Thats enough Chaos for now. Time to turn in before I fail a Sanity check. Next time around I'll be looking at a staple in Lovecraftian horror: ancient books of evil.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

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Copy Cat

2010-04-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

Some say there are no original ideas under the sun. Maybe it is true or maybe truly original ideas are very hard to come by. So it was no surprise to me as I was reading through James Maliszewski's blog, Grognardia, that I started to see some similarities between his Dwimmermount and my Icosa.

I stumbled on James' blog early on in my search for my RPG roots. He is well known and respected for his work. His blog was initially a reaction to the release of D&D 4th Ed. He, like me, went back to his roots of gaming to the first game he played, a much early edition of D&D. Plumbing those depths he created Dwimmermount. He was even so kind as to list his influences in designing that setting as a response to a post by James Raggi.

I've started from the premise that by picking specific influences I would create a unique and unusual setting. It seems that from the same starting point similar settings will develop. Now I know that not every influence of Dwimmermount will affect my progress with Icosa, but I do enjoy seeing how he progressed and using it as a benchmark for my progress.

I especially curious to see if I come to some of the same choices that he did. James started with Swords & Wizardry (Core Rules rather than White Box) just as I did. He has ultimately made the move to Labyrinth Lord with some additional material to supplement what he needs. As I've stated before, I'd rather start with a bare minimum of rules and add to it as campaign play dictates.

So for now, I'll keep going with my influences and see where that leads me. From time to time I will post ways in which Dwimmermount development seems to be mirrored in Icosa as well as seeing where we diverge.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Cutting Edge Weaponry

2010-04-21T09:30:00.001-04:00

A while ago my youngest son had asked me why it was that clerics were not allowed to use swords and bows. I explained, from rote memory, that this was part of game balance as well as trying to emulate a particular archetype. He cocked his head at me which usually means he's not buying it.

Frankly, I don't like my answer either. I was spoon fed this explanation after years of playing and haven't really questioned it for a long time. I decided to take a long look at it since I've been formulating my plans for Icosa. I'm taking the 'question everything' approach.

Obviously the original three classes in OD&D (fighting-man, magic-user and cleric) were meant to bring to life a particular type of character from swords & sorcery literature and/or medieval history. The fact that magic-users (wizards) were limited to so few weapons and so narrow an archetype has rankled players for decades. Clerics too seem to be too narrowly focused.

My original thought was to free up at least the choice of weapons. S&W White Box gives 1d6 as the range of damage for all weapons (+1 for large weapons and -1 for small weapons). With every weapon essentially having the same mechanical effect, why not abolish weapon restrictions?

This line of thinking stems from the belief that amount of weapon damage is tied to the various classes - high damage weapons to fighters, average damage weapons to clerics and low damage to magic-users. This doesn't hold much water before some of the revisions in AD&D. Still, the White Box rules, based on OD&D, seems to level the playing field, so why the restrictions?

I stumbled on the answer as I was looking for aspects of D&D that would support elements of the Cthulhu Mythos. I was flipping through the listings of magic items searching for magical tomes when it hit me - magical weapons. The magical weapons, as well as other items, were clearly aligned with specific classes. Fighters get the widest selection of magical weapons, but they are the sole users of magic swords, the most common item in fantasy literature. This is why clerics can't use edged weapons - niche protection. So if I want to open up weapon choices in classes, how do I remedy this without seriously unbalancing the game and keeping the fighter's niche intact?

The solution seems pretty simple. Weapons of a magical sort could be used by any class just like normal weapons - a +1 sword works equally as well in hands of any of the classes. However, a sword +1, +3 vs. Dragons will only grant the additional bonus (special ability vs. Dragons) when wielded by fighters. A +1 blunt weapon that destroys undead will only act as a +1 weapon in anyone's hands except for clerics who can call upon the special ability. This opens up a world of variety now. The possibilites are endless for magical weapons (or armor) that only grant special abilities when wielded by a specific class or race.

Now this is not really a new thing. The venerable Holy Avenger has special properties that could be tapped by Paladins in AD&D and there have been many, many items before and after it that have done the same thing. For me this realization is the completing of a circuit in my brain that will let me do what I wanted to do with S&W for Icosa and not break the game. Now my son can have a sword-wielding, arrow-slinging cleric and not steal the fighter's thunder. Personally I'm looking forward some sword- or axe-wielding magic-users slinging spells into the fray. Maybe next I'll look at letting the magic-users wear armor (sacrilege!).

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Digital Frontier - Part 3

2010-04-19T09:00:00.001-04:00

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that Rob from Accidental Survivors invited me to play in an ongoing play-by-wiki game over at Obsidian Portal. This is a take on play-by-forum (which I did a little OWoD Vampire forum play back in the day of Prodigy) and was sparked by a post from Ken Newquist over at Nuketown.com. Rob is running the game using Mutants & Masterminds. So, as promised, here is the low down...

The Game

Mutants & Masterminds (M&M) has been around for a while now and has cemented it's position as the premier D20 supers game. The game is versatile and well supported in it's second edition. I've yet to come up with a super I couldn't stat out using this game system. I've game mastered and played both the 1st and 2nd edition IRL and had a great time doing so. I could go on and on about the game, but this post isn't so much a review of the game as it is of its application to the play-by-wiki (PBW) approach.

Let me make note before we go much further that Rob has stated that the current game is an experiment. Based on suggestions that Ken made in post at Nuketown, Rob is bringing the game to life over at Obsidian Portal. We all, players and GM alike, are feeling our way through play. Some elements are more collaborative storytelling and others more game-y.

First things first: the characters. We created Power Level 6 heroes. This sets the tone and feel for the game. PL 6 is below the typical starting level of 10. This fits in the range of street-level characters; these 'supers' will either be highly skilled/well-equipped 'normals' or possessing some small set of powers. This fits in nicely with the setting Rob chose - Freedom City.

Freedom City is normally home to some heavy hitters in the M&M world, but Rob has chosen to set the game during the setting's Iron Age. The year is 1985. In our world, comics were darker and populated with all manner of anti-heroes. This is the world into which The Raven was born.

Technical Aspects

I'm a self-acknowledged min/max-er when it comes to M&M. I like to feel that I get the most out of every power point. This leads to some intense character creation. In the past I've used a spreadsheet program for doing this. This time when I used it didn't seem to work very well when it came to the powers sheet. I may have too new a version of Microsoft Excel. I did not try the Open Office version.

Upon suggestion I tried Mutagen! a free Java applet for M&M character creation. The website that offered a download is now gone, the yahoo group is all but a ghost town, I don't believe the program is in active development, but I got my hands on a copy. It had a short learning curve and seemed to do the trick. The stat block in the character page (linked above) for The Raven was generated using this app.

Now the PBW is very similar to play-by-forum (PBF). You post something that relates to what your character is doing. The cool thing is that we're all editing the same wiki page of text. We build the story interactively. The down side is, like PBF, there can be down time between posts since not everyone has the same amount of free time. I have been guilty of that as I was away from my computer for a week, so The Raven didn't do much.

One of the things I had to get used to was how much I should write. I started off only writing a few lines, basically explaining one action. Rob pointed out that we had more authorial control and should expand. I loosened up and seemed to have found a nice rhythm.

Obsidian Portal also includes a die roller. We've used this in a couple of combat situations to relate the effectiveness of an attack or skill use. I'm interested to see how it gets used when more of the players are involved in the same scene.

I'm also able to create my own pages for things like my alter ego's apartment. and list off some supporting characters. The linking feature of wikis proves quite useful. For example, if Rob introduces an organization into the story, he create a page relating what is known about that organization without slowing down the narrative.

As a result of Rob posting about his experiment, Obsidian Portal upped his membership to the Ascendant level. This means the campaign gets forums, email notification and more maps. We're in the process of trying out all the fiddly bits. I recently posted the first two forum topics and we'll see where that goes.

After a little bit of back story development, Rob is kicking off Vol. 1, Issue 1 of Freedom City: Shades of Grey. Something very cool about this is that it looks like he is running two stories side-by-side. My thought is that the two groups of heroes will eventually meet up and interact together. But the possibility always remains to easily spin off a side jaunt or Shag & Scoob (spit up the party) if need be.

So far, smooth sailing. I'm in a mind to try running a PBW myself. If I do, I'll be sure to post it here.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Digital Frontier - Part 2

2010-04-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

Well, I was able to join Rich, Arnold and Scott to play a game of Fiasco, by Jason Morningstar, (you can download a preview sample of the game here) as part of Rich's Monthly Pick-up Game. This was another on-line playing session. Fiasco has been described as 'Coen Bros. the RPG'. The tag like for the game says it all:

A game of powerful ambition & poor impulse control.

The Game
I think Fiasco was a great game. Technical difficulties aside (see below), I think it was easy to learn and fun to play. I had no problem picking up what to even though I did not have game book as a reference. I have listened to several podcasts that talked about the game prior to playing and was able to look over the setup 'oracle' before the session so that did help. It also builds on a skill-set common to many indie games (scene setting, pushing the plot to get a reward).

The game is best played with 4 players (which we had although others were slated to play but had to drop out due to technical or scheduling difficulties). Each player uses various tables in the setup to build and define relationships and aspects that will come into play in the upcoming game. The setup tables are referred to as Playsets. These Playsets are grouped by an overall description of where and/or when the story of the game takes place. Our group decided on using the McMURDO STATION, Antarctica setup (even though it was actually played like more of an Alaskan outpost by tacit agreement).

One of the neat aspects of the Playsets is the almost infinite flexibility and re-playability of the tables. I heard that players around the net started drifting the game by building their own Playsets. Bully Pulpit Games is showcasing a different Playset every month. (Interestingly enough, the oracle-like Playsets makes me want to play In a Wicked Age).

Play progresses around the table with each player taking a turn at setup but allocating values of randomly rolled dice to the various aspects of the Playset. Once that is done players take being the focus of a scene. The play can decide to start the scene and leave the outcome up to other players (which determines the color of die that will be awarded - White if the outcome is good for the focus player or Black if it is not) or letting someone else start a scene so the focus player can decide the outcome.

In the first two rounds around the table players give the die from the outcome to one of the other players at the table. Then the players take these dice and allocate them to the Tilt (much like they did in the Playset), which may dramatically change the direction of the story. This is followed by two more rounds for each player around the table before the outcome is decided each character at the end of the game.

Technically I got hosed with my final score of 0 (subtracting the totals of two sets of colored dice), but I really enjoyed the outcome. I wasn't so much into the game aspect of watching what color dice I collected and worrying about where to push my dice. It really was a fairly invisible mechanic. I was much more interested in the story that was being created.

I think the ease of play in learning the game speaks volumes about the strength of the game as well as the players facilitating this session. I believe I was the only one who had no prior experience with it. Even then, I was diving in very quickly in scene framing and lending to the madness of the story as it unfolded.

I love the gm-less aspect of the game. Minimal setup and shared world-building makes this a perfect pickup game. I could easily see it being a fall back for a regular group when some of the players can't make it. I think the freedom of minimal mechanics made the game sail. It is amazing what you can do with so little framework. It really pushes the paradigm and definition of 'rules light'.

On this one play of the game I can enthusiastically recommend it to any that have found enjoyment in creating rousing adventures when everything goes pear-shaped. I won't go into the specifics of the story (ask me some time you see me at a convention), but I will say there was much laughter generated throughout play.

Technical Aspects
Rich set up a Google drawing doc to track relationships and other aspects of play. Overall I think this approach worked well. I believe Rich did most of the editing during play, although the rest of the players did attempt to edit as well which led to some duplication of efforts. I think having everyone be responsible for a specific aspect of that doc, such as relations and objects added by that player, might have sped setup.

I like that there is now an artifact after the game to be able to look back on (published to the link above). It would be interesting to see if there would be an easy way to expand that document to include the changes that happened as play progressed, like adding in each of the NPCs and their relation to the main characters and eventual fates.

Again we used the dice roller at Catch Your Hare. This worked very well for tracking and allocating dice to the Playset, Tilt and Outcome. We also made good use of the chat feature within Google Docs so we didn't have to keep switching back to the Skype chat window post links and track events.

Technical difficulties were limited to some awkwardness in having all of working on the same document and Skype breaking down for some players. Apparently it's not a Skype game unless someone can't get tuned in. I had the same difficulty at the end of the session I mentioned last time regarding the Skype signal. The audio really went down hill after 12:00am. Thankfully we were wrapping up at that point.

I enjoyed gaming with this group of players. I'm sad that some of the players who wanted to play were not able to due to technical or scheduling difficulties, but there are hopefully more opportunities to game with everyone.

Next month we are talking about playing Polaris. I am very psyched to play this game (provided everyone else is on board as well). Another gm-less game, w00t!!

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Digital Frontier - Part 1

2010-04-15T09:00:00.003-04:00

When I was talking about my New Year's resolutions one of the things I wanted to do, but don't think that I mentioned it there, was to do some on-line role-play gaming. I've recently had the opportunity to do some of that thanks to Rich Rogers over at Canon Puncture. Rich invited me to play in a monthly pick-up game on-line. Last month we played a great game of Mouse Guard and this month we'll be trying Fiasco.

In addition, Rob from Accidental Survivors invited me to play in an ongoing play-by-wiki game over at Obsidian Portal. This is a take on play-by-forum and was sparked by a post from Ken Newquist over at Nuketown.com. This game is run using Mutants & Masterminds. (More about this soon)

The Mouse Guard game was played using Skype. This allowed us to join an on-line conference call so that we could all converse. This worked very well at first. I'm pretty sure that I didn't have the latest version of Skype since I use it so infrequently. I didn't want to chance running an update right before play for fear that it could make matters worse.

The call worked well and the three of us (myself, Rich and Arnold) were able to get up and running very quickly. As the game wore on, I noticed more of a breakdown in the connection. We were on-line for over two hours on the same call. It could have been my laptop, it could have been the software, but it was extremely noticeable by the end were I was missing about 30% of the dialog. I was able to keep up, but if we had gone on much longer I would have lost much of the dialog. Needless to say I will be updating before we next play.

Skype also let us text each other for out-of-character discussion. This was especially nice for posting links and other relevant information. This was not used very heavily but it did help as a way of keeping track of various conditions of play.

For Mouse Guard we also used a dice roller at the Catch Your Hare! website. This was a great tool. It allows multiple players to all log into the same dice rolling session. Each of us could also color our dice so that it was easy to tell whose dice they were (we chose our dice color based on each mouse's cloak color). It also allowed for multiple labels to be placed around the screen so that dice could be pulled aside and still be visible for reference. On occasion there was a little delay when someone would 'roll' before I saw the dice, but no real hang-ups; there was a 'set password' button that acted as a screen refresh.

An interesting aspect of this play was player discussion without the GM (Arnold) listening in. When it was time for Rich and I to plan our scripting for the various encounters, Arnold would remove his headphones and step away from his PC to plan his moves. This was, in a sense, stepping out of the room.

Overall it was great fun for a number of reasons. Rich and Arnold are great players. It was my first time gaming with them both and I had a blast. It was also my first play of Mouse Guard. I had read the book, but playing brings a deeper understanding to the game. The adventure Arnold wove was fun and challenging. I would not (and will not) hesitate to game with both Rich and Arnold again and I definitely want to play some more Mouse Guard too.

Tonight we gathered again in the digital world to play the GMless game Fiasco. Me, I love me some GMless games, so I'm excited beyond belief. I'll be sure to update here very soon. Look for a post about Rob's play-by-wiki game as well soon.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

The a-ha moment

2010-04-13T17:06:00.002-04:00

This past Monday my youngest son told me that the Back to D&D Basics campaign session from the previous night was his favorite to date. When asked why he responded that he had an a-ha and suddenly knew how to play his cleric.

Up to now, my 11 year-old has preferred fighter types when he played D&D he would charge into battle and hack and slash through the enemies. His favorite character to date is his Warforged fighter from my oldest son's Eberron campaign. But when we rolled up characters for Back to D&D Basics his stats seemed to lean toward being a cleric. So that's what he became.

During his rise through the first 4 levels he was lamenting various aspects of his character: no spells at first level, only healing and protective type spells, and (the most troublesome) no edged weapons. He frequently tried to push his way to the front of the battle, but was often relegated to the back because the dwarf and elf had the first rank covered. His sling stone attacked missed more often than it hit.

He had great difficulty in seeing what he was bringing to the party. He didn't see how his curative spells let the party adventure longer. He had picked up a magic mace from a Chaotic cleric that drained levels. I informed him that use of that ability would cause him to move away from Neutrality and toward the alignment of Chaotic. This frustrated him so much that last session I offered to let him roll up a fighter to swap out for the cleric.

But then they had an encounter with a captured hobgoblin. His cleric was the only one who spoke that language, but my son did not feel confident that he would ask the right questions, so the player of the dwarf offered to ask the questions to have my son's cleric repeat it in hobgoblin.

This could have been hand-waved and let the dwarf's player ask the hobgoblin (me) the questions and my son would not have had to do anything, but instead I said this (or something to this effect):

If you repeat the question exactly as the dwarf said then just nod your head, but if you want to ask anything different then ask your question. Once the hobgoblin answers, if you repeat it exactly as he says just nod your head, but if you want to say something different say what your character says.

The group suggested passing notes, but I didn't want to slow things down. I reminded the players to not let their knowledge of what was transpiring affect anything their characters did. So off we went.

The dwarf said:

If you answer our questions honestly we'll free you as long as you promise to never return here. If not, we will slay you as we did your chieftain.

The cleric said:

If you answer our questions honestly we'll free you as long as you promise to never return here. If not, we will slay you as we did your chieftain which will make my god cry.

Wow. I didn't want to disrupt the flow of play, but internally I was taken aback by his modification. Questioning continued and the cleric took charge of the hobgoblin prisoner. As the hobgoblin started leading the party through their cave complex they encountered more hobgoblin guards.

The cleric stepped up with his prisoner and told them that their chieftain was dead and the party was willing to let them leave peacefully if they promised never to return. I decided to let the hobgoblins' reaction be decided by a roll. The first roll indicated that the would not attack but that they would growl and wait one round to hear what the cleric had to say. Also the next reaction roll would be at -4.

The cleric spoke to try to discourage the hobgoblins from attacking. I changed the modifier to -2 to show that his talk had some effect and then I rolled the dice. With the modifier the result was a 2 which indicated the hobgoblins attack.The hobgoblins won initiative and opened fire on the party with crossbows. Two bolts found their home in the captured hobgoblin's chest. He fell dead to the floor and the cleric was crest fallen as the fighters of the group rushed past him.

This was his a-ha moment. He knew how to play his cleric now. I don't think we'll need to roll up a new character for him and I can't wait to see what he does next time we play. I'm so pleased I got to see this moment first-hand.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

International Traditional Gaming Week

2010-03-25T12:15:00.000-04:00

Well I'm almost too late for this event, but I'm getting it in under the wire. This week is International Traditional Gaming Week or ITGW. The idea is to get 'butts in seats' to play traditional or old school rpgs. This doesn't have to be D&D, but could be any of the retro clones or anything from the early days of gaming.

This week I ran my Back to D&D Basics campaign for my party and they are slowly making their way through the Keep on the Borderlands. So far they've run into kobolds, goblins and now are looking for hobgoblins. It's been a lot of fun and even my die-hard 3.5 players are really enjoying themselves.

So check with your Friendly Local Gaming Store and see if they're running and ITGW events. If not, maybe you can offer to run one. Download your favorite retro-clone and go to town. If anyone has any stories to share about their ITGW event, please post it into the comments of this post.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Road of trials

2010-03-11T13:41:00.001-05:00

Ryan Macklin responded to the egging from Daniel and myself regarding his love of Mage: The Ascension. He brought up one of the very cool features of Mage - paradigms. Paradigms are the ways in which Mages think about and perceive reality. The neat thing is that because a paradigm is personal, no one Mage's paradigm is invalid. Unfortunately what you get is differing options of what is the best paradigm; as if there can be only one.

What this does to the fiction and play of the game is degenerate into a battle of wills. Everybody is right and they're willing to fight and die to bring that paradigm to fruition. Essentially there are four different paradigms vying for control, which (rather neatly) breaks down into four groups vying for control: the Tradition, Technocracy, Nephandi and Marauders. The main groups in the game are the Tradition and Technocracy, a kinda magic vs science analogy.

But that's not quite right because Science is a form of Magick in this game. While the core book is written with the assumption that the players will be Tradition Mages, later sourcebooks expand the idea of playing Technocracy mages. Mr. Macklin points out rather nicely why this is a very cool aspect of the game.

My problem, one that I stated in the comments of Ryan's post, is that paradigm seems much more personal than a 'group think'. This individualistic point of view could spiral down into the various Traditions bickering and does not preclude in-house fighting. For a game, all this political positioning makes for cool play (not unlike the Camarilla of Vampire), but IMO doesn't serves the core principle of the game.

The subtitle of the game is 'The Ascension'. This could be interpreted in many ways, but I'm choosing to look at it in (for me) the traditional Sunday School mode - leaving the Earth behind to be raised up into Heaven. The game supports this with the Avatar trait. Remember, the Avatar is akin to the Mage's soul and a measure of how powerful their Magick can be. The highest rank of Avatar (10) equated to Enlightenment (and subsequently removal from play). But, as written, the game is really about (external) power and the struggles for even more (external) power (power = ultimate control of reality), not about Ascension as I see it.

All that is required to increase a PC's Avatar rating is XP. XP is gained through play and participation. Ok, but that doesn't seem very satisfying to me. For Ascension to mean something it must be achieved willingly, knowingly and, sometimes, at a price. There is a wealth of story potential in this idea. This is where I think I want to target my current RPG project: Closer to the Heart.

(Astute readers will notice this is not the name of the project I listed in my last post. It is still the same Game Chef 2008 game that I'm dusting off (Stigmata); I've just given it a new working title. It's still very much a moving target, but as I work to define it's purpose and scope, anything goes. Hopefully this name will stick for a while.)

Accumulating ranks in Avatar is very much like acquiring levels in D&D. Ultimately, there is nothing wrong with that approach if it supports the game's premise. If Mages increase their Avatar as they grow more powerful, so be it; but, if the Avatar is a measure of the Mage's understanding of their soul WHICH IN TURN grants more (internal) power as it rises, then the rules should reflect that struggle.

Nothing comes easy in life; it takes work and persistence. An inward journey of self-discovery and enlightenment is no different. Realization usually is the result of some event that produces an 'aha!' moment. So I think the raising rank of Avatar should also result from some in-game moment and not be relegated to a paperwork allocation of accumulated points. Just as the Vampire's Humanity slowly falls as a result of their failed actions to preserve their connection to the things that make them human, so should the rising Avatar struggle to climb as a result of the PC's actions.

I don't have anything more concrete at the moment to define this climb (or inward journey, as it were). This is part of my defining the scope of the game. I did have an opportunity to meet last week with my spiritual mentor and, while I did not make any progress on the mechanics of the game, I did come to the realization of broader aspects of the game:

The game is about helping people, not battling monsters
The characters in the game struggle against personal negative traits to increase their connection to their soul
The characters are trying to change the world and make it a better place
The game is about discovering and strengthening faith
The game has a personal cycle of progression that leads towards an endgame situation

I'll leave you with another source of my inspiration from the band Rush (the soundtrack to my life):

Closer to the Heart

Songwriters: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Peter Talbot, Neil Peart

And the men who hold high places

Must be the ones who start

To mold a new reality

Closer to the heart

The blacksmith and the artist

Reflect it in their art

They forge their creativity

Closer to the heart

Philosophers and ploughmen

Each must know his part

To sow a new mentality

Closer to the heart

You can be the captain

I will draw the chart

Sailing into destiny

Closer to the heart

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Happy GM's Day!

2010-03-04T12:20:00.000-05:00

Today, March 4th is GM's Day, a time to thank the ones behind the screen. I would extend this to all RPG publishers as well, because without them, we'd have less awesomeness to bring to the table. Speaking of publishers, DriveThruRPG is having a sale to celebrate this day. Unlike the actual day, their sale is going on for a few days more. Check out their list of downloadable games at 25% off (that's a Fourth off, get it?)

Don't forget it's still Read an RPG Book in Public week. This morning I was reading my copy of Mortal Coil at The Flying Joe, my favorite coffee shop in Perrysburg.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Read an RPG Book in Public Week

2010-03-03T14:06:00.001-05:00

Here's a picture of your's truly reading a book. In public. But not just any book. This is an RPG book (Mage: The Ascenction, 1st edition, if you must know). I had this photo taken today at one of my favorite coffee shop/used books stores in town: Grounds for Thought.

Why did I do this you ask? No, it wasn't to satisfy the curious that my hair is not multicolored as my Blogger profile pic presents. I did this as part of Read an RPG Book in Public Week. You can find all the details at TheEscapist.com's blog (link takes you to the blog post).

So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and read an RPG book in public and see it garners any attention. This is a great way to advocate for RPGs.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Journey of a thousand miles

2010-02-25T23:44:00.002-05:00

Dammit, Daniel, what the hell did you start? I've already talked about how Daniel's love letter to Vampire: The Masquerade inspired me to write about one of my early paradigm-breaking games: Ars Magica. Now Mike Laff has taken up the torch to tackle his take on Werewolf. THEN come to find out that none other than Ryan Macklin has a sweet spot for Mage: The Ascension, a game that is also near and dear to my heart and my favorite of the original World of Darkness games. Here's Daniel calling from his box seats encouraging Ryan to join in the fray, to which Ryan replies, "I have no time!" quickly followed by, "I will require some egging on, so you know."

Ryan, I just went to the store and got a dozen or so right here.

When Mage: The Ascension first came out, early publicity made it look like a modern take on Ars Magica where magic was stored on hard drives and spells could be sent through a telephone or fax. That in and of itself was quite cool. The game that came out was nothing close to that. Well, that's not exactly true, but the author himself stated that the game took a radical turn in an unplanned direction.

In the Bibliography of the first edition of the game, Stewart Wieck speaks of how reading Robert M. Prisig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance had an "unmistakeable effect on the design of this game." The game was no longer a game of modern magic, but became a search for Truth.

Mages awaken to the truth that reality is not static. If one has the proper vision and mindset and a little bit of know-how, reality can bend to the mage's will. At it's heart, this is no different than what Aleistar Crowley's definition of magick presented in Magick in Theory and Practice:

MAGICK is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.

But there is more to it than just that. There was a deeper Truth that each mage was seeking. Once awakened the soul, or Avatar as it was called in the game, would seek Enlightenment. Enlightenment was actually an achievable goal in the game. It was the title given to the highest ranking of Arete, the measure of a mage's skill in magic (I would say that Arete was the measure of the soul's belief in the Truth it was seeking).

How do I know that Mage is about seeking Truth. Stewart tells me so on pg. 21 of the first edition of the game (emphasis mine):

Mage characters are not the purveyors of parlor tricks and fireballs depicted by most traditional sources. Of course, in the course of day-to-day life, mages will most certainly evoke such magicakal manifestations - and would hardly be enjoyable roleplaying subjects if they did not. Even so, mages of the Storyteller System, and their magical powers, represent much greater philosophical truths.

Now here in the next sentence of the same paragraph is where I believe Mage: The Ascension drops the ball:

Such truths may never arise in a direct way within the game, but they permeate the setting nonetheless.

May never arise in a direct way? Why not? And what about Enlightenment and Ascension? It gets about a page worth of treatment that boils down to a process that a mage must go through to increase their Arete rating. I get the feeling in many games this was handled with a little hand-waving and a nod from the Storyteller (GM).

Please don't get me wrong. I LOVE Mage: The Ascension. I loved it enough to buy all the source material I could get my hands on. I do love the gothic punk setting with a little cyber-twist thrown in. But what happened to Mage seems to be the same thing that happened to Vampire (and possibly Werewolf): it became a game of super-powered lunatics battling across the universe. There were plenty of bad guys to fry with bolts of lightning and balls of fire.

To me, Mage was about a personal journey of discovery, possibly an inward journey reflected by the world around the mage. I can sum it up in a movie: The Matrix. When this movie first came out, I said to myself, "This is what Mage could have been." Neo's journey of self-discovered showed him the Truth. Yeah, I know, there were a lotta kick-ass fights and shit blowing up too. My point is, Mage could have been something more.

I think this urge to dig deeper into the Truth that Mages were seeking has been with me all the while. I never found a group to play the game in the style I was thinking. I think it all bubbled up during Game Chef 2008. In that year's event - the first and only such event I've participated in - I was inspired by Elizabeth Shoemaker's photographs to produce Stigmata: A Question of Faith. It is the only RPG design project that I have ever seen through to the end. It was a valuable learning experience in a number of ways, but I digress. I think Stigmata was what I wanted Mage to be: a search for Truth. In my game, Truth could only be found by helping others heal their pain which hopefully made your character's cross a little easier to bear.

I kid Daniel that it's all his fault, but really, I started on this path a while ago. A recent post from Shaun, the host of This Modern Death, regarding doing some productive project during the 40 days of Lent has me taking a turn down a path I've not visited in a while.

I like to think I'm a spiritual person, while maybe not being overly religious (a distinction that I have only recently begun to understand). But faith is something I've always struggled with. As a result of Shaun's post I've decided to dust off Stigmata and work on it again, this time with some help. I've approached a friend of mine, a mentor actually and the priest that performed my marriage ceremony, to help get some of the religious elements of the game straightened out.

After talking to him about this last week I was firmly settled that Stigmata was a game about a spiritual journey. He asked me who the game was for. I answered, "For me...right now." Then he asked me a surprising question: can a game BE a spiritual journey? That is my homework until we meet again to discuss my Lenten project.

Which brings me back to Mage and Ryan. I feel that Mage at its core is about a spiritual journey. Much of the language of the first edition was steeped in religious trappings: the path to Ascension was filled with Epiphanies and Avatar is just another word for soul not to mention the Celestial Chorus. So this all has deep meaning for me.

And Ryan, I'm not sure if this is egging you on or not. I don't even know if what I'm thinking of when I look at Mage is even close to what makes you love the game. I know you're a busy man and the last thing I want to do is add more stress to your life. But if you are passionate about exploring the core of Mage, then I'm offering to take the journey with you. No pressure, no deadline. Whenever, whatever.

Follow Your Bliss,

Elric Explored - Part 5: Magic

2010-02-11T13:09:00.001-05:00

I think this will be the last in my series before tackling the other side of the formula for my Icosa setting: Cthulhu. Magic in the Elric saga touches back on many of the previous parts of this exploration, but I wanted to give it it's own space to work through some ideas.

I've already spoken of the types of magic that result from summoning of elementals and other entities. This could be seen as channeling energy from other planes. In the Elric saga this is an exhausting task. The albino is not the only one who must rest after casting difficult spells. I'm not proposing any new systems here, I think the limit on spell casting is enough of a mechanic.

I still want to have 'regular' spell casting. The idea of learning ancient magic from dusty tomes fits right in. So I turned my attention to what is magic in general. Channeled energy is one form (which could work for clerical spells as well), but I want magic to be a force unto itself. I think magic will be Chaotic energy. Each spell is a formula master for directing Chaotic energy to perform a specific function. This seems to work well with the Vancian magic system of old school fantasy. Spells are limited by level because you can only hold so many in your mind at a time. As you progress in experience (levels) you are able to contain more spells including ones of a more powerful sort.

Spring-boarding off this idea I look back at my ancient civilizations and forward to Cthulhu. There will exist magic that is unlike anything currently in practice. These ancient spells could pose great danger to the caster (attribute/hit point loss) not to mention those around him - these spell are 'more' chaotic, if I can use that term. Gaining these spells will be the stuff of adventures. I think there will be spells of all levels that fall into this category, but more as you raise up in levels as well. This will require some research and play. I'm fortunate that S&W starts with a small list of spells, that it is easier to add on, rather than have to whittle away or reorganize a large list.

Another area that falls under the subject of magic are items of a magical nature. There are very few items in Elric that can be viewed from the traditional RPG sense as 'magic items'. Of course there is Elric's demon sword, Stormbringer as well as his Ring of Kings. But not much else. There was one mention of a suit of armor that was enspelled. This could have been a magical effect, like Mage Armor; I'm willing to go with that.

However, there were mention of items with a long history. For example, Elric starts out with the sword of Earl Aubec. We get a treat in the stories to go back in time to see Aubec use his sword. So what I'm proposing, is that most items of a magical nature are in fact items wielded by great historic icons. By being used in this way and passed down, they take on a magical quality over long periods of time. Most items in S&W are only +1 and that seems to fit. This also means that these 'named' items will have a history to them. adding to the depth of the world and setting. More work for me, but it's a lot of fun.

So this will bring the exploration of Elric to a close, even though I haven't finished the series as yet. I'll be turning my attention to the Cthulhu mythos soon.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Elric Explored - Part 4: Twilight Civilizations

2010-02-05T18:35:00.002-05:00

An interesting aspect of the Elric saga is that it takes place late in the history of that Earth. Elric's line has ruled for 10,000 years. The story often speaks of those that came before - the Doomed Folk. The Doomed Folk had an advanced civilization that rivaled anything that came after it - it may even have rivaled the gods. Magic, technology, nothing could compare to those halceon days millenia ago.

This is a theme that is found in much of the literature that inspired D&D. One only has to look to Jack Vance's Dying Earth novels (from which D&D gets its distictive style of spell casting) to see Earth in its last days as the sun slowly burns itself out.

The world of the advevturer is then ripe for exploring. There is now reason for there to be ruins; reason for delving deep in the earth for treasures long thought lost. This twilight world presents a mystery that cries out to be discovered.

Now, I have no desire (let alone the time) to catalogue thousands of years of history and geneologies like the good Professor Tolkien. I'm more then content to sketch out a few key events and leave the rest a mystery even to me.

Leaving big blank holes gives me room to add details as play progresses. I can take cues from the players and provide detail as needed. What is important here is having a solid framework to build on.

The framework is made up of those key events in the past. These events are designed to spark ideas rather than dictate history. They're jumping off points. It is also important to keep it loose because I do intend for there to be ways to travel to other times. If I paint in too much detail I may paint myself into a corner and not have any room for the players to explore and interact with the setting.

Another reason for leaving blank spots is that it requires less of the players to get up and running. The last thing I want is to have required reading before players can get going. Players need enough details so that they can make intelligent choices during character creation and the rest they learn as they go. Again, the setting info should act as inspiration not dictation.

Elements that will definitely be included are: a lost and sunken birthplace of civilation, powerful magic and technology of the ancients, forgotten civilizations still thriving in hidden realms, buried cities of wonder, and layer upon layer of history. The acumulated history that is somewhat acurate only goes back a few hundred years. Beyond that it's legends and rumors. And legend and rumors are meat and drink of hearty adventurers.

Next time on Exploring Elric: Magic!

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

How I learned to stop worrying and love Ars Magica

2010-02-05T18:29:00.001-05:00

Once again I'm inspired by Daniel Perez. His recent love letter to Vampire: The Masquerade has got me thinking of paradigm-shifting games I've played. And since this blog is about exploring my passion for RPGs I should probably talk about other games I've played besides D&D.

I was introduced to Ars Magica in 1987, soon after it's release. I was home after my horrible first year at Bowling Green State University. I was supposed to be working on my saxophone playing so I could re-apply to BGSU's School of Music. Instead I was floundering in indecision about my future.

I was spending much of the time I was not working one of my three jobs thinking about or playing AD&D with my friends. It was a time full of role-playing goodness. I had a subscription to Dragon magazine and devoured it's contents to learn new ways to expand play. It was in those pages that I first found Ars Magica.

I don't remember the issue and I have long since sold my back issues (and for that mater it could have been White Wolf magazine - if anybody knows, please let me know), but there was a short piece of fiction about a flame-wielding Magi. I like to believe that it was written by one of the games authors: Jonathan Tweet & Mark Rein•Hagen.

Anyway, the wizard in the story was unlike anything I'd read to that point. I found the use of magic in the story unlike anything in AD&D. After the artcle were two write-ups for the Magi. The first was a typical AD&D stat block. The other was for Ars Magica (AM).

I found the AM character sheet facinating, especially how the magic was portrayed as skills in various magical disciplines. Also, the AM Magi had mechanical elements on the character sheet to represent various disadvantages and story points. This is pretty commonplace now, but it was earth-shaking to me then.

I found an ad with information for ordering the game from an unknown company called Lions Rampant. I soon did the unthinkable: I ordered the book sight unseen on the merits of that story and the character sheet alone.

I received the book shortly before heading back to school at BGSU. I was living on campus while technically a Junior (uncool) and was working in a dorm as a Resident Advisor (even more uncool). I read the book cover to cover several times.

Even after reading it as I did i had a lot of questions. I found the address for the company and hand wrote a letter asking them all of my questions (this was before the Internet was the sprawling monstrosity it is today.

To my utter amazement I received a hand-written reply several pages in length (as I type this post I'm 25,000 ft in the air over Nebraska so I can't check to see which of the designers wrote the reply, I'll have to check when I get home - yes, I kept the letter inside the well-worn cover of the game book). He answered my questions point for point.

Let me point out here that Dragon magazine gave me the opportunity to write in letters and ask questions if I wanted. But that was D&D. I was very intimidated by the stature and history of that game and looked with hero-worship to Gary & crew. With AM I felt comfortable building a dialog - a relationship. I now know that this sort of relationship building is a staple of independent press games. I've heard Fred, Chad, Luke and others speak of it on several occasions. But back then...again, monumental.

Some of the things that made AM so cool in my mind: stats that were modifiers in and of themselves, impovisational magic, troupe style play, control of multiple characters in play and building the story colaborotively.

Sadly I only had one opportunity to run a game of it. My college AD&D group obliged me and let me start. We never got past character creation. Maybe I built it up too much. Maybe it requires a bigger buy-in from players. Whatever the case, it is one game that i regret never pursuing further.

But I think there is still time. I think I'll dust it off and see if the magic still exists between the covers. In it's day it was avant guard. Today is it passé? We'll see.

Next time, more Exploring Elric: Twilight Civilizations!

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Update: Find Ars Magica 4th Edition PDF free here at the Atlas Games site. Also includes free adventures, campaign and character sheets. No excuse now, time to Creo Ignem.

The Lost Lake of Eagles Peak

2010-02-02T21:54:00.000-05:00

While Tweeting about my travels this week, the esteemed Daniel Perez, of The Gamer Traveler fame, threw a challenge my way:

Your mission: find one thing from your travel and blog about it as inspiration for a game.

So I heartily took up this challenge. Travel is a great way to get inspiration for any of a variety of endeavors, including gaming. A recent family trip to Hawaii helped me formulate the Black and Burning Wastes of the Beast Men for Icosa (no, faithful readers, you didn't miss anything, I haven't gotten that far in the setting to blog about it yet). But here is what I came up with from this current trip: The Lost Lake of Eagles Peak. First the fact, and then the fiction.

I settled on Lost Lake, Park Range, Eagle County, Colorado. It is near where I'm staying, although work prohibits me from visiting it. I took the information from the linked page and let my mind wander...

"Old miners tell of the Lost Lake hidden somewhere in the lofty summits of Eagles Peak. Legend tells of the a dried up lake that once in a great while - in the dead of winter when the stars and planets are in proper alignment - will house an expansive frozen lake and the abode of Isrisator, the Ice Titan. When the time is right, his towering ice castle, Islinna, can be seen reflecting the scintillating colors of the Aurora Borealis.

"Finding the Lost Lake will not be an easy escapade. Even if an intrepid band of adventurers is able to gain passage through the foothills of the ram-headed Beast Men of Vorland, they must also contend with the Stone Giants that roam the mountains. And if they are lucky enough to get by the dim witted giants there are always the Giant Eagles for which the peaks are named.

"Monstrous obstacles are not the only things that adventurers must contend with, oh no. They must battle the bitter cold and the thinning air as they climb higher and higher. If they have an expert guide they mayhap avoid bringing down a thundering avalanche of snow that will surely doom their party. And finally, they must deal with Isrisator himself.

"Isrisator is touted as a wizard mastering all forms of magic dealing with snow and ice. If the adventurers are lucky, they will only be transformed to ice statues and put on display in the vast sculpture garden that surrounds Islinna. If unlucky, they will be flayed alive by Isrisator's ice hounds for sport...or worse.

"But, if they are well prepared and press any advantages they can muster, there is untold wealth to be had in the depths of Islinna. Greatest of all the treasure is the fabled Mirror of Zoorziet with the ability to gaze upon any where and any when. But be quick, or be transported away to whatever plane Isrisator calls home when not among the Eagle Peaks."

*****

The planar conjunction which causes the Lost Lake of Isrisator appear is caused by a merging of the Negative, Air and Water planes - actual frequency of this event is left up the game master. As such, it is easier to summon elementals of those planes or of the para-elemental plane of Ice. In addition, all spells whose effects deal with cold or ice are maximized (maximum duration and damage as appropriate).

Isrisator is indeed a Titan sorcerer specializing in snow, ice and illusionary magic. His motivations and concerns are left up to the game master to determine to suit their campaign. If he is benign, Isrisator can be a great font of information; if not, he can be a terrible foe.

The Mirror of Zoorziet is a frozen pool in the lowest dungeon of Islinna. As such it cannot be removed from the castle without destroying it. However, the castle dungeons can contain great treasures from many planes and worlds as suits each individual campaign.

Other hooks for seeking the Lost Lake can include:

Seeking the spell Ice to Flesh to restore a party member to health
Seeking an ancestor that was believed to be made an ice statue in Isrisator's frozen sculpture garden
Seeking the perfect snowflake as a material component for spell, ritual or enchantment
Summoning a Lord from the planes of Water, Air or Ice
Gaining access to same said planes
Creating uniquely powerful undead
Learning the secret of immortality
Destroying a cursed magic item by shattering it against the diamond-hard frozen lake

I'm pleased with the outcome of this little mind exercise and look forward to placing it in Icosa.

Daniel, this one's for you. I hope your day gets better soon.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Elric Explored - Part 3: Law vs Chaos

2010-02-01T22:59:00.001-05:00

One of the central themes of the Elric saga is the constant battle between Law and Chaos. These two forces are personified by various Lords of godly power.Their push and pull causes the friction which turns the wheels of the worlds and keeps things in motion. In re-reading these stories I find I like this as a backdrop.

Michael Moorcock credits Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword and Three Hearts, The Lions as the inspiration for the forces of the Higher Worlds that inhabit the Eternal Champion's multiverse. In these stories Chaos is more than just evil and Law is more than just the good guys. These are primal forces at work.

It helps that Swords & Wizardry uses Law and Chaos as the default alignments. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons with its nine different alignments seems to be too much over thinking. There is a beauty to the simplicity of the Law vs. Chaos dichotomy. And yet, it's not just a morality play. By taking the ideas of Good and Evil out of the equation, Law and Chaos achieve and almost elemental aspect.

And while they battle it out, it is not anything that one side should ever win. If either side wins it could be the end of everything, as put so well but Orunlu the Keeper, minion of Chaos, in The Weird of the White Wolf:

"We exist only to fight - not to win, but to preserve the eternal struggle."

Orunlu may actually be more astute than the higher Lords of Chaos which seem determined that this is a war to be won. Which just goes to show that even gods look at things through a lens colored by their (warped) perception.

Which brings us to the concept of the Cosmic Balance. Some would argue this is simply the Neutral alignment, but I don't think so. Neutral is just coasting along, neither caring nor worrying about the struggle. Being committed to Balance takes work. Sadly, Balance doesn't get a lot of screen (page) time in the Elric stories, but that's ok, because the real action is between the two big guns.

Finally there is the question of freewill. Elric feels that he doesn't have such a thing. He labors under a destiny placed on him by his patron deity in addition to his mantle as the Eternal Champion. If he had his druthers, he would be back in the palace with Cymoril leading a 'normal' existence as king of his people. That doesn't make for good fiction, so I'm glad things turned out the way they did, because I really enjoy the stories as written.

So what does this mean for Icosa? Well, since this is an Old School Sandbox setting, it is important for the PCs to feel free to go wherever they wish and follow what ever path they desire. This doesn't sync well with the notion put forth in the books about a hero's destiny. Heck, we don't even know if the PCs will be heroes. So how to reconcile the two concepts?

In Icosa, all PCs will start 1st level as Neutral, or to put in it in 4E terms, Unaligned. A PC may choose to align with Law or Chaos at any point after completing first level. This works on a couple of levels. First Clerics (not sure what form they'll take in Icosa, but for now we'll assume that it is as written in SnW) do not get any spells at 1st level. They must prove themselves to their deity to gain the spells and thereby lock in their alignment. If they do not act in accordance with their intended alignment, they may stay Neutral and progress in hit points and such, but not gain spells until they are able to show their commitment.

Second, there is no pressure to play a certain way. The players make decisions for the characters and these decisions will slowly accumulate over time to reveal a tendency toward one or the other alignment. Also, this process will lead to consequences based on their choices. A player may not believe that his character is Chaotic, but he may sit up and take notice when he is visited by a demon to be recruited into the ranks of Chaos.

This is all still very sketchy. I'm toying with the idea that characters that summon demons must be Chaotic, but that is still a little ways away. Ultimately I want the process of Alignment to be organic not something that gets locked in and seen as a limit on play. For those that think this approach ignores 'plot' in Old School settings I think that James Maliszewski of Grognardia fame says it best here.

Another thing that this struggle implies is that the Lords of Law and Chaos are involved in the affairs of men. At the very least they will be providing spells to their Clerics and dreams and portent to their followers. If the PCs play their cards right the Lords may even put in an appearance. That's something worth looking forward to.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Elric Explored - Part 2: Planes

2010-01-24T17:52:00.000-05:00

Another staple of the Elric stories that I'm particularly fond of is the concept of many and varied planes of existence. This concept goes to the heart of the Eternal Champion stories. The planes take many shapes and forms. These were no doubt the inspiration of the inner and outer planes of ADnD.

First there are the elemental planes, inhabited by the four classical types of elements: earth, wind, fire and water. Elric visits these on occasion and summons elemental minions to do his bidding from these planes throughout the saga. The elemental planes are 'close' to some planes and 'further' from others. There appears to be no set hierarchy as to the organization and location of these elemental planes. Passage to and from these elemental planes happens most frequently through the corresponding Earthly element (travel through the sea to get to the plane of water, etc.).

The next most common type of plane is that of alternate timelines. The Eternal Champion exists in all the various versions of Earth; each one of these versions is a distinct plane that can be traveled to. Sister to this type of plane is the concept of time as a plane. This provides the possibility of travelling to the past or the future not only within one's own plane but other planes as well.

Then there are all the various realms of Limbo and discarded dimensions inhabited by all manner of men, beasts and demons. The possibilities seem limited only by the writer's imagination. Again, no order or pattern can be discerned. The relationship between each plane is unique as are the properties covering the physical and magical laws of a plane.

There is one last type of plane in these stories, the eternal city of Tanelorn. This city exists in all planes throughout time. It is the final quest of many heroes seeking rest from their adventures. This could be viewed as a mobile plane of sorts, it's location within a given plane may be static (beyond the Weeping Wastes), but it may not always be accessible. From within the city it may appear that inhabitants can exit the city to visit a variety of planes depending on where they happen to be 'anchored' at the moment. This last one is a favorite of mine because it matches thematically with one of my favorite comic book settings: K'un L'un, the birth place of Iron Fist.

Looking at SnW White Box I see that there is no spell for travelling between planes; this is as it should be. SnW has its feet firmly planted in the Old School Renaissance which holds that the adventurers should be heroic, but not superheroic. Heroes who can plane-hop at will is the stuff of comic books. Adventurers of the OSR do travel to other planes, but I see these trips are accidental or arranged by some powerful entity; they are not the stuff of everyday fare.

So this begs the question of how the PCs will be able to access these planes. First there needs to be natural conduits to various planes closely associated to the prime plane of the PCs. This could be a deep sea tunnel that leads to the elemental plane of water, a dark dungeon cavern leading to the elemental plane of earth, and so forth. Also natural conduits should exist to different times and alternate worlds. The most common means of this in the Elric stories is becoming lost at sea; the Seas of Fate bridge worlds and times.

Another means of access would be through powerful entities or agencies. Demons, elementals and beast lords may be able to provide access to various planes. Agents of a particular power may have a magical device that allows passage through the planes - again, the black ship that sails the Seas of Fate is a good example of this variety.

Spells that access various planes are not out of the question, but I would like to limit this as much as possible. Certain planes may be more accessible through spells than others, or may only be accessible at certain times or only through great sacrifice. This will remain to be seen as development progresses.

Finally the eternal city brings an interesting possibility to the mix. Since this city can theoretically be any 'where' and any 'when' it provides the possibility of players creating any imaginable character as well as a way of accessing many planes. There was a time that this would have really bugged me when preparing a campaign. The concept is too big for most games, I didn't want to have Jedi running around in my quasi-medieval world. But now, with a few more years under my belt, I'm not so sure that it bugs me. One final benefit of the eternal city, it provides me with a way of explaining why there would be a monk in a quasi-medieval setting.

Adventurers-from-other-worlds has a solid foundation in fantasy literature: the D&D players in Quag Keep, Holger Carlsen in Three Hears, Three Lions, John Carter Warlord of Mars. Murlynd, one of the hero-gods of Greyhawk is clearly from Earth's wild west. So I'm in good company here.

The Deities & Demigods books of ADnD was the first to put a basic form and order to the inner and outer planes. These concepts were later formalized in the Manual of the Planes. Both of these are fine works, but I feel they are too rigid for Icosa. I may be borrowing some concepts - elemental, etheral and astral planes - but I think I'll keep things loose and flexible. This will let me handle things on a case by case basis. This may need more firming up when giving more depth to the Contact Other Plane spell.

Next time around I'll be looking at the battle between Law and Chaos.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

If You're Not...

2010-01-21T09:32:00.002-05:00

I woke up this morning to read a most awesome post by Judd at Githyanki Diaspora. In that post he puts forth that if you are not having the best gaming of your life then you F***ed up. I'll let you read it in his words and let that sink in for a minute.

...

I used to think that my best gaming days were those during college - those carefree halcion days; not any more. I feel like every game I run these days is awesome. Not awesome in the sense of a 'perfect' game, but in the sense of being totally invested, totally at-the-table.

My one regret is that I don't play as much any more; I'm almost always the GM. And you know what? I F***ed up. It is totally on me that I haven't gone out and actively pursued more gaming opportunities as a player. You can bet I'll be rectifying that.

So I ask you, are you having the best gaming of your life? If not, why not and what do you plan to do about it?

Follow your bliss,
JJ

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Elric Explored - Part 1: Elementals

2010-01-20T13:58:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I posted about my desire to create an original sandbox setting (codename Icosa) to explore with my players. I posted this simple formula: campaign = Elric + Cthulhu + OD&D. Well not it's time to start taking this apart and seeing what makes this formula tick in my mind starting with the first variable for inspiration: Elric.

I'm re-reading the series of books about the albino Eternal Champion by Michael Moorcock to get reaquainted with the setting. I read it long ago and found many things I liked about it. Back then I had approached the series as a result of the appendix in the DMG. Now I'm going through the stories again with more of an eye toward what elements (no pun intended) I like most and would like to use in Icosa. I feel this is an important first step to help me focus the tone of the setting. I can also then compare the elements I want to the game system to see what is supported and what needs further fleshing out.

Let me make it clear to start off with that I am NOT trying to recreate the Elric saga in my sandbox. That's already been done quite well and I have no illusions to outstrip that excellent game. I only want to borrow those bits and pieces that I (and hopefully my players) find cool.

Another reason I want to start this way is I like to design top-down. This may seem counter intuitive given the exploratory nature of sandbox play, but I need that top-down framework to provide the structure to work within. It establishes boundaries and gives me something to build upon. Hopefully that keeps things from feeling too random. I do plan to leave plenty of places to explore and discover as a result of play. To begin with, some areas of the world will only have a sentence or two at most to give it flavor without dictating reams of history. If you catch me creating long (ala Tolkien appendices) genealogies or histories feel free to call me on that. So let's get started...

The world Elric inhabits has a close relationship with elementals. By elementals I mean not only the four classics (earth, wind, fire and water) but also the animal elementals, those primal beings that are the epitome of their type. These beings are powerful entities that are called upon to do various things for those summoning them. Included under this heading are the demons that are summoned as well. These otherworldly elementals are fearsome and a powerful tool of any sorcerer.

Elric interacts not only with the more basic types of elementals, but with their kings as well. This presents a hierarchy of power that could prove interesting to tap into. PCs could make bargains at lower levels with some of the more pedestrian of the elementals and work their way up the chain as they gain power and experience.

Swords & Wizardry (SnW) has Conjure Elemental as a 5th level magic-user spell, something only a potent magic-user of high level can cast. This fits in for the most powerful of their type, but I posit a more diverse strata of beings, something that magic-users at various levels can tap into (role-playing possibilities galore) as they gain levels. This points to a possible variant of the magic-user that deals specifically with these other worlders (perhaps with charisma as prime requisite) or perhaps a customization of spell lists.

Elementals could also be a possible source of magic (a more thorough exploration of magic is required another time): Levitate is performed by calling on air elementals and Wall of Fire by calling on their fiery cousins. Also there is the obvious need for stating the various elementals that the PCs can interact with. SnW has the basics but a little more variety can go a long way to spicing up play and exploration. In all cases (spells/class/monster) SnW provides an open framework for developing these ideas.

I hope the inclusion and use of these elementals will help bring a facet of the fantastic to this setting: both dangerous and exotic like the fey of old. I want players to look forward to and, at the same time, fear interactions with the Elementals of Icosa.

As a final note, I'm looking for a name for this campaign. I want it to be something 'pulpy' for lack of a better term. I'm not too worried about it at this point. I'm sure something will spring to mind as I continue to explore the setting.

10 reasons I'm thrilled my child is a role-playing game geek

2010-01-17T10:49:00.000-05:00

The following was posted by a friend on facebook and reprinted here with her permission:

I love my 7-year old Dungeons & Dragons, World-of-Warcraft Geek boy!! Here are some of the reasons why role playing games (and [my son]) rock...

1. Vocabulary Aquisition, using words like adjacent and dexterity if everyday conversations.

2. Leadership and Groupwork Skills, choosing abilities that will help the entire group succeed and choosing actions based on what will benefit the team.

3. Bad Ass Math Practice, subtracting hit points, understanding probability, and quickly tallying the most damage you can do with any combination of dice.

4. History Linkages, knowing way more than necessary about medieval weaponry and armor.

5. Quality Family Time, playing with mom, dad, [aunts and uncles]

6. Computer and Techonology Skills, helping brothers and friends create characters on dad's laptop, surfing the web for information and interesting youtube clips

7. Research, always looking things up in monster manuals and dungeon master's guides

8. Appreciating Mythology and Folklore, look out Homer!

9. Decision-making and good sportsmanship, let the dice fall how they may.

10. Passion, that gets him up at 6:00am on a Saturday so he can tell his mom all about the quest that they will begin that evening. Gotta love when sitting down and talking with mom ranks higher than playing the Wii.

Well said, thanks for letting me share this on my blog.

Follow Your Bliss,

JJ

Back to the beginning...again

2010-01-15T13:08:00.001-05:00

In my New Year's Resolutions I talked about creating a new Old School campaign. Now I already run the Back 2 Basics campaign for my sons and our friends. This is using the D&D Rules Cyclopedia which is a wonderful system and I really have no complaints. I am using the out-of-print Karameikos setting so that I can run some classic modules (like B2 Keep on the Borderlands, X1 Isle of Dread and the Dave Arneson's DA1-3 Adventures in Blackmoor). This should keep us going for a while. Any play in my new setting will be outside this regular play.

Having these ready to run modules had been great because I can focus on play at the table with minimal prep work. However, it lacks a little bit of luster to me as a DM. I like to feel I'm creating something besides the play at the table. So I want to create my own setting.

As a result of this look back into my roots of gaming I've fallen in love with the Old School Renaissance. This has lead me to looking hard at all the retro-clones out there to pick from. It's wonderful that all are available for free download in a digital version, because now I can (legally) make copies for my players. The way we play now is all using the same book.

The version I am settling on is Swords & Wizardry White Box. I love how wide open it feels. I've also been doing a LOT of reading of Old School blogs and found many different ways to adapt the game to my needs. I think my goal will be to start with the White Box and add any information freely found on the web and then add original material as needed.

To me it is important to pick the system first because I feel the system flavors the setting. Since I've been reading so much of the inspirational material for D&D (books listed in the appendix of the DMG) it seems to make sense to go back to the beginning: OD&D. White Box is a good fit and feels the most right for what I want to do.

I think I'll be using Obsidian Portal again to keep track of the campaign world as it is built. I like its tools and I feel it provides an easy way to access the information. Once play begins I will be posting play reports in the Adventure Logs. I'll also be linking to any inspirational materials as is appropriate. For now the formula for the campaign = Elric + Cthulhu + OD&D.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Tweeting...for what it's worth

2010-01-12T12:52:00.000-05:00

I don't make it a habit of posting non-gaming related items in this blog, but I have to make a shout-out to Daniel who has been telling me for a while I should be on Twitter. I could never see the point - it was just one more way to social network and I needed another one of those like I need a one-sided die.

But after some prodding on his part I made the leap last week. I have to say it is quite fun. It was made even more enjoyable now that I tied it all together so that I'm covering facebook, tweets and notices of blog posts into one interface (for the technically minded see below).

So, for what it's worth, if you enjoy this blog and want to keep the conversation flowing, then feel free to look me up on Twitter: @CinderellaManJJ.

Technical note - I have my Twitter account set to send my status updates to facebook as well, which kills two birds with one stone. I follow tweets using TweetDeck on my PCs and iPhone. I also created a bit.ly account to manage and track all my shortened URLs. Finally, again with a recommendation from Daniel, I've set up TwitterFeed so I can automatically tweet and update facebook when I publish a blog post. I'm still learning all the syntax, but I'm having a good time of it.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

You can't say that!

2010-01-11T13:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, so Orclord and Canon Puncture seem to be my Muse of late. The same post that set my mind down the path thinking (and posting) about character death has now got me thinking about Out Of Character (OOC) dialog. This also relates tangentially to my last post.

At some game tables it is frowned upon to speak out of character. I have played in one game where all OOC conversation was signified by placing you hand on your forehead in the 'loser L' symbol. Very degrading, but did little to stem the flow of OOC.

The thing about RPGs is that they are cooperative. Players work together (usually) to complete common story goals - empty the dungeon, save a bus full of school children from dropping off the bridge, slay all the vampire you can find. Nowhere is it written that a player cannot make a suggestion to another player. "You may want to back your fighter up a step to set your spear for that charge."

Rarely have I been at the table where everyone (players not characters) is at the same level of experience when it comes to a specific game. In my current Back 2 Basics campaign I have two adults, one that has extensive 3.5 gaming experience (remember, we're playing Basic D&D here), the other that has mostly played MMORPGs. Of the three kids playing, my two boys have been gaming for roughly 4 years, while my friend's son is just starting out.

I think it's important for experienced players to share their knowledge with the newer player. This takes many forms: rolling up a character, choice of spells, where to take position in the battle to make best use of the character's weapon. There is still a lot of room for in-character talk at the right moments, and while I don't like the 'loser L' approach it is nice if you can somehow differentiate which talk is in or out of character.

Now at tables that feature more role-play may want to keep non-character chatter to a minimum. I get this. Unfortunately this often happens when only certain players are involved in a scene. In fact, it may be very important to keep distractions down so that the players in the scene can give it their full attention. Be respectful of others when they are in-character. If at all possible, hold your OOC comments until after the scene.

But there are times you just have to speak up. For example, what if one of the characters is trying to get past a guard by bluffing his way through. Perhaps the player forgot an important piece of information that will improve his chances. If appropriate you should remind the player of this info. What I don't like when this happens is that you inevitably hear, "Your can't say that! You're not there!"

My personal response is that this is a game, and players help each other out. If you want to be completely immersive then find a LARP to join. It is one thing to speak in character and do a cool voice, but is another to get all thespian on it. Let me be clear, that I'm talking about MY style of play here, not any recommended procedures. Your mileage may vary.

Another case in point. Last night one player wanted to break formation so that he could take a bow shot at an orc that closed with him. The other players started telling him not to do that because he would potentially expose the magic-user to an attack. It started getting heated and I had to quite it down. I reminded everybody that every player is free to make a suggestion to any other player, but that it is up to each individual player to decide what their character is doing at a given moment. When asked what he wanted to do, the player continued with his action of taking the step back. (The magic-user did not get attacked because all the orcs were dispatched before they could attack).

What I'm trying to say is that OOC should never be used to bully another player into doing something. I saw a player who insisted on sticking his hand into a snake nest to grab an egg, even after all the players voiced opinons that this was not a good move. One failed saving throw later and the player learned a valuable lesson. No one forced him to keep his hand out and the player had complete control of his character all the way up to the very end.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Quoteable Gygax

2010-01-11T12:37:00.002-05:00

The following is from p. 25 of B2 Keep on the Borderlands by Gary Gygax (emphasis mine) in a section entitled Tips to Players:

Arguing among players will cause delays, attract monsters, and often result in the deaths of some or all of the members.

Wow, talk about a tough campaign! I mean, Gary brought monsters in to get rid of his most argumentative players! Reminds me of that scene from The Gamers movie that took TPK to a new level.

All kidding aside, this is more to illustrate the point of how little difference was made in early publications between the players and the characters in the game. I see this as another point in the argument that Old School games were meant to challenge the players and not their characters. Hence no lengthy tables of skills and feats.

Stories and Games

2010-01-11T11:09:00.000-05:00

I got a nice compliment last night by a friend in our Back 2 Basics campaign. I had asked him to follow up with his son about what the son found interesting and fun in our sessions. His son, age 8ish, is being introduced to RPGs through this campaign and I was looking for some feedback. Anyway, the compliment was that the son liked the stories I told when we played.

I said thank you for the compliment, but have been chewing on it all morning. I'm glad that he's having fun, but he's not getting the buy-in. He's creating the story as well. This is his story. Maybe this is a concept that is too big to tackle at that age or maybe I just need to be more straight forward and say that "Hey guys, this is your story!" I'll let you know how it goes.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

Character Death

2010-01-07T22:45:00.000-05:00

A recent post by Orclord and the resulting comments following the post has me thinking about character death in RPGs. It's a touchy subject and reactions vary by individual. I'm not proposing that I have any of the answers to the question of how to handle character death, but rather just exploring some of my thoughts and feelings on the subject.

One of the things that may affect the way a player reacts to this situation is based on how they are approaching the game. Putting on our RPG theory glasses, lets look at those approaching a game using Step on up (Gamism). In this approach the player may see the character as a resource, something that is controled and changed over the course of play. Losing a resource can be a major set-back; all the time spent acquiring experience points, gold, equipment, magic items, or what have you is lost and you must start over again.

This often isn't too big of deal because it was (hopefully) a fun ride getting the character to this point. It may be no worse that landing on a chute and having to work your way back up the ladder (to use a board game analogy); whip up a new character and more fun is on its way. If, however, the individual happens to be a very competitive person, then this could be a hard hit; they may be feeling like they just 'lost' the game.

I've been there. I've had a couple of characters that I've spent a lot of time on and then lost them to in-game death. When they died it really was a lot like losing a hard-fought competition. The worst was an AD&D campaign run by my friend Hank. We had a definite win condition: free our tribe from the desert. We died in the battle of the gatehouse and our people would not be released. It was pretty crushing and was, in fact, the end of the campaign so it was doubly hard. I did have a great time playing and though we never got into the double-digit levels he was one of my favorite characters. Stepping back I can look at the whole campaign as a tragic story, which leads me to my next point of view.

From a Story Now (Narrativism) perspective a character death must be viewed from the larger vantage point of the story that is being created through play. If the death served a purpose to further the plot of the story then it would likely not be a big issue for the player; it may be view with great enthusiasm for being able to achieve a sense of pathos in the game. If, however, the death had no story tie-in, then it may seem like a senseless waste and be very difficult to rebound from.

A lot of this will depend upon the game system used. Many indie rpgs give players lots of Story Now opportunities and greater control over plot. Sandbox play leads to Story After (making a story out of the actions that the characters experienced), but there is some opportunity for Story Now based on those occasions when a player chooses to let their character die. I had a first level character who, with very few hit points left, willingly sacrificed himself in order to delay the villain so the party could escape (ask me over a drink sometime, I love to tell stories). This was a character death I did not lament and I think that shocked the DM that someone would do that willingly.

That brings me to The Right to Dream (Simulationism) in which players will deeply immerse themselves into the character they are portraying. This is potentially one of the most difficult player deaths to deal with. If the game system is one supporting Story Now and the player has some control over the plot then they may deem it best for the character to die to fit the needs of the story. Like the example above, this shouldn't be a problem.

The problem comes when the death is unexpected (as most character deaths in traditional RPGs tend to be). In this case, the character is not a resource or a tragic protagonist in a story; the character is a loved one, cherished and adored. This can result in very emotional outbursts and possible fits of depression. In John Coyne's book Hobgoblin, the book opens with the protagonist playing Hobgoblin, a D&D-esque game. His character, a 20th level paladin, is killed as a result of an unlucky roll (ain't that the way it always happens). This is mirrored against the sudden death of the protagonist's father - illustrating (in my mind, at least) the level of loss the protagonist was feeling over his most beloved character.

Now you may be saying, 'Alright already! It's a game, fer cryin' out loud! Get a life!' Yes, this may be true. A good separation of fantasy from reality goes a long way to lessening the sting of a character death. However, I offer you this position: creating a player character for an RPG is like any creative endeavor - you invest a piece of yourself into it. There is no greater form of sympathetic magic. Add to this the time an energy spent on a character that has been played for a very long time and it is exponentially more difficult to divest yourself from those feelings.

Now, how can the blow of a character death be lessened? The best thing in my bag o' tricks is to talk about the game before you sit down to play; some folks like to call this a Social Contract. Before play, talk about the game, talk about the setting, talk about the genre and talk about the characters. Let players know how death works in your game. Let them know if there are any safety nets for character death, such as resurrection spells or cloning. This will go a long way to helping players keep character death in perspective.

And even then, all the prep in the world may not be enough to alleviate the pain of a character death. If you are bothered by your character's death, talk about it as a group or talk to your game master. And as they say, time (and a good psychotherapist) does heal all wounds.

Out with the old and in with the new

2010-01-05T12:41:00.004-05:00

Well, it is time to get started again: new year, new resolutions. Inspired by the latest Canon Puncture Podcast, I'm hoping by posting my gaming & blogging related resolutions here I will have more accountability to sticking to what I say. Even though this is a time for new beginnings, a friend reminded me that everyday is a fresh chance to start over or continue working on your goals.

To make this a little easier I'm breaking down my resolutions into New Things, Improvements and Continuing Items. Without further ado...

New Things

I want to run at least three different games at conventions over the course of this year. I may run the same game at more than one convention, but I'd like to try to vary what it is that I'm running. Current candidates are Swords & Wizardry Whitebox, InSpectres, Faery's Tale and Demigods (see below).
I want to put together a free RPG for use in libraries based on the Percy Jackson series of books as a way to tie RPGs into reading. This will be a re-skinning of John Harper's Ghost/Echo which provides a simple and easy-to-teach framework for a storytelling game.
I will begin developing, playing and documenting an original Old School setting suitable for play with Swords & Wizardry Whitebox. All this exploring into my gaming roots has caused me to be bitten by the Old School Renaissance bug.
I want to run at least 4 introductory RPG sessions in a library. I felt I had great success with my last one and hope to continue the trend.
I want to run RPGs for children under the age of 10. I may do this as part of my convention play, playing in libraries or playing with children of my friends.
I want to start illustrating my RPG play. This means art for any setting/game material as well for any campaigns I'm running/playing. This is my personal challenge for Creative Every Day 2010. I found this through my friend Mick Bradley and thought this was a worthwhile pursuit. While most of what I do in this blog is creative, I, inspired by Mick, wanted to push myself further. I'll be posting my results for all to see.

Improvements

I was posting on average about 4 times a month on this blog. I would like to up that to averaging 8 posts a month. Posting has helped me in working out a better understanding about what I like in RPGs.
I want to post adventure logs more regularly for my current campaigns. I started off fine at Obsidian Portal and then dropped off. I would like to post from both the GM and Player perspective for all my campaigns. I'll cross-link here for anyone interested in following my actual play.
At the close of last year I had started contributing to the Games in Libraries Podcast. This year I have stepped up as host and audio editor for the podcast. This will most likely be an annual rotating position, but I wanted to make sure this great podcast continued to reach listeners so I stepped up my participation.
I want to step up my participation in conversations related to my RPG passion, whether it be posting comments on blogs or forums. I will continue participate at The Escapist, Kids-RPG and look for a good forum for some Old School discussions.
I hope to be more disciplined in logging what I'm reading that is RPG related. I started off using an app in Facebook, but now, thanks to Daniel Perez's suggestion, I'm using GoodReads which has had the added benefit of putting me in touch with what my friends are reading.

Continuing Items

I want to continue regular play as both GM and player in campaigns with my children and friends.
I will continue to learn and explore my RPG passion though gaming, blogging and podcasting.
I will continue to strive for a good balance in all my endeavors. While I have only listed my RPG related resolutions I will be working on resolutions for other areas of my life as well.

Follow Your Bliss,

Being loud!

2009-12-17T15:30:00.002-05:00

Sometimes someone on the internet says something so eloquently and completely that is seems pointless to try to add to it. These types of posts resonate at some core level with your spirit - simpatico. Such is the case with a post from Fred Hicks.

One of the reasons I started this blog was to do some soul-searching using the backdrop of RPGs. In the process I found things that I really love to do - talking and playing RPGs. As a result I've been finding others of like mind and beginning some dialogs with these folks. I found that I really enjoy this aspect of blogging very much and have started doing more posting of comments on other's blogs. I hope others will take the opportunity to be silent no more, to talk about the things you love and share ideas. Find a blog or forum you like and start talking or start a blog of your own. Be Loud!

I want to thank all the readers who have taken the time to comment on this blog over the last six months; I'm just getting started and hope to improve my blog-fu with more practice in the New Year. Wow, six months. It sounds weird to say (type) that out loud. I'm proud of being able to post on a semi-regular basis and hope to improve the regularity and frequency in 2010.

Now, having said all that I wanted to let any regular readers of my blog know that I will be taking a short break from active blogging; I am going to spend some quality time with my family. I'm going to unplug and play and sing and be silly. I hope to come back in the New Year recharged and rejuvenated - I have a good feeling about 2010. I want to do more to update readers of any projects I'm working on as well as dreams I'm looking to make real. I'll be using my own gaming as a way to talk about the things I like and the things I don't, the things I do well and the things I need to work on. And I hope to hear from any readers that find what I have to say interesting.

Wishing everyone a warm season's greeting, a fruitful new year and remember to always follow your bliss,

The world is not a 1st level dungeon

2009-12-08T13:47:00.005-05:00

If you had asked me a year ago if I was an 'old-school' gamer I would have answered yes, primarily based on when I started gaming. But since I've started my Back to Basics campaign I've been doing a little reading and realized that when I started didn't matter as much as how I played. Based on what I've read (Grognardia, Retro Roleplaying, and the Quick Primer for Old School Gaming) I feel that I can now say with certainty that I was an RPG Grognard.

One example of this is the concept of a sandbox in old school RPGs. A sandbox represents an area in the game world where the players may freely interact with the environment. The GM creates a locale with many areas keyed for possible encounters. This is less story-focused than most games today. Players would wander about and trigger an encounter if they went to the right place.

In this approach, there is nothing that requires the GM to only put 1st level encounters surrounding the starting point for the campaign. Now some new players (especially if they have any experience with MMORPGs) may be asking why would you do that? Why put a potentially Total-Party-Killing encounter right outside the characters' front door? I used to wonder that too, until I got schooled by a true Grognard.

I had the privilege of playing in Hank's campaign during my last two years in college. Hank lived on my floor in the dorm and I quickly learned that he and others on the floor played AD&D, so we started a group. Hank was a frustrating player because he had an idedic memory and could quote from Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters' Guide and all Monster Manuals. I had to resort to creating a lot of new material to keep him guessing, but that is a story for another time.

Hank invite me and a few of the players from our group to play in his original fantasy world. We were nomads who were trying to escape the desert. Every year the nomads send a small party of adventurers beyond the mountains surrounding the desert to find a way to open the portal blocking the only overland passage in or out of the dessert.

His world was not a 1st level world; he even warned us of that. Before we were 5th level (the highest level we ever reached before dying in the Battle of the Gate) we were negotiating with shadow demons, devils, high level magic-users and all manner of potentially party-killing encounters. But we survived (for the most part). We learned to play by our wits. We negotiated, bargained and worked out all manner of deals to prepare for the battle at the gate. We planned and prepared spells and tactics. We made alliances and hunted for magic items to use in the upcoming battle. And though we failed to achieve our ultimate goal, we created a great story in the process.

Yes, story. All that wandering around, encountering, dealing and adventuring became our story. While we set out and interacted with encounters on the map we were able to create a really cool story in the process. James over at Grognardia says it better than I can so check out his post to see what I'm talking about.

Finally I'd like to thank Hank for running some of the best adventures I had the pleasure of playing in. Hats off to a true Grognard.

Follow Your Bliss,

Narration Rights

2009-12-01T10:20:00.003-05:00

A recent blog post from Troy Costisick has me thinking about narration rights in games. A while back I talked about including an Inspectres-style narration approach in my Back to Basics game. This went over wonderfully. It was embraced so well, in fact, that my sons have started doing it in our 3.5 edition of Eberron. All in all, this is great, but when we had an encounter in our most recent B2B session, I'm rethinking the whole thing.

Here's a little background. I'm running B2 Keep on the Borderlands, a Gygax classic. Since it came in my Basic boxed set of D&D I felt the need to run it. I never really understood D&D well enough back in the day to do it justice. I wanted to run it even more now as a way of sharing a bit 'history' with my boys (like explaining LPs and introducing them to Canadian rock legends Rush, much to my wife's chagrin).

I'm playing it as part of the B1-9 In Search of Adventure mega module. This adventure is just one stop along the way, but one I thought worth spending time on. It is very different from most of the other adventures in B1-9. Being released in the early years of D&D it lacked any 'boxed text' descriptions (more on this in another post). Its style is also more 'sandbox' oriented than story driven (again, more on this too in another post). Suffice it to say that B2 is more setting based rather than encounter or event based.

The event that triggered all this rethinking stems from the first set of caves they've been exploring - the kobold's lair. Specifically, when the hoards of little, scaly, dog-faced creatures started swarming the party the players wanted to describe their successful attacks. This had the effect of really slowing the game down. I felt the urge to keep the action moving and was chafing at their descriptions. I had thought that they could only describe their finishing moves when dispatching a kobold, but since almost every one of the little buggers dropped from one hit this didn't help to speed things along.

Let me state for the record that if our B2B group gets to play a total of three hours in one session that is rare. With the younger players, life and work schedules, we generally only get about two solid hours of play in any given week; it will take a total of three play sessions just to get through the kobold's lair. You can imagine how slow progression is in this situation.

At its roots, the issue is a battle between my gamist - tactical combat, problem-solving, room clearing, treasure grabbing - and narrativist - why are the characters doing what their doing, story telling - sides of me.

After reading Troy's post I see that the problem lies in trying to add narrative control to a task resolution system rather than a conflict based resolution. To highlight the difference: conflict based - characters wish to defeat or drive back the kobolds attacking them; task based - character swings his sword at the kobold in front of him. Since D&D deals with every swing and strike, it is inherently task based. Adding elaborate description to each swing adds a lay of detail that may smother play.

For now, to keep things moving, I'm planning on limiting the successful descriptions to make key encounters more special. This may tip my hand at 'boss level' encounters, but that is something I'll worry about after I've tried it out for a while.

Follow Your Bliss,

Giving Thanks

2009-11-26T20:42:00.002-05:00

I am thankful for many things in my life. I won't bore you with all of them, but I thought the ones dealing with RPGs were most appropriate for this blog.

I'm thankful for my wife and her understanding that playing RPGs is part of who I am. I appreciate her patience when I wax geeky about some minutia of a game session I just played. And I love that she encourages me to persue my passion of sharing RPGs with a new generation of gamers.
I'm thankful for my boys and their love of the hobby. I love that it has transcended me always initiating play and that they have found new ways to play together. It is wonderful to have this bond that we can share as they grow older and I hope it is something that keeps us close.
I'm thankful for all the players I had the opportunity to share a game with, I am the richer for that time.
I'm thankful that the Wood County District Public Library took a chance on letting me run a game for their teen patrons. I hope to be able to introduce more players to this hobby I love so much.
I'm thankful for BG Teen Central's warm reception to my presentation on RPGs. I look forward to sharing more with this program in the future.
I'm thankful for my Friendly Local Gaming Stores for persevering in this trying economic times to continue to provide a place to gather and play.
I'm thankful for the RPG podcasters who tirelessly put out new content with little or no compensation for their time other than a job well done.
I'm thankful for all the RPG publishers who create countless wondrous worlds for adventure and exploration.
And finally, I'm thankful that Dave & Gary decided to throw caution to the wind and publish their little brown books.

Happy Thanksgiving,

A day at the library

2009-11-18T16:05:00.005-05:00

Ok, maybe not a whole day, but at least three hours. In my previous post I was talking about going to the Wood County District Public Library on Saturday, November 14th to take part in National Gaming Day @ your library. Now that I've had some time to process and get some feedback I'm ready to talk about it here.

I was running a demo of the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set. I was slated to 'work' from 2 - 4pm. I arrived early and check in with the librarian. She walked me over to the Teen Space. This was a very cool room a few steps away from the circulation desk. It has one entrance and the room is long and narrow.

The place was very inviting and looked like a cool place to hang out (which I'm sure was it's intent). It has several comfortable and stylish couches, three tables (one regular height, one about waist high, and a coffee table between the couches), a reception desk and small computer station. All the walls were lined with books. Like I said, a very cool place to hang out.

I chose to set up at the tall table because this would allow easy access to the game pieces while standing (I like to stand when I game master - I tend to get very animated and would fall out of my chair if I were sitting down). Without chairs, visitors could slide up to the table and see what was going on very easily.

I laid out all my 'stuff': dungeon tiles and counters, laminated character sheets, grease pencils, dice, quick-start rules and Dungeon Master guide. Everything mentioned came in the Starter Set except for the laminated character sheets - which I printed and laminated - and the grease pencils - for marking up said character sheets.

I had studied the short delve in the DM guide prior to arriving and was ready to go. All I needed was players. I didn't have to wait long and they started showing up. The event was advertised at the middle school, at the BG Teen Central after-school program (which I had stopped into on two occasions in the two weeks prior to the event), and on posters around the library.

Before long I had six players, most were teen males between the ages of 11 and 14, one teen female in the same age range and one adult female. I launched into my spiel about the game. I didn't spend a lot time on basics, only enough to set the stage. Then I launched into the requisite meeting in the tavern to get their first job.

Thankfully everyone played along and the party was soon delving the ruins under the village for the goblins that have been harassing the villagers. They soon came upon a group of goblins and quickly set to battle with great relish (and a little mustard and horseradish on the side).

I did most of the instructing as we played. I explained new phrases and key words that were common parlance to old hats like me (speaking of 'old', when I posted on Facebook that I had introduced teens to D&D, one friend commented, "You 'introduced them' - like a grampa would 'introduce' chess??? Old Man!!" to which I replied, "Old and proud of it!"). Everyone started picking up the game very quickly. Combat was moving along and soon the goblins were defeated.

At this point I took a short break to see if any new players would stop in. Since two of the players were sticking around for the whole session I didn't wait too long to gather the troops and start back up. The adult female and one male teen were back from the first session. We were joined by four more male teens in the same age range as the first group.

We were able to get the new players up to speed quickly. There was much more encouragement and suggestions from other players this time around and everyone was getting into the battle with a new set of goblins deeper in the ruins. Long story short, we went over our time allotment by thirty minutes because everyone seemed to be have a very good time.

Today, I received great news from the librarian who processed the surveys that were turned in by the participants for the event. Seven of the participants that took part in the demo filled out a survey and six of those stated they would be interested in a community role-playing game that met consistently. Everyone selected "good" or "excellent" when rating the program. Of the seven replies six stated they would be "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to come to another similar event at the library.

Needless to say, I am thrilled at these results. I hope to continue working with this library (and possibly others) to develop a library RPG program tailored to the needs of the participants and the library. I'll be sure to post more information as it becomes available.

Follow Your Bliss,

National Gaming Day @ your library

2009-11-13T08:49:00.006-05:00

This Saturday, November 14th, is the second annual National Gaming Day @ your library. I will be participating at the Wood County District Public Library in Bowling Green, Ohio. This national event is to help show patrons all the wonderful activities available at libraries. Gaming has been making inroads at libraries as supported events for all types of gaming.

For my part I will be at the library from 2-4pm to run demonstrations of D&D 4th edition. I have a copy of the new D&D starter kit that I will be using. I've been a fan of boxed sets since the magenta (pink) cover of Basic D&D back in '81. This latest one is by far the best. While the 3.5 version of the starter set had plastic minis, this one has cardboard punch out tiles and tokens. Though this is not as cool as the minis, you get lots more of them. The rules for this starter kit are excellent. Much clearer and straight forward than the last boxed set I had. The starter kit also has a short delve (three encounters) which leads right into the Keep on the Shadowfell adventure (which can now also be downloaded for free).

I'm hoping to spread the word and get more folks interesting in role-playing games in general, and, more specifically, RPGs in libraries and other public venues. I think gaming in libraries is a great way to bring the games 'out of the basement'.

I'm looking forward to the event tomorrow and will be sure to post here the results.

Follow Your Bliss,

Back in the saddle again

2009-11-10T07:53:00.004-05:00

I recently tried my hand at podcasting again. For those that aren't aware, I was a podcaster for two years with Fist Full of Comics & Games. I thought I was done with podcasting and then I started listening to the Games in Libraries podcast. This is a podcast is targeted at librarians to aid them in developing gaming programs in their facilities.

I really liked this podcast and went back to the beginning and listened to all the episodes. As I listened I noticed something: no content for RPGs. They did a lot of talking about video games, some of boardgames, but nothing really for tabletop RPGs.

So I contacted Scott Nicholson, professor at Syracuse University and host of the show, and asked if I could contribute some content. Here is the result of that conversation: http://www.gamesinlibraries.org/?p=155.

My segment is about 10 minutes long and focuses on introducing librarians to the rich world of RPGs. I have a lot of ground to cover and a limited amount of time. If you are interested in listening to an introductory course on RPGs then please give it a spin. As always, comments and feedback are welcome.

For further listening on getting started with RPGs please check out two excellent podcasts: Square One and The Basics of the Game.

Follow Your Bliss,

NPC scripted scene

2009-11-02T08:18:00.003-05:00

In my last post I talked about doing an NPC scripted scene in an upcoming adventure. Well, last night I ran that scene. I'd been waiting until the party had finished their current adventure. The scene was meant to act as an interlude between the last adventure and the next. Up until this point the Patriarch of the church would call the PCs into a meeting and offer them a new chance to adventure. This time was a little different. I have used Google Docs to create the document and have shared it here: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgsd7pz_50d25n37gm

To give you a little background, the characters have just completed a successful mission to capture the chaotic cleric Elwyn who had made off with a holy artifact. The cleric and artifact were returned to threashold and the custody of the Baron Sherlane Halaran, who is also the Patriarch for the Church of Karameikos.

Normally the players would not find out what happens to Elwyn after they turn her over to the Baron nor would they see what leads up to the Baron calling on the PCs for assistance. This little scene does that and more.

In addition to the backdrop each of the characters in the scene with Elwyn have a tie to one of the characters. The Patriarch and Aleena are both members of the Church to which one character belongs. Lady Halia is mentor to the magic user in the party. Porthios is mentor to an elf in the party and Lady Halia's husband can act as a mentor to any fighters in the group.

With these mentors more formally introduced I inserted a role-play scene in which the PCs had an opportunity to interact with their mentors prior to meeting with the Baron. This was a fun scene with no real goal other than to give the players a chance to expand upon their characters. It also pointed out that the thief in the party had no such mentor; something that will be addressed in upcoming play.

The scripted interlude also allowed me to introduce an important NPC for the upcoming adventure: Commander Castellan. This helped to prepare the PCs with the eventual meeting with the commander.

All in all, the scripted scene was well received and I was very pleased with the results. The scene when a long way to making the PCs adventures set more firmly into a world deep and rich in detail. The scene went a long way to help ground the actions of the PCs into a larger framework, will still keeping the focus on them.

I highly recommend using this simple tool for adding more depth to your role-playing experience. I wish I had more time to devote to the scripting (I posted it with all the typos still in it), but I don't want to take too much away from the spontaneity of the game. Scripted scenes are great for fleshing out the story, foreshadowing and epilogue. I want to thank Rich and Ryan for talking about in an episode of the Canon Puncture podcast. I've mentioned this and other podcasts I listen to in a previous post. Ryan's excellent Master Plan podcast on game design can be found at masterplanpodcast.net.

I'll have more updates soon. Until then, follow your bliss.

Hey, you got your story in my game!

2009-10-12T20:41:00.003-04:00

I have been inspired by a recent Canon Puncture podcast (recent being a relative term, since I just plowed through over a year's worth of shows in several weeks' time) talking about items to loot from independent RPGs to bring into traditional RPGs. The particular loot I decided to work with was player narration of successes, borrowed from InSpectres. With the players' approval we added this concept to our last gaming session using Basic D&D.

Here is how it worked: Players would make their combat rolls as normal. If it was a successful attack they indicated the damage done. I would let them know if this was a fatal strike or not. The play would then narrate a short description of the successful strike within the parameters stated. If they failed their roll I would indicate why they missed their target. The same also was applied when the monsters attacked the PCs. If the monster hit, I would describe the attack; if the monster missed the player whose character was being attacked described how they avoided the blow.

This led to colorful descriptions and everyone getting into the fun. The orcs they battled seem to be more fearsome and the characters more heroic as a result. The players all contributed to the description. The orcs took on more three-dimentional and individualized aspects - they weren't just a bunch of orcs the party had to hack their way through, they were worthy foes. One of the descriptions also earned a player a +2 circumstantial bonus on his next attack when he described with such color why the orc missed him.

Another wonderful scene in the combat was when a player described his fatal attack as knocking back the dying orc from the force of the attack. I picked up the ball and ran with it to effect the way the orcs reacted on their movement by holding the action of one orc, keeping him from rushing forward to fill a void in the ranks, as he held his dying comrade in his arms. The next round the grieving orc charged forward with blood in his eyes (the orcs passed their second moral check).

The descriptions did slow combat down a bit. We were only able to get through the major encounter with the orcs and do some retracing of their footsteps in the current dungeon, but no one seemed to complain. The battle with the orcs was made more memorable because of the interactive descriptions.

As a side effect, the players started describing some of the aspects of the dungeon they were exploring. This was pulling in another item of loot, namely scene framing and colaborative narration from Primetime Adventures. When one player's character discovered a loose stone and an empty cavity in the wall a different player called out to turn the stone around to see what was hidden in the brick. The adventure called for nothing other than a cavity in the wall filled with treasure, but I decided to take the two potion bottles from the treasure and embed them in the hollow of the brick (much like Ben Franklin's spectacles from National Treasure, from which the player was pulling this image). There was no harm in this, and I would not have kept the treasure from them had they not added this, but this one detail made the experience more vivid in all the players' minds.

I hope this was helpful in illustrating that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Our group enjoyed the experience and I'm sure these story game elements will remain a regular part of our play. Next I'll try introducing some scripted NPC-only scenes to give the players a greater understading of the story behind their adventures. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.

Follow Your Bliss,

RPGs and Goals

2009-10-02T22:59:00.003-04:00

In looking back to the beginning of my passion for RPGs I also decided to more closely examine the games that I played in my younger days. As mentioned before, I've been running several RPG groups using Basic D&D to see if it still clicks and, more importantly, why it clicks in the first place. The short answer is that it does indeed still click because it is cool. If you're happy with that, stop reading; if not, read on.

In related research I came across this definition of a game by Kevin Maroney. Perhaps this would give me a clue as to why I loved RPGs so much more than card or board games. In short,

"A game is a form of play with goals and structure."

Very simple and straight forward. Let's see how it stacks up against RPGs. I think it's safe to say without much argument that RPGs have stucture, some more than others (Role Master vs. GHOST/ECHO). Without structure it's free-form. Board games have structure. Card games have structure. Video games have structure. Cool, one down two to go.

Play, according to Kevin, is best defined as the opposite of work. It's a leisure activity; it's fun. We engage in these activities with the primary purpose of entertaining ourselves and others. Sure it can be educational or inspirational, if used to learn a skill or lesson it can be viewed as training, but at it's heart it is entertainment, pure and simple. Here again I think that RPGs, most card games, board games and video games are a form of play. Neato, two down. Now to tackle goals.

Kevin says

"The actions that players take in a game are directed toward achieving a goal."

The goal of Monopoly is to have the most money at the end of the game. The goal of the card game War is to be the one with all the cards. The goal of Tic-Tac-Toe is to align your symbols. The goal of D&D is...different for everybody, or at the very least can have a nigh-endless variety of goals.

Basic D&D can be said to have one implied goal (and no, "to have fun" is not it a goal, it's play) and that is to explore and adventure. Early games had all the power and information in the hands of the DM with players exploring the game world through their characters. This exploration was the motivation for the characters to delve into dungeons, suspense high as the party moved from room to room. Traveling the land the party is driven to see what was over the next rise. As such, exploration is open-ended, well, at least as far as the DM had finished mapping.

But exploration is not enough. Exploration should lead to excitement and adventure; adventure leads to wonder. Part of this wonder was never knowing what was next. This is why we DMs have that screen we hide behind. Don't look behind the screen, you'll destroy the magic! But adventure was reason enough to gird your sword and heft your backpack. Goblins moved into the woods? Let's clear them out! Dragon holding a princess random? We'll bring her back. To adventure!!

Soon each adventure became it's own goal - we have to get back all seven parts of the rod, we have to destroy Vecna, the schemes of the giants and drow must be stopped at all costs. Cleverly strung together these adventures goals would build into larger campaign goals. It only ended when the players decided there were no more worthy goals to achieve.

(Now once players realized they did have power in the game, they stopped blindly following the DM's carrot-on-a-stick, but that's a discussion for another post.)

Now, alignment can be argued as a motivation: we're Lawful, so we have to clear the woods of goblins. I'm not buying that. The way I see it alignment is the way you explore for adventure, not the goal in and of itself. However, it can be part of a self-imposed goal: I'm going to portray the best Lawful fighter I can so he can become a Paladin at 9th level.

Self-imposed goals are truly limitless. The ability to make your own goals in the game sets RPGs apart from most other games. Each player could have their unique goals and these could be layered with the goals of the play group. As RPGs became more story driven, characters were created with an eye toward more specific goals - I will reforge the broken sword and reclaim the kingdom. As RPGs continued to grow and evolve the games began to be written with specific goals in mind, but this rarely precluded a player/character defining their own goals in a game.

Bringing this back to the my examination of Basic D&D and current play, I see more clearly the implications of exploration and adventure. Adventure modules were written with very little in the way of story hooks. It was often assumed the party of adventurers had heard news of troubles and were riding in to save the day. And guess what, it's still just as fun today as it was then with nothing more than a goal to explore and adventure in the shared imagined space created around the game table.

I look at my players now and they don't question the reason for adventuring. Exploration and adventure are their own motivation and reward. They don't think twice when the Patriarch asks them to investigate an ominous fortress on the borders of their land. They jump in both feet first. And I find myself cheering along with them.

But this ability to have dynamic goals is magic. I can start to see each player beginning to formulate unique goals - I want to get my character to second level so I can cast cure light wounds, I want my character to get more money, I want my character to slay more monsters. No doubt they will soon turn toward different goals - what does it mean to be Traladaran in the Grand Duchy; I want to join the Elven Guard; I want to rise above the poverty that I was born into; I will bring faith to the faithless.

But this introspection has also raised a question for another time: What is the goal of the GM?

This post has come about as the result of a rather serendipitous journey started when I asked Judd Karlman a question about libraries and gaming and he responded with some links for me to explore. Thanks Judd for putting me on this path, I can't wait to see where it takes me next!

Follow Your Bliss,

Update

2009-09-30T08:39:00.005-04:00

I made myself a promise to post at least once a week on what was going on in my life and in my head gaming-wise. I'm a little over a week on this one. And while there is no one holding a gun to my head saying, "Write, darn it!" I still feel a bit of a let down. Yes, real life gets in the way sometimes. It has been over a week since I last gamed, but not for want of trying.

My boys and I sat down last Friday evening to play in my oldest son's Eberron campaign. My younger son had already leveled up his characters so I needed to bring my artificer and monk up to second level before play. The monk didn't have a lot of paperwork to deal with, but the artificer was another story. Now that Theo the Red had coin in pouch he wanted to create some scrolls and potions for the party. That took a while as we stepped through the rules to figure out what rolls he needed to make.

It took so long, in fact, that we ran out of time to play. We're planning on doing so this Friday when one of the boys' cousins is coming up for a visit. We're planning on inviting him to join us for the start of the next adventure.

But just because I haven't been playing doesn't mean I haven't been thinking or reading about games. I just finished reading for the first time Don't Rest Your Head by Fred Hicks of Evil Hat Productions. It has been on my stack of games to read for a while now and since my friend & podcaster Mick Bradley is adapting the DRYH mechanics as the engine for his Vegas After Midnight game I thought it was high time to check it out.

I've also been reading Polaris by Ben Lehman. This is a wonderful game about a playing the last days of a forgotten race of the far north as north can go. It is a GM-less game which is a favorite topic of mine and one that I seek to explore though games like Universalis and Shock:.

In addition to reading I've been getting back into listening to podcasts. I have not done so for a long time as I burned out on the medium. I'm rediscovering it and really enjoying what I'm listening to, so I thought I'd share.

What got me started was This Just In...From GenCon! by Ryan Macklin. We listened to this leading up to and while at the convention. This got me excited about podcasts again. So next I hopped over to Ryan's regular podcast Master Plan. This podcast is devoted to game theory and design. Ryan is a game designer and uses examples from his experience to talk about the various concepts. He also has great interviews from industry professionals.

Another design show I've been listening to is Clyde Rohr's Theory From the Closet. Clyde is the punk rocker of RPG podcasts. His show is not work safe and he makes no attempt to edit his recordings, but if you like game theory and game design it is really worth listening too. Clyde also does many interviews with industry luminaries. I really like Ryan and Clyde's podcasts because, like me, they are trying to come to terms with these ideas as they build their games.

Atomic Array and Open Design Podcast are two that I've also gotten into. The first is more focused on RPGs and settings and the second more game design and game tips. Both do interviews, are fun to listen to and offer contests so their listeners can win prizes. If you like these two check out War Pig Radio for more.

Last, but definitely not least, is the Canon Puncture podcast. They too do interviews, talk game theory and practical play tips as well as review geeky websites from around the interweb. Rich, Mick and Chris (and Chris) are long time gamers and have a lot of great insight to share on gaming in an indie-hippy-story-focused-kinda-way. I'm currently working through a back log of this past year's podcasts and enjoying every second of it (and wishing I'd had a chance to play in their Prime Time Adventure Star Wars: Sojourn 66 sessions at GenCon).

As I expand the number of shows I listen to I'll be sure to post here as well. I hope to have a 'meatier' post up soon.

Follow Your Bliss,

D&D Game Day 2009

2009-09-20T10:09:00.003-04:00

This weekend to celebrate this year's D&D Game Day I will have gamed a total of 12 hours: 3 hours Friday night and 2 hours Saturday morning (DMing Team Beta in the Back to D&D Basics campaign), 4 hours Saturday afternoon (playing in a D&D 4E sanctioned event), and 3 hours Sunday evening (DMing Team Alpha in B2B). For me, especially these days, that is a lot of gaming.

The happenings regarding the B2B Campaign can be found here. It was a lot of fun to play so much D&D with my boys and their friends. Friday night's group encountered a magical trap which put one of their party to sleep. An attempt to wake him led to an entire room in the ruined castle of Mistamere being set aflame. Eventually the sleeping member was wakened from his slumber with the casting of a Dispel Magic spell by a high level magic-user (which also depleted the party's funds).

What I found amazing was that simple encounter was the talk of the night and went into the next day when we sat down again to play a couple more rooms before having to return boys to their respective homes. This glimpse into their sense of wonder at the event was enlightening and encouraging that the time spent playing was truly appreciated by all.

As a counterpoint my experience with the Game Day event at a local game store was...interesting. My expectation was that this would be a scripted beginning adventure for 1st level pre-gen characters. The adventure was not scripted. In fact it was more of an adventure toolkit than actual adventure. And the pre-gen characters were not 1st level.

Each table of participants first gathered to create the adventure. This included selecting the creatures to be used in each of the two encounters and providing tactics and background story to get the party of characters involved in the action. This sounds like a great idea, but I would imagine this would seem very unusual to a person who had never played D&D before and was participating in the event to see what all the fuss was about.

Once the adventure was created the DM from our table went to a different table to run the adventure that was just created. Likewise, another DM came to our table to run his adventure for us. Now this seems odd to me because his adventure used all or most of the same pieces-parts (i.e., monsters) that our adventure had used. We had all read over the monster stats as we were putting together our adventure. Somehow there was little room for wonder once we got into play.

I will admit that the way that the monsters were implemented and the background to the adventure were unique in each case, but, I don't know, it didn't really sing to me. I knew that we would be facing minotaurs and dark dwarves, probably a scarecrow and demon priest. I guess it's no different than going to see a Bruce Willis movie and knowing he'll save the day, but not knowing how he'll get there.

The characters that we had to pick from were all 6th level, which in 4E means they have a laundry list of abilities as long as my arm (and I was playing a human fighter). In fact, some basic abilities were left off the sheets due to space limitations. I have played 4E on two other occasions and I've been playing RPGs long enough to stumble my way through. But if I had been a new-comer to the hobby, I think I would have walked away thinking this is way too complicated to be fun.

Another thing that rubbed me the wrong way was that once we arrived there were seats for us to join, but we each had to go to different tables. I didn't get to see how my son played. That left me a little sad and may have colored my overall appreciation of the event. I did enjoy gaming with the players at my table - most of whom I'd have no problem inviting to one of my games. This exposure to other players was refreshing.

In hindsight the event was not to get new players into the hobby. It was an event for experienced players. This too makes me sad. I was likening Game Day to Free Comic Book Day, in which people who did not read comics or had stopped reading comics could see what today's comic books were all about.

Participating in the event did introduce me to new players and got me into a store that I seldom visit (I was disappointed that a store closer to my home had not planned ahead and had not Game Day events). I now have the opportunity to join a local gaming group with ties to Bash Con, a local gaming convention. So maybe the event did what it was supposed to do, even it was not what I was expecting.

I hope players that enjoy D&D were able to participate in a Game Day event or celebrated D&D in some form or fashion.

Follow Your Bliss,

...and now I am the Master!

2009-09-13T14:22:00.005-04:00

Recently I had the opportunity to play in a D&D 3.5 adventure run by my oldest son. This was a proud moment for me, to see him mastering a game that I fell in love almost 30 years ago. After the session we sat down and I shared some pointers of things he should consider when running his next game. These along with a few other items I present here for any aspiring GMs ready to begin their illustrious career.

Start with a pre-defined adventure

The role of Game Master is full of responsibilities. This load can be lightened by using a pre-defined adventure. Many may balk at this statement, saying that this hampers creativity and GM freedom and it very well may. The main reason I advocate for this path is that being a good GM takes practice. Practice is typically best approached by starting with simple steps to build confidence and then adding more steps that grow in difficulty. This is what a pre-defined adventure is good for. Think of it as training wheels.

Using a pre-defined adventure frees the new GM to spend more prep time on learning and understanding the rules instead of working on adventure design. In addition, the time spent on rules can be more focused. By looking at the elements of a pre-defined adventure the GM can focus study on just those rules that will come to play. If none of the planned encounters deal with social combat then no time need be spent on that subject. Also, by careful study of the planned adventure the GM can be ready for possible deviations by the players and therefore seem more knowledgeable and competent regarding the setting and/or game system.

Also, by playing pre-defined adventures the GM will learn more about ways to use the game system to its fullest. The presumption here is that these pre-defined adventures are written by authors more familiar with the setting/game system who will be able to ecourage a richer game experience. As time goes on the new GM will be able to define which elements of the setting/game system they enjoy and which ones they and their players dislike. With several sessions under their belt, the GM may begin modifying existing adventures to better suit the needs of the play group, evenutally leading to solid confidence necessary to design original adventures.

Communication is key

It is important as a new GM to not assume anything. This is esspecially true when discribing situations and scenery. Having read the adventure and the rules several times they no doubt have a clear picture of the environment and situations. It is importnat to convey that clearly and effectively to the players so that all may participate in what Ron Edwards call the Shared Imagined Space (SIS).

In an example from our actual play, the adventing parting started in Sharn on the world of Eberron. The GM had a clear picture of Sharn from his readings as did I from previous play experience. However, my younger son had no experience whatsoever with Sharn. He had no idea what is was like and as such could not participate in the SIS. I pointed this out during play by asking the GM to discribe the city since all the characters were first-time visitors. This helpped bring everyone at the table together.

It is also important to clearly listen to what the players are telling you as a GM. Ask clarifying questions that help define further the intent of the player. If the player simply says, "I attack it!" when there are several targets, clarify by asking which target so there is no mistake later, "No, I was attacking the wounded one!" A simple question goes a long way to avoiding such difficult situations.

GMs should be careful that their questions are not leading. "Wouldn't you rather hit the wounded one?" verges on taking total control of the player's character. The players will learn from experience just as the GM does; don't rob them of that opportunity to learn.

+1 Swords are typically not labled as such

This may be a tough one now-a-days. Within the realm of electronic RPGs (both on-line and console versions) a player typically knows exactly whether or not any items gained are magicial as well as the exact nature of the magical effects. However, in a tabletop RPG this need not be the case. The determination of magical items and their respective effects give players a reason to cast Detect Magic and Identify spells as well as encouraging testing a character's arcane knowledge. This is part of the mystery and wonder in the game. Also, it gives players a reason to spend some of that coin they just worked so hard for. If characters have plenty of cash there is less of a desire to continue adventuring, while one strapped for cash will be eager to venture forth to raise cash for next month's lodging.

That being said, new GMs brought up on electronic RPGs may not see the reason to have the players "jump through hoops" to find out the sword is only +1. My point for bringing it up here is that new GMs should consider their approach to the situation before blindly falling on habit.

Don't be affraid to make mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes when starting out. I've already talked about one my biggest here when I first started GMing. It is inevitable; there is a rule that you thought you understood, but once in play it no longer made sense to you. Keep the ball rolling. Don't stop and fixate on the mistake; pick up the ball and keep running. Chances are the players won't even notice (unless, of course, they're the ones that pointed it out to you) and you can keep on going.

After the game, take time to relect on the session. You may even ask your players: "What went well? What didn't work so well?" From this reflection you will discover where to focus your attention when preparing for your next session. In time, all the tasks and responsibilities of being a GM will become second nature to you. That's when you're on your way to becoming what Gary Gygax called a Master GM.

Follow Your Bliss,

Ode to a Three-Ring Binder

2009-09-03T09:17:00.006-04:00

Let me take a moment and share a little bit about my favorite organizational tool for GMing: the three-ring binder. With a few simple items I'll show you how I stay organized for my various gaming sessions.

To begin, I use the following supplies:

1.5 inch three-ring view binder
4 tabbed dividers
Paper & sharpened pencils
Binder pouch (optional)
Adventure calendar sheets (optional)
Adventure log sheets (optional)

Three-Ring View Binder

This is the main component. Most folks know what I mean when I say a three-ring binder, but what you may not understand is what I mean by a three-ring view binder. The view binder has a clear plastic cover on front, back and spine. This creates pockets into which paper can be placed to provide for a custom cover. I prefer a white binder so that the pages I place in the covers stand out, but feel free to select your favorite color or even a different color for each campaign.

Now, as far as what to slide into the covers you have several options. If you have an artistically inclined member in your play group you can commission a piece of art suitable for your campaign (be sure to award bonus XP for such an endeavor). This art can go a long way to set the tone for the campaign. As an added bonus, if you run adventures for more than one group, different artwork will make it easy to tell which binder to bring to a session.

Alternatively, you can place game related materials - such as combat charts, weapon damage or spell lists - in each clear pocket for easy reference. In this way the binder does double duty as organizer and GM screen. Plus, with the clear plastic cover, the sheets are protected from the inevitable spilled beverage.

Some view binders also have a vinyl pocket on the inside covers. These are excellent for storing items that you need quick access to frequently: character sheets or the aforementioned combat/weapon/spell charts if you are not using those on the covers.

Tabbed Dividers

The dividers form the main organizational aspect of the binder. I picked four for ease of use; you can have as many as you need, but I would err on the side of simplicity. The dividers are used to define four sections of the binder: player notes, player maps, adventures, and GM notes.

The player notes are anything that the players feel is important to record during a session. I like to put the most recent notes at the front of the tabbed section so they are readily available. Going through the section will take you back further in time toward the beginning of the campaign. I like having access to this information because it helps me understand what events the players found noteworthy.

Player maps are another item that can be collected and stored for later reference. These hand-drawn maps often have encounter notes and other related information that may be of use. Here again I store the most recent map at the beginning of the section.

I like to keep the notes for the current adventure in the binder as well. This section is obviously GM eyes only. For this reason some may prefer to have a separate binder for players and GM (more on this below). While playing I like to have out the map for the adventure and often use this for a bookmark in the adventure section to easily find my place if I must close the binder. At the end of a session I insert the map (securely clipping it within the three-rings) into adventure section to mark where the party left off.

The last section is another GM only area: GM notes. These notes are anything that the GM needs to record about the on-going adventures of the party - from monsters defeated and treasure gained to important NPC names. As already mentioned, I place the most recent notes at the beginning of the section.

Paper & Pencils

Be certain you have plenty of paper in the relevant sections - lined loose-leaf notebook paper (wide or narrow lined to suit your writing preference) for the player and GM notes and the appropriate graph paper for the player maps. In this way you can always 'Be Prepared', as the Boy Scouts say, for any eventuality.

I also like to have plenty of sharpened pencils. I prefer pencil because information that is recorded may need to be changed, especially on character sheets. I keep lots of them sharpened so that I don't have to stop play to sharpen a dull point. Some may prefer mechanical pencils in this regard, and that is fine; I prefer the weight and feel of a classic #2 wood pencil.

Invest in an inexpensive binder pouch and keep all your pencils in your binder. If everything is in your binder that's fewer things you have to remember to grab if you're running late to your gaming session. If you have plenty of sharpened pencils to spare you'll be ready for those players who routinely forget to bring a writing utensil.

Calendars & Logs

I listed two other optional items that I feel help me stay on top of the game: pre-printed calendars and logs. I find these useful from both an organizational and setting standpoint.

The adventure calendar is a sheet of paper with a 12-month view at the top (typically three rows of four months). Below this is a lined section with two columns. The first (narrow) column if for recording the in-game date of the event while the second (wide) column if for the notes regarding the event. The upper-right corner of the page has a spot for the current year of the campaign.

This calendar helps reinforce the setting through the use of setting-specific month names. Other information that can be present are any holidays, festivals or celebrations commonly held, names for the seasons and days of the week, and phases of the moon(s). When players record their notes on this sheet they have all this setting information before their eyes; this helps to bring the game world to life. The calendar also assists in planning for travel and use of PC down-time.

I use the adventure log to record my notes for each session. At the top of the sheet is a section to record all the relevant information about each PC in the session. I make a new sheet each session for two reasons. The first is that not every player will make it from session to session so this acts as my attendance sheet for calculating XP. Secondly, PC stats often change due to numerous effects - injury, magic items, wishes, and advancement to name just a few.

Below the PC roster is a lined section for recording my session notes. I use this sheet a lot: recording outcomes of encounters, notes on players earning bonus XP, tracking treasure, memorable quotes, NPC names that I was forced to make up on the spot and must later flesh out, etc. I recommend recording the actual date of the session on this sheet as well as on the adventure calendar/player notes so that the two sheets link up for cross referencing.

Variations

The system of organization outlined above is just one possible way to approach storing of game-related information. It works well for me, but may not work as well for you. Here are some variations you can play with to better suit your needs.

Multiple binders - For some it may not make a lot of sense to store player and GM information in the same binder; you may prefer to keep the two separate. The player binder would have the character sheets, notes and maps. It can also contain a section for campaign specific background information. After time you will outgrow the 1.5" binder. At this point you can separate out the player and GM sections into separate archive binders. While this is more binders to keep track of, it may not be an issue if players are responsible for their binders or sessions are played at the GM's home where all the binders can be stored.

Notebooks - Notebooks can be used instead of loose-leaf paper. This will create more a chronicle feel, especially to the player notes. Maps can be attached (glued, taped, etc.) to pages in the notebook if desired. If the notebook includes a pocket in the covers, character sheets can be stored here as well. Both player's and GM's notes can be stored in separate notebooks and with a large enough binder (2" - 3" minimum, D-ring ideally) everything can still be carried together. This has the added bonus of creating a series of volumes as time goes on, adding more to the epic feel of the campaign.

I'd love to hear what methods you use to store all your campaign related information. Share your methods in the comments of this post.

Follow Your Bliss,

PS. As noted in the previous post, I am now part of RPG Podcasters. To bring my posts in line with their organizational scheme I will be going back and changing/adding to the labels on previous posts. This may affect the way you view this blog in your blog reader. I apologize for any confusion this may cause.

RPG Bloggers

2009-08-30T21:07:00.002-04:00

You may notice the new link in the upper-left corner of this blog. This is to signify that my application to the RPG Bloggers Network was recently accepted. I would like to thank the administrators of that network for allowing me to join. I look forward to sharing my posts with a wider audience and will strive to continue to provide enjoyable and informative content as I wander down my trail of RPG memories. If you haven't already done so, check out the network to see what they have to offer.

Follow Your Bliss,

Know the Rules

2009-08-24T07:59:00.006-04:00

Everything I really need to know I learned from D&D - #1

The first game of D&DB I ever played (which goes without saying, my first game of D&D ever) was as Dungeon Master (DM). I had read the rules cover-to-cover (the booklet wasn't that big back then) and was going to run a short adventure into an abandoned keep. I found a few of my junior high school friends and gathered around the table to play on a warm summer afternoon. With weapons in hand, the characters set off in search of Adventure.

Things were sailing along smoothly (for less than 5 minutes) until the party encountered its first obstacle: skeletons. Skeletons were labeled as first level monsters and the party was full of first level characters; a perfect match. The problems didn't start until the characters started rolling dice to hit the skeleton. They rolled and missed. The skeletons would roll and miss. The party would roll and miss and then the skeletons would roll and miss. This went on for several minutes before one of my friends asked how this was supposed to be fun. Something was amiss.

I checked back through the rules on combat and re-read them. I soon discovered my fatal mistake. When determining the number needed to hit the skeletons I took it as literally the number needed to hit; the party had to roll that number and nothing else would do. Well, red faced, I quickly discovered my misinterpretation: the phrase "...or higher..." seemed to slip my memory when it was time to play. Combat went much smoother after that.

This small detail goes to show how drastically a misunderstanding of a rule can impact the play of a game. Some games are complex and require an intimate knowledge of the rules in order to run smoothly. Some games are simple but open to interpretation. Both present challenges.

When handling a game with a very large rule set it is often best to take it in chunks. Focus on the rules that will be used first. In the introductory chapter of Mouse Guard, Luke Crane outlines the four chapters of the book that should be read first in the section entitled 'Getting Started'. Character creation is not one of the chapters listed. In fact, character creation is one of the last chapters in the book. IMO, Luke is saying, "Wait! Before you even think about creating your character, play the sample missions with the sample characters to see how the spokes fit in the wheel!"

In D&D I look at rules on an encounter-by-encounter basis. Whether reading a prepared encounter or designing one from scratch, I ask myself this question: "What do I need to know in order to run this encounter." I open the rule book to the index and start boning up on rules that will be utilized. Next I look at the characters in the party and see what they could possibly use to resolve this encounter: racial and class traits, feats, type of combat favored, spells.

The last one deserves added attention. It is prudent to read over the spells that both the players and NPCs have access to. I did this not very long ago where I was operating from what I thought the spell did as opposed to what it actually did (just goes to show, it doesn't matter how old you are, there is always room for improvement). Bottom line - read over the spells often to be sure you are on track. Don't worry about the spells that the characters can't cast yet, focus on the ones they have access to.

For games with less structure a healthy dose of interpretation is required to make things move along smoothly. To help prevent misunderstandings I recommend creating a social contract to outline the expected behavior and guidelines for handling disputes. This can be a simple as "if we get stuck we'll wing it" or "we'll roll for the outcome and discuss it after the session". Play of a wide variety of games helps to provide players with a resource of numerous options - "we did it this way in Shadowrun, so let's do the same thing here." For groups that have played together for a long time the social contract is more implied than explicit, but it never hurts to discuss the contract to keep it fresh in your mind.

It should be noted that while the preceeding paragraphs were from a DM point of view, the same holds equally true for players. Know the rules that apply to your character. If you play a cleric, know and understand the rules for turning undead. If you play a spell caster, know your spells and all the rules that apply to spell casting (range, spell components, recovery, saving throws). Don't put everything on the DM's shoulders, step up and help lighten the load.

It wasn't long before I realized that knowing the rules applied to pretty much anything you came across in life. We spend a good portion of the first 18 years of our lives 'learning the ropes' before we are considered an adult. Heck, I'm still trying to keep it all straight. Rules give structure and order and should (hopefully) be equitable to all parties involved. Whether it is office culture or computer programming, take the time to learn the rules. If there is a lot of ground to cover, learn what you need to get the job done. If the rules are a little nebulous, fall back on your past experiences and do your best. We're still gonna make mistakes, but hopefully they are mistakes we can learn from.

Follow Your Bliss,

The Next Generation of Gamers

2009-08-17T12:56:00.008-04:00

One of the perks of having children is passing down some of your favorite things (like the love of music from the Canadian rock band Rush). One of those things I enjoy most is my love of RPGs, especially D&D. I began playing with my boys about 5 years ago (well, it began longer than that, when my oldest was still an infant in my arms as I played DC Heroes at the dinner table, but for the purpose of this post, let's just say it all started 5 years ago.)

I can distinctly remember the first time I played with them, laying out the tiles from the AD&D basic set for the 3.5 version of the game. This set came with miniatures for four of the iconic characters of that edition - Eberk the dwarven cleric, Regdar the human fighter, Lydda the halfling rogue, and Aramil the elven wizard. The boxed set was a gift to my oldest son, then 8 years old. We were playing it in our apartment which was temporary housing during the period after selling one house and waiting for our next (and current) house to complete construction.

We sat around the little dinner table under the glare of 60 watt bulbs as I explained the differences between the classes and what all the different colored dice were used for. My younger son (then 5) was also trying to figure out what all this was about. We played through the provided adventure and had a great time slaying all manner of monsters and undead. Both boys have been playing ever since.

Fast forward to this past weekend and my oldest son's (now 13) first visit to GenCon. Due to poor planning and budgetary concerns we were only able to attend on Sunday, the Family Fun day. My son brought along his best friend (age 14) to join in the fun. We had a wonderful time and managed to pack as much fun into one day as we could. There were Battletech battles, boffer fights, miniatures painting, sitting in on a recording of 'This Just In...From GenCon', and, of course, the dealer's room.

It really struck me what a wonderful community exists to help support gaming as a family activity. Everyone we met did their utmost to make my son's first visit to the con a memorable one. And so, I have a list of people I would like to thank (in chronological order of appearance):

Call sign 'Gamer' - for taking the time to share his experiences and lessons learned in the Battletech pods
Jeff Himmelman and Storn Cook - for showing what's involved in being a freelance artist
Ryan Macklin and Derek Rex - for giving the boys a warm welcome during the recording of This Just In...From GenCon
Luke Crane - for sharing his insight about game design and autographing the first gaming book (Mouse Guard) my son ever purchased at a convention
Brennan Taylor - for having a generous spirit towards new gamers
Paul Tevis - for embodying the enthusiasm and joie de vivre that is GenCon

Since my first GenCon four years ago I have come to believe this event is more about the people than the games. It is great fun to play all those games, but it is the connections we make that sustain us throughout the long year until next August.

Follow Your Bliss,

What's in a Name?

2009-08-14T16:49:00.004-04:00

I have recently finished the first two books of Tales of the Dying Earth - The Dying Earth andThe Eyes of the Overworld - and had started a post reviewing these books in light of their implications for D&D. As I went deeper into the subject I found there was too much information to cover in just one post. So this will be the first of a series of posts covering various topics in D&D that came to mind as I read through the Dying Earth series.

One of the first things that struck me about these stories were the names: Turjan, Pandelume,Phandaal, Laccodel, Kandive, T'sais and T'sain, just to name a few. These names are exotic and colorful and truly help to evoke the strangeness of the far future Earth; they help to set the tone.

This is very important when naming NPCs for a campaign. No plain Tom, Dick or Harry will do. Names of nobles should be noble sounding; those of commoners have an earthy ring to them. Sally the bar wench works, Sally the elven princess does not. Take the time to pick names that fit the character. There are dozens (if not hundreds) of name lists on the web. I just did a Google search of "name lists" pulled up 178,000,000 sites. One is bound to have something to spark your interest.

The previous paragraph applies just as much to PCs as it does to NPCs. It may be fun to play Bob the barbarian, but it does nothing to help set a serious tone for the character, but if the style of play you are going for is humorous, then it is a perfect fit.

In the Back to (D&D) Basics campaign I'm currently running, there are clear styles of names to help foster the sense of culture and depth of background. Based on recomendations from GAZ1 The Grand Duchy of Karameikos gazetteer, the two main human populations of Karameikos have very different sounding names. Those of the native Traladaran descent have names inspired by central and eastern European countries, while those of the conquering Thyatians have Roman-like names.

Often times the names of characters mentioned in these stories belonged to great and powerful wizards of the day. Their names adorn the spells that they popularized. This brings to mind all the 'name' spells of AD&D1: Melf's Acid Arrow, Bigby's Crushing Fist, Nystul's Magic Aura, etc.Spells like these really tie the magic to the setting. Which would you rather cast - Acid Splash orMelf's Acid Arrow?

Not just the names of the characters but the names of locales were evocative of alien cultures in Tales of the Dying Earth. The lands to the far north: Grodz, Cil, Vull, and the Mountains ofMagnatz; to the south: Ascolais, the Land of the Falling Wall, Kaiin and Scaum Valley. Give just as much care to the lands in your world. Be sure to say them aloud. Some place names I've read in books and games look nice on the page, but I don't have the first clue as to how to pronounce them.

I really like the Karameikos gazetteer because it helps here as well in my current campaign. Many areas have two names: the name originally used by the native Traladaran's and the name used once they were conquered by the Empire of Thyatia. This layering of names helps build a richness of detail that brings the setting to life.

So next time you sit down to roll up a character or create a new locale for your players to explore, give some thought to the name and see what the reactions are.

Follow Your Bliss,

Tools of the Trade: Obsidian Protal

2009-08-07T10:35:00.007-04:00

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd check in to tell you what I've been doing. I've been working on a campaign for my family and friends. In prepping for this campaign I started using a new (to me) tool I discovered a few months ago: Obsidian Portal (OP).

OP, which has been around for a couple of years now, is a free wiki for game masters and players. In this portal GMs can layout all the elements of their campaign including locales, background, history, maps and NPCs. Each page created by the GM has a special 'GM Only' area. This allows all the information on a particular topic to be in one place. Players only see the information they can access while the GM can see it all. The GM can also recount all the player's adventures in an Adventure Log which works like a typical blog, complete with comments.

Speaking of players, there is a lot for them to do in OP as well. Players can join various campaigns and create PC pages with as much or as little detail as they wish. Also, OP has teamed up with Pen & Paper Games to help players find games in their area. I haven't tried the player side of things too much yet, so I'm hoping to get feedback from the folks playing in my group.

As far as ease of use, let me say that I'm not that big a fan of wiki's, primarily because of the odd syntax for formatting of text. In the short time I've used OP, I have become fairly comfortable with laying out the text in the fashion I want. There is a WYSISYG feature that I have not turned on as of yet. If I get too frustrated I'll give it a try. Support for the site is available through some limited tutorials and the help forum.

All in all I'm very pleased with the way it is going. I will let me share information in an organized manner with players who can participate on-line as little or as much as they would like. It remains to be seen how much my group will utilize it.

At the beginning of this post I mentioned that the service was free, and it is, but there is (of course) a premium subscription service available (Ascendant Membership) for a cost. The free mode limits GMs to two campaigns each with one map. That is plenty for me, but for a fee you can have unlimited campaigns with 10 maps. The Ascendant Members also have a campaign-specific forum, no ads and the ability to make a campaign private or friends only (all free campaigns are public). The cost for a year as an Ascendant Member is $40, but semiannual and monthly rates are also available.

So far I'm really enjoying the experience. OP has been nominated for an Ennie this year and I hope they do well. If you are at all interested, stop by to see what is going on in my Back to (D&D) Basics campaign. I plan to talk about other tools that I'm using in my campaign in future posts.

Follow Your Bliss,

A Sense of Wonder

2009-07-30T15:28:00.012-04:00

Last night I had the pleasure of helping a friend introduce his oldest son (8 years of age) to D&D. To do this I broke out my magenta (pink) D&D Basic Set (D&DB). We sat down around his dining room table - he and his son, me (DM) and my two boys along with two (adult) neighborhood friends, the latter two never having played D&D before - and proceeded to created characters for the upcoming adventure to the Haunted Keep.

The character creation process was such that it vexed my oldest son. He has been a player of AD&D3.5 for roughly four years now. He had a particular notion in his head about 'how things should be'. To help illustrate this let me breifly explain the character creation process for D&DB.

Roll 3d6 6 times and assign the values in order to the abilities (Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma)
Look over the scores and see which is highest (this indicating suitable class choices) and deciding whether the character is eligible to be a demi-human (Dwarf, Elf, Halfling). Choose class/race (more on this in a moment).
Adjust ability scores (lower non-essential abilities to raise a Prime Requisite)
Roll 3d6X10 for starting gold and buy your equipment

What troubled my son was his rolls. Only a couple were in the double digits. While this did not disquilify him from any class he felt that fate had delt him a poor hand. Added to this was the fact that the demi-human races were each a Class (note the capital C) unto themselves, and he felt he was greatly wronged ("What do you mean there is no Halfling Thief?"). I did let him re-roll his stats and start over and he did get stats more to his liking. But this got me thinking about the wonder of character creation in D&D.

Creating characters in the manner described above lends itself to a process of discovery rather than one of sculpting a character to meet some predefined expectation. This is probably why point-buy systems are so popular: Want a super strong fighter? Pay your points and you got it! But when these random numbers are there staring you in the face, you have to ask yourself, "what can I do with this?"

In some cases it is obvious. One player had a fairly average set or rolls except for an 18 in Intelligence. His character seemed predestined to be a Magic-User, which is what he chose. However, there was absolutely nothing keeping him from playing a Fighter, Cleric or Thief (other than Experieince point bonuses there is no real drawback to playing a class with a low Prime Requisite ability score; no limits on spells due to low intelligence or wisdom). In this case he was playing to his strengths: high intelligence = Magic-User.

But what if his stats were more middle of the road? Really, he could be anything he wanted to be; it was all in what those numbers meant to him. This is where the wonder comes into to play. Let's look at the character with the high intelligence again. Sure, the logical choice is Magic-User, but what about the other classes?

An inquisitive Halfling traveling far from home to explore and catalogue the known world
A brilliant Fighter that relies on strategems rather than strength of arms
A knowledgable Cleric who had memorized the holy scriptures at a young age and wished to apply those teachings to the world
A quick-witted Thief seeking to pit his incredible intellect against all the puzzels and traps the world could throw at him
A cunning Elf that sought to perfect the combination of magic and arms into a formatable fighting style
A clever Dwarf out to use his exceptional intelligence to invest his earnings as an adventurer and turn it into a comfortable retirement

Being open to the possibilities, no predefined set of expectations - this is the beauty and magic of wonder: anything is possible. I did notice this to some degree with several of the newer players. They listened to the possibilities then chose a class that somehow spoke to them through those ability scores. For the more veteran players, especially schooled in the art of min/maxing, it can be more difficult.

Now, I don't think that players should ignore party balance and factors that would cause friction in the group (alignment and Barbarian/Magic-User coflicts leap to mind). I had one player wait until everyone else had picked their class before he decided what he was going to be. He has always been one to fill in the gaps in party balance. But I can't help but wonder how much more fun it would be if he played the first character that popped into his head after rolling the stats.

Try this yourself. No matter which version of D&D you are playing, use the character creation steps above (especially the first two steps) and see what those ability scores say to you. Feel free to post the outcome in the comments of this article; I'd love to hear what you discovered.

Follow Your Bliss,

PS. For those interested in the outcome of the adventure we played, I ran the sample dungeon out of the back of the D&DB book. The party fell into a pit trap, listened at lots of doors, avoided a water hazard, were surprised by a band of Hobgoblins, slayed all but one, made him reveal the location of the prisoners, defeated the Hobgoblins guarding the prisoners, and made it out of the Haunted Keep with only a few bumps and bruises. All had a great time and look forward to playing again soon.

In The Beginning... (Part 2)

2009-07-23T10:44:00.012-04:00

So, I had just discovered the most interesting game (D&D) I had ever heard of and had no way acquiring it. What was a fledgling gamer to do? The only recourse I had was to create a version of the game myself.

So I spent many long hours in my unfinished basement, a dark and solitary place (probably to help foster that dungeon atmosphere), working on my version of D&D. I created maps and made cut-out miniatures. I tried to imagine how to define the abilities of ghosts and other monsters. I had a lot of fun doing all this, but, ultimately, my efforts went nowhere (good thing the hobby wasn't depending on me to help get it off the ground). I eventually turned my attention elsewhere and forgot about D&D, but D&D didn't forget about me.

A short time later (exactly when I'll discuss shortly), as I remember it, I received a present from a neighborhood friend for my birthday. Low and behold it was a magenta (I always thought it more of a pink) box emblazoned with the title Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (D&DB). This box featured the wonderful Erol Otus painting featuring two adventurers about to encounter a green dragon (I love even more the fact that this painting appeared within the cloud of a clairvoyance spell cast by a wizard which was used for the cover of the D&DX box set of the same edition). I was thrilled. It was more of a surprise because I don't remember telling anybody about this game or my desire to play it.

It's important for me to know when this happened. This was one of those pivotal points in my life; I want to understand it to its fullest. This transpired during the time that I moved from junior high school into high school. So many other things were changing then as well - my friends and my father's health just to name a few. I sometimes feel that I stepped onto a path at that juncture in my life, a path that is leading somewhere I can't yet see. I'm trying to better remember and understand my past to chart a solid course for the future.

I always thought this event took place in the late 70's, but according to acaeum.com this edition of D&DB (the 8th) was not released until 1981. This would put me in the second half of my 8th grade year of junior high school (I just realized the synchronicity of this occurrence - 8th edition in my 8th year of school, in my house we would call that a 'magic number'). I remember playing it over the summer with friends that did not attend the same high school to which I was enrolled. If I had received it for my birthday that year I would have already been in high school and therefore would not have played it with my junior high friends. I must have received it as a late gift or some such event that I'm blocking out of memory. For now I'll go with the year being 1981 when my passion for role-playing games was born.

Some might call it an obsession. It was not long after I received D&DB that I purchased (from the Sears toy department) the D&DX (with the cool, aforementioned Erol Otus cover) released the same year (as a side note, the first edition of D&DB was released in 1977 and D&DX was not released until 1981; imagine waiting 4 years before you could rise above 3rd level!). During my freshman year of high school I was introduced to AD&D1 (which was in full swing by then) and never looked back. By the end of high school I had all the core AD&D1 books, many modules, and my library was growing still. In college I began exploring games outside of the TSR line, but that is a story for another time.

With boxed set under my arm I set off on a journey that continues today, seeking high adventure in its many forms. And all is right in the realm.

Follow Your Bliss,

PS. I did eventually find a hobby store that carried role-playing games products. It was a store out in the suburbs of Cleveland, not far from my high school, that carried all the usual hobby supplies - models trains, planes and automobiles. It also had two book cases devoted to RPGs, right next to the war games. It was a small slice of Nirvana.

In The Beginning... (Part 1)

2009-07-22T16:36:00.003-04:00

...Gygax & Arneson created Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). And all was right in the realm. Like many gamers of my generation, D&D is where it all started. Although I was not there at the groundbreaking I did arrive soon afterward.

D&D was well established as a cultural phenomenon by the late 1970's, which is when it first showed up on my radar. I have a clear memory of watching a local television program during the mid morning (probably during summer vactation). Featured on the program was a segment about a new game called Dungeons & Dragons. With a state-of-the-art flip-board drawing of a sample dungeon, the presenter discussed the basics of characters, monsters and dungeons.

Amazing, I thought, a game where the 'board' is different everytime you play! In fact, the board is only revealed as you play and each player has a unique character with which to explore this dungeon. Mind blowing. I had to have this game.

Even as a kid I loved games, all kinds of games. I loved games with lots of pieces, or as some have called them, fiddly-bits. The more fiddly-bits, the better the game. Games like Monopoly were ok, but I liked unusual games: Eacape from the Death Star, Happy Days, and the ever chic Welcome Back Kotter - Up Your Nose With A Rubber Hose game (if you don't believe me on the last two, check out the links to boardgamegeek.com and see for yourself). Only a couple of things stood between me and possessing this game: access to a hobby store and money.

As a pre-teen in the late 70's I had two ways of getting arround: my bicycle and the city buses. Growing up in Cleveland there were not many places to safely ride your bike outside of the Metroparks, which were nowhere near me. Not that that stopped me from riding unsafely (like on the I-90 freeway, for example - a story for another time). Though not as economical as my bike, the city buses were by far the safer and farther reaching option. That is, if you knew where you wanted to go.

This may be obvious to most, but there was no Google back then, let alone the Internet. You had to let your fingers do the walking if you were looking for a store you hadnever been to, and the Yellow Pages were not the most well-indexed tomes. That's really beside the point; had I truely wanted to find such a store I would have. The more problematic hurddle was money.

My father was a cobbler (the kind that worked with shoes, not desserts) and my mother a seamstress. They had worked out of a storefront a few miles from our home for a number of years before my father's health started failing. By this time, we were living on the disability checks, my dad's pension from Italy and whatever money my mom could make doing dress and clothing alterations from our home. We lived in a working class neighborhood and it is a testament to my mom's budgeting skills that we were as comforable as we were (somehow that budgeting gene missed me). Needless to say, I couldn't really afford such "frivaless things like games", as my mom would say (translated from Italian). Without money, what is a kid to do?

End Of Part 1

[Note: I will be typing a lot about my various experiences with all the editions of Dungeons & Dragons. To make thinks a little easier on my fingers and hopefully clarify which of the various editions I'm writing about, I plan to use the following abreviations within a post (for the Topic lables I'll replace the '&' with an 'n' since the ampersand won't work in a link):

D&D - The Dungeons & Dragons RPG phenomenon as a whole
D&DB - The Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules Set
D&DX - The Dungeons & Dragons Expert Rules Set
D&DC - The Dungeons & Dragons Companion Rules Set
D&DM - The Dungeons & Dragons Master Rules Set
D&DI - The Dungeons & Dragons Immortals Rules Set
D&DRC - The Dungeons & Dragons Rules Compendium
AD&D - The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons line as a whole
AD&D1 - The first edition of Advenced Dungeons & Dragons; subsequent editions will be labeled with the appropriate number; i.e., AD&D2 for second edition, AD&D3, etc.
OD&D - The original Dungeons & Dragons game release and all of its supplements (Greyhawk, Blackmoor, etc.)

I hope this will help clarify things without making the situation too overly complex. Feedback is always welcome.]

Follow Your Bliss,

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About Me

2009-07-21T14:29:00.002-04:00

I'm a 40-something, father of two, happily married gamer. I enjoy most things in the realm of geekdom from sci-fi/fantasy literature to film and animation. A long-time comic book collector, I have fondness in my heart for all heroes in tights, especially those that have worn the lightning bolt of the Flash. During my short stint as a podcaster I have had the pleasure to meet and converse with many luminaries from the fields of both RPGs and comic books.

I have played many of the myriad RPGs that have been published over the years and read through many more than I care to count. I look forward to sharing this world of imagination with my boys as they mature and strive to make the time to play many of the games I said I would get to "one day".

Throughout the course of this blog you will learn much more about me as I (hopefully) learn more about myself. Comments and discourse are always welcome from Followers of this blog.

Follow Your Bliss,
JJ

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Back to (Role-Playing Game) Basics

Finding My Way

A time for change

Future so bright: 2011

Looking Back 2010

Time Will Tell

Switching Gears: Dresden Files RPG

Meeting Gamers

Game Science Dice

Origins 2010 Recap

I'm back...

Researching Cthulhu - Part 2: Books

Researching Cthulhu - Part 1: Horror

Copy Cat

Cutting Edge Weaponry

Digital Frontier - Part 3

Digital Frontier - Part 2

Digital Frontier - Part 1

The a-ha moment

International Traditional Gaming Week

Road of trials

Happy GM's Day!

Read an RPG Book in Public Week

Journey of a thousand miles

Elric Explored - Part 5: Magic

Elric Explored - Part 4: Twilight Civilizations

How I learned to stop worrying and love Ars Magica

The Lost Lake of Eagles Peak

Elric Explored - Part 3: Law vs Chaos

Elric Explored - Part 2: Planes

If You're Not...

Elric Explored - Part 1: Elementals

10 reasons I'm thrilled my child is a role-playing game geek

Back to the beginning...again

Tweeting...for what it's worth

You can't say that!

Quoteable Gygax

Stories and Games

Character Death

Out with the old and in with the new

Being loud!

The world is not a 1st level dungeon

Narration Rights

Giving Thanks

A day at the library

National Gaming Day @ your library

Back in the saddle again

NPC scripted scene

Hey, you got your story in my game!

RPGs and Goals

Update

D&D Game Day 2009

...and now I am the Master!

Ode to a Three-Ring Binder

RPG Bloggers

Know the Rules

The Next Generation of Gamers

What's in a Name?

Tools of the Trade: Obsidian Protal

A Sense of Wonder

Recommended Reading - Tales of the Dying Earth

In The Beginning... (Part 2)

In The Beginning... (Part 1)

About Me