Gear for PCs - Starting Out

Once you've got your character rounded out as far as stats and back story comes the final step: gear. Looking at the starting gold for many characters your options are limited in what you can afford, but there is a lot in the way of gear in the starting book.

There are the standard choices: bedroll, rations, torches, and rope (with or without grappling hook). More specialized options are holy symbols, specific tools and kits, and alchemical items.

But there are more options than just that. If you think outside the box, you can look at the item list and put together some really interesting load outs. Marbles can be used to detect slopes and trip up people; pitons can be used to climb and jam doors open or closed; bells can be decoration/tools for some classes and useful alarms for everyone else; mirrors can be used to signal over distance and look around corners.

Also, random choices can be amusing and character defining. A dwarven paladin in a game carried 10 lbs of soap. Jaws agape, we asked why and he said he liked to be clean. And that was that. He was a dwarf paladin that wanted to be clean, no matter what the situation.

Mundane items can become important to your character. A signet ring on it's own is just used to seal letters (see sealing wax on the item list), but it can also be your father's ring or the ring of your clan, passed to your for safe keeping. Maybe you wear broken manacles, physical reminders of a past you never will return to.

Look over the list and don't look at each item on the page. Look at each item as if you're holding it in your hand and what does it mean to your character? Does your character believe in luck and if so, is that clay tankard your lucky drinking mug? Is that block and tackle tools of a life you wish you could lead? The items themselves aren't necessarily what you should look at. Have an image of your character in mind and see how the item fits that character. Is it useful? Is it meaningful?

Game in Review

So we actually managed to game this past Saturday and overall it was a great success. Sending out a story advancing e-mail allowed me to skip the last bit of the prologue and move the players into the main part of the campaign.

The players rescued the townsfolk from the previous session and returned home. After a month of time has passed the mayor looks rather ill and a "special ops" character from the capital has come to collect the PCs to escort them to the capital. Turns out they weren't the only people in the world that were suddenly granted powers and levels. The players weren't terribly fond of this character as he was all business and little in the way of social skills.

They set out and were ambushed one night the PCs drove off the attacker, but did not notice the assassin that executed the Spec Ops character. This is where my story took a turn off the rails. I had intended the PCs to get captured by this group and in order to facilitate that, I had them all be of a higher level than them. They were supposed to be ordered to surrender so they could be captured. Instead, one of the characters grapples the assassin and ties her up while her goons advance. The dwarf orders her to surrender, she tells him to shove it, and promptly gets beaten by another character.

Had I allowed actions to go where they were headed, the players would have offed the assassin only to be killed by her goons. So I took my plans, threw them away, and started flying by the seat of my pants. As a result, she turned into a rebel agent, trying to overthrow the government of the land so that all races can rule themselves. She was ordered to "rescue" the PCs and escort them to the capital city, to be delivered to the Rebel Organization instead of the Senate to try and find out what happened.

Of course, I then had to set up an encounter that would kill off most of her goons so I don't have to manage 8 npcs at once. So the goons went through threatening level to Red Shirt incompetence and were promptly murdered by hobgoblins, so I have half as many NPCs to deal with now.

Even though the game went a direction I wasn't expected, the spontaneous creation of the Rebellion will lead to a deeper story than what I had intentionally envisioned. So if the players in your game start running in a direction that you're not sure of, just go with it. 9 out of 10 times anything you say during one session won't be fully resolved until later sessions so you have plenty of time to alter the story to fit what has been said and done.

Mash Ups

Apparently, Fridays are difficult for me to post on now. Not sure what is going on, but here it is:

Mash up games can be a lot of fun, but what exactly is a mash up? Mash up games happen when you take two different themes from different systems and put them into one game. For example, Shadowrun and Werewolf. The players can take on the roles of werewolves and/or runners that exclusively infiltrate and sabotage Pentex companies. Or you can flip it, and make characters that work for Pentex that target Werewolf activities.

In this specific example, it can also highlight specific mechanics from the game, such as Essence and Cybernetics. How would a werewolf feel about cybernetic implants? While the concept is completely anathema to them, would there be instances where a werewolf would be willing to compromise their souls to fight the Wyrm better?

Call of Cthulhu and D&D would be another good one. The players can suddenly encounter horrific monsters and magics that previously didn't exist in the world; that attack their sanity more than their bodies. This would be a fairly easy mash up since a d20 Call of Cthulhu was released years ago and there is already a precedent with abberrations.

So how do you mash two games together into one? This requires knowing the rules of both games very well so you can convert one game into the other. The game you choose to convert will also affect how the game plays. If I chose to convert Chaosium's BRP into d20 the game would focus more on combat and adventure, with the characters able to take and deal damage. However, if you choose to go the other way, d20 to BRP, then the game takes on a completely different tenor. The characters suddenly aren't able to receive damage and healing becomes more complicated and the game takes on a more life or death feel.

You have to be willing to put the work in to convert the rules, and that can take a good deal of work, especially if they games are very dissimilar. You have to know what rules need to be added to the new system and what rules can be handled by it without change. Additionally, you can fold both systems into a generic system such as GURPS, HERO, or Savage Worlds.

Problem Players

Every group will go through an "experience" where someone's personality will conflict with another person's. There are multiple avenues of recourse to this besides "Kicking them out of the group."

These types of situations can arise over a variety of means. Perhaps one person has made comments, observations, or jokes that you find incredibly objectionable. Maybe they have a different play style that is interfering with the fun of the whole group. It might even be something as simple as simple as a conflict of personalities.

There are a few ways to avoid coming to this point though. The first, and simplest rule, is to be an adult and deal with a conflict of interest or personality as an adult. No matter what the situation or environment you are int, conflicts will arise and you need to be able to handle them as ana adult or else your life will end up being rather difficult.

Be somewhat selective in who you game with as well. Just like any other social group, there are rules and expectations of behavior. If someone is behaving in a way that makes you uncomfortable (drug use, inappropriate comments, etc) don't game with them. If you are uncomfortable to start with, things will most likely only get worse, not magically better.

Even if someone behaves acceptably, it doesn't mean that they'll get along with you. In the event personalities or perspectives change, see the first rule.

Have a one on one talk with the person. There isn't a need to drag the entire group into an argument that doesn't involve them. Chances are that the individual may not be aware of what they're doing, be it inappropriate comments or behavior. Most people will attempt to modify their behavior once they realize that they're behaving inappropriately.

If they don't, then the next step is to involve the group and see if they're having similar experiences. If they are, you can come together as a group and speak with the person to try and address the issue. If they aren't, you may need to evaluate how well you fit into the group, or perhaps not take things so personally. Sometimes the issue is with you.

Only after you've spoken with the person individually and as a group, should you look at the option of removing them from the group. If you do have to take this course of action, be upfront about it. Don't cancel the game and then start again and "forget" to invite the person back. Chances are that the people you game with are your friends and are deserving of at least a modicum of respect. Even if they're not, they still deserve some level of respect and should be treated like adults.

Suggestions

So, as some people may have noticed, I missed my posting on Friday. Part of this was due to exhaustion, part of this was due to not having a good idea for what to blog about. I've got some half formed ideas in my head, but nothing solid enough yet to write a full post about. To help curtail this, I've created a suggestions page, link at the top of the page. If you have ideas for something you want to see posted, either singly or as a series, go ahead and comment on that page and I'll get an e-mail as soon as you do.

I've done fairly well so far, but I'm getting to a point where I think I need some help with the ideas, so post away up there and keep this project going!

Introducing Players into a Group

Adding players to a group is a great way to mix things up. New players bring new viewpoints and ideas on how things should be done, perhaps injecting new life into your group. I'm not going to go over how you meet people to game with, that's a topic all on its own; I'm going to be discussing how to introduce them into your game without disrupting the flow.

The first step, before you even consider how to bring them into your game, is to consider the others players. You can't just insert someone into a group without notice or consent; you need to let the group know that someone is interested in joining and make sure everyone is ok with it. If they're not, you won't be able to do the following.

So once everyone is ok with the idea of adding a new person, check where you are in the story of the game. If you're a few sessions away from ending, it would probably be better to wait until the next campaign starts; otherwise the story may become disjointed at the climax.

If you're at a point in the story where adding someone is worth it, you need to look at what the party has done so far. If they've already had a few adventures they most likely have some ties with NPCs they've encountered in your world. One option is to have the new player play one of the NPCs; that way they already have a tie and relationship to the party. The downside to this is the new player may not get to play something they're interested in. Alternatively, they could have a tie to that NPC somehow and be introduced into the party that way. 

Having the current and new players cross paths with similar goals is another good plan. If the PCs are investigating a murder, the new player could have a tie to the victim or someone unrelated but interested in bringing down the villain.

Depending on the setting, you can present the players with a problem that they aren't equipped to handle, and present the new player as someone that the party can hire or work with to solve their problem.

If you work in the player as an aspect of the story, everything will flow together much better. The characters will have a reason to interact with each other in a meaningful fashion and they'll have reasons to bond beyond that adventure.

The key thing to consider is to try and make the introduction in game as organic as possible. Otherwise the players will suffer a disconnect from the story and you will lose some momentum. For an excellent example of how not to introduce a new character or player, see The Gamers.

Game in Review

So this should be a post about a game review, since we gamed on Saturday. Sadly, we ran into insurmountable technical difficulties. Construction workers cut the cable line going into my neighborhood so there was nothing to do about that.

No matter how much I like technology, sometimes there is something to be said for face to face gaming; you don't need to worry about random events like that getting in the way. We work through what we can, when we can, sometimes there is nothing to do.

So if you're considering doing a game via video/teleconference, be mindful that sometimes no amount of creativity with technology can make it work if the connection just isn't there.

However, I decided that in the interest of moving the story forward (since we game twice a month) I was going to dictate what I had planned, with input from the players on their character's actions. This way I can maintain the pace of the game, even when things go sour.

Don't be afraid to wrest narrative control from your players when you have to. You can use it to speed up downtime within the game, expedite travel, and even keep the game moving when it start to stagnate.

Advanced Monsters

Following up on the last post, I wanted to talk about using low level creatures at high level. Low level creatures can be used at high level effectively; once players are past level 3 you can still throw orcs at them, it just takes a bit of thought.

In specific with orcs, I used them in my last game at the midgame point (9-12) and the players seemed to enjoy them a great deal. The simplest way to improve monsters is to give them class levels, but if that is all you do; the impact to the players will be minimal. Presenting a story or mystique to these "new" monsters can greatly improve the splash they make.

In my game I needed a repeatable monster for where they were in the world and decided to populate the area with a superior, previously unknown, breed of orcs. To make the different from standard orcs, I gave their skin a reddish hue and mechanically gave them a dex bonus. Aside from that they were the exact same as any other orc.

To make them more interesting, I decided they would have three main classes: archers, shapeshifters, and barbarians. I assigned them each different classes and number of levels to make the difficulty ramping up. Finally I gave the different classes names that implied what they did without being 100% clear. The archers were the Far Killers, shapeshifters were Skin Walkers, and the barbarians were Blood Drinkers.

I introduced them over time, with each class of orc mentioning or introducing the subsequent class, culminating in the Blood Drinkers. Before they even encountered the Far Killers, I introduced them from the perspective of a besieged tower that was being assaulted every night by a mysterious force that could kill at exceptional ranges and they could do little to stop them. By the time they actually encountered the orcs they had been built up and their first combat was all the more memorable because the PCs approached it cautiously instead of the typical reckless charge.

With a little creativity and thought put into basic monsters, you can use them at nearly every level to great affect. Beyond increasing bonuses and assigning levels, it is crucial to build up an air of mystery about them rather than just have them be a random encounter that is soon forgotten.

Monsters in Transition - Orcs

This time around we're going to step up on the monster ladder, but not too far, and take a look at Orcs. The slightly less common, slightly larger goblin of the D&D world.

Orcs are the next step up in the goblinoid ladder. Bigger and stronger than goblins, they typically lead goblins in battle. They also abuse the hell out of them. Usually the first few encounters in a standard D&D game start off with goblins and the go to orcs soon after.

Orcs tend to be stronger and more brutish than the other humanoid races. Early on they are a significant threat to the players, since there standard damage is 2d4+4 which is enough to severely wound or kill many 1st level characters. They are the stock fodder of D&D adventures.

Between Pathfinder and D&D little has changed. Their stats are still the same, their saves are slightly better in Pathfinder (with a -1 to Will instead of a -2). Their main weakness is a lack of intelligence and Light Sensitivity. In daylight and bright light they are dazzled. This sets up an interesting problem for PCs. These already dangerous foes are more likely to ambush at night when the party is asleep and unarmored, and they can make use of their darkvision, making them that much more lethal.

A significant and odd change happened in Pathfinder though, that bears mentioning. Orcs have a trait called Ferocity that lets them take action when they are in the negatives for hit-points. They can only take one action a round and they still lose 1 hitpoint a round, but in Pathfinder you die when you reach negative con score, not negative 10. Bundled with the larger hit die this gives them nearly triple the hitpoints of a D&D orc. They lose those last hitpoints quickly, but it gives them at least a round or two to drop PCs.

That is the significant change. The odd change is that their challenge rating went down to 1/3 instead of 1/2. While characters are slightly more powerful in Pathfinder than D&D, that power doesn't become evident right away, so the increase in killing power and duration paired with a lower CR makes for a dangerous balancing act on the GM's part.

Splitting the Party - A Day Late

I want to sincerely apologize for missing yesterday. Apparently the 3 day weekend screwed with my internal get stuff done calendar and the post fell through the cracks. Here it is a day late, but hopefully with exact change.

A lot of things can be learned from our childhood heroes. Some good (Goonies never say die!) some less so. One of the worst examples comes from Scooby Doo, where they split the party at every opportunity, to cover more ground, to search for clues, to do whatever is possible to keep the party from being in the same room at the same time.

Why is this a bad idea? There are two main reasons why, the metagame and the mechanics of a system.

For the metagame, splitting the party means that some people will be sitting around bored. I've been in games where one person and I went off to investigate someone in a town and it took nearly two hours to resolve; so everyone else had to sit around doing nothing. I lost track of time otherwise I would have made a comment that we should perhaps take a break. However, we got involved and lost track of time and not many people had fun that day. I commend the DM for allowing us to follow through on things like that, but it is an excellent example of what can go wrong with it.

Another metagame reason is that it puts a lot of strain on the DM to maintain two separate plots while the party is split. If the split persists for more than part of a session then the DM will need to do twice as much prep work than before.

The other reason I mentioned has to do with systems. In the mechanics of D&D are designed with a minimum party size in mind. If the party splits they may not be able to handle encounters that would be appropriate to their level.

However, if you are in a game with multiple DMs then splitting the party is entirely acceptable and expected. There are multiple DMs to handle the strain and also handle the split. The only concern at that point is to make sure that you are still capable of handling combat encounters (if they are a mechanic or concern in your game)

Breaking Camp

In honor of the miniature camping trip I have planned, I'm going to do a post on the useful shortcuts people take while gaming that speed up play; in specific camping.

Actual camping is an incredibly time consuming process. If you actual bother to set camp correctly, setting up the tents and sleep bags, collecting firewood, preparing food, it can take a long time. Breaking camp can take just as long. If you're going for realism, then making your players roll survival check after survival check to set things up and then checks to prep the food makes sense. I'm not sure how much fun that would be; but it would be realistic.

But does it add anything to the game besides 5 or 10 rolls? Presumably any adventurer knows how to set a camp well enough to not die. It may not be a comfortable camp, but they won't die. Does it cost anything to assume they do an ok job setting and breaking camp? Not really.

Prepping spells is another shortcut that I've always been comfortable cutting. I don't need any descriptions for what they're doing. I assume that the characters do what they need to do which takes an hour. In that time; the rest of the party can break camp like any competent adventurer can do.

Even in other systems, some shortcuts are useful. Routine, mundane tasks don't necessarily need to be roleplayed out. A rolled check and a description of the outcome should suffice. Unless it serves a specific purpose in the game (building tension or setting a particular scene) making players go through the entire motions of roleplaying and then rolling is a waste of time.

Tech at the Table

Technology has (and will continue to advance) at exponential rates. This has brought us phones and devices that are always connected to the internet and allow us access to every distraction known to man.

So how do you handle tech at the table? These devices can simplify our lives greatly as far as gaming goes, but they can also provide endless and frustrating distraction.

Back when I gamed in college, we had a simple rule: you paid attention to what was going on. Gaming books were to supposed to be kept closed unless you were looking something up. You were respectful of what the GM was doing so you paid attention to it.

However, things are more complicated now. The aforementioned tech allows us access to books on PDFs, dice rollers, or digital character sheets. Laptops also do the same. They also provide access to Facebook, e-mail, and other digital distractions. Also, family and jobs are more of a responsibility than they were in college. Players may be on call during the game or family members may need to check in with them.

So how do you deal with it? Personally, we use a lot of tech when we game. Dice rollers make life easier when you need to roll many d10s for a White Wolf game, or the number of d6s needed for my homebrew system TROPE. Laptops allow us to use spreadsheets to automatically update characters as they take damage or level up.

Tech needs to be used responsibly though. It can't be excised completely because emergencies come up and need to be responded to appropriately. However, whether you are player or GM; you need to pay respect to the people who are playing with you. You've all decided to spend time together enjoying a hobby, so do that. Pay attention so you can act when it is your turn without slowing the game down. Use tech responsibly to speed up the process even more; but use it to play the game not to be distracted from it.

Where'd my Story Go?

This is post is based off of a request I received (Look! I do requests!) about what to do when your players derail your story and manage to circumvent traps and encounters.

If your players manage to circumvent your traps and encounters, there isn't much you can do. To an extent your encounters can be moved to later in the session. Your traps can be re-placed on your dungeon so that the players have the opportunity to encounter them again. However, this should be done with caution. Whether your players circumvented them by chance or design; they should be rewarded for doing so. Simply moving everything forward so they can encounter it again cheapens the experience of trying to solve problems by working around them.

So what do you do when your players derail the story and go off in their own direction? That really depends on what kind of game you're running. If you're running a sandbox style game, you have to go with it because that is the point of sand box games.

If you're running a more controlled game you can either roll with it and see where the players take the story or gently guide them back to what you intended. If you shut down out of hand everything the players do then you'll get to a point where the players will just ask, "What do you want us to do here?" And that isn't really fun for anyone. Unless you are running straight dungeon crawl after dungeon crawl, then the players need to have some input on where they're going to go next and they need to have the freedom on how to approach the encounters you put in front of them.

If things get really out of hand, then you might have to make some hard choices. In extreme situations you may have to speak with the players (or player, if it is only one person derailing everything). That should get everything back into line. People usually don't realize that they're causing problems, because everyone but the DM may be having fun. If you're gaming with mature players that should be all it takes.

However, this may not take care of the problem for some groups. You can kick specific people out if they're causing problems, but that will cause a variety of problems in the long run. A better option, in the worst case scenario, would be to can the game. Even though you are the DM, you are still playing a game and you need to enjoy it as well.

Stories in RPGs can be sticky. If you want to tell a story that you have brewing in your mind, then you'll need to restrict your players a bit. Or, you can allow your story to change with what they do and that can lead to a richer story and unexpected surprises.

Game Pacing

Game pacing is a crucial, yet often overlooked aspect of planning a game; and one that I need to start paying more attention to.

Game pacing is all about how fast the story moves in your world and also controls how the world feels. A setting or campaign that is non-stop action and adventure can quickly wear out players and characters. Much like real people, characters need downtime to heal and recuperate; to purchase and craft goods for the next adventure. If you're constantly throwing catastrophes and climaxes at the players, it can rob them of needed time to process information. On the flip side, if the world moves too slow the players will lose interest. If they have nothing to do, they won't want to do anything and may become lethargic or slow to react when something does need to happen.

Pacing can also shift from session to session. Everyone knows that there are slow, planning sessions and then their are frantic, the plan has gone to hell sessions.

So why does this matter? When our group was gaming on a weekly schedule, the slow sessions didn't matter as much, since next week we'd be moving onto the next part. Now that we're gaming every other week; the slow sessions become more of a burden. That means that everything that happens during the session needs to have some import to the overall story. Random encounters that are nothing more than an xp gain need to be removed. I'm not saying that each and everything they touch or talk to needs to be crucial to the story, but anything that takes a significant amount of time needs to be looked at before decided whether to use it or not. Roleplaying out an encounter with an innkeeper? Short and easily doable. Making high level players actually fight with low level city guards? A waste of time. Assume they win, have them each take a negligible amount of damage and move on.

Taboos in Gaming - Sex Part 2

So why go through the hassle of navigating the pitfalls of peoples' comfort levels and interpersonal politics to include sexuality in your games? From a mechanics standpoint, sexuality adds very little for most systems. There are exceptions of course; D&D 3.5 has a few feats that require players to abstain from sex to gain benefits, but I don't know of anything else.

However, it can add a great deal to the story of your game; in the way of party tension and subplots within your game.

Romantic interests, with NPCs, give the players a time to a location that they otherwise might not have. They have a reason to visit or defend a place. If the party is stagnating or stalling between plot points, attacking a place where the character has a loved one. Having a love one turn on the party member (either willfully or not) creates drama that the character would need to resolve.  If the campaign carries on long enough, the birth of a child can serve as an even greater motivator.

Between the players, a romance can create amazing opportunities for role play. A couple will fight that much harder to protect each other. If one is kidnapped, then the other will have a great deal of motivation to free them at all costs. Sacrifices made to protect the partner become nobler and greater, in every respect. Suddenly the fighter staying behind to hold the advancing monsters, at the cost of their own life, while their spouse flees, becomes a meaningful death for the PCs that the players will remember for a long time.

Add in a 3rd PC to create a love triangle (remember, in game only) creates tension and drama within the party that can self-perpetuate stories and plot hooks on. That type of relationship can drive players to explore sides of their characters that they might not have otherwise, from betrayal and revenge through to redemption.

So clearly, sexuality and romance can add a lot to your story; however, it takes the entire group to buy into it and be ok with it and it also presupposes a level of maturity within the group that may be lacking. If that's the case, wait a few years and give it another go. I'll leave you with a personal gaming story about sex in a game gone horribly wrong.

In a game of Shadowrun (cyberpunk set in a world rife with corporate espionage) you play what are called runners who do mostly illegal things (corporate espionage, security work, etc). Since you tend to live on the seedier side of things, the people who hire you also run to the shady. During one game, we were hired to steal something and were given a "signing bonus" of prostitutes for the evening. (It later turns out that they fed the employer information about us to use against us if things went south).

Everyone kinda shrugged and went with it, no one made a big deal about it since it fit within the morality of the game and our characters. Except for Manny. Manny had apparently invested a good deal of points into a skill he created called Kama Sutra Mastery. (Shadowrun allows you to create your own knowledge skills). He proudly proclaimed that he would throw her down on the table (we were at a nightclub in game) and do her there and would use his skills to please her.

This brought the entire table to a screeching halt. We all stared at him in shock as he counted out dice to roll and made a show of rolling them. Of course, fate being what it was he failed the skill check. We thought that this was the end of it and we could move on and try to forget. He then proclaims that the result was completely unacceptable and proceeded to spend a finite resource to re-roll all of his failures in an attempt to succeed. This brought us from shock to horror and moderate disgust.

So, I suppose the lesson from this before you bring up the idea with your players, make sure they are mature enough to handle it and then work to find out their comfort zones. Many a successful campaign and game have been run without including sex, so don't feel like you have to; but handled correctly it can bring a great deal of depth to the game that would have otherwise not been there.

Taboos in Gaming - Sex

What better place to start talking about taboos in gaming than with sex?

Sex plays a role in most fantasy literature and movies. The hero/heroine will inevitably end up knockin' boots with their love interest at some point. The author or director can handle it in a number of different ways, either implicitly or explicitly. Even in non-fantasy movies, sex and sexuality will often play a prominent role.

If sex and sexuality is so common in modern media and entertainment, why is it taboo during gaming?

Part of the taboo comes down to the stigma associated with being a gamer. The stigma of "nerdy, eternal virgin playing in their parents' basement." While this is a stereotype is rarely true, I think it still taints the idea of doing anything that could reinforce it.

Another distinction between media and gaming (as far as sex goes) is that within media it is one way. You are seeing/reading what the author or director wants you to see; you have little input into it. Within the context of a roleplaying game, you are suddenly very involved in what is going on. With an implicit sex scene, the camera fades to black and that's it. However, if it is explicit you are suddenly describing an intimate act within a group of people. This can cause the other players to be uncomfortable and can create a very awkward environment.

Another in the awkwardness comes down to the gender of the players. If everyone is the same gender then participating, even on an imaginary level, in a "sex scene" can make people incredibly uncomfortable, even if they are perfectly fine discussing sex outside of the game.

Additionally, the relationships within the group can be a problem, if not addressed properly. If you're playing in a game with a few couples, then how will advances made within the game, across couple lines, be handled out of the game? What level of detail becomes acceptable when you are involving someone else's significant other?

So how do you involve sex and sexuality in a game? The first step would be to make sure all the players agree to involve it. If people aren't comfortable with it, don't do it. You'll make everyone uncomfortable and less likely to show up. You need to gauge what their comfort level is of the group and work from there. If their fine with the "fade to black" sex scene, go with that. You need to target the lowest level of comfort within your group. If Player A is uncomfortable with anything more than implications and Player B wants detail, you need to work at Player A's level. Perhaps later on, after trust and comfort has been built up, you can start adding in more details, but you need to start with the lowest comfort level.

Next time, I'll talk about why you would want to involve this in your games. It certainly isn't necessary in any respect, but it does provide options for story that would otherwise be lacking.

Game in Review

Since we're now gaming every other week instead of weekly, this post will serve a few purposes.

1. I can let everyone in on the goings on in my games.
2. It will allow me to chronicle the party's adventures/antics to help maintain continuity between games. 

This means that in theory, there should be a Game in Review post in the week following my games. I will keep this as spoiler free for the players, so that they can read with impunity.

So away we go.

For this campaign, I decided to try a quasi-"in media res" start. What in media res means is that you start in the middle of the action and move on from there. So my first session immediately started with combat. I had sent out an e-mail prior describing what was happening right before combat to everyone. This let us bypass some of the usual "meet and greet" that happens at the start of most campaigns.

Part of idea for this campaign is "Commoners to Heroes." I told everyone to create a character without a backstory. After that was done, I told them that they were going to start off as commoners in a village and that something would happen to them to "transform" them into PCs.

The game started with news of an orcish attack that was going to happen from the North. Half of the town militia set out to ambush the orcs and try to head off the attack. That night everyone wasat the tavern, unwinding after a day of work, when orcs and goblins burst through the door and began killing. At this point I had the players "change" into their characters. So they were suddenly well equipped and suddenly had spells and knowledge of combat at their disposal. They cleared the bar and went outside to see their village and farms being destroyed and burned.

They rescued some people that the goblins were dragging off and stopped orcs from raiding the forge of the village for weapons. The next day, the leader of the town, an Illumian named Mathrin, said that the militia that had gone to the north had been themselves ambushed and had few survivors. He then asked the PCs to, since they had shown themselves capable in a fight, to track down the orcs and goblins and report back their location as he sent for reinforcements. The characters reluctantly agreed and set off that day.

Early that afternoon they were ambushed by a rearguard of two goblins archers and a mounted goblin. They quickly dispatched the goblins and killed the mounted goblins mount. At the end of the fight they were fairly weakened so they decided to rest, which is where we broke for the day.

My first gaming session

So, I’m sure you all are just dying to know my thoughts on gaming as an outsider/noob.

Okay, perhaps dying is too strong a word. Are you at least mildly curious then?

After some minor technical difficulties (which is bound to happen with you involve three computers, two web cams, various wireless devices and two internet connections in two states!) and chorizo breakfast tacos, we started roughly 11am. I didn’t know it at the time, but Karl did something rather peculiar and started with an immediate battle. I assumed this was typical and gathered later that it was not. Apparently it usually starts more like an AA group with an awkward meet and greet.

The first/immediate battle was sort of confusing to me. I asked a lot of questions. I also did a lot of missing. I think I had a 33% success rate, but didn’t kill my target.

The second encounter went a bit more smoothly for me. I could move without asking “did I do that right?” after every single thing. Sadly, again, no kills and I think I only hit once. One of the more seasoned players was knocked unconscious. This did not bode well for what I felt I could do to not die!

Then came the meet and greet and a whole mess of waiting/mucking about. I’m no good at sitting still in real life, and I’m no good at it in gaming either. I was later told that I picked the perfect character for my own personality then, because Halflings HATE waiting and usually bring about the end of the world while “entertaining themselves”. Jimmy and Karl (both contributors to this site) said to follow that instinct. If I’m bored, my character probably is too. Good to know!

The third and final encounter of the session was by far the best. We were attacked by Goblins on a wooded trail. At first, more failure for me. I was beginning to think I’d only be useful to the party by means of pulling healing scrolls out of my “bag” due to a feat I have that allows me to pull unspecified items out of my backpack during my turn. Sadly, I can’t use the scrolls, but I can produce them! Then, our cleric decided to go after an unlikely target. I was next and had a decision to make…..try for the same target – if I failed the Goblin and Goblin Dog get away – or go for the Goblin itself though I doubted I could kill it. I decided to go for the already wounded dog, and this time I hit!!! And I killed it. The foe that we’d all written off as “the one that got away” was taken down! And I got the kill. Huzzah. I even got high fives (yes, plural).

Overall, I’d say that there’s too much down time for my personal preferences. I realize that the downtime is totally necessary and meant to be there……but I literally dozed off at one point. Karl had to nudge me. The battles were fun, but I’m still clueless as to strategy. I’ve never been good at strategy-based games. And if I need to do anything more complex than stab at someone or throw something, I’m going to have problems. Another issue, we aren’t pursuing this campaign again for over a month. I’m supposed to remember how to do all this after not doing it for a whole month?! I told the guys I’d do at least two sessions – hopefully the whole game – but if there are month spans between each session, my interest will very likely wane entirely. It was nice to be part of the group for a change instead of just a food provider.

We’ll see if I remember how to do this next month. Until then, you probably won’t hear much from me on this blog. But I’ll still be posting over at mine (with a further look at gaming too)! Thanks for the comments and encouragement for my first time out!

Technical Game Notes

The new rig went well. I realized that I could actually open up the maps in Google docs on both computers, and control both instances from the laptop meant I didn't have to remote into the big screen to control what the local players saw. That meant that the desktop didn't have to divert resources to allow remote access and made it run a little smoother.

I also had a wireless mouse and keyboard hooked up to the desktop so that the local players could move themselves around on the digital mat.

There were a few hiccups, the desktop kept going into a power save mode that was easy enough to fix.

On the human side, I was a bit rusty and somewhat scattered with my thoughts during the game. I've been absent from DM duties for a few months now, so it took me a little bit to get back into gear. From what I heard from the players, though they enjoyed it a great deal.

On Wednesday, there will be an early post with Brandy's perspective on her first game. Friday, I'll post my take on it and then we'll move back to more theoretical concepts and ideas.

A newbie's perspective

Hello all! I'm Brandy, Karl's wife and first time D&D player. Karl asked me to make appearances now and again once I finally started gaming with him. Now, if you asked me if I'd ever game with him to begin with before our wedding night, the answer would be very close to "when hell freezes over". And no, it's not because of the often negative stigma and/or labels that go with gaming...after all one of my hobbies is renaissance festivals and I've always been a nerd. What is it that has kept me from gaming when it occurs in my home almost weekly then?! It's the time investment. Gaming take a lot of time! These guys and gal invest on average four to seven hours each gaming session. That's without any of the prep work involved in gaming. That's simply active play. For me to sit relatively still and focus on something in increments greater than two hours is next to impossible. I very well may be a fidgety mess by the end of the gaming session.

My short attention span aside, I am joining in this adventure with as much of an open mind as I can. I "vowed" to play in at least one game (which has been modified to at least two to three sessions of Karl's current campaign) on my wedding night. Yes, vowed. It's a long story involving an epic and hilarious best man speech with vow addendums. I was so tickled and touched that the best man felt so strongly about D&D that he'd include it in his speech to us. How could I resist after that? Made for great photos, a la Penny on Big Bang Theory. (And he's told you his groom's cake was a D&D battle complete with Reaper minis, right?!)

Karl and I started talking character choices for me as soon as we returned from our honeymoon. I think he was a bit excited about the whole thing. We decided I should be a bard-esque type and then the campaign was delayed for various reasons. It wasn't til this week that we started back up with the character development.

Every night this week, we've set out to clearly define a few items at a time about my character. As I know very, very little about character development other than what he's written on this blog and seeing the labor he puts into carefully developing his own characters, this had been a rather lengthy process as well. He's had to explain things as if I were three and give me lists of things to read. Tonight, we finally have a character! But without a name. Yeah, we game tomorrow morning, and I'm nameless!

The process has been a bit overwhelming and often puzzling. He's gamed for years and years and what seems simple common knowledge, well, just isn't for me. The extremely large book after book of information doesn't help the overwhelming feeling either. I have been assured, though, that they will all be willing to help me do this thing and questions are encouraged. Their motivation to help me? Perpetuation of the game through added players.

After all, there is no D&D if there is no one to play it.

Wish me luck.

(Admin Note: Please feel free to visit my wife's blog at http://secondchancehappiness.blogspot.com. She chronicles the months and projects leading up to our wedding, as well as married life.)

State of the Rig

So I thought I would update the status of how we game.

I recently purchased a new laptop and was able to move my old desktop PC out into the living room and hook it up to the TV. In theory, I can run Oovoo from the desktop to game with instead of having to hook up a laptop every weekend. This has also allowed me to implement a modern GM Screen.

While this may not apply to everyone, I think it can be very useful, so I'm including it in a post. The idea is to run Oovoo and Google Docs on the desktop that is permanently hooked up to the TV. I intend to control the desktop PC using remote access software from my laptop. This will allow me to display information for all my players to see on the big screen TV, while keeping my notes and plans on the laptop screen where only I can see them.

Additionally, I can hook up my iPod touch to the laptop and use that as a mouse to control either computers, or I can use it as a dice roller instead of rolling dice. Allowing for a more streamlined GM experience.

Of course this is all untested. I hope to get it tested before the game on Saturday and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes and what improvements I can make to the system.

Blog Relaunch

And I believe we're back.

It's been a busy and hectic month for me,  but I think I'm good to go.

My new campaign will be starting this coming weekend, so expect some notes on what is going in my campaign world as time progresses. My lovely wife will be playing and she agreed to guest author a post or two here about her experiences, so be looking forward to that.

I'll be going through old posts to see what series I had started and continue those.

This blog may expand beyond the D&D/Pathfinder systems, since my group has decided to involve other systems in our game rotation, including a system that Jimmy and I have created. So I will be trying to make the information for players and GM as system neutral as I can (except in specific instances when I feel the need to talk about something regarding one game system or another).


The posting schedule should remain the same; however, I am now the owner of a 4 month old puppy that seems to require a whole boatload of attention.

Brief Hiatus

I am putting Philosophia Polyhedra on a brief hiatus. I have a few other projects that I'm currently working on that I'd like to devote some more time to. I do fully intend to return to blogging in a few weeks, but at the moment, I don't have enough time to complete all the things I'd like to work on.

Keep on playing and trying new things.

Taboos

Whether we realize it or not, there are a number of topics that are off limits at the gaming table. Maybe there is an unspoken, unwritten rule about what is ok, maybe there have been "incidents" where a taboo was broken and repercussions were felt.

Both the best and the worst part of this is that what is taboo for one group, won't be taboo for another. Drugs might be an ok topic or theme in with one group, while another may not feel comfortable involving them at all.

This series will cover a variety of general taboos (they may not apply within your own group), how to use them responsibly and respectfully to hopefully great effect. As long as your group is open and, most importantly, on the same page social taboos can make for very deep and defining character moments.

Party Size in D&D

How big is too big for a gaming group? How small is too small?

D&D (in particular) is set up to run with 4 players and a GM. However, you can run games with significantly more players or significantly less. At a minimum to run a game, one player and one GM. Any less than that and you're not running a game, you're writing a short story/novel. As long as you have at least one other person, you can run a game.

There are special considerations when running with less than the "expected" number of players. If the experience is handed out for combat, you may need to alter the encounters for combat, since there aren't enough players. With fewer players experience will need to be handed out for more than just combat (or increase the xp awards for combat). Roleplaying would be the easiest method for awarding extra XP. Also, running a game that isn't focused on combat allows for much smaller parties than a combat centric game.

On the other end, there really isn't an upper limit to how many people can playing a game. I've played in games that had 12 people in them. The only limit to how many people can play in a single game is determined by two things: how much effort the GM can put into it and the patience of the players. Certain GMs can run more, other can run less. GMs also have the option to co-GM if the group gets too big. However, if the players aren't willing to put up with a group that size, it won't work. The more people you add to to a group, the length of time everything takes increases exponentially. 

Choosing the Right Character

Hello, and welcome to a guest post. I'm not the guest poster that you were told about a few posts ago, I'm the guest poster that was supposed to be guest posting from the beginning and didn't. Sorry.

Some brief background before we get into the actual post. I have played RPGs on video game consoles for as long as I can remember, but I am relatively new to tabletop gaming. I played 2nd edition once when I was a sophomore in high school and spent 2 hours making a character and waiting for the game to start and then was killed by an ooze slime 10 minutes into combat. In game time, it would have taken roughly 18 seconds between me pulling out my sword and me being below -10. I did not play again for a while. Actually until I was a sophomore in college, when I started playing 3.0 and then 3.5 after that. However, I am a big fan of tabletop gaming because of the role playing and the storytelling that it allows to take place. For the most part those are the topics that I will be limiting most of my posts to.

This is my first post, and it isn't going to blow the lid off of gaming, but it is a nice place to start to set up future posts.

When playing D&D, choosing your character is your first step and can be very the most difficult. A bad character can mean that you spend weeks or months not having fun playing a game, which I would argue defeats the purpose of playing a game. Choosing a good character can heighten the experience for yourself and others. However, I'm going to stop right here at tell you that determining if a character is good or bad has less to do with the character's mechanic than you would think. Instead you should look at a number of factors. The variables that affect the decision on what player to play can be overwhelming, but I will attempt to provide some of the factors that you can consider to maximize your chances of finding a character that will work for you.

• Personal Play Style: This is probably the most obvious variable. If you prefer to not keep track of things spells or abilities then chances are you will want to play a more martial class that does not have as much book keeping. If you like to shine in specific moments at the table then a skill based character can provide you with situations where you can save the party time or resources with a successful check, or in the case of the rouge can save a party member by disabling a trap. These are things that you should consider when choosing a character that is right for you. If you like to be the most powerful person at the table, you're probably wanting to use some magic. You may start out weak, but it will work out eventually.

• Party Play Style: This topic has been covered before, but it should be repeated. RPGs are collaborative affairs, which means that if you want to get the most out of it you should consider the people you are playing with. If your party likes to kill things or collect loot, playing a character that is designed to bluff and talk his way out of a fight may become extremely frustrating to you and the party that will want you to be having fun with them or may just view your character as dead weight. While it isn't always necessary to have a character that fits into the regular 4 party, it is a good idea to make sure that you are trying to have a similar experience to those you are playing with. It is also important to know your party's play style if you want to play a flawed character, will they be supportive of the problems that can arise from such a situation or simply annoyed that their job has gotten harder.

• How Long is the Game Going to be Run: This is an important variable that many players overlook. If you know that you are only going to be player the character for a few sessions, you can feel more freedom to try out strange mechanics or play characters that would be more difficult to play over a long stretch of time. Conversely, a game that is going to take you from level one to twenty requires more planning in order to end up with a character that is viable at early levels as well as higher levels. Something to remember is that a game that is supposed to take you from level 1 to 20 will most likely take you a very long time to complete, which means that it is likely that the group will come to an end before the game does, so I would recommend having the basis for your character to be done before level twelve. That way you maximize your chances of having a character that is fun to play for the game.

• Is There a Story You Want to Tell: This variable is the one that I come back to most often when I make a character. D&D and all RPGs are always about a story, at its most basic a character's story is about growing stronger through adventuring. However, there are plenty of other stories to be told, which is why I am a fan of prestige classes. They offer flavor, which allows you to create a plot point for your character, the point in time when they chose a specific path. Working with your GM in to let him know the story you want to tell is very important, and can more than likely help the GM plan the story that he wants to tell as well. However it is important to remember that RPGs are collaborative games, so don't be surprised if your GM has some insights into how such a story would fit into the overarching story and would prefer to keep them a surprise. Such additions and collaboration can make the game more fun when it comes time for your character to experience a plot point. In another installment I will delve more into creating a story for your character.

Genres in D&D - Horror

My other favorite game to run is Call of Cthulhu. For those of you not familiar with the game, it is a horror roleplaying game based off of the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. It uses a percentile based system, although they did release a d20 version of it many years ago.

Horror is a rather difficult to convey in D&D. Horror in general relies on two things: the unknown and powerlessness. People are most frightened when they do not understand the situation or know what is coming and when there isn't anything they can do about it.

Darkness is a common source of the unknown. When you can't see what's around you your mind begins to create the monsters you can't see. D&D has a myriad of ways to defeat the darkness, both metaphorically and and literally. From 0 level spells to cheap alchemical items to racial abilities to see in the dark, players will rarely ever be in a situation where they can't see what they want to.

The unknown is also difficult to do in D&D. It is based on common mythologies and any group that has been playing long enough will know the basic stats of most monsters they'll encounter. Not only that, there are more than a few divination spells to discover information about anything that they will ever encounter.

Horror is difficult to accomplish. From a "historical" perspective, Ravenloft was the horror setting; however I've never played in that setting, so I can't truly comment on it. I've always found D&D does not have the appropriate system for horror. Players will never feel powerless because they grow in power regularly. The availability of magic means that they will rarely be faced with things that are truly scary. Fear and horror lies in the hearts of the common person, not the hero.

Gaming Burnout

The dreaded phase in a gamers life-cycle: burnout. You've been gaming for a long time and suddenly it stops being as much fun; you feel it wearing down on you when game day approaches instead of getting excited. This can happen for a variety of reasons: things have become stagnant, too many responsibilities are pressing in and vying for your time, or there may be some tension between group members that are affecting everyone.

There are two main approaches to dealing with burnout: muscle through or take a break. Each has its own downsides.

If you decide to muscle through the burnout, you'll keep playing and going until it starts being fun again. Some options are to muscle through are switching roles: if you GM frequently, try playing or vice versa. Perhaps you need to change systems to keep things lively. If you routinely game in one location, try moving it to another. What you're looking for is to change something up and hopefully reignite the fading spark.

The downside is that it might not ever get fun if you don't take a break. Your lack of interest or mood may spread to other people in the group and affect them as well, making the situation worse.

Taking a break is just that: taking a break from the game. This can be an individual or a play-group taking a break. If the group is large enough, one player can take a break without adversely affecting the entire group. If the group is small though, one person taking a break may equate to the whole group taking a break. I find this to be the most effective way of staving off burnout.

The problem is that if you do take a break since you're not having fun; you may associate not playing with having fun. It is important to remember the fun you had so that you can go back to it; otherwise the break turns permanent; which may adversely affect the group. The other concern is remaining in touch with your friends that you game with while you take your hiatus. Unless the problem is with players, you want to maintain your friendships, in the event that you decide that you are done with gaming.

Genres in D&D - High Fantasy

Obviously, the default setting for D&D is a high fantasy setting. With creatures such as orcs and dragons, trolls and fairies flying around high fantasy is the only way to describe it. With High Fantasy tends to come other concepts such as world threatening plots, epic action, and piles of treasure hidden in caves.

As I said, this is the default setting for D&D; with it comes pros and cons. In High Fantasy the heroes are heroes and the villains are villains; right is right and wrong is wrong. Adventure is for the good of all and the rewards will be deserved. There won't be much in the way or moral dilemmas or gray areas for the players to explore. These are neither good nor bad things; they just are. This is what D&D was designed for.

Deviation from this setting requires some kind of warning to the players. Even if the warning is just "This won't be your usual D&D game." There are many other genres you can take your game; but they do require some buy in from everyone so that everyone's expectations are met and everyone has fun.

Memorable Villains

What drives the PCs on in their quest? Is it glory and treasure? A desire for power? Immortality?

If the players in your game are anything like mine, it is usually a desire for vengeance against a slight by the villain. We tend to be a vindictive bunch. How can you design a villain that makes the players cheer when he dies? A person who the players will follow to the end of the earth to destroy?

The easy answer is lie to them and trick them.

The last villain I ran in my game was Hugh. He was the captain of the guard in the capital city that fell when the Mind Flayers attacked from below. The players rescued him without realizing he had been compromised and was working with the Mind Flayers to foment civil war so they could establish a power base and take over the entire kingdom. After parting ways for a bit they met up again and he was in control of another city. Through various actions he showed his inconsistency, but the PCs had nothing to pin on him that was concrete.

The players developed a deep hatred for him because the players knew he was the villain, but the characters had nothing concrete besides odd feelings. When he finally was revealed to be the villain, they were happy and relieved that they could finally kill him. When the final encounter with Hugh came up, he used children as a shield (I hadn't counted on the amorality of one the players to resolve that situation so quickly) and the stroke that killed Hugh brought cheers around the table.

So have your villains show up early. Have them mislead and lie to the players. Put them in positions of authority that are just out of reach of the players so that they have to deal with them instead of outright killing them. Arrogance and being condescending also goes a long way towards irritating the players and making them hate the villains.

Scheduling

Scheduling game times can be a bear and a half. Especially as time goes by and more and more responsibilities pile up.

When I first started gaming seriously in college, scheduling was never a problem. We were about to get in 2-3 gaming sessions a week, on top of playing Magic and general goofing around. Obviously as the real world crept in, in the guise of jobs and significant others, scheduling the games became a real challenge. I've been fortunate enough to date, and in the end marry, women that have put up with my gaming habits.

Time and growing up takes its toll on hobbies. I feel myself fortunate that the friends I game with are able to continue sharing the hobby with me. Amongst people who game, it seems to be a rarity to be able to meet weekly; many people manage to game maybe once or twice a month.

If you're looking to schedule a game, you need to work around all those things, as well as the level of interest of your players. Some people, while they may enjoy gaming, may not want to dedicate the amount of time required to play weekly. Some people may not be able to game weekly due to familial commitment or work. You may need to schedule shorter gaming sessions, during the week if weekends are unavailable.

While I'm fond of the marathon sessions going longer than 6 hours, they're not always viable. If you have to game during the week, as unfortunate as it is, the best time may be somewhere in the middle of it. While Fridays are great since many don't have to go to work on Saturday, they are also a date night and may cause issue with those who are in relationships. The middle of the week is workable mostly because it is in the middle of the week and people don't schedule things for the middle of the week.

Monsters in Transition - Goblins

Ah the Goblin. Fodder you encounter from levels 1 to 2 and then never again, except as a means to slow down your inevitable slaughter of the main villain. Over the course of editions it looks like the cast off  monster, the bottom of the Goblinoid family has been struggling to become noteworthy.

The CR of the goblin has always been laughable. CR 1/4 in 3.0 seeing only a slight improvement in 3.5 and Pathfinder to a grand whopping 1/3. In D&D, goblins remained fairly unchanged, their AC has remained constant and in 3.5 they received an extra hit point due to their Con score going up. Offensively, they received both an upgrade and downgrade from 3.0 to 3.5. Initially they started out with a +1 to hit and did 1d8-1 damage. 3.5 came along and now they rock a +2 to hit and do 1d6 damage. So on average they'll hit more often and do the same damage, but they lost the ability to "explode" with 7 damage. Their skills remained fairly constant between editions only going up or down a point. Most notably they had a Hide and Move Silent at either 5 or 6.

Pathfinder has made some significant changes though. Now, they have 1d10+1 hitpoints. This means that you are less likely to kill them in one hit. Their armor class also went up to 16, making them a touch harder to hit. They also do much less damage now at 1d4. Because of Pathfinder's redesign of the skills, there is no longer a Hide or Move Silent, they combined them into Stealth. And Goblins are amazing at it. +10 to their Stealth. That may not sound like a lot, but if they roll average, you'll need to roll above average to see them; meaning a group of goblins will likely get a surprise round on you.

They won't pose a serious threat to players after level 2 (even in Pathfinder) but because they're lightly armored and really fast (for a small creature their land speed has always been 30 ft) they can prove a nuisance to players throughout all the early levels. Goblins may not be a combat threat, but now you can have goblins steal from the party and disappear into the night (they also have darkvision) depriving your party of supplies or rest.

I think that the CR for a Goblin is spot on in 3.5, and perhaps a little low (at most they should be 1/2) in Pathfinder, since they have gained a bit more survivability, so they can go two or three rounds before dropping or fleeing. There damage is low, but if 3 of the gang up on one person they could be in for an awful surprise.

Monsters in Transition - Overview

I'm going to be going over varying monsters and how they've transitioned from D&D 3.5 (and possibly 3.0 if I can dig up the appropriate reference materials) to Pathfinder. I've felt that some monsters have an incorrect CR associated with them and I think that going over how they've changed from differing editions has impacted how they play in the game. I expect some monsters will have gone up, some will have gone down, and most will have been tweaked to remain internally consistent within their own systems.

This won't be a regular series, since the research and comparison may take a lengthy amount of time. However, I should be able to get the first one out on Friday; going over the basic fodder: Goblins.

Ideas that Fail to Transfer - GMs

Character concepts can be difficult to transfer, as we previously went over. The problem exists for GMs as well. You may come across an idea in a game or movie and want to recreate or integrate it in a game.

Plots from movies/books/games seem like the easiest thing to lift and use. However, the creators of those stories probably didn't have to deal with people co-creating the experience with them. If you want to create a railroad experience for your players, then you can do use plots whole-cloth; otherwise, your players will have input into what goes on during your game. Mystery plots that you intend to drag on may be resolved in a instant. Players may not want to listen to plot exposition from the villain and may outright murder them; possibly leading to dead ends.

The way around this, and to all player interaction in your world, is to be flexible and adapt to what they do. Also, be sure to adapt the plot to your groups playstyle. If your players hate mystery, don't try and force it on them.

Sometimes you may want to adapt plot devices as mechanics. For instance, in every zombie movie; their bites are incredible lethal, since they transmit the disease and turn the bitten into fellow zombies. This could be a powerful motivation within the game, since undead must now be purged completely and preferably at range. You can work various drama in, with friends or loved ones being bitten and then having to be dealt with. It could make for an awesome game.

Except that spells like remove disease exist. A failed fort save marks a PC for death, in the absence of clerics or paladins. At low levels this is far more common, but even at high levels there's always a 5% chance to fail, even if you set the save ridiculously low. A solution is to use it as a plot device, so that it happens when you intend it to and at no other times. This allows you to work it in as needed, but also removes the threat from PC, but they may not need to know that.

Adapting plots and mechanics can be tricky, but can be rewarding since some of the difficult planning has been done for you. It just requires the ability to tweak the lifted information on the fly or to change the "rules" of how a lifted mechanic works.

Guest Author (Soonish)

I'll be starting a new campaign in two-ish weeks, after an rather enjoyable break playing in a short-term campaign (which has turned out to be completely awesome). Gearing up for a campaign is always a great deal of fun, since the game world is rife with possibilities for everything and watching the players pick paths within the game world, altering the world and events, is very rewarding.

What does this have to do with a guest author? Because of an amazing speech by my best man, including amendments to the wedding vows, my lovely wife is required to play in a D&D game. I've managed to convince her to give it more than one session so she can get a better feel for it than just one game.

I've also managed to convince her to blog about her experiences here. So she'll be writing a post or three about her experiences which I think will provide a nice chronicle of someone gaming for the first time. I think that's awesome.

Ideas that Fail to Transfer - Players

Sometimes you'll see an idea in a movie, TV show or videogame or you'll read about something that sounds awesome in a book and think "That'd be awesome to game in/with!"

So you implement it as a character concept or plot point. And then you realize that the idea failed and you're left with a pile of fail.

When authors create characters for their books, they don't have to worry about any kind of rules or level progressions; they can just create from scratch. As gamers, when we try to recreate those characters, we're forced to work within the constraints of a ruleset that, in all likelyhood, had nothing to do with the source material.

Say you want to play a Gandalf like character. Clearly he has some magical abilities (he is a wizard after all) but can also hold is own in melee combat. This is commonly referred to as a "gish" build and the amount of effort it takes to pull it off is ridiculous. Not only that, you will be operating at a subpar level of efficacy for some time because the rules have made a distinction between magical and melee ability.

Any epic hero from any series of books will not usually work as expected at first. The authors didn't have to worry about making a balanced or fair character, they had to worry about creating a story. As a player, you are stuck with the burden of fairness.

If you do want to recreate a character bear a few things in mind:

1. You won't be as bad ass as the literary version, at least not right away and possibly ever. 
2. Perhaps the rules explicitly forbid what you're attempting or feats don't exist to accomplish what you want.

The way to work around this is either acknowledge that you won't be as good as you expect as early as you'd like. If this is the case, just grow with it as best you can. If you've built the character correctly, you'll hit a point where you become effective.

The other options is to focus one specific aspect that you want to recreate. That will let you build to one aspect instead of the entire character; allowing you to reach the break even point faster.

Combat Roles #8 - Why Bother?

We've gone over a bunch of roles that you can fulfill in combat. But why should you bother?

As mentioned earlier, combat in D&D is based on the idea of a balanced party in a generic sense (Fighter, Wizard, Cleric, Rogue). We've gone over different archetypes that comprise the balanced party. If the party isn't balanced, things can get rather sticky in a hurry.

But there is an alternative, albeit a risky one. The entire party can hyper specialize in only two of the archetypes. This can lead to risky, dangerous and exciting combats. If everyone focuses on melee damage, there is very little that can stand up to them. However, if the fight goes on for more than a few rounds, PCs will start to drop. If everyone focuses on defense, you can outlast the enemies and wear them down slowly.

This type of specialization can lead to interesting combat encounters, but can also rapidly lead to a total party wipeout if things take a turn.

50th Post

Surprisingly, I've been at it for 50 posts now, with relatively little interruption. So hooray that! In honor of that, I'm going to just show off some of the minis I've painted. Much to my displeasure, I never took pictures of some of the minis I gave away, so this is not a complete list of minis that I've done (what I feel) is a good job of painting them.

This is a character I played in a long running campaign. I also used this mini on my grooms cake when I was married.

This is the "main" villain on the grooms cake.

These are before and after pictures of minis I had painted years ago and repainted.

I take commissions if anyone would like a mini painted.

First Time

It seems that I missed Monday's post. I am a creature of habit and the Memorial Day weekend messed up my schedule. I also took off the 1st from work, furthering adding to the break in my normal routine. My apologies. To make up for it, I'll try to combine two topics into one: First Times for both players and DMs; what to expect and how to go about it.

So you've decided to play D&D, what should you expect?

A lot of confusion and a good deal of hesitance. If this is your first time playing, you won't know all the rules and things may seem frustrating. There is far too much within the system to understand and piece together in a single play through. Rules will seem bizarre and nonsensical.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Most likely the people sitting around you are your friends so feel free to ask and I'm sure they'll be more than happy to help. Even strangers will offer advice, since if you play the hobby grows.

Pick a class/race combination that is straightforward and easy to play. At this point, the less confusion the better. While the game is going on, observe how other people are playing their characters and what they do; it'll help you understand the game better.

If you're playing with alignments, pick one that is closest to how you would act. At this point in your gaming career, it may be best to stick to something that seems natural to you, instead of trying to think and behave in a manner that is foreign to you.

Having fun can take some time as well. Campaigns have high and low points. If you're coming in midstream it may take some time before you catch up to what is going on. If you're coming in at the beginning of a campaign, it may take some time for the story to get interesting. Not only that, but even individual gaming sessions experience this ebb and flow.

So the rules for first time players are:

• Play something easy and that you can relate to. 
• Give it time to make sure you aren't at a lowpoint in the campaign of the session. 
• Above all, ask questions if you're confused or unsure. 

So you've decided to run a D&D game, what can you expect?

So you've played some games and want to tell your story to the group. Or the current GM needs a break and asks you to run a game. Or you convinced your friends that gaming is fun and have taken upon yourself the onus of being the first GM. What can you expect?

Being a GM is difficult and very different from playing. As a player, you only have to worry about the development of your character. You really only need to know the rules that pertain to what your character does. As a GM the story is your character and you need to know the rules pertaining to everyone's characters. You need to be able to spend at least a few hours a week planning the session and creating NPCs and encounters.

Planning is particularly difficult. If you plan the story to down to a "T" you'll be accused of railroading your players. Railroading eliminates the player's free will in your world. Instead of the player's being the focus of your game, the story is. This ends up alienating your players since it feels like they really have no input on where things are going.

The flipside is sticking your players in a "sandbox" where they can do anything they like, go anywhere they like. This lets the players create the story they choose to. A true sandbox requires a few things.First, you need to be comfortable with improv. Second, your players need to take some initiative and help you move things forward. If your player's don't do this, it can become an aimless mess and people end up being frustrated.

I find a mix between the two to be ideal. In my mind, I set the start of the story and the end point for the campaign. Everything else in between is gray area that the players can fill in however they choose. Having an endpoint in mind can help me move things forward if the players falter; but it is important to keep the ending flexible so that the players can shape the story in whatever way they want. Having a beginning and an end gives you the basic framework for the campaign and provides the initial guidance for the players to get started.

What is a Gamer?

What is a gamer? Over the years, the term gamer has changed meanings and has covered different segments of the population. You need to get 10 definitions in on Urban Dictionary before you come across a definition that doesn't involve videogames.

The original term comes from the 1620's and refers to athletes. Right now, athleticism isn't usually associated with gamers. Before tabletop players appropriated the term, it referred to card game players, such as poker. Table top gamers appropriated the term and kept it for quite some time.

Then video games came along and exploded on the scene. In the mid-nineties, tabletops gamers began to reluctantly relinquish the term to PC gamers, since PCs were the premiere platform for videogames. As console technology began to progress, the PC fell from the high station of premiere to after-thought. So now Gamer typically refers to console gamers.

Is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing? It is just a thing.

RPG gamers take offense to losing the term to video-gamers, especially the dreaded sports video-gamer, people who don't know what it means to be a gamer. They don't know about the dedication it takes, the hours of creating a character. They don't understand the social aspect of sitting around with your friends and playing.

Who cares? In a sense, it has come around full circle on a different level. Originally referring to athletes, the term has come back to athletes (just digital ones). At the core, everyone is playing a game they enjoy. Let people have their fun. If you feel the need to be more specific then tack on "tabletop-" or "sports-" or "card-" to "gamer". Enjoy what you're doing and let other people enjoy what they're doing.

Aligning Misconceptions #10 - Alternates to Alignments

As much as I love D&D, the alignment system is somewhat (incredibly) flawed. The system may have made sense in the early days of gaming, but with advent of more story based systems (such as White Wolf's WWoD) the rigid and largely inflexible structure of the alignments is showing its age.

While doing away with alignments on one level would be great, they are worked deeply into fabric of D&D. The various planes in the game as well as the inhabitants of those planes are supposed to embody the alignments they represent. Various spells and even item enhancements key off of the wielders having specific alignments.

Is there even a "fix" for the system? I think an alternative to alignments isn't necessarily in making any changes to the system, but just altering our perceptions of alignments. The book currently makes out alignments to be moral codes of conduct. If you are Lawful Good you can't do this and if you are Chaotic Evil you wouldn't do that. However, alignments can be viewed as beliefs. Belief in something doesn't mean that you are able to follow them 100% of the time.

Real world believers of modern day faith have this problem. Incredibly few people can live up to the commandments of their faith; but it does not stop them with identifying with their faith. A character that believes in Lawful Good tries to embody the ideals and precepts of Law and Good, but may fail, intentionally or not.

Repeated transgressions may require a person to change their beliefs, mirroring previous alignments changes. However, this model allows for some flexibility in actions leading to richer and deeper roleplay. The difference is very subtle; but I think that it adds to the game.

Combat Roles #7 - Support

The Support Role is often the least glamorous, but one of the most essential combat roles. You don't focus on dealing a lot of damage, you make sure your comrades can do damage and there are a few different ways you can go about doing that.

The first way is by providing healing for your party. You keep your party members standing so they can keep dishing out the damage. Clerics do this well, druids are ok, and bards are passable. 3.5/Pathfinder have both taken steps to prevent clerics from being nothing but healing batteries, so you can do more than in earlier editions of D&D, but often the party will continue to look to you for healing, so be prepared to have at least a little bit on hand.

The second way to play a support character is to buff your party members and debuff the monsters. This means you try to increase the likely hood of your friends hitting, doing more damage, or improving their skill checks while hindering your opponents. Flanking is the easiest way to help people hit, while Aiding Another can help your party hit or make the monsters miss more often. Increasing or decreasing damage will typically require spells which almost all the casting classes have access to in some way shape or form.

While not glamorous in the least, you do play a crucial role. The vast number of +1 and +2 bonuses you can hand out to your allies quickly add up, making them (and often yourself when all is said and done) into truly effective combat machines. After you've done your "buffs" you can often wade into combat with decent efficacy, but you should always be prepared to stop attacking to help an ally in need, with either more buffs or more healing.

The Flaw in Flaws

I very much dislike the idea of the merits/flaw system. The idea is that you can select a flaw to gain a merit or a bonus feat (this variant is found in Unearthed Arcana). However, the premise as written is ridiculous.

If you are building a character that focuses on one thing, a flaw will almost never have an impact on your character. If you are building a character that only does melee, then taking a penalty to ranged attacks is meaningless. Penalties to skill checks are negligible to fighters, since they have so few skills to begin with.All the player is doing is accepting a worthless flaw for a free mechanical benefit.

Even if you are not min/maxing or specializing, flaws are pointless. From a roleplaying perspective, if I have always been terrible at ranged attacks, why would I bother to focus on ranged attacks later on in life? In everyday situations people employ the skills they are good at and don't worry about the ones they aren't so good at; people tend to hide their flaws or weaknesses. So mechanically and thematically, flaws are terrible. If you want flavor to your character, just play it out; there's no reason you have to take a flaw to play a flawed character.

But what if a player wants to take a flaw? First, ask them why. If they're doing it for a bonus feat, you may as well just give it to them and tell them not to worry about taking the flaw. If they're doing it for flavor, they don't need a (mechanical, rule based) flaw for the flavor, they can just do it.

An alternative to this system is to allow players access to bonus feats for flaws, but that you assign the flaw. From a thematic standpoint, the flaw shouldn't hinder what they're good at too much; if the flaw is too severe they wouldn't have specialized in that from the beginning. Make the flaw something that affects the player in situations.

If someone specializes in ranged attacks, perhaps they're almost neurotic about it. Give them a minor penalty to Will saves when they miss, reflecting a brief moment of doubt that overwhelms them. It shouldn't be crippling, but the players should feel it. This also requires that you work with the player to find something fair and equitable. The last thing you want to do is to make the character no fun to play.

Aligning Misconceptions #9 - Chaotic Evil

Chaotic Evil is epitome of evil. They are agents of chaos, with no regard for anyone or anything around them. This alignment can't work within a party, since they revel in the torture and mistreatment of others. Even within an all evil party, chaotic evil will have no regard for whatever goals the party has. They are interested in themselves only; what they want is all that matters.

Being Chaotic Evil doesn't mean that you are mindless in your evil. You can be methodical. You won't murder the shopkeeper without a reason, but the reason can be incredibly trivial.

Psychopathic villains are chaotic evil. Slaughtering an entire town to deliver a message to the PCs is the hallmark of Chaotic Evil.

The archetypal character that is chaotic evil is The Joker. He is Chaotic Evil to the extreme, often emphasizing the Chaotic more than the Evil.

There isn't too much to say about Chaotic Evil. It is called exactly what it is.

Props to the Group

I wanted to take a moment to throw out some props to my gaming group for their dedication and patience.

I came down with shingles last week and one of the players hasn't had chicken pox, so he couldn't be around me. We already video-conference in two people for the games, so the idea of adding a third was no big deal. However, Oovoo requires a plan to conference three people in. So I figured we'd just use Skype and move on. We tested Skype individually and made sure all was well and then waited until game time.

Come game time, we connect to one endpoint and are chatting. Then the other endpoint logs on and we try to conference them in. Turns out that Skype currently only supports video between two parties not three. After some finagling and thinking, we manage to get a three way conference going.

We used Skype to conduct the audio portion of the conference. Then we each logged on to Yahoo! Messenger and broadcasted our webcams, since Yahoo! also didn't do three way conference calls. We each viewed each others webcams and we were underway. The computers were taxed a bit for all the data that was being uploaded and downloaded, so some things were a bit laggy.

Overall though, the game went well and fun was had; because the group I game in was willing to try something new and work with a less than perfect solution.

They rock.

Combat Roles #6 - Skills Monkey

The Skills Monkey is not necessarily a combat role, but the idea behind it is applicable in combat as well. The Skills Monkey focuses on having access to as many skills as possible, so that they are useful in as many situations as possible. They would dabble in some social skills, a knowledge skill or two, and whatever else they want.

This is the easiest role to define since the only requirements are that you have access to a variety of skills as class skills (in 3.5. Pathfinder has changed the skills monkey completely) and a good number of skill points. You want to have at least 6 skill points per level, before you add your intelligence modifier. Rogues, Bards and Monks do this best.

The Pathfinder skill system made this much easier, and also less crucial. "Cross class skills" cost as much as class skills and nearly every skill is available to every character. On top of that, they've combined many skills together reducing the overall number of skills. This opens up the skills to every class. Fighters now have access to more than just 4 skills that are completely useless; they can now bluff or be diplomatic, tumble around the battlefield, or creep along to ambush foes.

In the context of combat, the Skills Monkey makes use of the movement related skills the most. Jump allows you to cross difficult terrain easier and tumble allows you to position yourself to flank (or retreat if things have gone pear shaped). Hide and Move Silent let you ambush or vanish from a fight (or make use of the Sniping Rules). Bluff and Sleight of Hand play a role in feinting in combat to surprise the enemy.

Game Perceptions #1 - HP vs AC

This is going to be a series about how things are perceived in the game and possible suggestions to make those perceptions easier to deal with. Also, this post and the next few are being written while I am on Vicodin for pain. So if I am more rambley or hard to follow that usual, please forgive me. I hurt.

So Armor Class (AC) is a measure of how difficult you are to hit and Hit Points (HP) is a measure of how much damage you can take. This seems fairly straight forward. If I roll well enough to hit you with my sword, I get to do my damage to you. Things begin to break down when you factor in levels.

If I swing a sword at a commoner, I'll probably hit. I'm also likely to do enough damage to kill them. However, if I swing the same sword at high level adventurer (assuming I hit), I'll do the same amount of damage, but it won't kill them. They're still human, so the sword should be as lethal to them as to a commoner, but clearly it isn't. They can take more damage, but how is that represented?

I think a good way of looking at it is that AC is passive/reflexive defense, you don't have to think about it your training, experience, and plate armor allow you to shrug off blows, while HP is active/intentional, you need to devote some attention to the blow that actually landed. So just because a high level adventurer got hit by a sword, it doesn't mean that they were actually injured. An intentional twist avoid the blow, grunting as your shield absorbs the impact, a frenzied parry; all of these things can represent HP damage.

So when do you actually start getting hit? There is no hard and fast rule for this. I think that if you are under 20 hit points or so, the hits you take should reflect some damage. Whatever is the most dramatic. That being said, critical hits should always do damage to the person. The players should be rewarded on a critical hits with drama and action.