The 2025 Busan Tabletop Gaming Con Was a Success

Last Sunday, November 30, was our first game con. I picked up Justin around 9am, and we arrived at the cafe just a little before 9:30. Richard was already waiting, as well as Jonathan (Kojaq) who I only had interacted with online before this. We got everything set up, and most players, and Peter the other morning GM, made it there by 10am when we were scheduled to start. But Kurt, the cafe owner, didn't show up until around 11 so we had to make due with water or drinks people brought in from outside for a bit. Kurt had given me the door code so we could get in early, if you're wondering. 

In the morning session, I ran Classic D&D, using the same dungeon from the previous Online Summer Con arranged by Amae's Seoul group. This party followed the same route at first, but had a TPK in their first encounter. Four carrion crawlers took out a party of five 6th to 8th level PCs. As they can, especially if the party only has a cleric as a caster. The players got new PCs from the pre-gen pile and set out again in a different route. They didn't have time to make it to the dragon, but they had a great time anyway. 

Just before the thief misses on a backstab and everyone fails their saves (the Dwarf is already down).

Richard's Call of Cthulhu game only had one character death, but that PC died, was brought back, and died again. 

Richard brought his King in Yellow robes.

 

I didn't hear of any PC deaths in Peter's Black Sword Hack game, but everyone said they had a great game. 

Justin's BSH character sheet

We took a lunch break, and more people arrived for the afternoon games. A couple of people also went home (or elsewhere, anyway) after the morning games. I was a player in Keith's Cyberpunk Red game, which was a lot of fun. I got to play the Solo (combat character), which is always nice. But our new player David (who played his first RPG ever in my morning D&D game) was the star of the show. Of course, Richard's PC managed to shoot Peter's PC in the back...twice! None of us died, though several gang-bangers and scumbags died at our hands. 

The start of the game, in our gang's alley base, dealing with druggies

Jonathan's Mothership game was really good, too, from what I heard. There were definitely some PC deaths as well. 

An alien gestated inside one of the PCs. You'll never believe what happened next~!

Both Scott's 5E game and Elyse's Pathfinder game went over time, but this is something they'd planned for, and the players were aware of this. Scott did have one PC death. Elyse runs a more story-forward sort of game, so no PC deaths in her game. She did a think where players started with blank, or nearly blank character sheets, and had to discover who their PCs were as they played. 

Scott's got a lot of style when he runs a game. We could hear lots of laughing and some shouting from them.

Elyse's players were all really intent on the story that unfolded. 

Then it was the dinner break time. Most folks went home (or elsewhere), but a stalwart few soldiered on through into the night. Peter, Richard, Elyse, Jada, Justin, and I were there the whole day. Keith and his partner CC stayed for evening games, too, but they weren't here for the morning session. 
 

Justin had his group (Jada, CC, Elyse) play board games including Whitehall Mysteries. They also played a few smaller games. Justin had planned to play 1775, a tactical wargame of the Revolutionary War, but I guess they never broke that one out. 

London was scoured for clues.

 

My evening game was Gamma World. Richard, Keith and Peter chose their mutants and set off to explore a ruined tower. They dealt with crumbling infrastructure, hungry mutants, friendly mutants, and at the top of the tower androids intent on capturing Richard's mutated ape PC. Keith dropped to negative HP twice, and Peter once. At the end of the game, Richard escaped with his companions' bodies, evading the androids to survive the horrors of Gamma Terra. We had a blast. 

Peter's altered human scout is down thanks to poisonous two-headed bat mutants. The espers are about to meet the androids. 

It was a long day, but very much worth it. And we plan to do it again sometime soon. Scott wants to do the next event in May. I'll be back home for my son's high school graduation that weekend, but I'll probably help with the organizational side of things as best I can. 
 

 

 

Necessary Build-Up: Running High Level 5E

So you're a 5E DM, and you've been suffering many of the problems that that edition suffers at high level? Are combats a hit point slog? Do they take too long? Are players spending more time designing alternate PCs because they're bored with the ones they have? Is it too hard to balance combat encounters or design challenging adventures because of oodles of hit points and so many spells/powers? 

What to do?

Well, sit back and let me try to share some advice. It may not all be good advice, and some of it will definitely not be easy, but don't give up hope!

If you're a 5E (or probably any other more recent edition) D&D DM who isn't yet at the high level of your campaign but want to keep it going at that level, this will be much easier for you. 

The trick to building a long-lasting campaign that can handle high level play is to build up complexity into your game world as you go. Don't just focus on the "story" of this group of heroes. Also don't assume they're by default heroes, but that's a post for another day. You need to world build.

It's fairly easy to grab a map you like off the internet, or even to make your own. You could also use a published adventure setting like Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk or Golarion. Now, you need to start filling in ideas about what is, could, or will be going on in those towns and kingdoms and monster-infested waters when the PCs aren't there. 

No, you don't need to keep track of everything. You don't need to play out the whole world. Take a breath. It's OK. We're gonna get through this. 

You do need to have ideas about who's in charge of what, and what the cultures are like in at least a general sense, and what wars might be brewing, and where powerful monsters lair, and where to find mysterious artifacts. And on the smaller scale, who are the power players in the local area? What are their beefs? How can they help or hinder the PCs? 

If you have a fleshed out game world, even if it's not completely fleshed out yet, and especially if it's sometimes inconsistent (the real world is after all!), you can leverage those elements to provide challenges for your players besides yet another quest to yet another dungeon to slay yet another set of 3-4 balanced encounters of monsters/traps, then a boss fight. 

Here's the trick though, and why it's easier if you're not yet at high level. You don't need all of this to start. You build it up little by little, and layer complexity and detail onto the game world as you play. 

I mentioned in the comments of my last post that I haven't actually run a high level game since I was in high school. And mostly that is because of two things: living the expat life where gamers to play with come and go often, and my own gamer ADHD due to having too many game systems or campaign styles that I'd like to run. With my current game, I'm committed to running it as long as I can, and getting it up into the high levels. I think I'll go into detail in a future post (or posts) on what I remember doing back in high school (lots of PCs were in the level 20s/attack ranks, a few made it into the 30s), as well as what I'm doing now to lay the foundations of long term play in my current campaign (highest PC currently is 4th level).

 For now, though, I'll say this. Pay attention to the game world. Have recurring NPCs and villains. Have at least some idea of the region's politics, even if it's all background and never effects play at low levels. Work on multiple factions/power centers/sides that the PCs may join or oppose (or even ignore), rather than focusing a grand narrative around defeating some Voldemort style baddie. Take notes on what the PCs have been doing, and how it may affect these powers that be. Every now and then, throw in agents of those powers. Have them notice what is happening with the PCs. When they get enough fame and fortune (upper mid levels is a good place for this), have them start getting recruitment offers or else people sent to actively oppose the PCs' efforts. Have townspeople recognize them when they introduce themselves by name, or even have them known by their appearance. If the PCs are antagonizing some power center, have wanted posters or bounty hunters show up. If the PCs are aiding a power source, have offers of aid arrive occasionally. 

Build up some detail in your game world over time. It doesn't have to be fully fleshed out yet. But it should be reactive to what the PCs are doing. Don't just have "town" be like in a video game, where every NPC has one line of dialogue, and the town simply exists as a place to buy/sell, heal, and rest up. Make the setting a character. Build it up as you go. Keep taking notes. Use those notes to make the game world richer in future sessions. 

If you build it up enough, by the time the PCs are high level, the offers of guild memberships, knighthoods, offers to be kept on retainer as a court wizard, etc. will help give them goals and make the players want to invest in the setting as well. And once they're invested, there will be more to do at high level than rinse-and-repeat dungeon raids and hit point slog combats.

Another look at the Cleric

LS over at Papers and Pencils has been doing a series on Pathfinder's Advanced Players Guide classes and the latest is on the Oracle class, which is basically a PF Sorcerer with Cleric spells instead of Wizard spells.  And some of his comments, especially a link to his thoughts on the actual Cleric class, inspired me to revise my own ideas about the Classic D&D Cleric (and why I find it superior for my style of play).

So what's my beef?  Of course it's to do with healing.  Should Clerics be the party band-aid?  Is that the reason the class exists?  I disagree, but modern game design seems to believe that is the case. 

LS mentions that the PF Oracle class automatically gets Cure X spells (or Inflict X spells if they choose) at levels they can cast, in addition to the Sorcerer-style "spells known" each level.  So no need to debate about whether to take a handy utility spell or a cure spell, you've already got the cure for free.  And in the PF Cleric, instead of Turn Undead they get a blanket "heal everyone in 30' of xd6 damage" a large number of times per day (minimum three, but with a Cha bonus or the right feat selection, that increases) in addition to spells and the hold-over from 3E, spontaneous casting of cure X spells.

In our old PF game from a couple years ago, I was playing a Paladin, but we always had at least one other Cleric in the group, sometimes two.  Any time I thought to use Lay on Hands on another PC, the Clerics would stop me and just use their Channel Energy ability instead.  I was left using Lay on Hands in the rather selfish and un-paladinly manner of keeping myself in a fight (since I was able to self-cure as a minor action in addition to moving and attacking) rather than aiding the needy (but with two actual Clerics, I guess the party injured weren't really needy after all...).  They get a lot of healing ability is what I'm saying.

Now in Classic D&D, assuming OD&D/BX/BECMI, Clerics are actually fairly limited in the amount of (hit point) healing they can do in a day, until you get up into the Companion/Master levels of BECMI.  Even then, they still get lots of non-curative spells as well.  Let's take a look at some numbers, shall we?

OD&D Men and Magic lists a 10th level Patriarch (the highest in that book) as getting spells per day: 3/3/3/3/3
They have Cure Light Wounds as a 1st level spell and Cure Serious Wounds as a 4th level spell.  At most, they could take six out of fifteen spells to heal hit points in a day, curing 9d6+9 hit points per day.  Cure Disease and Neutralize Poison are at 3rd level, Raise Dead is at 5th level.  Yes, they are healing/restorative magics, but not usually needed as often as Cure Wounds spells. 

BX Clerics at 10th level get one more 1st level spell: 4/4/3/3/2, so could heal 10d6+10 hit points, at at the maximum 14th level can cast: 6/5/5/5/4.  That's a fair bit of healing, actually, if all spell slots are devoted to it, 16d6+16 points.  Spells are as OD&D.

BECMI Clerics at 10th level: 4/4/3/2/1 actually have a decrease in healing if you stick to the Basic and Expert books - Companion adds Cure Critical Wounds (3d6+3) at 5th level.  With Companion, that's 11d6+11, only two dice more than the OD&D Cleric at the same level.  Without Companion, it's 8d6+8, one less!  At 14th level, the BECMI Cleric has spells: 5/5/5/3/3/2 - yes, 6th level spells, which includes Cureall which heals nearly all of a character's hit points.  If all hit point healing spells are memorized, that's 20d6+20 before the two Cureall spells are factored in.  They still end up with ten spells of 2nd and 3rd level that don't cure hit points, and with Cureall available, you likely don't need all of those Cure Light Wounds spells anymore.  I'm not even going to bother with 36th level BECMI Clerics. 

Also note, none of the above Clerics start out play at 1st level with the ability to heal a single hit point!  No spells at level 1! 

Do I need to remind everyone that in 3E, they upped Clerics to 9th level spells and lowered the bottom to include 0 level spells, and there are hit point curing spells in all of them?  And Clerics can instantly change any prepared spell into a Cure Wounds spell of the same level at any time. 

Let's take a look at a 10th level 3.5 Cleric - assuming they don't have Healing as a Domain, so those spells can be used for something else.  They cast 6*/4/4/3/3/2 spells per day plus Domain spells.  *0-level spells.  Ignoring the 0-level and Domain spells, it's actually the same as in BX - oh, except for bonus spells for High Wisdom.  The Cleric will have bonus spells from Wisdom, but let's ignore them for now since it's variable. 

Cure spells now use a d8 instead of a d6, and add a variable amount depending on the Cleric's level.  33d8+126 just with the 0 through 4th level spells, and at 5th level they get Mass Cure Light Wounds, which will heal 1d8+10 to up to ten creatures, for a potential 43d8+326 points of damage in a day.  And remember, with bonus spells for Wisdom and the Healing Domain (which grants more spells and gives a bonus to the amount each healing spell cures), there could be more!  Of course, that's assuming all spells get used to cure hit point damage. 

I'm not going to figure out the 14th level 3E Cleric.  Nor the Pathfinder Cleric, since in addition to all the spells (they wisely axed the 0-level Cure Minor Wounds, though, since in PF 0-level spells are at-will), as I mentioned above, they get the Mass Cure spell series at least three times a day from level one! 

Some people over in the d20 versions of D&D really really expect way too much combat to happen in D&D.  And for the Cleric to be there to patch everyone up in time for the next combat. 

Now, of course, some will argue that the abundance of healing available to the 3E/PF Cleric means that they actually do get to prepare and cast other spells instead of only healing spells.  And that's true that most adventuring parties are not likely to need 500 points of healing in a day. 

But the thing they miss is this: in Classic D&D, Clerics get to cast other spells too!  And they don't get the party members bugging them to give up their utility spells in order to heal another wound.  If they don't max out their healing, they get to cast those other non-healing spells because they can't just switch it out for a Cure X spell. 

Return to Dragon's Delve

Last Friday was a holiday in Korea, so on Thursday night we (being Rick the DM, myself, Dean and Jeremy) played another session of Rick's Pathfinder game set in Monte Cook's Dragon's Delve megadungeon.  Dean plays Little Sparrow, a Human Monk (planning to multiclass Monk/Cleric at level 2), a staff-wielding friar.  Jeremy plays Harathys, a Human Fighter, rather mercenary in outlook.  I play Wooderson, an Elf Cleric of Manidono, purveyor of halfling herb, magic mushrooms, and other mind-altering goodies.  [Erin, not sure if you read this, but if you do, thanks for the inspiration!]

*Warning: module spoilers for the adventure.  If you think you might play this and don't want it spoiled, you should probably skip my Dragon's Delve posts in the future.*

We'd done a bit of RP in town (well, mostly Dean and Jeremy) and learned a few things.    We set out to explore the ruins with Evanerys the Elven Rogue (our NPC companion).  The entranceway, for those following along from my previous post or who followed Monte's Dungeon-a-day Blog where this thing got started, has three stairways.  This time, we returned to the pool room where we had found the books and fought the ghast.

There was another door with scratching sounds behind it.  Opening it, we managed to release another undead creature.  Luckily for us, it went down to one solid hit from Harathys's sword.  It was also inhabiting a small cell with no other doors or anything of interest.  Returning to the pool room (as in scrying pool, not billiards hall), we found a secret door to the north. 

It led to a short hallway with another secret door at the far end.  We heard some voices talking, but no one understood what they were saying.  Bursting out of the doorway, we found an orc/hobgoblin dinner party underway.  We were matched numbers wise, and they seemed tough.  The leader spoke common, and gave us a chance to identify ourselves.  Harathys failed at a bluff, but Wooderson's diplomacy and doobies earned us a chance to return the way we had came.

Exploring a bit more, there was another corridor from the pool room headed east.  It led to a room with a magically locked glowing blue door (Wooderson had heard rumors that these were password protected creations of a group known as the "Mages Four").  In another room, we found an ornate key.  And that seemed to be as far as we could go without the password or trying to fight the orcish dining club.

Returning to the entrance and then going west, we came to an oblong room with a skeleton at the base of the stairs we were descending.  Wary of traps, we found that there was nothing immediately threatening.  We did hear animal growling in the distance.  Wooderson also found a secret door in the floor.  The growling was getting nearer, so we prepared ourselves for battle.  It was a mountain lion, and we quickly dispatched it.  Following it back to the lair, we encountered its mate, guarding their young.  We spent a couple of ranged attacks and damaged it, but it didn't pursue.  Instead, it just held its ground and guarded its young.  Feeling bad about that (although there were some thoughts of trying to sell the cubs in town), we retreated back to the oblong room. 

The trap door opened onto a ladder going down.  We decided not to explore that yet.  At the south end of the room, a door led us down a slope into a very large room with catwalk-type galleries or balconies.  A trio of moldering skeletons were in the room.  We burned them with oil, avoiding potential dungeon funk mayhem, but also destroying any treasure they might have had. 

After that, we headed back to town.  We didn't find any loot, but we explored a fair amount of real estate, eliminated a few threats, and have some leads to follow up on in town.

Trying out Dragon's Delve, Monte Cook's Dungeon-a-day Dungeon

Remember when Monte Cook was creating a mega-dungeon online and asking people to subscribe to get the content?  Well, Rick was a subscriber and after sitting in on our last Vaults of Ur game, he had an itch to run his own game.

After a brief debate about whether to use 3.5 or Pathfinder, we settled on Pathfinder as the rules set.  And last Sunday evening, Dean, Jeremy and I set out to explore a bit of Dragon's Delve.

Dean was playing Little Sparrow, a Human Friar (currently Monk, intending to multiclass Cleric to get a "monk" who is more of a Gregorian or Franciscan than a Shaolin).*  Jeremy was playing Harathys, a Human Fighter (the name is recycled but the character is new).  I'm playing Wooderson, an Elf stoner (of undetermined class at the moment...).  We were joined by an NPC Elf Rogue (and kudos to Rick for playing the Rogue well as an NPC, and putting the burden on us to order him to check for traps and stuff).

From the initial chamber, there were three sets of stairs.  We chose one which the Rogue said contained a strange pool.  The room had a pair of goddess statues, the pool, and large bronze doors at the far end.  The pool contained perfectly fresh water, and a crescent moon was painted on the ceiling above.  There were also a pair of corridors leading out of the room, both headed east, at the flanks of the east wall (which also had the brass doors).  We could hear scratching sounds from the northern passage.

Well, after detecting divination magic in the pool but being unable to activate it, we tried the brass doors.  The rogue unlocked them, and we found the remains of a library.  We scooped up all the books that were intact, and one was a sort of log-book of what we assume to be the scrying pool in the previous room.  We've got a command word to activate it, and a warning that bad things happen to those who abuse the pool's power. 

We heard fluttering of bat wings approaching while searching the room, but closing the doors allowed us to avoid that encounter.

Next, we went to investigate the scratching sounds.  The corridor was a dead end with a pair of locked doors.  We could hear scratching from behind each.  The Rogue failed to unlock the first door, but with a toke of some of my special herbs, he was able to unlock the next. 

And the room contained a ghast!  Harathys heroically tried to hold the door closed while we retreated to the pool room so that more than one could attack it at once.  He didn't manage to shut the door all the way, but bought us time to get into position and avoided an attack of opportunity running back to join us.  The ghast sickened Wooderson (that's me), but the rest of the party managed to be unaffected by his stench.  Undeterred, we used good teamwork to slay the beast.

No more treasure, and pretty sure Harathys had caught some nasty disease from his wounds, we retreated back to town.  Sold all of the books except the one about the pool, donated that gold to the temple, and got our Fighter on the mend.

It was a fun session, and I'm looking forward to playing more in Rick's game!