Stop Blanket-Blaming the Game Master by Seth Skorkowsky

TL;DW(atch): It's up to both players and the GM (not just the GM) to ensure a great roleplaying experience! I encourage you to watch, Seth does some great videos about the roles and behaviors of players and GMs (warts and all).

Salton Seekers: My Frankensteinian Labyrinth Lord Campaign

Okay, so I'm doing a soft reboot of the Basic D&D campaign I started earlier this year. My group of old friends and I sorta stalled on the roleplaying for a while. But we're all basically back on a more normal adult responsibility schedule, so I'm deciding to kick things off again.

Also, while I love the pure nostalgia factor of using the B/X rules, I have so much stuff for Labyrinth Lord, from the referee screen to game supplements, that it made sense to shift over to using LL. As any OSR follower worth their salt knows, there's enough differences between B/X and LL to necessitate moving from one rule set to the other.

I'm still using the city of Salton I created as the foundation of the campaign. I'm letting players keep characters or create new ones, with all characters moving up to level 2 (based on prior play and XP gained). Just need to transfer characters to LL sheets!

As for the campaign world itself, I was primarily using the Dwimmermount world of Telluria as the basis for the campaign, and using some homebrew stuff tacked on (including Stonehell Dungeon). I've decided to move things over to a world I call "Æarth." I know, clever aren't I?

To pull back the curtain a bit, here's a list of older and new OSR products I'm using so far to cobble together my Frankensteinian campaign:

• Dolmenwood (from the pages of the Wormskin zine)
• Barrowmaze
• Isle of the Unknown
• Frostbitten and Mutilated
• Blackmarsh (and possibly the larger Points of Light campaign setting)
• Stonehell Dungeon
• Maybe Dwimmermount again, if the characters head far enough south...

Okay, that's all for now! I'll be posting some session recaps as we go along! Happy gaming, y'all!

Something Wonderful is Brewing...

Oh yes, my friends! Details coming soon!

The "Anywhere but Where the GM believes" Player

In thinking back over my gaming career, I came to think about the types of players that annoyed me over the years. Of course there's the Rules Lawyer. We've all encountered that particular beast, haven't we? Then there's the player type I call the "Anywhere but Where the GM Believes" player.

Have you ever had a player who, when you checked in with them, they would tell you they weren't actually in that location? This is more than splitting the party. It's the situation where a player keeps correcting you as to their character's location. The player never seems to be specific enough about their character's movements, no matter how many times you ask them to be more specific. 

Example #1:

GM: "Okay, the party enters the cavern-"

Bruno the Dwarf's Player: "No, I'm not in the cavern."

GM: "But I asked the whole party if you were all going into the cavern and you didn't say you weren't going in with everyone else, so..."

Bruno the Dwarf's Player: "No, I'm not in there. I stayed in the tunnel."

GM: "Ooookay..." [followed by annoying situation where you have to jump between the rest of the party and whatever Bruno's player wants to do]

Example #2:

GM: "Your group has been in the tavern for about a half hour, when-"

Bruno's Player: "I never entered the tavern."

GM: "You never told me you didn't enter the tavern with the rest of the party..."

Bruno's Player: "Well, I'm outside..."

You get the idea.

Have you ever had a player like this? If so, do you think they were purposely trying to mess with you, or just not paying attention, or some other reason they did this sort of thing?

End-of-Week What the Hell Happened to 2016?

"Whew, last year was ROUGH, man..."

Uh, hi folks.

Yeah, the end of 2016 got away from me...

Well, like an undead sorcerer-king, I'm rising from the dead and awakening to a new year...

How can I sum up the last bit of 2016 in terms of gaming?

Two words: unruly newbs.

Yeah, the newb campaign I started back in October...well, it fell apart.

Not really surprised by that development, actually. But what did surprise me is how quickly they seemed to become antsy about the pace at which the game was progressing.

Chalk it up to the accelerating pace of our society, maybe, but as of the second session most of the players were complaining about how slow the game seemed. I told them this was how table top roleplaying went, and it was being made even slower because two of the players were going full-on tactical planning and second-guessing over every decision point in the game.

Try as I might to encourage the players to not worry so much over every decision, things did slow down a lot.

By the end of the second session, it was clear from the "temperature" of the players' attitudes that the "magic" of roleplaying was wearing a bit thin.

Sheesh, guess it wasn't high-speed enough for them.

I was very patient with them, but have to admit to a bit of frustration. The group became somewhat combative and suspicious of my methods. I chalk that up to my attempts to be sinister and inscrutable. They took the bait, and were unnerved by it.

Mission accomplished, as far as I'm concerned. However, my players were all adults in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, and unused to encountering a sly and wily DM. I don't think they liked it. For people who don't have experience with the good old fashioned DM-player relationship, it can be off-putting, I suppose.

Ah well, it was an experiment. And not all experiments are successful, right?

So, not sure if we'll be roleplaying again any time soon. C'est la vie.

In the meantime, I'm sorta bummed about things falling apart, so much so that I can't muster the energy or interest to finish my recap of what went down.

I know, you're devastated by the news...

There might be some roleplaying in my future with some veteran gamers this year. I might be putting myself back into the DM's chair again.

Stay tuned. Until then, happy 2017 and happy gaming!

"Hi, my name's Anthony, and I'm a Dungeon Master."

The GMing Never Stops

As you probably know by now, I'm taking a hiatus from GMing for an indefinite amount of time this year. I discussed my reasons in detail in my 2013 reflection post, but it boils down to this: I needed to take a break because I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by my constant, all-or-nothing, full-speed-ahead approach to GMing. Basically, I'm GMing all the time. It never stops.

 

What do I mean? Well, when I'm not at the table actually running a session, I'm usually doing something pertaining to GMing in my head. All the time.

 

This can be great...a real joy to have my imagination churning...the creative spark aflame! Or, it can burn the hell out of your brain, and exhaust you utterly, because (at least for me) it's hard to shut off. And the line between awesome-ness and crispiness is razor-thin most of the time.

 

If I'm reading a novel or even non-fiction, I'm mining for plot hooks, ideas for NPCs, etc. I've been doing this for decades, even during the very long periods of time I wasn't roleplaying...as if my subconscious mind knew that someday I would return to the table-top, even if my conscious mind wasn't even considering a return to roleplaying.

 

If I'm watching a movie or a TV show, I'm doing the same thing as when I'm reading a book.

 

Then there's the reading of actual RPG materials, be it game systems, campaign settings, GMing advice, modules, etc. This often conflicts with novel/non-fiction reading time, which can be something of an internal dilemma. I've got a huge library of books that I own (some for years now) but I haven't yet read. But when I go to the library with my kids I can't seem to leave without a book or three, which distracts me from my own personal library. So, I'm way behind on reading, in general.

 

And don't even get me started about all the blogs I want to read...

 

But, it seems I'm not alone in my affliction. This here post was really inspired by a post at Gnome Stew the other day called "The Constant GM." I, of course, can relate in spades. Then there's the Rather Gamey post (from another GM on hiatus) about always having GMing on the brain. And then there's the great post on Not the Singularity that is basically an ode to GMing, and a pretty good read...an sort of pep talk for GMs. I needed that.

 

It's good to not be alone. This is one of the reasons I enjoy being part of the blogosphere: the reminders that there are like-minded souls out there with the same challenges.

 

So, I'm sure there are others of you out there who are constantly GMing, either at the actual table or in the table of the mind. Please, if you are also so afflicted, share with us!

 

In the meantime, I'm holding on to this hope: that this hiatus will culminate in a glorious return to the helm, and will result in one of my best campaigns yet!

What's my hang-up when it comes to traditional D&D, eh?

I need to get something out. Maybe someone(s) out there can be my temporary RPG headshrinker... like a virtual Lucy van Pelt setting up her psychiatrist booth at a moment's notice, whenever there's a nickle to be earned from some Charlie Brown type.

I know I've written several posts recently about my internal flailings pertaining to D&D, but I felt like I needed more catharsis.

Anyway, here's my issue: I can't seem to shake the desire to do straight-up, traditional D&D. What I mean is, every time I think about running a sword & sorcery game using the Crypts & Things rules, or running a cyberpunk or post-apocalyptic future campaign using Savage Worlds, eventually something inside me moans "Oh but that's not D&D! You need to GM D&D!"

Am I fighting against simple inertia? What's my hang-up on D&D? I continually ask myself what I'm looking for, why I can't shake this feeling. What is the genesis of this yearning, this "fear" of branching out from D&D? Does anyone else out there feel this constant internal push to stick with the "original fantasy game?"

My latest yen is to run B/X D&D (with the B/X Companion and Complete B/X Adventurer from JB at B/X Blackrazor included) in the Dawnforge campaign world. It haunts me! Argh!

Look, I know most of you don't really know me and all the inner workings that make me an individual, so I know you can't really diagnose the specific origins of my obsession. I guess I'm just looking for a bit of "misery company." At the very least, you know that I struggle with Gamer ADD, and I'm sure that particular bogey man has something to do with this.

I am still relatively early in my return to the table-top after a long hiatus, so perhaps something inside me has determined that I am not yet done re-exploring my D&D roots, at least when it comes to being a game master. I currently have no problem being a player in games that are not D&D-centered. Therefore, I'm not sure how long it will be before I can run anything but D&D-esque games. There's also the fact of my life situation as a busy husband and father with full-time job and a mortgage, which lends a certain desperation to my gaming activities, as I have little time to prep and play RPGs.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. In the meantime, I'll be struggling internally...

What about the Consequences?

I'm just riffing here, so bear with me. This post may be a bit on the short side, but I hope to get my point across despite my need for brevity. Mostly, I want to get the crowd's thoughts on what I'm thinking about at the moment.

It occurred to me: there's lots of talk about the vaunted sandbox campaign and its virtues. I'm a believer in giving players lots of plot hooks to follow and freedom of choice, etc. I do believe in the idea of the sandbox and all the "player agency" goodness that is supposed to come with it.

But as far as I can see, there's not a lot of talk on the RPG blogosphere about the consequences of player actions. There's a lot of talk about letting players do what they want, but I haven't read much in the way of follow-through when it comes to the repercussions of player actions. Of course, I don't have my eye on every single RPG blog, and at least one of the most respected RPG blogs out there has included mention of consequences with regard to player actions (UPDATE: -C over at Hack & Slash actually posted about consequences as a result of my post).

Now, granted, any GM worth his/her salt should rightly see player actions as a chance to create resultant plot twists. But I dare to surmise that there are many sandbox games that occur in a consequence-free vacuum. That is, players wreak havoc in town, wilderness, and dungeon and the only thing they might face as a result is trouble with the city guard (and once those guards are "dealt with" by running away from them, bribing them, or even killing them, the problem is usually over).

If players cast a charm on a city official and convince him to grant them a pile of gold from the city coffers, he'll probably be pretty pissed when the charm wears off...not to mention that any of the official's underlings present during said "charm-and-grab" will be fully aware of what's going on. The players should expect to be hunted by the authorities, complete with wanted posters going up around town and a bounty on their heads. This is especially true depending on the ruler of the city in question. If said ruler is a hard-ass, players should think twice about pulling off flamboyant and highly-visible hijinks, lest they draw unwanted attention.

This is just one example of what form in-game consequences can take. Skilled players will take advantage of positive consequences of their actions and will adapt and work to overcome the negative consequences. Of course, the style of play for a specific campaign or group of gamers may call for purposeful disregard for consequences. I'm talking about what I might call the more "default" mode of roleplaying, where some aspect of cause and effect is considered an unspoken agreement.

So, my questions to you are:

What do you think of player agency/sandbox play and consequences?

Do you have any examples of such cause and effect in your own gaming experiences?

Have you ever roleplayed where you found yourself in a consequence-free environment?

Have I missed other blogs that talk about consequences stemming from player agency/sandbox play?

The D&D Love/Hate Goes On...

I love D&D. And I hate it.

Ok, hate is really too strong a word. I guess what I'm feeling is a lot of mixed emotions, plus a big dash of my old foe Gamer ADD stalking me from the dark depths of my subconscious.

I'm really a D&D man, above all. Of course, like many, it was my first RPG. I've played other RPGs and have really like other systems, but something calls me back to D&D. I know that there's a lot of nostalgia in this whole mix, but I don't want it to become the bad sort of nostalgia that makes me lose sight of my current gaming potential. D&D will always have pride of place in my gamer's heart.

I really am tempted to play games like Savage Worlds, Dragon Age RPG, and Barbarians of Lemuria. These games have no mechanical relationship to D&D, and that is very appealing. Why? Because I've played the hell out of D&D-like games, so I've spent a lot of time with variations of D&D mechanics. And familiarity breeds contempt, my friends. This familiarity, I think, gives me an uncontrollable urge to tinker and tinker and tinker with those old D&D mechanics.

I'm getting tired of the tinkering. I just don't know if I can play D&D rules as written ever again...at least, the rules as they exist in the out-of-print editions. Granted, I've done a decent job of keeping my D&D house rules limited, but I seem to be constantly fine tuning even those few house rules. I don't like tormenting players with new house rule sheets every couple weeks.

BUT...the thought of not playing D&D is simultaneously intriguing and saddening. As if it would be a "betrayal" on my part. At least when it comes to me running a game. I've played Savage Worlds recently and that's a fun system. But to spend, say, a year running a non-D&D game? It seems out of reach for me.

I think a lot of this is, of course, related to the fact that I have limited time as an adult. I want to experience as much gaming as possible with my limited time, and this causes a problem when I start feeling like I want to play every game I am interested in. So, with limited time, there's a feeling that I need to be sure I'm playing/running a game worthy of my precious time.

On a side note, I would really love to PLAY in a D&D-like game again. I haven't done so since last summer, when GM Rich was running us through City State of the Invincible Overlord using C&C rules. I've  been playing in my friend Bill's Savage Worlds game, and it's really cool. But I would really like to play a D&D character again.

All this brings me to D&D 5th Edition/Next. I can't help it, but I have a lot of desire for the next D&D edition to do really well. I have all the playtest stuff and I really want to run it, and I am feeling like I want to give my feedback. Call it some latent desire to be a game designer, whatever. But I want D&D to live on. I'm trying to be positive and believe that Wizards of the Coast can make good on promises of tapping back into the roots of the game. Heck, at Gen Con today they apparently said they're going to make the old editions available (in what format remains to be seen).

I've read the 5E playtest rules a bit, and I like a lot of what I see. I've had issues with Vancian magic again of late, and the tweaks to Vancian magic in D&D Next are interesting to me. Yes, I understand the concept of "a player playing a magic-user needs to be more than just dependant on spells per day." But there's room for change in the old rules we know and love. And I know I'm not alone when it comes to old school gamers. Old school gaming is not just about a set of mechanics. It's about a creative, open-ended style of play, an attitude of problem solving, fun and immersion in shared imagination and adventure.

I don't think the OSR needs to be so opposed to the current iteration of in-print D&D. I think that we have a chance to have our voices heard and try to help cement the old school mentality in a modern product. Other modern games like Dragon Age RPG claim such a pedigree. If that upstart RPG can claim that, then D&D can as well.

Ok, I've rambled enough for now. More thoughts to come, of course...

Any Thoughts on Non-Combat Initiative?

Hey out there! I posted about non-combat initiative this past Saturday, and I didn't get very many hits on the post (and no comments). I should save posts like this for the work week, eh? ;-) Anyway, I'm just hoping that you'll find the time to read that post and comment. Looking forward to advice/input. Thanks!

Non-Combat Initiative?

So, I'm considering using initiative in some non-combat situations in my upcoming Greyhawk campaign. Meaning, when it comes to moments during a session where players are all telling me (as GM) what they want to do pretty much all at once, there are times when I feel I need to give them some structure/order. There's so much going on at the table during a typical RPG session that I feel I need to do something to keep things organized. Mostly to make things easier on myself.

And it's not just my current group that has made me think about this. From the very beginning of my roleplaying life, I've felt some frustration when my players are all talking at once. So now I'm thinking I need some "democratic" way to determine who gets to talk to me first, second, etc. and not just "around the table from left to right." So, since this is an RPG, we let the dice decide.

I'm not saying my players are disorganized. I'm just thinking that sometimes they are all excited and have ideas they want to execute, and things get a bit disjointed. I think our sessions would benefit from determining just who gets to act in what order for non-combat situations.

I've been searching the blogosphere for prior mention of this concept but haven't found anything so far. I'm not thinking that I'm some great innovator with this idea, though. I'm sure someone else has thought of/used this before. I'm very curious to hear from someone who might have used this in a campaign.

I guess I'm wondering if this sort of thing could be considered too much of a "hand holding" on my part. I suppose one would say that the onus is on the players to discuss what they are doing and report their decisions/actions to me in as coherent a manner as they can muster. They need to be the ones to make sure they coordinate their efforts and act as a cohesive unit. And if they're all talking to me at once and declaring actions, then I need to tell them to take a moment and get organized.

And hey, sometimes that player "chaos" of indecision and overlapping/competing goals is great, and totally natural/realistic. That's why I'm saying that I won't use it all the time. Just when I'm feeling overwhelmed or if it seems the players are feeling overwhelmed, or both.

But sometimes there's the situation where one player wants to suddenly make a decision that could affect the whole party ("I'm going to pull that lever over there to see what happens.") and I want there to be a chance for someone else in the party to interject/intercede/ interrupt said action. That's one of the moments where I think I should say "Ok, everyone needs to roll initiative to see if someone gets to do something before you pull that lever."

And then there's the question: is this where the caller concept comes into play? I've tried using callers in my prior gaming life and in my current roleplaying endeavors, and it seems to not go over so well. The players still seem to want to talk directly to me. And truth be told I'm more comfortable with that.

Please let me know your thoughts! All advice is welcome.

My Altered Oerth Campaign

The recent fog of indecision that had obscured my vision has lifted. My muddled brain has returned to clarity. I've made a decision, and it's one with which my players and I are happy.

I am going to be running another Castles & Crusades campaign at my VFLGS (VERY Friendly Local Game Store), All Things Fun! This time, I'm running things in the venerable Greyhawk setting, something I've wanted to do for a long time. Any advice regarding resources (both online and otherwise) and other Greyhawk tips/tidbits would be appreciated, of course. Heck, if you just want to share stories of your own Greyhawk adventures, feel free to do so!

The campaign is called Altered Oerth, and as the name implies I'm going to be changing things up from "canonical" Greyhawk lore. Sure, some things will be recognizable to fans of the setting, but there will be other aspects that I am changing, including (but not limited to) the pantheon of gods. I've always thought the original Greyhawk pantheon was overcrowded, not to mention the fact that many of the gods' names were veritable tongue twisters.

In the coming days I'll be posting here about some of my changes, as well as my house rules for the campaign, etc. The first session is next Wednesday night (7/25/12). So if you'll excuse me, I have to continue my prep work!

P is for Preparation

(I know this is sort of a duplication of my E post, but I didn't get much of a response to that one. Thought I'd try a different letter and see what happens...)

Ah, the dreaded question regarding how much prep time a GM should spend between game sessions. Ok, perhaps it's not that dreaded. Or is it? There's been lots of discussion across the blogosphere about this, and I've seen many pundits espouse various "equations" and magic formulas on the subject.

Anyway, I would say that I spend about an average of one solid, concerted hour of prep for every three-hour game session I run. This prep time is spent cleaning up notes from the last session, devising new hooks / potential plot threads / "quests" / whatever you want to call them (both from the results of player actions in the prior session and new ones that I want to formalize), creating NPCs as needed, etc.

BUT, there's a lot of uncalculated time I spend daydreaming about game night, jotting down ideas at random times, skimming quickly through my various game materials for inspiration when the mood strikes, etc. I do this often on most days, and I really don't know how much of this "informal" prep work I am doing.

Getting back to my formal prep time, I sometimes wonder if the time I spend is enough. I'm not sure if it's just some mild self-doubt, but I sometimes have the feeling that I'm not prepared as I should be. I can't quite put my finger on the source of this feeling. I do have limited time to work on campaigns due to my life circumstances. I think my feeling stems from sometimes getting frustrated with the small amount of time I have to prep.

I think if I had more time, I'd be able to better flesh out some more details of my setting, or develop more detailed personalities for NPCs, etc. Perhaps this feeling stems from my background in AD&D and games that involved more character development. I just want to invest my campaigns with more than just the generic medieval fantasy tropes. I want to do more than key dungeon hexes and develop adventure hooks. I'm missing the ability to spend lots of time to develop a world that feels "lived in."

I guess I can ask my players if they feel the campaign world has some "life" to it, eh? They'd be the best source to answer that, of course.

Ok, rambling over.

So, if you care to answer, here's the question(s) for all you GMs out there: how much prep time do you spend before a particular game session? What does this prep time entail? And how much time do you think "informal" prep factors into your daily life? Do you ever get frustrated with the process, and why?

A is for Aspiration

Just a note: I didn't participate in the A to Z Challenge last year, but this year I'm going to try it out as a way to give myself an outlet. An outlet for what? Well, for my current efforts to get a new campaign going in the wake of my last campaign's ending.



I'm not sure if I'm going to adhere to the exact rules of the challenge, and I don't really care. I'm just going to do this damned thing.

Now, onward!

To what am I aspiring? To use the month of April to prepare for a new campaign slated to begin in early May. I am planning on running "Basic D&D" for the first time in my life. As some may know, I've only ever played AD&D and variations (Castles & Crusades). I never played Moldvay / Cook / Marsh or Mentzer.

But I've been feeling that urge (been reading too many blogs that extol the Basic D&D virtues, especially B/X Blackrazor)! So, I want to run Labyrinth Lord at my FLGS on Wednesday nights, now that I've ended the Castles & Crusades campaign that I was running on that night.

So for the next month, I'm going to bring you my trials and tribulations as I prepare for this new roleplaying journey! Here's hoping I don't crash and burn! ;-)

Here's some of what I hope to accomplish over the course of April:

• Finalize preparation of some house rules
• Finalize preparation of my campaign setting
• Create my plan for advertising for new players (to augment my existing group)
• Set up a second blog dedicated to the new campaign
• Try to get my hands on the official Labyrinth Lord Screen

Well, that's all for now. Wish me luck, folks!

Feeling the Crunch and Keeping the Roleplaying Flame Alive

Hey all out there in Bloggerland! As you probably know, I've been running a Castles & Crusades campaign since last summer. We've had 18 cool sessions of the campaign, and the group has had a good old time of it.

Over the course of the last few months my regular life duties have been increasing in pressure. My job is demanding more and more from me in terms of time and brain power, and as my kids get older more extra-curricular activities on nights and weekends take up time. The result: I find myself less and less able to devote time to prepping for my C&C games.

C&C is not a complicated system. But it seems like I have trouble keeping the abilities of the races and classes in my head. And as a GM, I like to be able to remember those abilities. C&C has roughly the same classes and races as AD&D. If I had more time and, frankly, was a younger man with less brain degradation, I could probably hold more of the game's rules in my head, which would therefore make me a more confident GM when I run C&C.

Also, I've been running the campaign in the Forgotten Realms, which is a huge place. I've tried to give the players as much of a sandbox as possible. My definition of a pseudo-sandbox is giving the players a lot of rumors and plot threads that they can potentially follow. I've created a bunch of possible scenarios to explore in whatever order they like.

The problem comes with me having to develop a flavor for an area to which they may journey. I don't feel good as a GM if the places they travel to are too generic. Without time to refresh my memory of the particular flavor of a location through reading my published Forgotten Realms materials, I've been feeling like I'm not providing enough of a living, breathing world. Just having the published world materials as a resource is nothing if I don't have time to study them on a regular basis.

So, I talked to my players about an impending end to the campaign, within the next few sessions. I told them that I believe in campaigns having endings, and that they should save their characters for a new C&C Forgotten Realms campaign sometime in the future. This future campaign would be a "sequel" of sorts for the one that is about to end. I think they seemed pretty OK with all of this.

So, what's next? Well, I talked to the group about me running a Labyrinth Lord campaign in an as-yet-undecided world. The Labyrinth Lord system will allow me to wrap my head around a smaller rule set but not compromise playability, fun, etc. I am confident that they players won't balk at the smaller character options selection. I am confident that they "get" the old-school idea that personalization of an old-school roleplaying character doesn't come from a huge bunch of character abilities, but rather from the player's use/portrayal of that character.

So, using Labyrinth Lord, I hope to alleviate my depleted prep time issue. And a new, SMALLER setting* will allow me to give them a sandbox without making my head explode. I'll report in some more in the coming weeks about the end of my current campaign and the genesis of my new one.

*I think am officially calling dibs on Thunder Rift! More details to come on that...

Paragons of Waterdeep: Session 1

Greetings all. Apologies once again for my infrequent postings of late. I wanted to take this change to post a recap of our first session. This is an embellishment of a recap provided by two of my players, to whom I am indebted. Without them, this recap would not be possible.

The campaign begins on the third day of Tarsakh in 1369 Dalereckoning, also known as the Year of the Gauntlet. The cleric of Lathander known as Oisin hails from the village of Amphil, which is three days north of Waterdeep. 

The first session found Kale the elven ranger arriving in the City of Splendors. She is a member of a nomadic clan of wood elves in the High Forest. She is part of an elite group known as the Daughters of Mielikki, who serve to protect her clan from threats. The elves live in temporary settlements known as vo’ans. Kale was sent by the leader of her clan Elaya (also known as the vo’antir or voice of the vo’an) to seek aid from the Temple of Lathander in Waterdeep. The request stems from a steadily increasing number of undead humanoids (orcs, goblins, and gnolls) appearing in the High Forest. Kale’s clan has few clerics at the current time, and therefore does not have the means to easily combat the undead.

When Kale arrives at the Temple of Lathander, called the Spires of the Morning, Oisin and a newer member of the Lathanderite clergy named Leela were summoned by a higher-ranking cleric named Rorik. The two lower-ranked clerics learn of the plight of the elves, and Oisin and Leela are eager to help. However, Rorik is comfortable with his routine duties at the temple and seems to enjoy bureaucracy. The higher-ranked cleric says that he wants to further consider the idea with the other senior clergy and perhaps even the head of the temple.

After Rorik left them to wait for the decision from the senior clergy, Oisin and Leela took Kale to get some food, seeing as she had a long journey to Waterdeep. Leela took everyone to the Singing Sword Tavern, an establishment she used to frequent prior to joining the temple. At the tavern the three ran into an old friend of Leela's named Nestor. People in the tavern were overheard talking about some strange deaths in the city involving victims bursting into flames. The group, which now included Nestor, decided to leave the tavern and check out the site where the last victim (a trader's wife) had been found. The group searched the alley where the last victim had been found, discovering scorch marks and the scale of some sort of creature. While searching, the group was approached by several unsavory characters to which Nestor apparently owed a gambling debt. Oisin paid Nestor's debt in return for the rogue’s service to the temple.

Upon returning to the Spires of the Morning, the group met with an agitated Rorik, who informed them that Leela and Oisin were to go with Kale to her homeland in order to investigate the undead. Nestor, balking at the thought of the long journey to the High Forest, stated that he had a plan to get the group to the forest via a much faster route. But he would only do so if Oisin released Nestor from the outstanding debt. Oisin agreed to Nestor's terms and the group made arrangements to meet him the next day.

So the following day Oisin, Kale, and Leela met with Nestor to find that his plan involved using a teleportation portal to travel quickly to the High Forest. Nestor claimed to have a friend who is an apprentice of the powerful archwizard, Khelben Blackstaff. The apprentice said that he had discovered the portal in his fiancé’s basement. In order to use the portal, they would have to sneak into the fiancé’s parents’ house while everyone was home that morning. Kale refused to travel without her trusty elven-bred horse, so a compromise was reached and the group decided to take two of their four horses through the portal. The apprentice wanted payment for travel through the portal, so the group traded him the scale that they had found at the crime scene the night before. With the help of the apprentice's fiancé, they slipped into the house. With some tense moments, we got the pack horse through the back door and quickly through the portal then the rest of us went, along with Kale's horse while the fiance's parents kept calling her and asking what was going on.

The group emerged from the portal to find themselves in a cave with little light, with their pack horse was nowhere to be found. They made their way toward the entrance of the cave, guided by daylight. Kale's sharp elven senses picked up a creature moving outside the cave entrance. That’s when the group spotted the mutilated carcass of their pack horse just outside the entrance. Moments later, a blood-covered owlbear rushed into the cave and attacked. A desperate combat ensued, in which the cleric Leela was injured and had to fall back to heal. After a pitched battle, the owlbear was slain.

The group eventually emerged from the cave to find themselves on a narrow mountainside trail in a thick fog. With Kale in the lead, they carefully made their way along the trail, narrowly avoiding a place where the path would have crumbled beneath their feet and plunged them off a sharp drop. After several hours of travel, Kale heard the sound of horse hooves. Ahead of them, a female centaur emerged from the mists with a bow and arrow at the ready. The centaur, upon seeing the group, took aim and called over her shoulder “I’ve found them.”

To be continued…

Still Seeking Advice on Running a C&C Game on Free RPG Day

I just wanted to repost Saturday's request for advice from the blogosphere. Here is the original post. I am running a session of C&C on Free RPG Day this coming Saturday at All Things Fun. I'm treating it as a mini-con of sorts, and this is the first time ever that I'll be running a game for strangers who just walk into a game store. Any advice is welcome! Thanks.

Invoking St. Gygax and Seeking Advice

Thus spake Gygax: "I cannot stress too much the importance of having mystery in the world setting...what the fantasy game world setting must provide is the environment to enable the participant to regain that feeling of the marvelous and inexplicable. The milieu is the vast stage upon which will be played countless dramas, and a few comedies and tragedies as well. What awaits, who will triumph, how events will turn out must never be fully answered. To do so brings one to an end as surely as does the last page of a novel...the milieu will be never-ending, unfold gradually, and always have some new mystery to explore, some challenge to overcome."

I saw the above quote on Grendelwulf's blog recently, and it really lit the fires of inspiration in me. It made me eager to game, and it made me anxious to experience that sense of wonder Gary talks about in connection with gaming. In it I hear the echoes of Bilbo Baggins singing about how the road goes ever on...

I feel like I need some good mojo from St. Gygax soon, since I volunteered to run a Castles & Crusades session on Free RPG Day next Saturday. I'll be running the session at All Things Fun, of course. The owners, Ed and Dina Evans, really wanted C&C to be represented that day.

So on Free RPG Day, I want to foster the sense of wonder that is the hallmark of a good gaming session. And I want to do a good job and represent the game system well, as I have a lot of admiration for Troll Lord Games and their game (not to mention that I really like Ed and Dina and their store).

Am I putting to much pressure on myself? I think that's probably the case, since I know myself and I have a tendency to be my own worst critic.

I've decided that I want to treat Free RPG Day at All Things Fun like a miniature convention. I want to prepare a good session, and enable anyone who plays to get a good idea of the system as well as get a character together quickly, so that we can maximize actual playing time.

So, I'm asking you all for advice on how I can make the most of the session next Saturday. I've never run a game for strangers at an event like this, so this is going to be another milestone for me. I figured I would perhaps bring some pregenerated characters. That seemed to be the most sensible thing to do. But what else should I do to prepare, what should I expect, etc. Any input is much appreciated!

After the Dawning: Session 1

I can't write nearly as much as I'd like about this milestone, but I wanted to report that I ran the first session of my After the Dawning campaign last night. It takes place in the Dragonlance setting. The usual Wednesday Night C&C gang (of which I am happily a part) at All Things Fun! got down to business on the world of Krynn! Thanks once again to the group for letting me take on the GM's chair.

It may sound strange, but this was pretty much the first time I ever ran a table-top game for players other than my friends from childhood/high school. It sounds strange when I read it! Sure, I've run PBEM/play-by-chat games on and off since 2007, but that's of course much different than sitting face-to-face with new acquaintances.

I feel that I'm very fortunate to have found a group of like-minded gamers who are not only great gamers but great people. This experience has helped me get over the last shreds of my trepidation regarding extending my gaming realm beyond my long-time friends.

Regarding my statement of not being able to write much, I fear that will be a trend with regard to my writing on the blog in general, not to mention when it comes to recaps. I'd love to do detailed, well-written recaps, but that might not be in the cards (at least not for the near future). With limited free time, I need to prioritize my efforts. Prepping for game time and actually playing are my priorities. That means writing on the blog and keeping my campaign's Obsidian Portal page up to date are going to have to fall by the wayside.

That being said, I know that at least one of my players intends to do some recaps in the voice of his character, a certain not-so-humble Knight of Solamnia! If any of my other players would ever see fit to do the same, that would be wonderful (no pressure, though, seriously guys)!

Speaking of the knight, he had the best line of the session. When a goblin was taunting the group from afar and licked the blade of his rusty short sword, the knight yelled out "You'll get lockjaw!"

That's all I can write for now. MAYBE I can get some time coming up to write an addendum to this post in order to give at least a bit more detail about the session. I just didn't want too much time to pass before I wrote at least something about the session. Talk to you soon, and happy gaming!