There's a Mouse in the House!

Last night I was pleased to play my first game of Mice and Mystics from Plaid Hat Games. Mice and Mystics is a dungeon crawling adventure that places you and a few cohorts into the bodies of tiny mouse warriors. You must fight your way through a treacherous castle filled with all manner of now-giant sized foes including rats, insects and the ever fearsome cat, Brody!

The art is fantastic!

We had a wonderful time playing the game, although I found it a bit too difficult for the suggested rating of ages 7 and up. We were playing with a group of adults and even we had a difficult time at some points. Difficulty aside, the game is great! It comes with glossy chip-board tiles, colorful cards and a handful of very detailed plastic miniatures. The use of tiles is nice, as it leaves plenty of room for future expansions using the rules and figures provided in the original box.

The game mechanics are unique, requiring fast-paced action thanks to a handy system of measuring time. Instead of an hour glass or stopwatch, time is measured by a "storybook timer." Certain actions in the game cause the pages of the book to move forward and if you reach the end of a chapter before reaching your goals...'GULP... it's game over! I also appreciate that defeated characters are considered 'captured' instead of dead, allowing them to return to the game quickly. I was especially thankful as I was the first to be captured in every game session we played.

If you enjoy sword and sorcery with a dash of dungeon delving, this would be a great game to pick up, I highly recommend it!

Until next time, happy gaming!

Death and Wealth

This is something I've been thinking about this week. How do you deal with death in your game?

Well, maybe not death exactly, but the resulting loot overflow that follows. Say Ted the fighter, Ron the thief, and Deborah the ranger have roughly 30,000gp worth of equipment apiece and during one unfortunate encounter, Ron perishes. After some discussion, Ron's player decides to create a new character and the remaining party members bury/cremate/dispose of the body. Do they take his loot or leave it with the corpse?

NOT BLACK LEAF! Chick comics always give me a chuckle.

Let's say they take the dead player's equipment and gold and head back to town in the hopes of finding a new companion. Fortunately for them, they just happen to stumble across Don the wizard! Very convenient! Ron Don the wizard is of a similar level to the party and has all of the trappings that a wizard of his level should!

The problem mechanics-wise is that you now have a three person party with the wealth of four. Heck, if they split Ron's loot three ways they could each purchase something downright powerful.  Knowing that deceased characters will be quickly replaced with new ones, it seems almost beneficial if a player or two dies every now and then, just for a quick influx of cash.

This is an issue we've ran into recently and have had to house rule it, as we've had a few characters replaced with new ones. Our current rule is that a dead character's equipment (not including quest related items) go with the character. Maybe the equipment was destroyed by the fireball that killed him (or, as the rules would state, the gear would catch fire the moment after he died, as it would no longer be 'an attended object'). Maybe they buried him with his gear. It isn't unheard of for knights to be buried in their armor w/sword or even some policemen to be buried with a firearm. Maybe they sent his equipment and share of the loot off to his family? Who knows?

While the game takes place in a fantasy setting, elements of reality still exist. In reality the passing of someone close is both psychologically and financially stressing. For some reason in the fantasy genre that slice of reality has been flipped to a point where the death of a close friend is actually beneficial.

What's your take on it?

Until next time, happy gaming!    

Game Stagnation

While I've never had much of a problem with game stagnation, I have talked about it with other players and GMs. I hope to offer a few tips to help prevent your own game from going stale.

Game Stagnation- A slow down of general interest, drive and passion in a game. This can be the caused by a variety of events including (but not limited to): major story completion, lack of GM ideas, players tired of their own characters, lack of variety, redundant game types/styles, concurrent but non-associated off-the-shelf modules, etc, etc...

There are quite a few solutions to this problem, but I prefer to avoid it altogether as it can leave a sour taste in everyone's mouth. Here's a few tips to keep game stagnation from rearing it's ugly head at your table.

Run Away!!: As GMs, we put the players in dangerous situations all the time. Sometimes they aren't prepared and they run away. Enemies can do that too! Throughout any given campaign don't be afraid to let a few people escape. You don't need to think it out ahead of time, just let some guys run away and fill in the blanks later! This way, even if the "main story" is completed in your campaign, you have plenty of fuel to keep the game going.

- Maybe that escaped evil cleric was actually the Big Bad Guy's adviser. Maybe he was secretly raising his own undead horde behind his master's back. The confusing aftermath of the main story would be an excellent time to strike!

- Perhaps one of the generic guards or thugs encountered early fled in grief because the party killed his father right in front of him. Ashamed of his cowardice and seeking revenge, Deadguy Jr. seeks the council of a local witch who helps him make a revenge pact with some evil outsider.

- Towsfolk X remembers the adventurers from a previous game and seeks them out to rescue Towsfolk Y. In this case, keeping hold of game logs and notes can be very useful. Players love to feel connected to the world around them - "Hey remember when you beat up my cousin in that tavern brawl? Well he's gone missing!" 

Player Background: Before you start a campaign ask your players to provide background stories for their characters. Let them go wild! Remember, you share the world with them, it's only fair that they get to create pieces of it too. These stories can lead to major campaigns in themselves! In our current game, Brad is trying to figure out why his father -a legendary monster hunter- has devolved into a slobbering drunk. Luci, an avid entomologist, is searching for the mythical "ruby eyed emerald grasshopper," and Blanklee is trying to save his soul from eternal damnation!

On a side note, you are still the GM. Feel free to fiddle with player backgrounds in order to keep them on their toes. At one point, our "amnesia afflicted" bard was searching for his criminally insane identical twin and our thief was in search of the man who murdered her husband. About halfway through the campaign, they realized they were looking for the same man! If that weren't enough, as the heroes finally found the nutcase, he released his secret weapon... the truth! He told the thief that he didn't murder her husband, his identical twin brother (the bard!) did the deed! That was some downright M. Night Shyamalan $#*! right there!

As an additional tool, you should consider using the "3x3x3 NPC" technique in your game. I hate to admit it, because I was only reading about it a week ago, but I forget where I saw this idea originally. At it's most basic, you ask your players to come up with brief descriptions for 3 allies, 3 acquaintances and 3 foes. This gives you ample fodder to throw into any game or even to base an adventure off of.

Keep it Fresh: Did you just play 3 knock-down, drag-out adventures in a row? Break the cycle with a mystery adventure, trap dungeon or all-roleplay adventure. Take the players out of their element - put them underwater or in the clouds. Have them run into old characters. The point is - don't be a one trick GM. I may prefer comedies but I like to watch action movies and documentaries too. If you were a movie studio, the players would be customers, and customers like a little variety every now and then.

There are plenty more ways to keep your games from stagnating. Hopefully these few methods here will be useful to a few folks out there? What do you do to keep things exciting and fresh?

Until next time, Happy Gaming. 

The Inverse Metagame

Special note: I did not realize how long and boring this post was until after I typed it. I apologize in advance for this wall of text, but game theory is something I fully enjoy exploring.

I was reading a post from Cobblestone Chaos about meta gaming and got to thinking about it in my own games.

While meta gaming will always happen, we try to avoid it as much as possible. The players and I really enjoy playing things out as they should be - the PCs exploring a world of unknowns with only their skills and wits to save them. I am glad that I can be free to leave the adventure sitting out on the table when I leave the room. If I accidentally blurt out something that I shouldn't, I know they won't use it to their advantage. "What would [character name] do in this situation?" is a question asked more often by the players than by the GM and I wouldn't have it any other way.

There are occasions however, where it's almost impossible for a GM to get away with his nefarious schemes without giving his/her secrets away. These are the occasions where I pull out my own brand of meta gaming. It can't be so simple as a lie - that's regular ammo in the GM arsenal. It needs to be theatrical if possible. I find the greatest meta gaming payoffs occur when the seeds are planted much earlier in the adventure.

Say you have a villain that the players have not met. VillainX is a wizard with a penchant for abusing magic jar. The players first encounter him inhabiting the body of a local mercenary or townsfolk, leading a horde of minions. Before taking any mortal wounds, VillainX leaves the body and escapes. Rather than having the body fall to a lump on the floor, you add a little flavor.

"The soldier's body falls face-first to the floor, writhing in uncontrollable spasms. After a brief moment the seizure passes and he lifts himself unsteadily, his forearms shaking as they support his weight. He blinks a few times before speaking, "Where am I? What happened?"

While this might seem like simple fluff, it hides something much more sinister. The players will immediately realize that something is wrong and with a little interview and research, they will at least determine that he was charmed in one way or another.

Fast forward to the next encounter. VillainX has decided to inhabit one of the players! We don't roll a lot of secret saves at our table. I may ask the players to roll and not give them a reason but I rarely make rolls for them. This creates the unique problem that no matter what, (unless you insist on many red-herring rolls) they know something has happened. I pass a note to the afflicted player. It tells him to act casual, to pull out his weapon and act like it has some magical quality he's never noticed before, telling the other players to come take a look.

Everything goes down as planned except for one player -a new guy who doesn't trust anything- he immediately unsheathes his weapon and attacks his party mate. The jar'd player plays along and acts surprised as the rest of the party subdues the new guy. While they play it out a decent bit, I know the cover is blown. Everyone smells something a bit rotten that they can't justifiably role play around. Something is wrong with their companion and they know it.

 
Whats a GM to do? Easy, grow the seeds planted earlier in your adventure! Have the afflicted player fall to the ground, writhing and shaking just like the soldier from earlier in the adventure. Pass him a note describing what the experience was like in the magic jar and let the players go about their business.

Unfortunately for them, he was never released from the jar! Think about it. Wizards are smart people, they read giant tomes and cast complex spells, who's to say VillainX wouldn't trick the players into thinking their friend has been released from the spell? Using their previous experience with the soldier against them, VillainX pretended to release the PC from the jar in order to gain the party's trust! What better way to do that than to relinquish control back to the actual player? While the PC may think he's controlling his character, he is really playing as VillanX! Have the PC's make bluff checks or sense motive checks if need be and then WHAM, have the PC attack with the still unsheathed weapon!

GM tricks can be used to great effect to circumvent player knowledge or for any multitude of reasons.

-Have a one-trick pony of a wizard who just loves fireball? Place a room full of low-mid level baddies moving crates and barrels which (unbeknownst to the wizard) are full of oil or gunpowder!

-You could run a mystery-based adventure with tons of very obvious evidence pointing toward the wrong guy because he's being framed! My personal favorite is the werewolf/wizard who uses magic to frame others for his own crimes and then accepts payment for "killing the werewolf" who conveniently turned back to a human upon death.

-The old "double trap" technique. Trap makers, like wizards are smart folks. Players may find a pit trap and jump over it only to land on a different, perhaps much more painful trap.

Just remember to use stuff like this sparingly and only to help balance out the game. Otherwise the players will feel cheated and that's no good for anyone.

Thanks for reading, happy gaming!                 

Different Games, Same Table.

By their nature, pen and paper role playing games are a different breed of entertainment. While I veg out to plenty of tv shows, video games and movies, I always find myself drawn back to the table. It's a mysterious attraction which is admittedly difficult to explain to folks who've never played a role playing game before.

"What do you mean you don't 'win'?"

"You play on a table? Is it a board game?"

"Wait.. It's just books and dice?"

These are common questions that can be surprisingly hard to answer. What is it that really sets P&P games -and gamers- apart? If you asked me, I'd probably say "Everyone gets to play a different game at the same table."

 

Say we went to a movie together. We might have different opinions. I may hate it and you loved it. Maybe I'm just not into musicals and you happen to be a fan of the main actor. We could have many differences of opinion but as long as George Lucas isn't involved, the movie doesn't change, we both watched the same exact thing. The same applies to video games, tv shows, stage plays - the list goes on. Video games are particulary adept at making you feel involved. Terms like "open world" provide an illusion of freedom that is still limited by file size and technology.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not bashing any of these forms of amusement. I'm as big a fan of them as anyone. It's also not my intention to disregard sports or art or other wonderful ways to pass time and create. I'm just trying to explore and describe the unique qualities of pen and paper gaming. For the sake of the uninformed, I'll try to briefly sum up what an RPG is before I continue on to why it's so special...

In a tradional role play environment, a group of friends or even strangers come together around a table and create fictional characters that they will use to explore and adventure in a fictional world. This is done primarily through imagination and communication. These could be valiant knights, savage barbarians, gritty pulp era cops or space explorers. The variety is endless. The 'world' and it's inhabitants are directed by a GM -the Game Master- historically referred to as a Dungeon Master. The players control their characters' actions and the GM controls everything else.

Unlike other games, the GM and the players do not play against each other to reach an end or final goal. They work together to unfold a continuing story. The GM provides the setting, and adjusts it according to the players reaction. This isn't to say that the players and GM are never adversarial. In addition to controlling the environments and personalities of the game world, the GM also controls the monsters, the villains and other obstacles that hinder the players advancement through the story and this is where the dice come in.

Whenever a player wants to perform an action in the world where they have a chance to fail, they roll dice. The dice represent the chaos and unpredictability of the world. Do you want to hit that goblin with your sword? Roll some dice to see if you hit him or catch air. Want to smooth talk the local sheriff to let you out of jail? Roll it and see if he falls for your bluff. There are an infinite number of things one can do in a pen and paper role playing game. The only limitations are in your imagination and imagination is the very essence of the game.

As an aside, if the idea of playing "imaginary games" seems too childish for you, just call it "creativity." It might help you sleep better.

Sheesh, I was trying to go somewhere with that wall of text up there which has escaped me at the moment...

Oh yeah! I was trying to put a finger on what sets P&P RPGs apart. You see, with all this imagination going on, it's sometimes easy to forget that other people are playing and imagining alongside you. What makes the game so special is that it can be different for every participant. I may imagine the world to look grim and dark with armored soldiers, grizzled old wizards and deceptive thieves while the player across the table could be picturing a lush, bright world with shining knights, bumbling sorcerers and dashing rogues. Everything from the smallest stone to the largest beast is open to each players interpretation. To me, that is the best thing any game could offer.

There aren't many mediums that offer this level of invlovement nowadays. In a world dominated by passive entertainment, pen and paper games offer more than just 'turning on and tuning in.' They are social games. Participatory games. Imaginative games.

You can be more than a player, you are a creator- an active participant in an evolving story. That's what sets P&P gamers apart. Anyone can play games, role players bring them to life. 

 

Until next time, happy gaming.

Monster Mash: Where to Draw the Line?

I've played RPGs for a long time and as such have seen my fair share of 'monster mashes.' That is to say, taking two creatures and combining them into one. From the early days of the Owlbear to half-elves, half-dragons and 'Squarks,' combining creatures is a staple in the fantasy genre. That's why I was surprised when I found myself frustrated while working on a high power NPC for our current campaign.

Who in their right mind thought this was a good idea?  

I don't want to spoil it for my players, but I'll let a tidbit slip. I was working on a vampire. An extraordinarily long lived vampire who -for the most part- isn't that bad of a guy. He rules a small kingdom, treats his subjects well, governs fairly and provides for the poor.

He also happens to drink the blood and kill any criminals who are caught within his territory.

I'll leave the 'nature of evil' topic for another post, but I just wanted to set it straight: No matter how much good he does, no matter how fair and benevolent he is, he is still an undead abomination who maintains his (un)life by feeding on sentient living beings. Because of these actions, he is an evil creature.  But I digress...

 Apparently, Roger Corman did!

While researching vampires I came across this thread on the paizo boards. To sum it up, a PC was interested in playing a dhampir paladin/sorcerer with the sanguine bloodline. For those not in the know, that roughly translates to (deep breath!): A half human / half vampire who fights for the glory of god (and/or cause of good in general) who supplements his holy blessings with the ability to spontaneously cast arcane magical spells. Additionally, through his vampiric bloodline, he would be able to consume the blood of the recently deceased as a means to regain lost hit points.

Woo! that's a lot!

That thread, and the flurry of responses it received got me thinking about how muddled up rules and ideas can become with so much monster mashing. I am fully aware that the dhampir is not unique to RPGs and can be found in everything from old Balkan folklore to modern pop culture. Regular fiction is not the same as a game though, and needs no in-depth explanations. Unfortunately, players often do want explanations which for the most part, I am happy to provide.

Although to be honest, I have no explanation for dhampirs in our game world - because they don't exist. As I graphically explained to a PC today, vampires are not living things and as such, don't have much 'fruit in the loins' and as such, couldn't procreate.

What I'm getting at here is, has the monster mash become too much of a crutch for the game community? Should it be viewed as legitimate content or just filler for books and supplements? I understand that gaming companies are businesses and need to keep pumping out products, but do we really need a Monster Manual XXV? Or would companies be better off expanding on actual content, exploring game theory and when publishing monster books, emphasizing quality over quantity?

I do realize that this is nitpicking on my part, but it is still something that gets my goat. Here's a question for the Game and Dungeon Masters out there: Out of all of your 'monster books' what percentage of monsters have you actually used, and what are your thoughts on monster-monster hybrids?

Until next time, happy gaming!     

Where Does the Time Go?

I swear, it feels like I lay down to bed on Tuesday and wake up on Thursday! Weeks seem to fly by and while I get a good amount done, it never seems like enough.

This past weekend we traveled north about 5 hours to Sinnemahoning, Pennsylvania. My mom has a cabin tucked away in the woods where we spent the weekend 'getting away from it all.' It was a pretty good time. A lot of driving and a lot of good country food!

Bent tree or portal to another dimension? OOOoooOOOhhH.

The highlight of the weekend was our visit to the Austin Dam. Rather than ramble on about our vacation, you can read about it by clicking here. While pictures can give you a good idea of what it looks like, you really need to see it in person to get the whole experience. If you are ever in the area, I suggest you check it out!

 Brutal

 

In other news, my wife and I did a whole mess of painting last week. We plopped ourselves in front of the TV and cranked out almost twenty mini's! Here's a few of them for your viewing pleasure.

 The ill fated wizard my cousin played. I had just painted him and then (of course) he died

.

 A man in stocks with some jerk kids.

A pair of ogres. The bottom one is Part of the Reaper Bones lineup.

My friend Noah actually made this figure!

Nobody here but us evil wizards!

We've got our Group 1 game this weekend and to be honest, I am completely unprepared. After fending off an underground town from demons, the group cleric has decided to temporarily remain behind and help the townsfolk rebuild their homes and their faith. (In reality, Kevin -the cleric- is getting married!) That leaves us with Blanklee, a brutal fighter trying to redeem himself through religion and Gertrude, a wily thief with a knack for trap finding. Ideally I would like to have the town implore them for help. In it's current state the town would be vulnerable to any number of nasties ready to pounce on opportunity. This would give my players something to do and keep them close to their cleric for future adventures. At this point any ideas or suggestions are appreciated. I'm close to pulling the last resort (gasp!) digging out an old Dungeon magazine!

Besides that, I'm pretty booked up for the next few weeks with games and home renovation. I'm looking forward to the games, the renovation on the other hand, is getting expensive...

Until next time, happy gaming!     

Survival of the Fittest

Through years of gaming  (especially in more recent campaigns) I have noticed that many real-life rules and ideas also apply to the RPG world. Out of those ideas, the popular phrase "survival of the fittest" has really taken a front seat recently. Like many things however, the concept takes on quite a few different meanings in an RPG environment, so lets touch on a few of them today.

Finally, a good reason to use the comic sans font!

We'll start by looking at the most literal interpretation. It is easy to see how survival applies this way. Characters who are exceedingly fit (i.e. have high ability scores) are inherently more likely to survive and excel in a world fraught with danger. While many like to argue that stats are simply 'just one of many tool to help in role play,' it would be incredibly difficult to be an adventurer with nothing but 5's and 4's for ability scores. I'm not saying that it's impossible to play a low score character, but it is a challenge. I believe this is why we see a lot of point-buy systems becoming more popular. Point-buying guarantees that every player has a fair shot and that no one is significantly under or over-powered. Personally, I don't like point-buy systems. We still roll dice for scores in my campaigns. While it can lead to severely under powered characters, I sleep easy knowing that they will either die off or their limitations will add significantly to the situational role play of the group.

Moving on from the literal, we get into some foggier realms of thinking. "fit" could be interpreted as ability scores in relation to the character. Sometimes a player can have perfectly reasonable scores, but assign them poorly. This could be due to mismanagement or because a player wants to try a unique or nonsensical stat build. I saw this present itself recently when my wife decided to create a witch for our Group Two game. She decided to roll her character old school. That's 3 six sided dice per stat, and her stats went in order, no matter what she rolled. Let's just say her character would have made a much better rogue. Or fighter. Or pretty much anything that doesn't cast spells. While the impact isn't very noticeable at lower levels, and in some senses seemed downright useful, (high dex = better AC) the character would have really started to fall behind at higher levels. Unfortunately she never got to reach those lofty goals as she fell on the sword of a bandit at second level.

 Then again, a high reflex save might have helped her too...

Finally (and I only say finally because I'm sleepy, I could talk about this for ages!) we get to a version of "fit" that translates to: "a good fit." As in - a nice set of clothes or shoes. Sometimes a character or class is just not a good match for a player. Our resident killsmith... err.... fighter is played by my friend Jim who is a great match for the class. Just like in real life, he is straightforward and acts with purpose. He takes the damage and dishes it out. Focused on melee, he is more than happy to acts as the first line of offense and defense to keep his party alive and the enemies dead. All in all he is a good fit for his class.

On the other hand, another friend of mine by the name of Vince began playing and had to stumble through three characters before he finally found a niche. Not having much experience in RPG's and basing his decision on a brief skimming of the book, Vince chose a druid as his starting character - who died about halfway through his first game. Being persistent as he is, his second character was also a druid. He was actually the first druids identical twin brother! (It's ok, I laughed too.) Going in search of his deceased kin, he also managed to die in the exact same spot. Worrying that he might tire of the game before really experiencing it, I urged him to try a different class, one that might fit his style. He opted for a ranger and ripped apart the rest of the game, eventually chasing down an ogre boss and pinning him into a corner. Vince kept the ogre occupied while the rest of the party finished off the other boss of the adventure. He has found a good fit!

Now I realize that there are plenty of ways a 'fit' character can still perish, and I'm sure that many 'sub-par' characters have led long and lucrative adventuring careers. We run a pretty brutal game so it may stand out a bit more in our campaigns. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Until next time, happy gaming!     

Boss Fights!

I know my posting is sparse, but I console myself in knowing that I haven't been writing about gaming because I've been too busy playing games!

Our "group one" game happened two weeks ago and it was fantastic. Blanklee, Karl and Gertrude have continued their journey toward the Sunderforge, where they hope to destroy a fiendish artifact. They stopped off for a brief moment at a grey elf settlement, where they were to meet an an emissary of the red elves - who was waiting for them. He would escort them through the Weirdwood: the warped and haunted remains of the once great red elf forest.

Unfortunately for them, the settlement had been overrun by a band of demons summoned to hunt down the party and take Blanklee to hell. They faced off against a horde of lesser demons, defeated a fiend hunter who had been tracking them for days, helped out the remaining townsfolk and finally destroyed the demon leader, a terrible vrock by the name of Gul'tuch.

The players facing off against a group of dretches. (no dretch figs, settled for slaves)

While the game itself was fun as normal, the players made it really clear that the boss fight was the cherry on the sundae. I had done my best to build a little suspense. NPC's warned them of the vicious creature ahead, and since even the minions were no pushover, the party had some real fear running through their veins. For the first time among this group of players, I actually heard them utter, "You know, we got what we came here for, we can just leave and not mess with whatever's behind that door."

Fortunately, they decided to stay. They couldn't let this monster kill the rest of the townspeople. They buffed up with spells (something they almost never do!) and kicked in the door, steel swinging. The fight went pretty much as planned. There were two human/fiend minions in the room with the vrock; one to act as healer and the other as a diversion. Two players went after the bait while the rogue pursued the healer. Meanwhile, the Vrock began a strange and violent dance in the center of the room. As the two minions fell, the Dance of Ruin completed, blasting the room with damage and nearly destroying Alvi (the NPC cleric and unofficial group mascot) in the process. The party rallied themselves, healed their wounds and threw themselves against the creature. While they did take a fair amount of damage, a series of incredibly lucky saving throws allowed them to win the day with no casualties!

In other news, my good friend Jim -player of Blanklee- has started his own figure wall project. A few months ago I discussed my process of using old typesetting drawers to display my minis and Jim has started his own similar similar project. Below is a preview of whats to come!

At the top is a troll he just started working on. It'll look totally badass when finished.

Until next time, happy gaming!
 

     

No Thank You: Geek Culture

The phrase "Geek Culture" lives in a special place in my heart. A seething, angry and dark place full of hatred. In fact, I hate all of the negative words associated with the culture such as nerd, dork etc. I do not embrace it as a badge of honor or as some backwards way to get back at "the man." When confronted with accusations of geekery I am the first and usually loudest to respond. My original gaming blog was titled "Orcs and Dorks," and it took some time to realize why I hated the name.

I... We are not geeks, nerds or dorks. While I sometimes use the word gamer, I don't need a label to tell the world who I am. I am so much more than the hobbies I participate in. If I was forced to label myself I would say that I am a hard worker, a dedicated husband, a good friend, an artist and a player of games. Only when we sit around the table -dice in hand- do I become the GM. The Game Master; a title in my eyes, not a label.

I bring this up because of recent observations out in the real world. I talk about gaming anywhere, and to anyone. I love to convert the skeptical or the naysayers into supporters and players. We've got so many people hooked on games at work that it's a regular topic of conversation. If we aren't talking about Pathfinder, we're playing Kittens in a Blender at lunch and when we aren't doing that, we're playing trivia. It's a nice feeling to walk into the break room and hear a sixty year old master plumber or electrician hopefully ask, "Hey are you guys doing trivia today?" I don't sit and look at the 'cool table' in the lunch room, wishing I was there. I run the cool table.

Today's game, circa 1984.

I worry that the embrace of the so called geek culture is just a trend - and trends change with time. Fantasy and sci-fi might be popular teefury shirts topics right now, but who's to say how long that will last? Dr. Who and Game of Thrones will eventually run their course. Harry Potter has been dethroned and Skyrim will eventually take that final arrow to the... never mind.

Take heart though. This post isn't some message of anger and impending doom. Just my opinion and some advice. Don't keep your hobbies hidden away in the metaphorical dungeon. Embrace them, talk about them and ask other people if they would be interested. In my experience table top gaming is not very friendly to newcomers, or people who are interested but don't know where to start. It's hard to start playing D&D if you've never played it before and sometimes a friendly face makes all the difference. If you play in a game/hobby shop and see some lone guy or gal wandering around, glancing at the tables invite them over! Use Craigslist, Meetup or even Facebook to link up with other gamers. And while I've never been a fan of trends and bandwagons, I'll be damned if I don't use Game of Thrones as a jumping point to get people into gaming.

 Behipster's head may just explode from irony overload.

I often fantasize about owning a game shop - and during those daydreams I don't imagine it filled with the stereotypical nerds we've come to expect from TV; but people of all races, ages, genders and social circles. Entertainment that is open to everyone and no one has to keep it as a secret hobby or describe it as "that one nerdy thing I do." When I look at the folks I game with I don't see gamers, I see friends and not one of them fits into the mold of a geek.

I'm currently planning a series of "First Timers" games to run in a few months time. Pre-written games with premade and easy to understand character sheets for folks who have never played before. A casual rpg experience just for the fun of playing and I'm happy to say that I've already received lots of interest from prospective players. My goal is not to start a new group, I've got more than enough games on my plate at the moment. My goal is to spark interest and encourage others to start their own gaming circles.

An early photo of Jeff.

I would like to finish this up by talking about a friend of mine. Really he is the reason behind this post in the first place. Jeff is a coworker and friend who is from a generation far older than myself. I'm not exactly sure how old, the lab hasn't sent back the carbon dating reports yet. Jeff is by no means a table top game player, although he does love trivia. If I mentioned gaming a year ago it's something he would laugh at and poke fun of; but today on my way out the door something surprising happened. I told him to have a good weekend and he wished me the same but followed it up with, "I heard you have a big game this weekend, have fun!" 

I mark that up as a victory in my book.

p.s. On a side note, if someone does give you grief about gaming, stand up for yourself! You can always ask them how many hours they waste in front of Modern Warfare 3.

How Much is TOO much?

Things are moving along slowly with our remodel and I apologize for the lack of posting (and reading!), but sometimes life has to take the driver seat.

Although I do want to talk about something to get my regular gaming fix.

I am fortunate enough to work with quite a few table top gamers, some long time players and others converted by myself, so many of our workplace conversations revolve around gaming culture. It was during one such conversation that got me thinking about out of this world characters.

I like to consider myself an open minded GM, allowing players to field many of their crazy ideas in our campaign world. Split personality? Sure. A character who secretly commits crimes so the party has something to solve? No problemo. A mute? Good luck, but okay. Lizardman Shaman who fuels his magic by consuming the hearts of humanoids? Go for it!

Where do you draw the line, if you draw one at all? I recently had a discussion about creating a male werefox wildmage who shoots spells from a rifle instead of regular casting. A sort of lycanthrope casting sniper. While the conversation was kind of theoretical, I could tell the player had put a lot of thought into it, and as a character it isn't a bad idea. Unfortunately it doesn't fit anywhere into our game world.

I am super tired, so I'll be cutting this short. But my question to other GMs out there is, "What crazy things have you allowed and when have you put your foot down and just said 'No.'?"

Heros... Pfft.

While reading an excellent post over at ROFL Initiative about the consequences of killing, I came to a realization. A lot of RPG material -in fact the vast majority of it- refers to player characters as "Heroes." This is something I don't normally do and I think this difference in thinking has an effect on the games that I play.

While some of the characters in our games could be described as heroes some of the time, I more often refer to them as adventurers or sometimes even just the party. When I think of the word "hero" I imagine the guy who jumps on a hand grenade to save his buddies. I think of Mother Theresa or Superman. I picture people and characters who go out of their way to do good for the sake of doing good, or to help others. 

I do not view PC's in the same light.

Most RPG characters are what I would call accidental heroes and at their worst - downright criminals. Let's face it, we are talking about people who have foregone the idea of getting a normal job and have decided that they would much rather adventure for a living. A profession that's primary focus is obtaining wealth and power through killing things and taking their stuff. 

Think about this: Indiana Jones conquered the Temple of Doom, saved the nearby village, rescued his friends, destroyed the Thugee and recovered the Sankara stones all for the sake of research! I would categorize that under heroic any day of the week, but that's only because he didn't sell the Sankara stones on eBay to buy a +5 whip and a few potions of snake repellant. 

That's the difference for me. Heroes help, adventurers help for profit.

I believe this way of thinking adds a lot of flavor to our games; it gives the players more to work with in the role play aspect and keeps the ego's from getting too big. Townsfolk aren't always willing to help and some are downright untrustworthy of adventurers. While the local fletcher might beg for help with a spider infestation, the blacksmith next door is making sure his family mausoleum is locked safe from any wandering "treasure hunters."

I wanted to post more but it's late and I have a solo adventure to run soon.

Until next time, Happy Gaming!

    

Sex and Sexuality in Gaming

Have you ever spent an hour or two writing a post only to delete the whole thing and start over? I just did that with this post. So please, allow me to re-start.

I don't contribute to the WoTC forums, although I do read them from time to time. Recently, I discovered a topic concerning in-game sexuality. As always, the thread exploded into a flurry of insults, blabbering and "intellectual elitism."

- On a side note, I wish there was a "sarcasm" text style, as italics just doesn't seem to cut the mustard in some cases. Maybe call it italicsXtreme.

It did get me thinking though. So I ask myself -and anyone who cares to read- how do you view sex and sexuality in your game? Is it something intentionally included/excluded? How do you handle it when it comes up? Do sexual preferences besides heterosexual exist in your world? If it is included, how far do you take it?

I am fortunate to game with an open minded group of players who seem to handle anything I throw at them. While sexuality rarely appears in my authored adventures, it has occasionally popped up from time to time. It can take the form of a serious plot point while other times it can be used as comic relief.

I guess in that sense it's kind of like real life! (insert rimshot!)

I try not to exclude any possible character traits from my games or players and this includes their sexual behavior. I don't actively encourage it, but if a player decides to pursue sexual goals it's not my job to say no. A bard in our current campaign slept his way through quite a few taverns in his travels. While it had little impact on the game, it did wonders in the development of his character. A few charisma or bluff checks and the situation was resolved. No role play needed (thank god!) and his character got to maintain his rather sleazy reputation.

The newest Dwarf Body Sprays garaunteed to drive she-dwarves crazy: Battle-Axe!

As handling sexuality goes, it has changed for our group as we get older. Looking back through the years it's funny to see how we have matured as gamers. In our teenage years we had stuff like Whore the Boar -a rather tasteless animal companion, or hour long debates on whether "buttcheeks counted as 'closeable objects' in conjunction with the Fire Trap spell." Now that we are older there are still occasional blue jokes but more often than not sex takes a more serious tone. We have had adventures where the party solved the mystery, and eventually avenged the rape and death of an innocent woman. The party has also infiltrated a temple of perversity  hidden below a brothel in search of a kidnapped bureaucrat only to find him there willingly, charmed not by magic - but by pleasures of the flesh.

Concerning sexual preferences, the simple answer is: we don't care. That's not to say that our group is indifferent to preferences besides heterosexuality, in fact I am saying the complete opposite. I have placed gay NPCs within many games as both mundane and plot-critical characters and have discovered that the party acts like they do in real life, they treat the NPCs like any other person. Or in this case, character. 

So how do you deal with these topics in game?

Until next time, happy gaming!          

Fun Games and Funky Battle Mats!

Well our Saturday game was amazing! While traveling west toward the Shattered Forest the group came across a small village overcome by plague. Being newly sworn to uphold the ways of his deity, Blanklee convinced his party to stop and help the poor souls of Gransad.

Lowering themselves into the town well and navigating a series of tunnels they eventually found the source of the problem - a zombie had become stuck in the stream, contaminating the water! The zombie was stuck by a rudimentary trap set into the side of tunnel. Curious to find the trapmaker or source of the undead, the players pushed on.

The party eventually discovered an underground network of tunnels and caves which served as a troglodyte lair! Further investigation revealed the troglodytes to be housing a filthy pox covered witch. The witch had been providing the trogs with spell casting services in exchange for a safe place to conduct her foul necromantic experiments.

In a bit of a blunder, the PCs managed to attract the attention of the majority of the caverns' inhabitants, fighting off a veritable horde of troglodytes, their leader and the witch in a single massive combat. For a brief time the cleric of the party -Karl- looked like a goner but was saved when Gertrude pulled him out of combat and a lost cohort managed to find his way back to the group and cast a few clutch healing spells.

The game was a prime opportunity for the use of "the rule of awesome" Which I've discussed before and is covered on this post  on Dungeon Fantastic. In this case, when the situation was looking bleak and the PCs were struggling to survive, one of the players offhandedly said "Man, I wish Alvi was here." Alvi being an NPC who they left back at town. Applying the rule of awesome, I gave the players a 50/50 chance for Alvi to have become bored and gone in search of the party. They succeeded and during a pivotal point in the battle Alvi appeared to save the day! The table cheered!

In the long run the PCs managed to slay the witch and her allies, save the town and gain some loot. Fun was had by all!

The only bummer of the night was a new toy we had purchased for the game. Our entire group are huge fans of Chessex products and we use them all the time. When I got to Jim's house to play we all realized that I had forgotten to bring the wet-erase battle mat. Since combat is a pivotal part of our game and we love using miniatures, we decided to run out and buy a new one that we can leave at Jim's house, this way I don't need to lug my mats back and forth between game sessions at his house and my own.

We ran out to our favorite game store (Showcase Comics - we go to the Granite Run locale) and quickly grabbed the mat as well as a copy of Kittens in a Blender. When we returned home I discovered that the mat wasn't a typical 1" square grid, but 1.5"! We weren't worried about the size but what did bother us was that the it almost refused to be written on!

Every line came up splotchy, like the mat was wet. Unfortunately it was dry as a bone! I didn't want to call it quits on the mat and thought it might be the markers, so I took the markers home and tried them on my other mats and they worked fine! I gotta say, I was a little disappointed but I don't like to judge things too early. Maybe it needs a good soap and water wipe or maybe it's just a dud. I made it a point to send an email to the fine folks at Chessex today, asking if there is anything I can do to remedy the situation and I'm eager to get a response.

An Elongated Reply Part:3

Without further ado, lets move on to the final chapter in the series, Part:3!

Wait, I wasn't supposed to fight that?: An innovative PC can and will find any reason to kill anything no matter what. As a GM, alignment is your greatest tool in the ongoing battle of "killing everything in sight; even if it is an important part of the story." Throw them some curve balls now and again. Have a major enemy of the party be good, but motivated by some more sinister villain. Perhaps they come across a creature who is indeed evil, but hasn't actually done anything wrong. Say a local farmer kills a gnoll simply "because it was a gnoll" and that creature's pup comes seeking justice. Do the players slay the creature for doing what is right, just because its race is evil?

Secondly, add consequences to players actions. Monsters have friends just like adventurers do, and in the case of humanoids, the law can always come into play. "You can't put me in jail, he has an evil alignment, the module says so!" won't do much to sway an in-game judge who likes to keep her numbers up.

Metagaming: Every player metagames. Hell, simply knowing about hit points is technically metagaming. A moderate amount of it is okay but lets get something straight: Excessive metagaming is cheating. This includes looking at GM notes, memorizing monster stats for rules jockeying, or using real life knowledge in the fantasy world. Sure, your character knows some things that you may know, but not everything. If you see the GM's plans, you suck it up and keep it to yourself. RPGs are not board games, video games or sports. They do not have scores or winners and if you only "play to win," you are just going to ruin the game for yourself and everyone else. RPGs are about sitting back and enjoying the story that unfolds, not skipping the cut scene to unlock the next achievement. Stop worrying about numbers and start thinking about the game. Who cares if you've fought beholders a dozen times across five different characters? Immerse yourself in it every time! Allow yourself (or your character at least!) to be afraid, pretend like you've never even heard of them before. It's okay! I promise, if you don't tell anyone we play make believe, I won't tell anyone either.

I try to tell players who have a hard time with immersion to try this little trick: Stop saying "I", because you aren't doing anything. "You" aren't picking the lock, Gertrude the thief is. If you want to make your character do more, but have a hard time committing, take yourself out of the equation. Talk to your GM about possibly approaching the game this way...

DM: The hulking orc grapples Reginald, pinning his arms to his sides - the creatures thick stinking drool dripping onto Reggie's visor.

Player: Reginald shakes off the nasty slobber and pushes back with all his might!

That about does it except for one thing, a reminder: RPGs are games of high excitement and drama. Your GMs act as a conduit between you and the fantasy world. They want you to have fun. No GM sits around waiting for the players to arrive thinking "How will I send them home angry tonight?" If you don't agree with something or you get angry just calm down and write a note of it. Discuss it with him/her after the game, maybe even a day or two later. The wonderful thing about role playing games is that they are fantasy and anything can be changed.

Until next time, good gaming and good day!    

An Elongated Reply Part:2

Continuing on from part one, let's jump right into it!

I Can Do Anything I Want!: Besides being a popular rant by young children, this is also a common gripe made by many RPGamers and as I said before, I agree with it. Allow me to take it a bit more in depth here...

A more accurate answer would be: NO! You can not do anything you want, but you are welcome to TRY anything you like! Do you want to swing from the balcony on a curtain? Deceive the Baroness with your charm and wit? How about throw the dead guard dog through the burning doorway and surprise the guards on the other side? Roll the dice and give it a try! RPG worlds are full of possibility but one of those possibilities is failure. 

There is one other dirty secret that sometimes leads GMs to a "no" response and I think many players fail to see it on occasion; the GM wants everyone to have fun and succeed! As a long time Game Master, I absolutely hate seeing players fail or die, but it is my duty to kill them (in fun and exciting ways no doubt!). Without the risk there would be no reward and gamers should be allowed to make foolhardy decisions. However, if that foolhardy decision would hurt the party, hurt the game or lead to unnecessary detriment I would at the very least say "Hey, maybe you'd want to reconsider what your doing before you do it." I've seen too many players make willingly stupid actions simply because they've lost interest in a character or been angry at the game and I will never sacrifice the fun of the group because one PC wants to do something unreasonable.

Thief: I search for traps!

DM: While scanning the hallway you spot a dubious area of floor.

Thief: I carefully attempt to disarm it. (rolls dice)

DM: Well, you did not disarm it, but at least it didn't go off. Do you want to try again?

Fighter: Pfft! This is boring. I try to disarm the trap.

Thief: But you've never disarmed a trap in your life!

DM: You don't even have the skill trained, your character would have no idea what he's doing!

Fighter: I'm an adventurer, I can do what I want and I disarm the trap! (rolls dice)

DM: Your inexperience leads to failure. You set off the trap and the hall fills with geysers of flame. Everyone suffers 6d6 damage. (rolls dice)

Wizard: Dude, I'm dead!

Thief: Why didn't you let me do it?

Fighter: Whatever, I still have more than half health, lets go.

Not too heroic huh?

I hope I clarified that without seeming too draconian. Let's move on to...

Nerfing: Nerfing is when the person (or people) in charge take an existing game rule or mechanic and make it weaker in an attempt to balance the game. It can effect either the players, the environment or both depending on the circumstances. While many are diehard believers in RAW (Rules as Written), we should understand that even after countless revisions, mistakes will be made. For clarity, lets look at two instances of nerfing in my own games.

The first is the altering of a spell. I've discussed this occasion before but we can go into more detail here. Back when we played D&D3.5e I approached the group wizard concerning the spell knock and how I believed it to be excessively powerful. The player was not pleased, insisting that I was just trying to nerf his guy and that I "had it out for him." Which was entirely untrue. In reality the spell is absolute in power and completely unreasonable in the game world. First, lets look at the spell, then we will follow it up with some "what if's?" for example.

Level:	Sor/Wiz 2
Components:	V
Casting Time:	1 standard action
Range:	Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target:	One door, box, or chest with an area of up to 10 sq. ft./level
Duration:	Instantaneous; see text
Saving Throw:	None
Spell Resistance:	No

The knock spell opens stuck, barred, locked, held, or arcane locked doors. It opens secret doors, as well as locked or trick-opening boxes or chests. It also loosens welds, shackles, or chains (provided they serve to hold closures shut). If used to open a arcane locked door, the spell does not remove the arcane lock but simply suspends its functioning for 10 minutes. In all other cases, the door does not relock itself or become stuck again on its own. Knock does not raise barred gates or similar impediments (such as a portcullis), nor does it affect ropes, vines, and the like. The effect is limited by the area. Each spell can undo as many as two means of preventing egress.

While the spell seems fairly straightforward at first glance, lets look closer. According to the RAW, there is very little an enterprising dungeoncrafter or locksmith could do to prevent entry from even the lowliest of casters! Each cast opens up to two locks and even if they are magical, it is a guaranteed success! Lets move on to the "what if?" portion of this issue.

What if you were a common man who inherited a moderate amount of treasure from a wealthy uncle. You used some of the income to buy land, build a home and hire some guards. Your vault, hidden in the basement must be secured, right? In a world where knock exists as described above, what would you do? You could have the vault sealed off and buy an amulet that allows only you to travel there, but that is far too expensive for this meager fortune. You could hire the worlds finest locksmith to create an elaborate and perfect masterwork lock, but even that would be no match for the mighty knock. Sadly, the most common sense thing to do would be to create a hallway leading to your vault and line the hallway not with expensive traps - but with doors! Creating dozens of doors with a plethora of mundane locks would be the most cost efficient and wizard proof way to protect your treasure. Unfortunately, it is also the stupidest sounding means to solve the problem.

The real solution? Nerf the spell! It's made so much sense that the spell has indeed been changed for later editions as well as in other rules systems!    

Work with me here, we're almost done. My next example involves nerfing on the fly.

In this case it was a Christmas game. I ran an extra special game for my normal group but our cleric was unfortunately unable to make it. Not wanting him to miss out on the seasonal fun, I wrote him an independent quest based loosely on "A Christmas Carol." Karl (the cleric) valiantly fought his way through the various scenarios and made his way to the attic of a haunted estate where he confronted the evil spirit that was tormenting the residents...

The enemy was too hard and it was my fault.

I failed to take into account that his character wouldn't get the opportunity to rest and that he would use up nearly all of his resources getting to the final battle. He went in against a fully charged creature already badly injured and bloody, but not wanting to go out of character, Karl fought on! It wouldn't be fair to Kevin (Karl's player) if he was killed off because of my poor judgment so I did something I almost never do - I made the monster weaker. Another regular player was there at the time and realized it, giving me a disapproving glance. I have never regretted my decision to nerf that monster and would take a hundred disapproving glances just to see the look on Kevin's face as he sent it back to the afterlife on his own. 

I think I've wasted enough time for one evening. Look out tomorrow (today?) for the conclusion, Part:3!   

   

An Elongated Reply, Part:1

I don't normally do this, but as I was typing a reply to Infamous' most recent post over at Cobblestone Chaos I realized that it was turning into a wall of text. Rather than waste his entire comment roll, I'd like to open it up and elaborate here. Be sure to head over and check out his post. if you'd like a little more clarity on what I'm writing.

Before I begin, I would also like to make it abundantly clear that even though I don't agree with everything Infamous says, he has every right to say it and I respect him as a gamer. My intentions here at Warbear are to encourage conversation, not initiate flame wars and trolling.

 I wore my helmet just in case...

I consider myself falling somewhere in the middle when it comes to balancing rules with story telling. I would love the freedom to let anything happen but there's no getting around it: the game needs rules. The player characters have various strengths, weaknesses and abilities; and they take great risks to achieve their goals - no matter how mundane or grandiose. The rules provide a framework to let these things happen; hopefully in a fluid and organic way. In most games the rules are there to tell you what you can and cannot do. In RPGs you can do anything, the rules are there to tell you how to do it.

Example: In baseball a player can only hit the ball with an inspected and approved baseball bat - the rules dictate that the player cannot use anything else. In an RPG you can hit anything you want with anything you like! The rules are there to determine how difficult it is for you to do so. That's a big difference!  

Unfortunately, terms like game and rules produces the unfortunate side effect of misrepresenting the genre. I feel that many folks out there interpret RPG as "role playing game" instead of "role playing game" - if you get my meaning. There is more to RPGs than rolling dice and adding damage, it's the thrill of the story, the glory of victory and the agony of defeat. There's a reason why players' light up when a GM says, "You fell the foul beast in a single mighty swing, a fine red mist hangs in the air where it once stood." It offers a visual reward far superior to "You hit it, it's dead now." Regardless of your intentions, every session of an RPG is telling a tale - with the GM and Players as the authors. Many of the players in my group still tell stories of their amazing deeds from ten or twelve years ago. No one remembers the dice rolls - everyone remembers the outcomes...

Adam: Let me get this straight, it's a hospital bed right?
Me (DM): It sure is.
Adam: Does it have a metal frame then?
Me (DM): (knowing it wasn't written in my notes) Of course it does!
Adam: Ok guys, lets break the legs off this thing.
Ed: Alright, we help him take the legs off.
Noah: How much time do we have? Someone check the front doors!
Me (DM): The barrier you built is holding, but not for long. It shakes violently as the orcs bash at the doors. You've managed to get the legs off.
Adam: We push the bed-sled to the top of the staircase, pointed right at the front doors.
Ed: I try to attach the dead orcs swords to the front with sovereign glue!
Noah: I do the same on the sides with all of their shields!
Me (DM): This door isn't holding much longer guys! They'll be in soon!
Adam: I get on the bed, weapons drawn and ready to shove off!
Ed/Noah: Me too!
Noah: We've built our own juggernaut!
Adam: No, its a BEDdernaut!
Me (DM): The barrier crumbles! The orcs rush in the door!
Adam: I shove the beddernaut down the stairs toward the orcs!
Ed: YOU ORCS BEDDERNAUT (better not) F*** WITH US!
Me (DM): [Begins rolling dice]

From a game circa 2000...

On to more specific facets of role play! I agree that many of these can be bothersome but can sometimes be necessary for a successful game.

Railroading: I get this one, I really do. And I agree! The world is a wide open place where the possibilities are endless and the GM should never stop the players from doing whatever they want. For me, this comes down to an issue of expectations and respect. Every GM is different and they all work in different ways. While some are excellent at creating on the fly, some work much better from paper. I am one of the latter. I put a lot of effort into my games and the group I game with knows it. While I certainly am creative enough to go off the cuff should they decide to go elsewhere, they also understand that pursuing the "objective of the session" will lead to more colorful and fleshed out locations as well as treasure and rewards more suited to them specifically and not randomly generated. I respect the players rights to "do whatever they want" but they also respect the time and effort I put into the creation. To take it a step further, lets elaborate with a fictional example.

 Let's say the players just swore an oath to the King; an oath to seek out and slay the evil red dragon who has been terrorizing his lands. In exchange he has promised them vast tracts of land and gifted them with a weapon of great value: The Shimmerblade. While passing through a town on their way to the dragon's lair they hear rumors of a nearby crypt containing the remains of Nelthar the Great, a master wizard and wielder of a great magical staff. The GM has placed this information here in the hopes of leading to a future adventure but the PCs decide to go now. The Game Master is forced to run an off the cuff adventure and shelf whatever he had written for that evening. The player's journey is diverted for a few days while they seek out and conquer the crypt. They retrieve the item, perhaps they even argue that they only did it to "bolster their strength against the dragon."

Unfortunately, the world doesn't stop because they decided to side quest. While they were gone the dragon continued unchallenged. They return to find the town burnt to a cinder and all nearby settlements evacuated. The King has received word that the party had decided to go elsewhere and is furious, not to mention the alignment ramifications of abandoning your oath and disregarding human lives.

What I am getting at is that GMs should never force their players to stick to a script, but if you play in a group that uses pre-written adventures (especially if your GM writes them him/herself!) you should at least be willing to try them. Players and GMs should be working together to make the game fun for everyone, not just one side of the the screen.

Keep in mind this topic applies almost exclusively to experienced GMs. I think it is important for new or inexperienced GMs to start with linear style (railroad) games. It gives them the opportunity to work on descriptive abilities and to learn the rules in a comfortable, predictable setting. You sit a would-be airline pilot in front of a computer screen long before you put them in control of a functional aircraft, ya know?

!NOTE! This post has gone far longer than I anticipated, so I have decided to break it into multiple parts. In Part:2 we will discuss rule limitations and nerfing as well as player knowledge and meta gaming. Stay tuned!   

       

Learning New Things

So I am in the process of teaching myself the ways of Adobe InDesign. My better half insists that it is the best way to to create a game module and so far I am inclined to agree. While I have been tapping away at text boxes and lining up columns, she has been taking my ideas and sketches and turning them into downright awesome illustrations!

I don't want to spoil the final product, so instead enjoy a rough draft I threw together at lunch. He is the main villain of the adventure: Bort Blacklungs.

Until next time, good night and good gaming.

DM Strangelove or: When I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Game.

I won't beat around the bush and I don't say this lightly, but the fact of the matter is: I am a good Game Master. I would probably say 'great,' but I am terrified that it will come back to haunt me one day. For the past few weeks I've been thinking about the topic of GMing and what the major differences are between 'good' GMs and 'bad' ones. I also found myself asking, "Who am I to make that kind of judgement anyway?" I finally figured it out while sorting through our old campaign material. I can make that kind of judgement because for a long time...

[I was a bad Game Master.]

There it is -I said it- and it's true. You see, the hardest thing to admit (for me at least) is that you are no good at something you love. Fortunately for myself, it took only a bit of tweaking and a new point of view to turn it around. Before I go more in depth, here is what I found while digging through our old campaign stuff. It's a notebook that belonged to my good friend Matt, who played as our party ranger circa late 2009. For clarity, we were playing D&D3.5

Censored for young or objectionable viewers

Notice the writing between 9:53 and 10:11. It may seem obscure at the moment, but one thing is clear: He was NOT having fun. Allow me to explain...

This ended up being the last adventure of a doomed campaign. The party had invaded a fortress belonging to the evil Lord Mycoth in an attempt to reach an ancient temple hidden below. Mycoth himself was recently made aware of it's existence when his horde of prisoner/slave laborers accidentally uncovered it. The players were in search of a time-lost gauntlet hidden within the temple. This gauntlet allows it's wearer to use a cursed but incredibly powerful magical key with no ill effects. The key was forged with a single purpose - It opened a magical seal which imprisoned a severed piece of a chaos deity.

The adventure got off to a good start, but quickly slowed as the players began to argue with each other and pursue their own goals instead of the group's. At one point the game almost came to a halt when the players tried to cram all of their characters, as well as summoned creatures, two raised zombie minions and familiars onto one small mechanical lift that descended into a pit of unknown depth. The players with minions were frustrated that they might have to give them up, and the other PCs were impatient after ten minutes of listening to their comrades hair-brained schemes for transportation. Ironically, I intentionally made the elevator small to prevent them from taking along too many unnecessary acquisitions. Later, the PCs would butt heads again as some wanted to explore a series of abandoned rooms and others wanted to skip ahead and confront enemies. These events were the "BS BS BS" alluded to in the note.

 The Behipster is always watching...

The players eventually split up mid-dungeon and those who went in search of danger crashed headlong into it. They got in way over their heads and came barreling back to the area where the rest of the party was investigating, leading a horde of enemies right into the laps of their unprepared allies. They barely survived and the mood was foul for the remainder of the adventure. Frustration and infighting led to more problems as they encountered a helpful NPC and a few still-bitter players attempted to rob him blind while he was under the stunning effect of a Mind Blast. The story critical NPC abandoned the party and the campaign path was destroyed.

A few days after the adventure came to an end, I tried having a side discussion with one of the PCs concerning the unbalanced nature of some of his spells. To date, I still firmly believe that many spells in D&D 3.5 were horribly broken. We got into a heated discussion about the knock spell and whether it was too powerful. Frustrated that he was unwilling to budge on the topic and angered by his accusations that I was just trying to "nerf his guy", I wiped my hands of the whole game and called it quits. The infighting, the slow games, the rule jockeying and the overall negative vibe was enough to end it all for me. I felt like the time and effort I kept putting in was wasted.

This was the best thing that could have ever happened to me as a GM. I went home and licked my wounds for a while. After a few weeks I picked up a pen and started over. I began to create a world, starting with races and history. I made deities, forged items and sundered kingdoms. I forgot the rules and let my creativity take over. It was wonderful!

I eventually went back to the rules once I was satisfied that I had enough content and ideas to start a new game. I read them again and again, fixing anything that I thought was broken. I did research online to find the opinions of other GMs and used a dose of my own common sense to write a series of house rules. I also became a fan of Rule 0 - not to hurt the players, but to speed up game play and make it fun for everyone.

After a rework of the rules I delved deeper into game theory and the "art" of Game Mastering. I read official sites, blogs and forums; adopting the tricks and styles that appealed to me. I learned to better utilize floor plans, to think in non-linear ways, to talk in voices (yes, even lady voices) and to pace adventures so that players of all styles and classes can find something to enjoy. I learned that game momentum is just as important as the story and that I shouldn't get upset if the players skip four pages of my carefully scribed module. I should take it as an opportunity to get creative instead.

Time went on and I eventually approached a few of the old players and asked them if they wanted to try out a new campaign. Now I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure they started rolling new characters before I even finished asking the question! The few games we played went well and we eventually switched to an entirely new rule set, moving from D&D 3.5 to Pathfinder.

Since then things have only improved. Word of the game spread and soon there was enough interest to start a second six-PC party, then a third! Players have expressed interest in trying out other games and different genres. Hell, I started a blog! My problems used to be infighting and slow games, now they are finding the time to play and keeping everything organized. Thankfully, the players I GM for are as dedicated and zealous as myself and help keep everything running smoothly.

I hope to use this post as a jumping point for a series on the art of Game Mastering. You never know, maybe I'll end up helping out another struggling GM and not even know it!

Until next time, good night and good gaming!