We had another session of the 4e game Sunday. I just haven't reported it yet, because my wrists have been wonky lately, so I've been trying to stay off the computer. With less success than I'd like.
Not a particularly exciting session, truth be told. Only three people showed up (though a fourth did arrive about an hour before the official end, after we'd decided to break for the night) so everyone was running more than one character, but they did alright.
Maggie has, again, provide a full recap. And even better -- pictures of the table, and of Sara and Doug, the guard drakes they took from the shady looking gnome. At some point, I'll write about how I'm handling that -- 4e has no official rules for henchmen or pets, so I'm winging it.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Keeping an Eye on the Battlefield: 4e and Healing
I've noticed, running 4e, that PC hit point totals don't really matter. On a round by round basis, yeah -- if they're bloodied, or if they're low enough that a monster can take them down in one hit, that matters. But just paying attention to their hit point totals doesn't let me know how they're doing, what the pace of the fight is, or how close they are to defeat.
Because hit point levels go up and down a lot. Even at 1st level, they have a lot of healing. Whether they've used their second wind matters, how many players have used theirs matters, how much major healing the cleric has left matters. I'm used to keeping rough track of hit point totals, and the enemy hit point totals, to tell where the battle is headed, but running KotS I've had to adjust that strategy.
What I should do is make up a little battle tracker, where I can mark how many healing surges everyone has used throughout the day, who's used their healing surges, and what healing the cleric and the paladin (or the warlord, if they team had one) have used. Probably track dailies, too, because they're as important as surges in determining when the PCs should rest, and at least at this level they're a measure of the PCs abilities to get themselves out of trouble if things really go south.
Because hit point levels go up and down a lot. Even at 1st level, they have a lot of healing. Whether they've used their second wind matters, how many players have used theirs matters, how much major healing the cleric has left matters. I'm used to keeping rough track of hit point totals, and the enemy hit point totals, to tell where the battle is headed, but running KotS I've had to adjust that strategy.
What I should do is make up a little battle tracker, where I can mark how many healing surges everyone has used throughout the day, who's used their healing surges, and what healing the cleric and the paladin (or the warlord, if they team had one) have used. Probably track dailies, too, because they're as important as surges in determining when the PCs should rest, and at least at this level they're a measure of the PCs abilities to get themselves out of trouble if things really go south.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Skill Challenges and a Sudden Interest in History
Had another session of my 4e game last night. Things are starting to come together. Still some arguments, but everyone is at least trying to move things forward. Maggie's done me the favor of compiling a recap, complete with quotes, if you're into that sort of thing.
The best part of the session was testing the skill challenge system, interrogating a shady gnome archaeologist to find out what had happened to their mentor. As written, it's basically just another fight, but I had some information I wanted to get to the players, (mostly pre-hooks, for if they finish this adventure before summer ends) and I wanted to see how the skill challenge system actually worked. I can easily see how it would apply to traps and exploring and such, but as to social encounters, I was a bit skeptical.
For us, it's great. It's not that much different from what we normally do, except there's an initiative order, so people aren't shouting each other down) and everyone has to participate, even the quiet players and the ones who don't normally dig social encounters. A lot of my players are good at and enjoy social encounters, but I have one guy whose comfort zone runs more towards stats and tactics, and he seemed to enjoy himself alright during the challenge. The system provides a safety net -- just do what your character's good at -- if you can't think of what to do, and me and the other players gave him some help figuring out exactly what that meant in game terms.
The ones who were more comfortable with it had no problem with it, and pretty soon people were rolling shaking the gnome down and figuring out why he was here and what the mirror he had was. If they gave me more detail about what they were doing, in game, I'd respond with more detail, or an extra benefit within the challenge.
I had players asking me questions about history. This, I don't think, is entirely on account of the skill challenge format. Having a shiny poster map with little bits of detail to latch had something to do with it, and reminded me to use visual aids more often. But the skill challenge gave them permission and time to ask questions, by explicitly giving the spotlight to each player in turn. And it made it easy for me to give them little rewards for doing so, and to turn the information from "boring DM lecture" to "something I found out by asking the right questions and getting lucky."
Oh, and most of the answers I made up on the spot, which was fun. It was based on some ideas I'd been thinking about for what they might do next, if they get that far, but now I have some specific detail for further adventures -- a dragon named Malebraxis, whose now young adult children have infested the mountains to the north.
I'll be doing this again. Even if it turns into a special event thing rather than my usual way to handle such encounters, it makes a good change of pace, and it's nice to have the structure there to fall back on.
The best part of the session was testing the skill challenge system, interrogating a shady gnome archaeologist to find out what had happened to their mentor. As written, it's basically just another fight, but I had some information I wanted to get to the players, (mostly pre-hooks, for if they finish this adventure before summer ends) and I wanted to see how the skill challenge system actually worked. I can easily see how it would apply to traps and exploring and such, but as to social encounters, I was a bit skeptical.
For us, it's great. It's not that much different from what we normally do, except there's an initiative order, so people aren't shouting each other down) and everyone has to participate, even the quiet players and the ones who don't normally dig social encounters. A lot of my players are good at and enjoy social encounters, but I have one guy whose comfort zone runs more towards stats and tactics, and he seemed to enjoy himself alright during the challenge. The system provides a safety net -- just do what your character's good at -- if you can't think of what to do, and me and the other players gave him some help figuring out exactly what that meant in game terms.
The ones who were more comfortable with it had no problem with it, and pretty soon people were rolling shaking the gnome down and figuring out why he was here and what the mirror he had was. If they gave me more detail about what they were doing, in game, I'd respond with more detail, or an extra benefit within the challenge.
I had players asking me questions about history. This, I don't think, is entirely on account of the skill challenge format. Having a shiny poster map with little bits of detail to latch had something to do with it, and reminded me to use visual aids more often. But the skill challenge gave them permission and time to ask questions, by explicitly giving the spotlight to each player in turn. And it made it easy for me to give them little rewards for doing so, and to turn the information from "boring DM lecture" to "something I found out by asking the right questions and getting lucky."
Oh, and most of the answers I made up on the spot, which was fun. It was based on some ideas I'd been thinking about for what they might do next, if they get that far, but now I have some specific detail for further adventures -- a dragon named Malebraxis, whose now young adult children have infested the mountains to the north.
I'll be doing this again. Even if it turns into a special event thing rather than my usual way to handle such encounters, it makes a good change of pace, and it's nice to have the structure there to fall back on.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
The No Fun Game
Why do some people try to get others to play their game by explaining why the game they're already playing "isn't fun?" That's been the Wizards of the Coast marketing tactic for 4e, towards older editions, and the main effect I've noticed has been a perfectly justifiable increase in grouchiness amongst the people who play all those editions.
WotC (and their overenthusiastic minions) aren't the only ones who do this, though. It seems to be a foundation of the more annoying forms of Forge theory, that D&D isn't fun and all the people who think it is are delusional. And I've had several people try to get me to play Exalted using this strategy.
I don't get it. If those older editions weren't fun, how'd the hobby get started in the first place? (I'm using "fun" broadly here -- maybe better to say "worth playing.") In WotCs case, I think their target audience is people without the history to know any better, just trying to create comparison, but still. Clumsy.
And even leaving aside the stupid insult angle, telling me why my game is bad doesn't give me any reason to play yours. It's sort of understandable that Wizards sees the world as "our new D&D vs. your old D&D," but it always puzzled me that the Exalted players thought that if I wasn't playing D&D, I'd automatically move to their game, like there weren't a hundred other systems out there that I could play.
WotC (and their overenthusiastic minions) aren't the only ones who do this, though. It seems to be a foundation of the more annoying forms of Forge theory, that D&D isn't fun and all the people who think it is are delusional. And I've had several people try to get me to play Exalted using this strategy.
I don't get it. If those older editions weren't fun, how'd the hobby get started in the first place? (I'm using "fun" broadly here -- maybe better to say "worth playing.") In WotCs case, I think their target audience is people without the history to know any better, just trying to create comparison, but still. Clumsy.
And even leaving aside the stupid insult angle, telling me why my game is bad doesn't give me any reason to play yours. It's sort of understandable that Wizards sees the world as "our new D&D vs. your old D&D," but it always puzzled me that the Exalted players thought that if I wasn't playing D&D, I'd automatically move to their game, like there weren't a hundred other systems out there that I could play.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
A Game of One's Own
I'm starting to think about homebrewing my own system. Mostly, I blame Trollsmyth's Moldvay/Basic hack, and Amagi Games. 4e coming out had something to do with it, giving me two related but different games to analyze.
And then there's my own sense that, someday, this is something that I'm going to have to do. Like running OD&D, or owning a sword. (And learning to use it, of course, but I've already started that; I have good luck with friends.) Someday I will write a terrible RPG and inflict it upon my friends. This is a law of my universe.
But lately it's moved off the back burners, and started taking up a bit more mental time. Especially since all this talk of cyberpunk started. If I were to start a serious project, now, it would be cyberpunk -- or rather, a fully cyberpunk-embracing version of that specific setting that was my first campaign. It's been on my mind lately, and while there were serious problems with that game I think there's a pretty decent setting there, cleaned up by my semi-adult self.
What's more likely to happen is that I'll use that setting for this year's NaNoWriMo novel (again) and run some D&D instead. Might be better to do another novel with it anyway, to get the setting into some kind of coherent form. (Not like it needs another incarnation -- this is one of my few really deep obsessions, along with D&D and Batman.) I may write up some notes as the mood strikes, but my school could really use some more D&D.
What I really want to know is, why does this have to hit during WoAdWriMo?
And then there's my own sense that, someday, this is something that I'm going to have to do. Like running OD&D, or owning a sword. (And learning to use it, of course, but I've already started that; I have good luck with friends.) Someday I will write a terrible RPG and inflict it upon my friends. This is a law of my universe.
But lately it's moved off the back burners, and started taking up a bit more mental time. Especially since all this talk of cyberpunk started. If I were to start a serious project, now, it would be cyberpunk -- or rather, a fully cyberpunk-embracing version of that specific setting that was my first campaign. It's been on my mind lately, and while there were serious problems with that game I think there's a pretty decent setting there, cleaned up by my semi-adult self.
What's more likely to happen is that I'll use that setting for this year's NaNoWriMo novel (again) and run some D&D instead. Might be better to do another novel with it anyway, to get the setting into some kind of coherent form. (Not like it needs another incarnation -- this is one of my few really deep obsessions, along with D&D and Batman.) I may write up some notes as the mood strikes, but my school could really use some more D&D.
What I really want to know is, why does this have to hit during WoAdWriMo?
Friday, July 04, 2008
Not Post-Apocalyptic, It Was Actually Cyberpunk
Huh. So, I always thought of my first campaign as post-apocalyptic, in genre. Then noisms comes along with a new and exciting definition --
-- and I realize, no, it was cyberpunk.
Post-apocalypse never really worked, anyway. It had some elements of that, but it also had this whole techno-city-biz thing going on next to that, and the point was the conflict between the post-apocalyptic part and the shiny happy capitalism part. Cyberpunk.
Armed with this knowledge, I might go back and run another cyberpunk game some day. Using a setting built off of what I used for that original campaign, but making significantly more sense now that I have a better idea of what it's about. (That'll help with the novels I keep trying to write about it, too. A lot.)
One thing I know I'd change would be to add a lot more genetech to it. Gene manipulation, out of control retro-viruses, some kind of GM ecological disaster. In the real world, as a general rule, I think GM crops and gene therapy and so on are a good thing. But I like the themes their mis-use suggests, especially for a game. Lets me give people mutant powers and fun things like that. Out of control technology, generally, is something I'd like to play with; robots run amok and people buying military hardware off the street.
Unfortunately, I've got a lot of other games I'd like to run, so this may sit on the back-burner for a while. And I don't know what system I'd use -- I love d20 Modern, and I have both it and Future, but the equipment lists aren't that great, and I don't know that it handles genetech abilities that well. GURPS would be better in both those areas, but I'd actually have to send in my core books to get replaced (bad first 4th edition printing) and I'd want to get a couple other books. And while I like GURPS, I've never had that much success actually playing it.
But cyberpunk was always about more than that, at root - its heart has always been in what Bruce Sterling called "the victims of the New"; the people who the Brave New World of the Future has left confused, damaged and trodden underfoot. From our perspective in the new millenium, what are the kind of things that will make people into outsiders, rebels, dropouts and scumbags, and what will those people - the ones with the pizazz to do anything, that is - be directing their rage against?
-- and I realize, no, it was cyberpunk.
Post-apocalypse never really worked, anyway. It had some elements of that, but it also had this whole techno-city-biz thing going on next to that, and the point was the conflict between the post-apocalyptic part and the shiny happy capitalism part. Cyberpunk.
Armed with this knowledge, I might go back and run another cyberpunk game some day. Using a setting built off of what I used for that original campaign, but making significantly more sense now that I have a better idea of what it's about. (That'll help with the novels I keep trying to write about it, too. A lot.)
One thing I know I'd change would be to add a lot more genetech to it. Gene manipulation, out of control retro-viruses, some kind of GM ecological disaster. In the real world, as a general rule, I think GM crops and gene therapy and so on are a good thing. But I like the themes their mis-use suggests, especially for a game. Lets me give people mutant powers and fun things like that. Out of control technology, generally, is something I'd like to play with; robots run amok and people buying military hardware off the street.
Unfortunately, I've got a lot of other games I'd like to run, so this may sit on the back-burner for a while. And I don't know what system I'd use -- I love d20 Modern, and I have both it and Future, but the equipment lists aren't that great, and I don't know that it handles genetech abilities that well. GURPS would be better in both those areas, but I'd actually have to send in my core books to get replaced (bad first 4th edition printing) and I'd want to get a couple other books. And while I like GURPS, I've never had that much success actually playing it.
Powerless 4e
The other day, szilard (of Neitherworld Stories) noted that there are lots of character features that aren't powers in 4e. Which got me thinking: is there a game there?
Take out powers and you'd probably have to redesign classes, to give them a tad more distinction, and I'd want to check to see how many to-hit bonuses attack powers have, to make sure the math still works out right.
But with a few adjustments, it'd work. Combat would have to revolve around stunts, but most martial power effects could be reasonably simulated. Magic might be trickier, but I'd probably use this to run something science-fiction-y anyway.
I don't know that there'd be any point, but it's probably possible. It'd definitely depend a lot more on having the right group than straight 4e.
Take out powers and you'd probably have to redesign classes, to give them a tad more distinction, and I'd want to check to see how many to-hit bonuses attack powers have, to make sure the math still works out right.
But with a few adjustments, it'd work. Combat would have to revolve around stunts, but most martial power effects could be reasonably simulated. Magic might be trickier, but I'd probably use this to run something science-fiction-y anyway.
I don't know that there'd be any point, but it's probably possible. It'd definitely depend a lot more on having the right group than straight 4e.
Challenge: Media Influences
I'm a little late to the party, but here's the deal: James Edward, from Lamentations of the Flame Princess, has challenged the members of the role-playing blogosphere to list at least five media influences on their campaigns, and explain them. Check the links back to the challenge itself to see the power and majesty of the thing. Mine include:
Dune
Not the first book I fell in love with, but one of the earliest, and the deepest. It was one of the first science fiction books I read after discovering the genre through a book report on Asimov and--wow. It's the book I re-read every couple of years, often during NaNoWriMo. It's probably responsible for the amount and intricacy of the politics that tends to work its way into my campaigns, as have its particular vision of transhumanism (both the Bene Gesserit and Tleilaxu varieties) and image of an unconquerable wasteland.
A Wizard of Earthsea
One of the few fantasy novels I've read; my tastes and habits have always run towards the science side of speculative fiction, though that's beginning to change. It's got a cultural depth that I've never quite been able to imitate, beyond working some non-medieval details into my worlds. It's also probably the reason that every time I really think about how magic works in my world, it ends up related to words in some way, though for me it's usually writing rather than speech.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Flawed heroes! Magic rings! Epic quests! The other fantasy novels I've read, besides Earthsea and Lord of the Rings. Magic tied to the land, wise and seafaring giants, the whole "white gold wielder" thing, prophecy--these things speak to me.
Animorphs
The whole teenagers with superpowers thing was a big deal to me, at the time, and probably still is. Especially teenagers whole honestly like having their superpowers; the Animorphs never complained about having their powers, they complained that they had to deal with evil aliens, and couldn't get any help because they might be anywhere. Being a long-running, ensemble based series, it's a good model for team dynamics, the right mix of tension and co-operation, and how to give each character the right amount of spotlight time. It's also very talky, which is more noticeable in my writing than my DMing, but my ideal games do have a fair bit of chatter, both between PCs and with NPCs.
The Elder Scrolls
By which I mean Morrowind and Oblivion, not having played any of the earlier games. Morrowind, particularly, defines my ideal fantasy tone, a blend of mostly normal medieval/roman and bizarre bug creatures wandering around in the desert. I've tried, with varying degrees of success, to create fantastic ecologies for me games, and especially to use weird domesticated beasts, mostly because there aren't any normal animals in Morrowind, and how cool this is in the game.
Oblivion's influence is the most obvious of any of the items on this list, because I lifted the core of the plot to provide a backbone for the Is This Fair campaign. It worked out very differently, and I had changed enough things originally to make it distinct from the video game, but having a guideline was handy. I did, unfortunately, end up having the plot revolve around an NPC -- which is how it works in the game, but I should have known better. Especially since thinking about Oblivion and its major NPCs helped me work out some basic principles on how to make them important without upstaging the players.
On a less embarrassing note, it's also had an influence on the kinds of game I want to run. A great deal of my interest in sandboxes, with ancient ruins and collectible locations, is due to enjoying exploring Cyrodiil. And I'd like to use a something similar to the Imperial Cult in a future setting.
The Lord of the Rings
Well, duh, right? For the most part, though, I'm not into any specific setting details -- none of the non-human races are crazy enough for my tastes -- except maybe the long-lived line of kings descended from ancient glory days bit. I like the setting in the book, but I don't have a whole lot of interest in emulating it in my games. What I do like is the comradery and courage of the fellowship and the people around them. It doesn't work in every game I run, but I like to encourage it, when appropriate.
Special Bonus Non-Influence: Anime
There's nothing particularly wrong with it, and I've probably incorporated a specific idea from a specific show I've seen a couple episodes of here and there. But a lot of my friends are really into it -- which is why I've seen most of what I've seen -- and I've just never particularly cared. Except for when I was seriously into DragonballZ, but I claim extenuating circumstances.
There are probably some other influences and non-influences I missed, but that's a pretty decent list of the things I'm aware of. Except for "history," I guess, which seemed a little vague to give it's own spot, but I really do love settings and stories based on ancient culture and myth.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Jar Jar, You're A Genius
Do you read Darths & Droids? Imagine DM of the Rings, Star Wars style, except that the game master in question isn't nearly as much of a jerk.
It's also responsible for the phrase, "Jar Jar, you're a genius," existing on the internet. It's hit #40 on Google trends on its own, through the efforts of spam bots, but --
Having a love of Star Wars, webcomics, this comic in particular, internet shenanigans, and hijinks in general, I agree.
(Internet shenanigans brought to you by Qwerty.)
EDIT: If you're here for the first time, welcome. Though it's not quite as crazy as the game in Darths & Droids, you might be interested in the space adventure game I'm currently running. I've also got a quick and dirty guide on how to start roleplaying, a few notes on putting together a megadungeon, something like a review of Fight On! and a few crazy ideas for Vampire chronicles. And I encourage you to check out the links on my sidebar: there's a whole lot of gaming goodness in the blogs mentioned under "More Words to Read."
It's also responsible for the phrase, "Jar Jar, you're a genius," existing on the internet. It's hit #40 on Google trends on its own, through the efforts of spam bots, but --
I think we owe it to the world to sustain and propagate this insanity. So if you haven't done it yet, go to Google and search for "Jar Jar, you're a genius" (with the quotes). Mention the phenomenon in your blog and encourage other people to Google for the term. Make posters proclaiming Jar Jar's genius and stick them up all over town. (If anyone actually does this, send us photos and we'll show them off!)
Having a love of Star Wars, webcomics, this comic in particular, internet shenanigans, and hijinks in general, I agree.
(Internet shenanigans brought to you by Qwerty.)
EDIT: If you're here for the first time, welcome. Though it's not quite as crazy as the game in Darths & Droids, you might be interested in the space adventure game I'm currently running. I've also got a quick and dirty guide on how to start roleplaying, a few notes on putting together a megadungeon, something like a review of Fight On! and a few crazy ideas for Vampire chronicles. And I encourage you to check out the links on my sidebar: there's a whole lot of gaming goodness in the blogs mentioned under "More Words to Read."
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
OzCthulu
Noisms, of Monsters and Manuals, is writing an Australian/Cthulu mythos Labyrinth Lord supplement. And:
So go check it out.
In less exciting news, my laptop's graphics card just fried for the fourth time in three months. This is both inconvenient and extremely frustrating. If I'm a little flakier than usual for the next couple weeks, it might be that I couldn't borrow someone else's computer. It's more likely, though, that I've just gotten sick of the blasted things, and am working on my megadungeon, safely removed from the digital world.
Even better than that, if we're talking pipe-dreams, I'd love to have some budding artists, layout people and computer-nerds to give the thing the veneer of professionalism, and turn it into something that people are really going to want to read and play. In other words: collaborators. What do you say, talented people of the role playing blogosphere?
So go check it out.
In less exciting news, my laptop's graphics card just fried for the fourth time in three months. This is both inconvenient and extremely frustrating. If I'm a little flakier than usual for the next couple weeks, it might be that I couldn't borrow someone else's computer. It's more likely, though, that I've just gotten sick of the blasted things, and am working on my megadungeon, safely removed from the digital world.
Monday, June 30, 2008
The Ashen Rift
An idea has come to me, for a WoAdWriMo adventure: a rift in the earth, surrounded by ashen wasteland. Within it thrive all manner of strange beasts and factions, and at its heart lies a malevolent, fiery presence.
I'll probably refine the concept a bit as I work on it, but I'm going to keep the canyon part and probably the wasteland part. I like deserts, as fantastical locations, mostly because I read Dune at a young age, and I've never really done as much with them as I'd like.
Ideally, this'd be the kind of thing that could be dropped into a campaign on short notice. I'll try to put together some suggestions on having it as a longstanding feature of an area the players are just now exploring, and some on having it open up in a place they think they know pretty well.
I'll probably refine the concept a bit as I work on it, but I'm going to keep the canyon part and probably the wasteland part. I like deserts, as fantastical locations, mostly because I read Dune at a young age, and I've never really done as much with them as I'd like.
Ideally, this'd be the kind of thing that could be dropped into a campaign on short notice. I'll try to put together some suggestions on having it as a longstanding feature of an area the players are just now exploring, and some on having it open up in a place they think they know pretty well.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
There Will Be Dragons
I haven't run that many dragons in my DMing career. One or two, here or there, usually as NPCs, not actually intended for fighting. Which is no way to run dragons. The occasional wise sage/enemy to be bargained with is fun, for a change of pace, but dragons are for slaying. That's actually one of the few things that bugs me about Eberron, that the "great dirty lizard on a pile of gold" trope isn't really workable.
Part of it is that I really haven't run that much D&D. I've run plenty of d20, but my two long-running games used d20 Modern (which I want to get back to, someday) and Arcana Evolved. I've only ever ran one even mildly successful 3rd Edition D&D game.
But still, no excuse. So this current game I'm running, once they finish up Keep on the Shadowfell (or if they decide it's not worth their time; it would still be interesting if the cult succeeded at what they're trying to do) there will be dragons. Possibly several dragons.
Great horrible dragons, sleeping on piles of gold.
Part of it is that I really haven't run that much D&D. I've run plenty of d20, but my two long-running games used d20 Modern (which I want to get back to, someday) and Arcana Evolved. I've only ever ran one even mildly successful 3rd Edition D&D game.
But still, no excuse. So this current game I'm running, once they finish up Keep on the Shadowfell (or if they decide it's not worth their time; it would still be interesting if the cult succeeded at what they're trying to do) there will be dragons. Possibly several dragons.
Great horrible dragons, sleeping on piles of gold.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
WoAdWriMo Rising
It's rare that you're simply presented with a knob whose only two positions are "Make History" and "Flee Your Glorious Destiny."
Rare, yes, but it happens: WoAdWriMo is nearly upon us. The blog's even back up.
I'm currently in major freak-out mode because I haven't started yet. Not even planning. I've been focused on other things, and I'd almost forgotten about it.
I'll probably go with the hex crawl idea, or something very close to that, just because it's fairly simple and easy to get started with. It might turn into something a little more complicated, but it's a decent start.
Rare, yes, but it happens: WoAdWriMo is nearly upon us. The blog's even back up.
I'm currently in major freak-out mode because I haven't started yet. Not even planning. I've been focused on other things, and I'd almost forgotten about it.
I'll probably go with the hex crawl idea, or something very close to that, just because it's fairly simple and easy to get started with. It might turn into something a little more complicated, but it's a decent start.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Minotaurs and Other Creatures
A thread on theRPGsite a while back got me thinking about minotaurs. I noticed on my first read through of the 4e Monster Manual that they had a lot more depth than I'd been expecting, what with a new and improved civilized version. But then my thought was that this gave me the old savage brutal minotaurs with a bonus set of demon cultists.
The mention of non-evil minotaur societies just registered as an interesting dungeon side trek, along the lines of Myconids or Desmodu. But now, after remembering that they (or a retouched version of them) are a major race in World of Warcraft, and that there's some minotaur city thing going on in Thunderspire Labyrinth, I wouldn't be surprised to see a full race write up for them in the second or third Player's Handbook.
I wouldn't be surprised, actually, if most of the races in the back of the Monster Manual got full write ups in future Player's Handbooks, or in campaign books. The Eberron sorginal ones are guaranteed, but goblins and orcs are also important in that setting so I could see something there. Githyanki and Githzerai will show up with psionics, and I'd bet Shadar-kai will get full write-ups when the shadow power source gets more detailed.
The mention of non-evil minotaur societies just registered as an interesting dungeon side trek, along the lines of Myconids or Desmodu. But now, after remembering that they (or a retouched version of them) are a major race in World of Warcraft, and that there's some minotaur city thing going on in Thunderspire Labyrinth, I wouldn't be surprised to see a full race write up for them in the second or third Player's Handbook.
I wouldn't be surprised, actually, if most of the races in the back of the Monster Manual got full write ups in future Player's Handbooks, or in campaign books. The Eberron sorginal ones are guaranteed, but goblins and orcs are also important in that setting so I could see something there. Githyanki and Githzerai will show up with psionics, and I'd bet Shadar-kai will get full write-ups when the shadow power source gets more detailed.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Why Is Irontooth So Deadly?
The crazy-hard deadliness of the Irontooth enouncter has to be intentional. It's 1evel 6, for a group of 1evel 1 PCs, which by the book is just on the edge of survivability, if they spend all their dailies and action points. And one of the monsters is a level 3 elite, which, again, pushes him into the edge of survivability range.
And it's an encounter that the adventure kind of funnels the group into: It's the only way for the players to figure out that there are bad cult happenings at the Keep unless they have the "heroes on a quest" kind of hook. Presumably, if they're heroic types, they'll be willing to make a quick (and paid) detour to help the good citizens of Winterhaven out. And even if they're not initially interested in the kobolds, the kobolds attack them, repeatedly, and are incredibly annoying. My group decided to wipe them out on principal.
My theory on this is that it's the same reason there's a dragon, a solo monster several levels above the party, at the end of Kobold Hall, particularly the demo version. The word on the street (by which I mean the internet) was that it's impossible to kill low level characters in 4e. By putting a very hard encounter at a key point in the flagship adventure, that everyone who's interested in 4e will hear about if not play, the designers send a very clear signal that this is not true.
And it's an encounter that the adventure kind of funnels the group into: It's the only way for the players to figure out that there are bad cult happenings at the Keep unless they have the "heroes on a quest" kind of hook. Presumably, if they're heroic types, they'll be willing to make a quick (and paid) detour to help the good citizens of Winterhaven out. And even if they're not initially interested in the kobolds, the kobolds attack them, repeatedly, and are incredibly annoying. My group decided to wipe them out on principal.
My theory on this is that it's the same reason there's a dragon, a solo monster several levels above the party, at the end of Kobold Hall, particularly the demo version. The word on the street (by which I mean the internet) was that it's impossible to kill low level characters in 4e. By putting a very hard encounter at a key point in the flagship adventure, that everyone who's interested in 4e will hear about if not play, the designers send a very clear signal that this is not true.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Additional 4e Game Notes
Maggie and Qwerty, playing Thyme and Scourge respectively, have both written their own recaps of last night's game. Maggie has been writing regularly about the game, if you're interested in more detailed recaps and quotes.
Which I appreciate, a lot, because while I like having a general record of what happened in the game I wrote ridiculously detailed accounts of the game myself for the last campaign I ran, and I'm just not interested in doing it right now. They're more interesting when players do them, anyway. And it gives me a very good idea of what my players actually think is interesting.
I also neglected to mention that, on Sunday, I had everyone tell me where their character was from, originally, before they got to Fallcrest, where their mentor is from and where they met up before heading to Winterhaven. A good way to get people into the game, and I'll probably make it a habit. I'd sent out an e-mail with the question ahead of time, so the people inclined to give that sort of thing thought could take their time. The most table time it took was spent on looking at the campaign map and figuring out where "the nearest mountains are" and things like that.
I'm using the basic campaign map that comes in the back of the Dungeon Master's Guide. I'm really quite enamored of it, and it's been very eye-opening. I always had an idea, in theory, of how to make a region map, but . . . examples, man. This is a pretty decent example. It says to me "draw some terrain on a map, and give it a name. Then draw some dots on the map, and give them names." Simple, easy, I should have thought of it before but much clearer now that I have it front of me.
Which I appreciate, a lot, because while I like having a general record of what happened in the game I wrote ridiculously detailed accounts of the game myself for the last campaign I ran, and I'm just not interested in doing it right now. They're more interesting when players do them, anyway. And it gives me a very good idea of what my players actually think is interesting.
I also neglected to mention that, on Sunday, I had everyone tell me where their character was from, originally, before they got to Fallcrest, where their mentor is from and where they met up before heading to Winterhaven. A good way to get people into the game, and I'll probably make it a habit. I'd sent out an e-mail with the question ahead of time, so the people inclined to give that sort of thing thought could take their time. The most table time it took was spent on looking at the campaign map and figuring out where "the nearest mountains are" and things like that.
I'm using the basic campaign map that comes in the back of the Dungeon Master's Guide. I'm really quite enamored of it, and it's been very eye-opening. I always had an idea, in theory, of how to make a region map, but . . . examples, man. This is a pretty decent example. It says to me "draw some terrain on a map, and give it a name. Then draw some dots on the map, and give them names." Simple, easy, I should have thought of it before but much clearer now that I have it front of me.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Fall of Irontooth
Tonight was a good night. The party finished the fight with Irontooth. They won by a hair--Scourge, the warlock, gambled his last action point on an extra attack rather than getting the heck away, and eldritch blasted the goblin down to exactly 0 hit points before the four unconscious members of the party started failing their third death saves.
And then the whole party cheered.
First time that's ever happened in a game I ran. But their lives were on the line, in a way that isn't usual in my games. They were smart--they have the tank wall plus snipers strategy pretty much down now, are learning their powers and how to use them to help each other, and and made some really rather inspired use of readied and delayed actions. And they were lucky--Stonefist, the dwarven fighter, rolled three 20s on his death saves, allowing him to keep Irontooth at bay just long enough to deal sufficient damage.
"We should have all encounters be like that," his player said.
Their one casualty was Liam, the elven ranger, who has now been replaced with a doppelganger wizard who has convinced the party that he actually is Liam, that he was only pretending to be dead. And a ranger. I have to wonder just how intentional that was; Liam died because he charged Irontooth, without backup, and was a striker, and the player had a back-up character on hand and ready to go.
It's actually good, because now that player has a weirdness schtick that doesn't annoy the rest of the party like going off into the woods and shooting at things did. And the party is now at the platonic six-person configuration of one of each role, plus an extra defender and an extra striker.
The best part of it all is: no fudging. I was tempted. Oh, how I was tempted. Not to fudge the rolls, because I'm doing them in the open, partially to remove that option. (I have been known to misinterpret the dice, taking advantage of player inattention, but not this game.) But I seriously considered knocking a few hitpoints off the dragonshields, or to "forget" Irontooth's regeneration.
But I didn't. No fudging. They could have run, but they decided they could take it, or were willing to risk it. All on their own terms.
The defeated Irontooth. And they earned it.
And then the whole party cheered.
First time that's ever happened in a game I ran. But their lives were on the line, in a way that isn't usual in my games. They were smart--they have the tank wall plus snipers strategy pretty much down now, are learning their powers and how to use them to help each other, and and made some really rather inspired use of readied and delayed actions. And they were lucky--Stonefist, the dwarven fighter, rolled three 20s on his death saves, allowing him to keep Irontooth at bay just long enough to deal sufficient damage.
"We should have all encounters be like that," his player said.
Their one casualty was Liam, the elven ranger, who has now been replaced with a doppelganger wizard who has convinced the party that he actually is Liam, that he was only pretending to be dead. And a ranger. I have to wonder just how intentional that was; Liam died because he charged Irontooth, without backup, and was a striker, and the player had a back-up character on hand and ready to go.
It's actually good, because now that player has a weirdness schtick that doesn't annoy the rest of the party like going off into the woods and shooting at things did. And the party is now at the platonic six-person configuration of one of each role, plus an extra defender and an extra striker.
The best part of it all is: no fudging. I was tempted. Oh, how I was tempted. Not to fudge the rolls, because I'm doing them in the open, partially to remove that option. (I have been known to misinterpret the dice, taking advantage of player inattention, but not this game.) But I seriously considered knocking a few hitpoints off the dragonshields, or to "forget" Irontooth's regeneration.
But I didn't. No fudging. They could have run, but they decided they could take it, or were willing to risk it. All on their own terms.
The defeated Irontooth. And they earned it.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Teamwork and Storming
Another Sunday means another session of the 4e game. (Which needs a name; I had planned to name it after their adventuring guild name, but the players have not provided. Alternate plans are being explored.) This time, they almost managed to get through two encounters -- outside and inside the kobold lair. (The second being the infamous Irontooth encounter.)
They are also starting to learn 4e teamwork. After rushing into the first combat (Liam started shooting at things) they took their time, scouted the cave, and devised a cunning plan. They still might all die, because the encounter is just as tough as I've heard, but they've brought down all but the two dragonshields and Irontooth, and they're still in pretty good shape. They're through a lot of their healing, but not all of it, and most of them still have dailies.
Most encouraging is that Thyme, the least tactical of the bunch, is starting to get a handle on the system. She's making pretty good use of her powers, and while I think we've been misinterpreting certain rogue powers as ranged and she'd be more effective in melee, the learning curve is not as frustrating as I'd feared. She's also switched her half-elf encounter power from eyebite to scorching burst, which has been fun and useful, giving the team a little battlefield control they were missing after the wizard died.
It's also got me thinking that the wizard may now actually be the least complicated class to run. Everyone has the same power scheme, and if the wizard has a good team backing her up she has a lot less to juggle than the rest of the group. Which is weird, historically, but I may start recommending that the new players play wizards and ask the veterans to play defenders. Crazy edition.
It wasn't all dice and dragons, though. We seem to have hit the "storming" stage, and it's a little worse than I'm used to. They got into a huge, almost-shouting argument over whether to go to the dragon graveyard or the kobold lair first, and later into another about which entrance to use to attack the lair. Probably the worst argument I've ever witnessed at a table, but it's a new group, so things should settle down. Next time, I'll do a secret ballot, use a little of my DM power for good before things get too contentious. And maybe talk to a couple of people outside of the game; I'm still hopeful the group can resolve itself, with a little helpful guidance, but I've done that kind of thing before, and sometimes it's necessary.
They are also starting to learn 4e teamwork. After rushing into the first combat (Liam started shooting at things) they took their time, scouted the cave, and devised a cunning plan. They still might all die, because the encounter is just as tough as I've heard, but they've brought down all but the two dragonshields and Irontooth, and they're still in pretty good shape. They're through a lot of their healing, but not all of it, and most of them still have dailies.
Most encouraging is that Thyme, the least tactical of the bunch, is starting to get a handle on the system. She's making pretty good use of her powers, and while I think we've been misinterpreting certain rogue powers as ranged and she'd be more effective in melee, the learning curve is not as frustrating as I'd feared. She's also switched her half-elf encounter power from eyebite to scorching burst, which has been fun and useful, giving the team a little battlefield control they were missing after the wizard died.
It's also got me thinking that the wizard may now actually be the least complicated class to run. Everyone has the same power scheme, and if the wizard has a good team backing her up she has a lot less to juggle than the rest of the group. Which is weird, historically, but I may start recommending that the new players play wizards and ask the veterans to play defenders. Crazy edition.
It wasn't all dice and dragons, though. We seem to have hit the "storming" stage, and it's a little worse than I'm used to. They got into a huge, almost-shouting argument over whether to go to the dragon graveyard or the kobold lair first, and later into another about which entrance to use to attack the lair. Probably the worst argument I've ever witnessed at a table, but it's a new group, so things should settle down. Next time, I'll do a secret ballot, use a little of my DM power for good before things get too contentious. And maybe talk to a couple of people outside of the game; I'm still hopeful the group can resolve itself, with a little helpful guidance, but I've done that kind of thing before, and sometimes it's necessary.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
What Will I Write for WoAdWriMo?
I'm kind of committed, but I'm still not sure exactly what I want to do. I'll figure it out, likely at the last minute, but right now, not sure.
I'll probably use 4e D&D. I'm not completely, absolutely positive about that -- it's not like 4e isn't going to get plenty of support besides me -- but it would be the most efficient use of my mental energy. I'm running a 4e game, and I'm sort of obsessed with it, and there are a lot of things in it I want to play with.
Actual subject matter is a lot more nebulous. I might do something like Asteroid 1618, or an encounter-filled hex map. Interesting places to explore, rather than a sequence of events, and trust the DM and the players to make some fun of their own. It'd be a lot easier than trying to plan out any kind of plot, without players to provide all that agency stuff for me.
I've changed my mind about topics a lot already, though, so I don't know how long this will hold. I might just end up doing Fall Off the Shadowkeep, or some kind of fantasy survival horror scenario.
I'll probably use 4e D&D. I'm not completely, absolutely positive about that -- it's not like 4e isn't going to get plenty of support besides me -- but it would be the most efficient use of my mental energy. I'm running a 4e game, and I'm sort of obsessed with it, and there are a lot of things in it I want to play with.
Actual subject matter is a lot more nebulous. I might do something like Asteroid 1618, or an encounter-filled hex map. Interesting places to explore, rather than a sequence of events, and trust the DM and the players to make some fun of their own. It'd be a lot easier than trying to plan out any kind of plot, without players to provide all that agency stuff for me.
I've changed my mind about topics a lot already, though, so I don't know how long this will hold. I might just end up doing Fall Off the Shadowkeep, or some kind of fantasy survival horror scenario.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
D&D Fight Club!
I got a sort of strange idea today, while I was out walking the dog. What if I used a combat oriented RPG (4e is what I would use, but that's just because it's my current obsession) to run a player vs. player combat league?
I'd probably set this up with multiple players on one team. I could see having each team be run by one player, operating several characters, but at least with 4e I could see that getting unweildy at higher levels. Making it one-player-per-team would also increase the "build the statistically perfect fighting machine" aspect of it, the kind of thing that dominates competetive play of games like Magic. Which is fine, but I like the idea of having a teamwork element to it.
Because that's really the whole point. The concept, in my mind, is "like sports, but with D&D," which strikes me as stupid but quite funny. I could never make this a regular game, but as a way to kill a couple of hours a week, supplemental to a regular game, it could be fun. Especially if I could get enough people together to have a bunch of teams, with rankings and feuds and maybe even playoffs.
I'd have to figure out a way to do leveling. The standard D&D "winning makes you more powerful" deal would require me to work up a system that kept one team from totally dominating everyone just by dint of superior level. Probably what I'd do would be to just have everyone level every week or so, and set up a 20 or 30 week "season," after which the whole thing would start over with new characters, and maybe some changes to player lineups, if desired.
The other logistical issue that occurs to me right now (there will be more, if I actually try to get this thing going) would be refereeing. We'd need some way to adjudicate and interpret rules, to fix issues on the fly and keep little disagreements from derailing the whole thing. But without monsters to run, I could see that job being crazy boring; I can't see anyone wanting to do just that, all the time. I certainly wouldn't.
The easiest thing would be to rotate the job through players who's teams aren't in the current match up, but that still has a certain element of conflict of interest involved. Probably not a big deal, as long as things stay casual. And the job could be made more interesting by giving that person the job of designing a map and tactical features. It might even work to throw in traps, or even a few monsters, as an additional hazard.
I could actually see doing something like this next year. I've got some people talking to me about putting together a roleplaying club, which, if we could get it going, would make it a lot easier to get enough people to put this together. And having a light but roleplaying related activity like this would give people a reason to actually show up to the meetings.
I'd probably set this up with multiple players on one team. I could see having each team be run by one player, operating several characters, but at least with 4e I could see that getting unweildy at higher levels. Making it one-player-per-team would also increase the "build the statistically perfect fighting machine" aspect of it, the kind of thing that dominates competetive play of games like Magic. Which is fine, but I like the idea of having a teamwork element to it.
Because that's really the whole point. The concept, in my mind, is "like sports, but with D&D," which strikes me as stupid but quite funny. I could never make this a regular game, but as a way to kill a couple of hours a week, supplemental to a regular game, it could be fun. Especially if I could get enough people together to have a bunch of teams, with rankings and feuds and maybe even playoffs.
I'd have to figure out a way to do leveling. The standard D&D "winning makes you more powerful" deal would require me to work up a system that kept one team from totally dominating everyone just by dint of superior level. Probably what I'd do would be to just have everyone level every week or so, and set up a 20 or 30 week "season," after which the whole thing would start over with new characters, and maybe some changes to player lineups, if desired.
The other logistical issue that occurs to me right now (there will be more, if I actually try to get this thing going) would be refereeing. We'd need some way to adjudicate and interpret rules, to fix issues on the fly and keep little disagreements from derailing the whole thing. But without monsters to run, I could see that job being crazy boring; I can't see anyone wanting to do just that, all the time. I certainly wouldn't.
The easiest thing would be to rotate the job through players who's teams aren't in the current match up, but that still has a certain element of conflict of interest involved. Probably not a big deal, as long as things stay casual. And the job could be made more interesting by giving that person the job of designing a map and tactical features. It might even work to throw in traps, or even a few monsters, as an additional hazard.
I could actually see doing something like this next year. I've got some people talking to me about putting together a roleplaying club, which, if we could get it going, would make it a lot easier to get enough people to put this together. And having a light but roleplaying related activity like this would give people a reason to actually show up to the meetings.
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