Monthly Archives: July 2018

RPGs

Creatures Inspired By Song Lyrics

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Over lunch today, when I ran out for a quick errans, the Genesis’ song, Invisible Touch came on the radio. This part stood out,  She reaches in, grabs right hold of your heart…. takes control and slowly tears you apart.

My Idea

Take a metaphorical song literally then give it an RPG spin. I googled the lyrics and this whole thing can be a horror show if read literally.

I’ve got ideas for a couple of genres rattling around in my mind just from this song.

One can easily take other love songs literally and see what ideas it sparks. It isn’t just love songs, but any song or poetry or metaphorical writing. Some can be weird, odd, creepy, and disturbing if taken literally. Which is perfect for RPGs!

Fantasy Monster

The first thing that came to mind was a variant on a succubus. In AD&D [Affiliate Link]a succubus has a charm ability, so that you can’t resist. What is worse than gladly going to the thing that will rip out your heart and dismember you?

Better yet, a new creature. Something with a charm ability, illusion, or mind power. A completely hideous creature that ensnares its victims to lure them in for the kill. A single creature would need to be very tough to deal with a party. So if not super tough, it would need cunning to avoid going against a large number.

I can see three options for this:
  1. Something tougher than a single person.
  2. Something about as tough as or tougher than the party.
  3. A group, family, or pack of the creature.

In all cases this could be a creature of animal intelligence with some sort of special ability and the cunning to avoid large groups. What would be scarier than a party member being charmed and cheerfully walking off into the forest when they’re on watch? The next day all that is found is what’s left.

It could be a cursed spell caster that has to eat the heart of someone on a regular basis and their use their magic to lure them in close, or some variant on lycanthrope.

A large intimidating creature that gives the party pause when faced with fighting it. A group that makes the odds of a straight up fight unappealing to the party.

I’m also reminded of how mindflayers use their mental powers so they can eat your brain. Another creature could do the same and eat all your innards.

Science Fiction Creature/Alien

I thought of the the salt vampire from The Man Trap, the first episode broadcast of Star Trek.  Either through a doppleganger effect or a mind trick, they get close enough to get you alone. Similar tricks might take place on other planets.

There could be a pheromone, since it’s an invisible touch.

An intelligent group of aliens may have developed technology to amplify the effect to be more successful in attracting food.

Beast or intelligent being from another planet has a symbiotic plant, bacterium, or small animal that attracts the prey. Or some sort of attached lure.

I had an idea a few months ago that I don’t recall if I wrote down. Have an intelligent species of alien with an attraction odor. Any species attracted by it’s odor that gets eaten is obviously not intelligent. Not all humans are vulnerable to it, but the aliens have trouble distinguishing those that claim to be a part of an intelligent species from prey.

Talk about a diplomatic issue! Respect each other’s culture. The rules come down to a planet controlled by humans follows human laws and norms, and any human on a planet controlled by the alien has to be tested for sensitivity to the attraction factor before they are allowed on the surface. Smugglers and survivors of crashes will have a “fun” time avoiding the locals long enough to get to the embassy.

Stats

I always do better with the descriptive part of creatures. The mechanics always frustrate me trying to come up with something good.

The easy way is to find something roughly equivalent in HD and special abilities of other creatures.

So for a beast, something like a lion or tiger in power with an attraction ability.

For intelligent creatures, take the stats of a doppleganger, or mind flayer.

For a pack, choose dire wolves.

For a large creature choose a bulette.

Then change the skins, AKA re-skin them to fit the description.

Example of Re-Skinning

I used Swords & Wizardry Core monsters and took the doppelganger, wolf, and dragon stats for a base for re-skinning.

Doppelganger
Hit Dice: 4
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Attacks: Claw (1d12)
Saving Throw: 13 (5 against any magic)
Special: Mimics shape, immune to sleep and charm spells
Move: 9

The doppelganger will be the basis for an intelligent creature that prowls lonely places seeking whatever mysterious things it wants, needs, or desires. It is strong and can rip open an adult. It uses its shape shifting ability to appear weak or injured.

Lone Prowler
Hit Dice: 4
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Attacks: Claw (1d12)
Saving Throw: 13 (5 against any magic)
Special: Mimics shape, immune to sleep and charm spells
Move: 9

Wolves will form the smaller creatures that rip one to shreds, and the whole pack can join in the fun. Stalkers are fearsome creatures, one of whom could lay low a hapless traveler. Then tend to travel in packs of 4 to 12 and can challenge a family or other group by themselves.

Stalkers
Hit Dice: 2+2
Armor Class: 7 [12]
Attacks: Bite (1d8)
Saving Throw: 16
Special: None
Move: 18

Finally, the red dragon will inform the large fearsome beast. the spiked devil is a ravenous creature, preferring the soft innards of its victims, but also know to swallow smaller prey whole. It is named for the pointy protrusions covering its body. It has been known to eat the tenderest parts of a herd then work its way through the bodies.

Spiked Devil
Hit Dice: 9–11
Armor Class: 2 [17]
Attacks: 2 claws (1d8), bite (3d10), tail slap (1d10)
Saving Throw: 6, 5, or 4
Special: Prehensile tongue rips out heart of victim within 20 feet before it can fall on a 20. DEX save for victim.
Move: 9/24 (flying)

 

RPGs

Trust Your GM

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It is important for players to trust their GM and for the GM to explain how they use the rules and run games. GMs should be both clear and fair in their presentation and application of the rules. They should strive to instill trust in their players. This is a follow up to yesterday’s blog post on rules lawyering, and is an expansion of episode 11 of the podcast.

Two Way Street

The relationship between the GM and players at the table (real or virtual) is a two way street between the GM and each player, as well as each player between every other player. The GM prepares the campaign setting/world to host the adventures, and also prepares for each adventure. They have to run and voice all the monsters and NPCs and keep track of all the things involved to keep the game moving.

Players should each do their part. Just as the GM works to show the players that they can trust him or her to run the game, the players should work to show the GM and other players that they fit in at the table.

What should the players do?

The following assumes a veteran player.

  • Show up on time.
    • If you are late, it delays the start of the game, or causes a pause in the action to get you up to speed
    • If you are going to be late, it shouldn’t be a habit and you should let everyone know.
      • Life happens and the unexpected can derail the most firm commitment.
    • With online play this is also important.
  • Bring what you need to play, character sheet, writing instrument, paper, dice, PHB or similar.
  • Have your character sheet and inventory up to date and organized so the game can start on time, and you can find the information needed during play.
  • Be ready to declare your action when it is your turn to act.
  • Be familiar with your character’s class, abilities, equipment, and whatever else you need to know to play that character.
  • Be courteous and respectful of others. (I shouldn’t have to say that. If you don’t know what this means, a bullet point can’t explain it.)
  • Be welcoming of new players to the game. You are an ambassador to both your group and the wider RPG community.
    • This is both experienced players new to your table.
    • As well as new players who are new to the game. There are two variations:
      • Players who have never played an RPG. Their experience at your table is their FIRST IMPRESSION of the game. They will assume all role players are jerks if they are treated poorly and won’t want to play.
      • Experienced role players who are new to the rules of the game you are playing.
  • Be willing to step outside your comfort zone. The GM has to do this, so you aren’t the only one.
    • If you are a natural extrovert, play an introverted character occasionally. Encourage the less active players to take risks.
    • If you are a natural introvert, play an extroverted character, or one who takes risks.
  • Be willing to try your hand as GM.
    • Your GM needs a break to let their batteries re-charge. Run a one-shot or short campaign.
  • Do your part to help bring the campaign world alive. Suggest ideas for monsters, cultures, items, and more.
  • Tell your GM what they get right more loudly and before you tell them what they did wrong.
    • When you tell them what went wrong or you didn’t like, do it in a constructive way.
  • If there is a problem at the table be part of the solution. If you’re the problem, recognize it when everyone else calls you out.

Conclusion

TTRPGs require an open mind, trust, and creativity for all concerned. Such games are a communal exercise in play. This type of play allows one to do things they can’t do in the real world. It is a communal activity that when players and GM come together, the fictional world comes alive. By trusting the GM and players buying in to the world and adventure presented, you will have memories as vivid as the ones you have of things you really did. Together you weave a story that will unite your group in a way that you can say, “Hey, remember that time?” and you will all laugh and no one else will ever quite understand.

RPGs

AD&D Invites Rules Lawyering

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In episode ten of the podcast I posited that AD&D 1e [Affiliate Link] invites rules lawyering. While the AD&D core books brought together rules, classes, and monsters introduced in the supplements and issues of Dragon Magazine since the original game did organize a lot, it was still not truly organized.

Some of the issues are:

  • Contradictions between the Player’s Handbook [Affiliate Link] and the Dungeon Master’s Guide [Affiliate Link] .
  • Similar rules are not grouped in proximity, especially in the DMG.
  • Instead of using an existing system, or developing a coherent engine to the game, there is a new system for many new things.
    • For example, the difference between regular combat and grappling is very confusing.
  • Too many fiddly bits.

How to address it:

I have a love and nostalgia for AD&D. I even like some of the fiddly bits. But as a player and GM both then and now, rules lawyering interrupts the flow of the game and kills the mood. For me to run AD&D as a campaign, I need a more comprehensive document that clarifies three things:

  • What rules are not used at all, such as weapon speed.
  • What rules are modified, morale by the book is a mass of number crunching. Simple is better to keep the flow.
    • Modification can vary from a simple modification or clarification to replacement by another method whether from another game or home brewed.
  • What rules are used as is, like turn undead.

If you clarify that your game is rulings over rules, then those who can’t stand anything but RAW (Rules As Written) will look elsewhere for a game to join.

Conclusion

Being on the same page about what rules are used and how they are implemented during play will enhance the experience at the table. Be open to revision of rules based on how things work at the table. Be consistent, and most of all have fun! Remember it’s a game!

RPGs

Read An RPG Book In Public

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This week is the second of the three annual Read An RPG Book In Public weeks promoted by The Escapist, AKA RPG Advocate.

The whole idea is to read any RPG related book in public to show people that it is an acceptable thing to do. This comes from the mindset of those who lived through the Satanic panic. Now that D&D is cool, and the hatred and misunderstanding is abating, we should still celebrate our hobby and keep it in the public eye.

The week of March 4th is GM’s Day and coincidentally the day Gary Gygax died in 2008.

The week of July 27 is Gary Gygax’s birthday.

Finally, October 1 is Dave Arneson’s birthday. Dave Arneson invented what would become D&D.

It is fitting that this Saturday, Luke Gygax and WOTC are teaming up for Founders & Legends to celebrate the founders and pioneers of the game. It isn’t just all 5e and Eberron. Stephan Pokorny of Dwarven Forge is running AD&D! In addition to lots of online gaming, viewers are encouraged to donate to Extra Life. Luke will even be playing his old character Melf with 5e stats.

RPGs

WOTC Announces New 5e Setting: Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica

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Earlier today, Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) announced their new setting guide to be released in November. It is from a Magic: The Gathering setting: Ravnica. The book is Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica [Amazon Affiliate Link] . Last night fans reported that Amazon had leaked the listing ahead of the announcement.

I suspect if there was a “leak” it was a strategic leak meant to build excitement. Here is the link [Amazon Affiliate Link].

I did a series of tweets about this, and I think that analysis has been confirmed to be spot on, so I repeat it here.

My Twitter Analysis

Ravnica is a new D&D 5e setting. It’s from Magic: The Gathering. I don’t know the M:TG settings and have only played a few games just a few months ago. Some are upset that it wasn’t a revival of a setting from a prior version. I don’t see the problem. This is a smart strategy.

It has more appeal for novice players that only know 5e. It also invites M:TG players that aren’t as already into RPGs to give them a try. The demographic has shifted. If it was my business I’d leverage every asset I could while the wave of popularity lasts.

You don’t need WOTCs official 5e setting to use an older setting. You can even roll your own. Be glad that they’re doing settings and alternate covers of the core. books. It means the investment you made in 5e will last. I’d say there’s little reason for a new version.

Settings and adventure books will keep things going for the foreseeable future. That’s my 2 cents.

Hasbro’s Best Year Ever

This evening Jim Cramer, the annoying screaming stock analyst on CNBC, interviewed the CEO of Hasbro. You can read the article and see that interview here.  Hasbro has had its best year ever. D&D is once again a darling of the stock market. Stranger Things and Twitch streaming has played a big part of that. They have partnered with Amazon, which owns Twitch.

This interview explains that they are using the success of D&D to leverage everything. They are talking about eSports…. I don’t like that idea, but that’s a gut reaction. I’d like to know what they envision that looking like. I would guess they are thinking along the lines of tournament modules with the teams being composed of parties of players.

The Hasbro stock (HAS) is now trading over $100 a share and was up $12 today because it beat the market predictions. Many anticipated that it would be adversely impacted by the closure of Toys R Us. They were, but are leveraging their winners and crossing over core fan bases. As I wrote above, I think this is a smart move, and one I’d make in that position.

Conclusion

As long as 5e is the core driving things, I bet the plan is to leave that alone until the wave of success subsides. They can continue releasing various settings that are either from prior rulesets, or other Hasbro properties. As long as they are all done well and not slap dash and rushed out the door, it should work.

RPGs

Eberron Comes to 5e – Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron

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Eberron has a setting guide on DM’s Guild, Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron [Affiliate Link], so Eberron content is available for 5e for others to use in their DMs Guild offerings.

I don’t know a lot about Eberron, other than it is Satine Phoenix’s favorite. Her first convention game was a scenario set in Eberron, and I was one of the players.  From that I experience, I learned that Eberron is a magic and technology are integrated. It is not surprising that many of the players from Maze Arcans have playtest credits.

Very cool that Ruty Rutenberg is listed in the credits as designer.

This $19.99 PDF went platinum on DMs Guild just a few hours after being announced.

I just downloaded it. So do they need a mithril category? I’m not big into settings, but I want to see what all the fuss is about. This was not expected, other than I knew Ruty was working on something big. I won’t get a review of this, as I have a ton of other things on my plate, and need to get through them.

The PDF is 176 pages with clickable links in the table of contents. There is no index. It does use some material from Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, according to a note on the title page. There is a history of Eberron, places, new races, new magic, and recommended reading with a list of sourcebooks and novels set in Eberron.

Someone asked Ruty on Twitter if it will be available as POD and he said that is the plan.

D&D Beyond did an interview with Keith Baker, the creator of Eberron, and he explained a bit about it. See it here.

There are a ton of others tweeting, blogging, and vlogging about this and the announcement of a new setting book slated for November from a Magic: The Gathering setting: Ravnica. The book is Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica.

Ruty also just tweeted that there is more to come.

Congratulations Ruty! This is awesome!

RPGs

My Process

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Someone on my G+ post about Saturday’s blog post about prepping to launch a Patreon said they’d like to know what my process is. I will endeavor to lay out how ideas come to me.

Connections

I see connections between things that most people don’t see. Someone says ‘X’, and I almost immediately think of ‘Y’. When someone asks how I came up with ‘Y’, I lay out all the points between the two. It is all about what my mind picks up and adds to my knowledge store. I don’t have eidetic memory, but I seem to be good at remembering various facts. It makes me very good at Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy. Even some categories where I have a weak knowledge, I am able to come up with answers.

Sometimes I hear a word and it triggers a train of thought with unanticipated results. It is also a curse, as this can find a connection that takes me back in time to some memory I’d rather not recall.

I have also seen words “sideways” that at a glance the word or phrase I think I see isn’t the word or phrase that is there. In some words, changing the order of a couple letters gives a different word. Or the order of the words is reversed.  I’m probably the only one to get a chuckle out of the weird things that result. An example is “Isle of Wights” instead of the Isle of Wight. An additional letter makes it a dangerous place of undead.

Visual

I am a visual person, so when I had the question in Trivial Pursuit of which state is surrounded by the most other states, I started by narrowing the focus. I focused on the continental US, and eliminated the coastal and border states. Next I eliminated the big Western states. Because I know the states and have a mental map of the state boundaries within the boundary of the US, I could count the states surrounding the states that didn’t have a coast or international border. I won’t give away the answer, but the state is surrounded by eight other states.

Metaphors

When I try to explain things to people, especially technical things, I have metaphors come to mind to help explain things. I work with financial software and users who don’t know accounting always want to treat the budget like how much money they have. I point out that the budget is like Monopoly money. You can have a budget of a million dollars, but if you don’t have a million dollars in the bank, you can’t spend that much.

My metaphors are sometimes ridiculous, but they can help me to develop ideas with an RPG.

Alliteration

I have gone on kicks with alliteration on several blog posts over the years. Sometimes I see it as a challenge to some up with a list that is all alliteration. I think the last one I did was a six word dungeon challenge, and I did A to Z with six alliterative words for each letter of the alphabet.

Narrow the Focus

The concept of narrowing the focus is the same one I use in my day job of troubleshooting client issues. I do high end tech support for financial applications. I’m the senior tech, so end up digging into SQL to figure out where the data went wrong. I’ve used the programs so long, that except for the newer features, I can see the menu options in my mind’s eye and can talk a client through all the menu clicks without looking at the program.

My brother used to tease me about my spouting off apparently random facts in the middle of conversations because someone would say something that fired off something in my mind. He’d say, “And yet another entry into the book of useless facts and worthless information.” I still slip up sometimes and don’t give the right contextual information when that happens and when I say something, I manage to put my foot in my mouth.

RPG Filter

When it comes to RPGs, I don’t always remember to flip the switch to think about some random thought in an RPG context. However, when I do, I can spit out a detailed string of ideas that are fun and interesting for RPGs. I usually take my real life knowledge and experience and just run things to a logical conclusion.

For some ideas, I can run out of steam before it looks complete. Kind of like McCoy going from “It’s so easy a child could do it!” to struggling to recall the simplest detail in the “Spock’s Brain” episode of TOS.

Then for other ideas, the ideas keep flowing and I can’t write or type fast enough to keep up.

Intentionality

I am sure that if I would be intentional about applying an RPG filter to what I think about on a consistent daily basis, I could leverage it more. Historically, I have tended to go in spurts where a lot of information flows until I hit an eventual drought of ideas. I have yet to identify a consistent set of rules that makes this work for me.

One year on the blog I posted an article every day. I did leverage the bursts of creativity, and I would write multiple articles in a day. Then I would schedule them to post on consecutive days, with the most pressing first. I managed to have several weeks of posts done in advance, and would have multiple posts on days when there was a timely idea.

Organization

I have been lax in my organization, and have multiple notebooks and computer files with all kinds of ideas. Applying organization to the madness will help.

Self Care

My greatest nemesis is the crazy busy time at work December through February. It ends up sapping my energy and creativity to a ridiculous degree. I have not found a solution to deal with that. I am sure it is diet, exercise, and enough sleep. I have always struggled with that.

Personal Knowledge Base

I’ve played different RPGs since back in the day. AD&D, Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World, Boot Hill, Top Secret, Gangbusters, Star Frontiers, Marvel Superheroes, Traveller. Also some exposure to, like one game of Tunnels and Trolls, Runequest, and some others. We also made our own space games. We had a space pirate game that was a board game. We had a planetary war game where two planets were at war. We also made a space RPG that had a little bit of something from every RPG we had or new about, with lots of our own ideas.

I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy back in the day. I don’t read as regularly as I used to but still read SF & Fantasy. I’ve been reading the Appendix N authors I never read back in the day. For example, in recent years, I have read the Dying Earth series and Conan. I’ve read many of the Tarzan books, John Carter of Mars, the Venus series, and some others by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Some, such as The Hobbit and LOTR I have read multiple times.

I have a strong interest in history and have a BA in history. My interest is on the ancient near east and Mediterranean, and Europe from ancient times up through WWII. I have pulled out old college history books and re-read them. I’ve read history of other regions and eras too.

I tend to get lost reading an article in an encyclopedia and all the side references. The arrival of Wikipedia online has caused me to lose many hours of follow the rabbit trails of connected knowledge. I see something that catches my interest, read it and see things mentioned that peak my curiosity. The next thing I know I’ve got a dozen or so tabs open of things I want to know more about.

I’ve studied four languages other than English or programming languages. Spanish for three years in high school, German for three semesters in college, and koine Greek and Biblical Hebrew in grad school. I also know a smattering of words and phrases in a few miscellaneous languages that have not been incorporated into the English lexicon.

My high school actually had a geography class. I have always liked maps. I wish I still had all the maps I colored in with colored pencils.

All the books and articles I’ve read, TV shows, movies, and plays I’ve watched, people I’ve met or observed, places I’ve been, and things I’ve done all inform how I view the world and I draw on them automatically when working an RPG idea.

I have 80% of the first draft of a sci fi/fantasy novel. The idea came to me in 1985 or so. I didn’t start writing it down until 2009 or so. I only had the first chapter until I did NaNoWriMo in 2014 and got to where it is now. I exceeded 50,000 words so I “completed” the challenge. It actually wasn’t that hard to do. I just sat down and did it, and was cranking 3,000 plus words some days. As with most first drafts, it’s terrible. I really need to do the last few chapters so I can do the second draft.

Blogging

The hardest part of blogging is staying on topic. I can easily start off in one place, and go down a side passage of an idea, and end up entirely off the point I intended to make. This is why my posts are so long at times. I’ve got several posts in my drafts that don’t say what I meant to say, and I don’t know how to fix them (apart from starting over) but don’t want to delete them in case I can somehow use them. I have over 700 posts and can easily do a “new” post and later discover I wrote a nearly identical post a few years ago.

What I like about blogging, is that it allows me to capture my ideas, so I can come back to them later.

Conclusion

I think my process is similar to others. Each of us makes connections between ideas in our own way. Through repetition and intentional practice, we can get better at it.

RPGs

Forgiveness Factor

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While I was doing my dishes from supper, my thoughts wandered and for some reason, people from my past whose reactions to minor slights came to mind. I thought of those who had a negative reaction to something minor (in my perception), and some had a strongly negative reaction that colored how we interacted from then on.

RPG Angle

The RPG aspect of this came to me. What if we classified NPCs based on their reactions to slights, errors, and failures? This could apply to any NPC, but it would be more interesting to use it for pre-selected NPCs so you can plan out how a negative reaction manifests.

More simply, those who hire PCs to do a job might be offended by some cultural gaffe that is generally considered inappropriate. The leader of the town takes it personally and from then on only turns to the PCs for help when there is no other choice. Reneging on payment, setting them up to fail, and outright vengeance such as hired assassins. The reactions some people have to things can come across as flat out insane.

It could be that only one character has earned the ire of the NPC, and they try to convince the others to leave the offender out of their business dealings.

Rough Tables

Here are some rough tables to outline what I’m thinking. This definitely needs more polish, but I want to get the idea down while it is fresh. Keep in mind that these are for individuals who have a petty mind and make lemons seem sweet. They will be abrupt, just the facts, get the offender(s) out of their presence ASAP.

Some of the behaviors will be actively avoiding the offender(s). For example, never using the same door as the offender(s), pretending to not be home, pretending they don’t see or hear the offender, etc.

Minor Slight & how perceived by the offended:

  • Minor – No big deal (This doesn’t belong here because you didn’t make it to THE LIST.)
  • Minor but it rankles to their dying day. They tell everyone about it, and when the offender is present will point them out to all who will hear. Look down their nose at the offender(s).
  • Medium –
  • Major –
  • The worst thing ever! They see the offender as their nemesis.

Disposition to the Player(s):

  • Neutral – What can the player(s) do for me? Won’t voluntarily aid the player(s), without some great compulsion.
  • Negative, Minor – Will throw up red tape, delays, and generally unhelpful. Player(s) will sit in the waiting room and will always go in last, unless there is for some reason, another person or group higher on THE LIST.
  • Negative, Medium – Will instruct underlings to not help the player(s). Some underlings will be apologetic for their superior’s behavior. No guilt about sending player(s) on a suicide mission. Disappointed if they survive, even if a success.
  • Negative, Major – Underlings are instructed to actively delay, hinder, annoy, and seek to damage the offender(s). Damage may be to reputation, relationships, or life.
  • Negative, Ridiculous – Will hire others to maim or kill the offender(s).

Can it be rectified?

Is there anyway to remove the animosity? For some, they may just drop a notch on their disposition to the offender(s).

  • Charm Person and Suggestion can temporarily resolve it.
  • Forget if cast close enough in time to the affront.
  • Only a Limited Wish, Wish, or Alter Reality spell could do it.
  • Divine intervention.
  • Saving their life.
    • For some not even saving their life will make them change their mind.
  • Saving a loved one’s life.
    • For some this too is not enough.
  • Taking out someone higher on THE LIST than the offender(s).
    • May not work for some.

Conclusion

The above is only a rough idea of what can be done with this idea. A similar exercise with other traits of people you have encountered in life can be used to build a similar set of tables.  Not all tables need be rollable tables. They can be idea tables that you read to get a kickstart for brainstorming your own ideas.

Have you had success with filtering an idea through an RPG lense to get something to help you with game preparation or use at the table? Please share it in the comments!

RPGs

Patreon On The Horizon

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I finally realized that what I already do on my blog is worthy of starting a Patreon. I had a moment of clarity while cleaning and organizing my office. I work from home, and my personal computer and gaming stuff is all in the same space. I let things go for too long. I am not done, but the freedom that comes from less physical clutter has the added benefit of less mental clutter.

Back at the end of January, 2017, I did a blog post, Trap Idea – Take One Thing and Expand on It. There was a post on Reddit asking for trap ideas for a kobold infested dungeon. The first thing I thought of was a trap door that is so fast leaving a puff of smoke and a pile of dust that makes the players think that the individual was disintegrated. Then have the NPC or character show up later either on their own, or discovered by the others.

I took this idea and I ran with it in that blog post and came up with all kinds of ideas for how kobolds could leverage a trap infested dungeon.

After I read an article or other mention of how silver plates and utensils were used to fight germs, I wrote another article on my blog, Magic Item(s) – Table Service is about magical dishes that defeat poison. That article spawned another article, More Magic Dishes, about things other than poison. And another article, More Variation on Magic Items, to be something other than the standard rings, wands, and staves.

My idea for a Patreon is to let patrons both vote on ideas, or submit their own, for me to Take One Thing And Expand On It.

I can then collect all these ideas into a PDF and patrons get it for no additional cost, and I put it up on OBS for non-patrons.

The end result will be a collection of tables and ideas to help others with their game prep and help fuel their own creativity.

Many of these ideas are not tied to specific RPGs or versions of RPGs, so as long as I don’t mention or use rules based on OGL materials, it won’t need the OGL or other game license.

I think having a monthly poll in the form of [Creature] doing [x], or [Everday item with an RPG twist.], or other table to meet a need because there isn’t a table, or if some existing tables don’t do quite what you want.

Initially, I will pull together my existing blog posts that fit and put them into individual PDFs, with spelling and grammar cleaned up, and possible additional material. I’ll do the first one as a free download/PWYW. This will give something for potential patrons to see what I have before committing to a pledge.

I will also discuss development of my card game, no spoilers, just some mention of progress and struggles. Eventually, the card game will be on Kickstarter, once all the ducks are in a row.

I will have coordination between my blog, YouTube, and Anchor podcast for things relating to Patreon. I will continue my YouTube series, Roll20 For The Absolute Beginner. My blog and podcast will also continue to cover topics I have in the pipeline, and otherwise want to cover.

A few months ago, I laid the groundwork for a Discord channel, G+ Group, and Facebook group for patrons. Since I already researched the requirements for a Patreon, I know that it will take a couple weeks to get all the particulars in order of how I want it done. I also need to get set up on OBS as a publisher. It has been a few years since I first looked into what that takes.

My thoughts are for the Patreon to be a monthly pledge with sensible tiers. I have played around with various ways of handling tiers. I still don’t quite have tiers the way I want, so that will take some more time.

Finally, since I want to have something “ready to go” to offer patrons when the Patreon goes live, I need time to work on that. All of this juggled around work, chores, and grandpa time. At the earliest, I could probably pull it off in two weeks, but I want it to be done well. At the outside, I’d like to have it live by Labor Day. I also need to factor in getting up and running as a publisher on OBS.

I value what a supportive group of patrons can do with giving feedback and an eye to detail on PDFs that will eventually go on OBS. I’ve seen that model on other Patreons I support.

I have a seven part checklist for all the things I need to do for becoming a publisher on OBS and starting a Patreon. Most of these same steps are items on my to do to get ready for the eventual Kickstarter of my card game.

You can hear the Podcast episode about this here.

You can see my YouTube video about this here.

RPGs

The Black Isle Released!

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My last post was about the 9th anniversary of the blog, which was yesterday, July 18th. Another cool event yesterday, in addition to session 210 of the Wednesday night AD&D game on Roll20 was the release of The Black Isle, AKA Eilean Dubh.

The Black Isle is the fruit of an OSR collaborative project that started back in 2014 to stat out a region centered on an island. Originally, the project was called Tenkar’s Landing, which is the main settlement on the island. We then decided to name the island. The project had most contributions in about 18 months, as I recall. Editing and layout are what took so long, for one person a 433 page PDF with contents, art, and an index is a huge task.

Fifty-four people stepped up and populated six mile hexes on and under the island and the surrounding area. There is a lot packed in, and some of us, like me, packed a lot into our hex. My contribution is The Screaming Swamp. I had a lot of fun putting it all together. A separate more realistic sized area for what I crammed in my hex is a project I have long thought about, but waited for the completion of this project. I blogged about it here and here. It doesn’t appear I went into detail of the finished product on the blog.

There are tables, new monsters, and I believe also new spells and items. This is a rich resource to run as is, or cherry pick for ideas. There are many years of adventure in this free supplement.

Podcast

I talked about it on episode 6 of my podcast.

Settlement

The second phase of the project is Tenkar’s Landing. As I recall all the work on that is done. There is a map by Dyson Logos. Now that the island is done, the next step is the town. I don’t know if there is the oomph to get it done, but it would be very cool to see the finished town to go with the rest of the setting.

The price is right, it is free and open source. You can see a lot of creativity and you get so many ideas, it would be difficult to use them all.

Where to Get It

You can download the 433 page PDF and 1 page map PNG from Google Drive.

The Black Isle PDF – Drop Box with both Map and PDF

The Black Isle Map PNG – Google Drive Map only

Elsewhere

Discussion on Reddit. [Added 08/12/2018]