Category Archives: RPGs

RPGs

2020 Year In Review

Leave a comment

I’ll just post the numbers of my various sites, and leave the rest of the year below if you want to read about 2020 from my perspective.

BLOG – 20,393 visitors in 2020. Best month April with 2,237 visitors. 126 different countries, the top five being: USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and Germany.

My top five pages (none from 2020) :

1. Druids and Alignment – 2,716

2. Group Name Generator – 1,811

3. River and River Encounter Tables – 1,472

4. Quick Campaign Creation Checklist – 1,246

5. Ideas for Hidden Items/Secret Doors – 1,162

[NOTE: I added the above section on January 1, 2021 when I received a report about the blog.]

Twitter – Down 32 followers to 1,060 from 1,092.

Facebook – 17 new likes and 26 new follows. Now 168 likes and 180 followers.

YouTube – Started with 490 subscribers and have 969 as of this writing, which is 479 new subscribers in 2020! Nearly doubled. I hold slim hopes of hitting 1,000 this year. This is mostly due to the popularity of my series, “Roll20 For The Absolute Beginner.” I published 18 videos in 2020. 13 of those were related to my Roll20 series. My most watched video has 40,557 views.

Anchor – Almost 6,300 listens to my podcast, with 18,673 total life time listens across all 194 episodes. I thought I might hit 200 episodes in 2020, but have not been making regular episodes for a few weeks. Some episodes had ridiculous increases from all other episodes. Others using Anchor noticed the same. Now my episodes are back to the usual number of listens. So far, I’ve only had 24 episodes this year. Most have been about the antics of the party in the Sunday game I DM.

Instagram – I’ve added 31 followers and now have 164.

Cheatography – I created a Worldbuilding Cheatsheet on Cheatography that has been viewed 200 times. I didn’t realize people could see it until I got emails that it had been viewed 50 and then 100 times. I just got the email about 200 times as I was working on this blog post.

Patreon – I still have 2 patrons. I encouraged them to leave and support others, since I don’t need the money. Only 1 person took that advice. I supposed I’ll keep Patreon since there’s a chance I’ll attract more patrons when I finally publish my card game.

TeeSpring – I made a new shirt design – a red shirt that says, “Cancer is the New Red Shirt.” I also made a mask with the Follow Me, And Die! logo and phrase with cartoon viruses. I did manage a few sales there. I’ve actually had a few sales and made about $30.

Ko-Fi – I made $12.00 from one person. This is the first I’ve made there, since I created the account a couple years ago.

DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link] – I’ve made $303.60 after fees to transfer earnings to PayPal. The gross was 487.43. 30% is a big chunk. I had 4,603 total sales which includes pay what you want titles going for $0. I had 411 paid sales, which is just over a dollar a sale. I decided to move all my PDFs to at least $1, but want to give them a strong edit and layout makeover first. So far, I’ve only done that with one title.

I finally crossed the threshold to have enough Publisher Promotion Points to do a Deal of the Day. That will be good when I ever get my card game finished.

I now have two Copper sellers and three Silver sellers. This is based on sales over a certain threshold. I would have electrum and gold sellers if I had paid sales on all the free Pay What You Want sales.

Barring any last minute boosts in the next few days, I’ve grossed just under $600 in 2020 as a tiny RPG publisher. My expenses will eat up enough of that that I am not making enough to pay taxes.

LOOKING TO 2021

I’m not making any big plans for 2021. I plan to keep playing and running RPGs. I still have ideas for new PDFs and videos for RPGs. My plan is to keep at doing RPG and gaming related things. If I ever do well enough to negate my expenses, or even make money, that’s icing on the cake. I have ideas, some people like my ideas, so I will keep at it.

(Stop reading here if you don’t want to be reminded about 2020.)

2020

This year has had an impact on everyone on the entire planet in ways probably everyone alive has no memory of the last global pandemic of 1918.

For most of us, like me, 2020 started off full of hope and lots of plans. I made plans to go to some event of various sorts nearly every weekend. I had just bought my first pickup truck and was planning weekend events to small events within a couple hours drive, the usual game conventions, and visiting family.

My busy time of year is December and January as I support payroll and accounting software and call volume triples. Just as we were winding down in February, the news began to mention COVID-19. It looked bad, but initial reports were it was like the flu.

CONVENTIONS CANCELLED

Then the unthinkable, just when I needed to get away and unwind with a weekend of fun, Gary Con cancelled the live show and did a pivot to a virtual convention. This would repeat for all conventions, not just game conventions. Thankfully for game conventions, Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, several other table top emulators, Discord, Zoom, Skype and the like were already in place. This allowed the pivot from live to virtual.

So while we could still see our friends on the screen, it wasn’t as good as being their live. Sadly, it nearly ended the website Tabletop Events many conventions used to coordinate ticket sales. Some game publishers did ad hoc conventions to help them out. Finally, new management stepped in with an acquisition to keep that service functioning.

COVID-19 is still not under control, and while there are finally vaccines, they are not available in enough quantity to change plans for conventions. So far, Gary Con is going virtual again in 2021. There was hope of a live con, but nothing can guarantee COVID-19 will be under control in time to have a COVID-19 free convention.

HOLD MY BEER

There were lots of memes in 2020 as COVID-19 hit hard, there seemed to be some new really bad thing each month. There were so many, it’s a blur that I struggle to recall.

It seemed as if 2020 was out to show that it was large and in charge.

Many started off calling 2020 the year of the double crit. It soon morphed into the year of the GM getting a double crit – on everybody. Or everyone rolled a double fumble, or “epic fail”.

Sadly, many small businesses, especially restaurants and their employees have been hit hard. Many businesses have and continued to fail as the economic aspects hit hard. Businesses that had to limit service or shut down, have had to lay off employees. The numbers of unemployed has skyrocketed. It has gotten a bit better for some. But it is not easy for those who have no income without unemployment.

Food banks have been hit hard.

Those who rely on the gig economy like musicians, lecturers, and other entertainers have had to improvise and find a way to earn a living online. There have been some bright spots with individuals, groups, or families finding fame online since entertainment consumption skyrocketed due to limited options with COVID-19 restrictions.

Movies and television shows shut down, and some shows found a way to go virtual.

“NORMAL” TRAGEDIES

The usual things that happen every year for some with a new found health problem, loss of a family member, car accidents, and the like seem to be greatly highlighted in a surreal way. They just hurt worse since you can’t mourn or deal with it in the usual ways due to restrictions.

On top of that are all those individuals and families affected by extended hospitalizations, or those who lose a loved one due to COVID-19.

On top of all the upset to “normal” COVID-19 has caused, it also is like pouring salt on a wound with all the other challenges many have had to face.

Social isolation, cabin fever, interpersonal conflict with the family or roommates one live with, and more seem to make it even more difficult to see the silver lining or light at the end of the tunnel.

OUR OWN THING

Each of us have had our own set of circumstances we’ve been dealt for 2020. Some had all the good cards and are exercising, losing weight, trying new things, learning new things. It is great to see so many doing well. Sadly, far too many have gotten a lot of bad cards, or maybe only bad cards. I shudder to think of those who chose to end their life amidst all this turmoil.

TECHNOLOGY

Thankfully, for those of us who can afford internet, there are lots of online tools to help us stay in touch with others. Table Top emulators existed before, but saw their use skyrocket, as people can game online.

For me, that was no real change, as my weekly game play is online and has been for years. I struggle to find or keep a local game group. The uptick in use has seen occasional lag for long time players we don’t normally see.

MY THING

As I mentioned above, I had plans and high hopes for 2020. I was aiming to finally launch a Kickstarter for my card game on May 1st. Those plans were dashed as many printers shut down around that time as there were shutdowns to try to contain the spread of COVID-19.

But the main reason I halted my plans is that I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in April. That was the real screw you 2020 dealt me. I felt fine. That’s why they call it the silent killer. I lost motivation to work on the card game. Just before then I did a new test deck, and I made the graphics too small. It was something I couldn’t tell until I held the cards in my hands. I still haven’t fixed that.

I had thoughts of putting my card game out on DriveThruCards [Affiliate Link], as I try to be a forward thinking realist. I didn’t know how things would go for my cancer surgery. It was supposed to happen in June, but got pushed off to the end of August.

That long wait didn’t help my motivation. I had plans for more PDFs on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link] each month, but I only managed to maintain that for January and February. I did do a major editing pass and improve the layout for one PDF. I had planned to do others, but motivation is fleeting.

Honestly, I had existential dread of surgery. I had the fear of not waking up. However, my existential dread evaporated when I woke up. I didn’t have the amount of pain I expected and was only off work two weeks.

But as a realist, I made plans for what to do if I didn’t wake up. I wrote my last blog article, recorded my last podcast, and my last YouTube video. I had them ready to publish and left instructions with family on how to do so. Those were some of the most difficult things I did, but I think it helped me deal with things.

I was off work for two weeks and only missed one week of running my Sunday game, and didn’t miss any of the Wednesday game I play in. I even started a blog Men’s Health In My Perspective and shared things about my prostate cancer journey. If you want the nitty gritty, that’s where you’ll find it.

I’ve healed up really well and still have a ways to go, but all signs so far are positive.

The hardest part on top of the cancer diagnosis and surgery is that following my busiest time of year and getting a major change of pace by going to Gary Con, is that I haven’t felt like I’ve had a break.

As I head into my busiest time of year, I know I won’t be getting away for a real break for a while longer. I imagine there will be a boom of travel as those who have the means will book flights, hotels, and other venues. I get that the whole world needs a break, but I’m responsible for me.

Like the rest of the world, I am tired. I’ve had enough. I’m thankful for gaming and how it got me through. My busy time of year has already been extra busy due to changes to forms, and adding forms we’ve never done before, all due to COVID-19.

I love my family, but do I ever need a break with some real me time away from home. I get that I could rent a hotel room somewhere, but I want to be able to go places and do things. I’m in the at risk category due to health issues. So I’m stuck until I get the vaccine. The funny thing is, I live about ten minutes away from the factory that makes the Pfizer vaccine. I can’t get it before anyone elsewhere in the country or world.

I know that 2020 will lap over into the first few months of 2021. But as the vaccine is distributed and administered, the pandemic will get under control, and we will soon be as close to the old “normal” as possible. 2021 should be a much brighter year. I plan to keep at my efforts with my tiny business. I don’t know what will come of my card game, but the odds are that I will be able to release something in 2021.

Don’t give up. Keep moving forward. Even if you have to take a few steps back, we will get to getter days.

RPGs

Spell Research

2 Comments

I was asked to read someone’s write up about their rules for AD&D spell research.

Personally, I’ve never had this come up in my campaign. I’ve thought about doing it as a player, but there is always so much going on, there is no time to stop.

The character who does spell research takes themselves out of the XP pipeline, plus has to spend a lot of time and wealth to have a chance at figuring out a new spell.

The older I get the more simplicity I want in RPGs, both as a player and as a GM. Long, complex rules, with multiple variables to add or subtract to get a chance of success.

I think I’ve got a short and simple way to do this.

From page 10 of the AD&D Players Handbook

Bare Bones Version:

Use the percentage to know spell from Intelligence Table II for the target roll required. For clerics and druids, use Intelligence Table II, but use the Wisdom score to get the target number to roll.

Make the cost 1,000 gp per level of the spell per week.

Roll a d6 plus spell level for number of weeks of research required. This gives each level of spell a variable amount of time to crack the secrets of magic.

On success, maybe even on failure, I’d give them XP for the learning experience this was. It might not make up for the amount of treasure and XP they would have gotten on that adventure they missed, but they are not “frozen in time” for XP purposes.

“Complex” Version:

Similar to the above, but require a research library of 1,000 to 2,000 gp per spell level. If your players are rolling in wealth, make it 2,000 gp or more per spell level.

Modify the weekly cost. I’d have the weekly cost be 500 gp per spell level per week with the addition of a research library. Or if players rolling in wealth, make it 1,000 to 2,000 gp per week.

For really powerful spells, especially for combat or some sort of invulnerability, I’d make them have to quest for information that is rare, like only one known book in a lost library. Of course, it would have to fit the campaign and the interest of the players.

What’s The Goal?

My goal is rules simple enough to keep track in my head, plus simple enough to give the players an explanation so they know all they need to know without the GM doing side calculations on variables the player’s don’t know about.

It sucks enough to miss a roll to learn a spell. I really wouldn’t want to be a player sacrificing XP, treasure, and time only to fail. Thus I’d give XP for the coin spent on both success and failure. This might encourage the player to try again.

Of course, characters with higher ability scores, intelligence for magic-users and illusionists and wisdom for clerics and druids, will have a greater chance of success, just as with learning new spells.

If they succeed, they get to name the spell. Perhaps in a future campaign several decades or a few centuries from now, new PCs will come across a scroll or a spell book with some strange new spell. The Players will just eat that up.

RPGs

Why Follow ME, And Die!

Leave a comment

For those new to my blog, podcast, and YouTube channel, I wanted to explain where Follow Me, And Die! comes from.

Origins

Back in the mid 80’s my brother, Robert, started up a new campaign while I was off at my freshman year of college. Over Thanksgiving break, I rolled up a character, Griswald, a half-elf Cleric/Fighter/Magic-User. We went through four years of game time in four days.

Over the next few years, until after grad school, we played a lot. Griswald was always going off to fight and monsters and other enemies. He would hire all the mercenaries he cold find. From the first fight he did this and for many after, he would be the last one standing, or only have a couple of mercenaries left.

One day, I said in frustration to my brother, Robert, the DM, that it wasn’t fair he couldn’t find mercenaries.

Robert quickly replied, “Well it’s like this, word has gotten out and it’s like ‘Follow Me, And Die!'” That was both true and funny.

The first time most of my mercenaries lived to see victory, it was a shock to us all. That success has repeated ever since. Not always a sure thing, but Griswald has managed to hold his own.

Choosing A Name

In 2009 when I decided to start a blog, I needed a name and “Follow Me, And Die!” was the perfect name. It expressed a truth about my favorite D&D character’s experience, and meshed perfectly with my sense of humor. What better name for a social media brand than “Follow Me, And Die!”

You can here the companion podcast here, or watch the companion YouTube video here.

Here are two older articles talking about Follow Me, And Die!

Why “Follow Me And Die!”?

The Story Behind “Follow Me, And Die!”

RPGs

Deven Rue – A New Website

Leave a comment

If you are a fan of the cartographer and overall creative genius, Deven Rue, you may have noticed that her website rueink.com isn’t working.

This is because she changed her URL to devenrue.com. So update your bookmarks and check out her new site. Wow, did she ever make it look cool!

She also has a Patreon and her website is designed to cater to her Patrons. She offers a cartography course, and a birthday option to get cool things on your birthday. There are many other tiers each with their own rewards.

So if you like maps and props for your table, then visit her site, and support her Patreon to help her keep making cool things!

To say I’m a fan, is an understatement. I’ve enjoyed her work since before she started her Patreon, and backed her Patreon before things really took off for her after her first mention on Critical Role.

The initial display of Deven Rue’s new website. It rotates between different images.

RPGs

Noteboards Leaving U.S.

Leave a comment

Stattys, the company that owns Noteboard is closing their US branch. They have a 20% off sale using the code
“we-wish-you-well”

I have one and just in case, bought another using this code.

I am not affiliated with the company.

These were all the rage in the G+ days. If you don’t get one now, you’ll be paying European shipping prices to get one.

It has a grid on one side and blank on the other. Use a wet or dry erase marker and you’ve got a portable flip map for minis or just drawing a map to show players. Great for use at convention games.

Here’s their website: https://thenoteboard.com/

I bought one a few years ago. I first used it at Gary Con 11 in 2019. The very first game I used it, I got distracted and used a permanent marker. Thankfully, going over it with the permanent marker in short sections make it relatively easy to erase.

A few years ago when the original crew behind Noteboard was seeking a buyer, I considered buying it, but didn’t think I had the right capital or experience. Part of me wishes that I’d at least tried to get it.

I’m not sure if I’m the first to blog about Stattys closing their U.S. location, but I am sure the effects of COVID-19 are a big part of this decision.

RPGs

I Must Be Doing Something Right

Leave a comment

Yesterday, I woke up from a nap to see the following on the Discord server for my Sunday Roll20 AD&D game. [Listen to the companion podcast here.]

I made a comment of appreciation and got this reply.

I guess I’m going something right, this is how I feel about my brother Robert’s game. If I didn’t live nearly 600 miles away, I’d do something about that.

One thing I’ve found about a campaign world you engage in, is that it becomes an important part of your life. The creativity feeds an itch you can’t otherwise scratch. The bonding with family and friends is a great way to have stories that are over the top hilarious to us, and without a long set up to give background, are maybe a chuckle from others who weren’t there.

I think this is why things like Critical Role are so popular. It is an invitation to participate in the game world and the fans buy in with creativity on their side. There is fan art, fan fiction, fan cosplay, etc.

While they are not rolling dice and actually playing the game, they are still going along for the ride, filling in the blanks with their own imagination, just as in any RPG game, or a radio show, or reading a book. They are getting the creative, living in the moment, as observers of the heroes, and are essentially seeing the same benefit as playing does. The audience is like the crowd in the streets observing the heroes. They are unnamed NPC’s.

Some say the not actually playing the game doesn’t make them real fans of the game. I bet if they could find a group, they’d play.

I can only hope that all DMs/GMs can evoke a living world with the collaboration of their players. Once the world comes alive for the players, they will get hooked. It came alive for me as DM the moment the players started interacting with it.

RPGs

Session summaries

2 Comments

Having write ups of a game session is helpful to keep track of when the party was where, and whom they met, and what they did.

I first experienced session summaries, as an official thing players can do to earn XP, in the AD&D [Affiliate Link] campaign, Graveyard of Empires, of over four years of Wednesday nights. I’ve written about it many times. The DM gives 150 XP per level, so at 7th level, I’m earning 1,050 XP per session. John, the DM, wants at least one player to do an “official” summary, but each player can participate. We used a G+ group for this.

For the AD&D campaign, John made us pay for training. After awhile, he modified the Session Summary award for virtual GP equal to our XP awards that could be used to pay for training, and could be shared with others.

John carried on with that in the two year Stars Without Number [Affiliate Link] campaign, and now the follow-up to the original campaign, called After The Fall, using OSE [Affiliate Link]. The Stars Without Number game was posted to a Discord server. For After The Fall we are using a wiki software called MediaWiki that the GM hosts on his website.

My Campaigns

I use session summaries that I write as GM for my games, to ensure I don’t lose track of anything. I write them for the players, as I know what the GM needs to know, but also sprinkle in some things they didn’t necessarily know to reward them for reading it. I used the free Campaign Wiki site. It requires manual formatting, but is simple, and one can export it to text or HTML.

I first did this with my AD&D [Affiliate Link] campaign, The Broken Lands, and then the Delving Deeper campaign, Delver’s Deep. With Delver’s Deep I also put it into the Markdown editor Joplin. Joplin has a desktop and an Android and iPhone app and it can be synced vie Dropdown or similar service.

It may seem like a lot of work, but the information is built over time. the most amount of work is getting the starting information the players need, and to cross-link things as they begin interacting with the world. After 10, 20, 30, and now 43 sessions, The Broken Lands wiki looks quite impressive.

For the most part I try to do the summaries right after the session so it is more complete. I do this for both the Wednesday night campaigns and my campaigns.

The Benefits

There are several benefits for a campaign wiki:

  • The GM has a handy cross-linked reference to minimize forgetting what the players know and keep track of multiple threads of information.
  • Diligent players can keep up with things, and also have a reference.
  • New players or players that miss a session can more easily get up to speed with what is going on.
  • It could be the basis for a novel or short stories, or help create modules based on the campaign.

My First Experience With Campaign Summaries

Campaign summaries are nothing new to me. Back in the day when I first played Griswald, the namesake of Follow Me, And Die! i wrote up a personal summary of what Griswald did. I maintained that for every session for a few years of real time, and over ten years of game time. I did this because my brother Robert, my first and favorite DM, has a very rich campaign world. It is about 36 years old. Now his wife and kids and spouses play in it.

I still have it somewhere, and at one point when I had a decent enough computer, I typed up those notes.

One funny thing is I used the dating system of my brother Robert and I have Griswald at one year ahead of where Robert said I was. He said he was DM and he was right, so I accepted it.

What is your experience with campaign summaries whether back in the day, or more recently?

RPGs

How I run AD&D

Leave a comment

I’ve mentioned bits and pieces of how I run AD&D in various blog article and quick blurbs on various social media, but I don'[t think I’ve ever done a complete explanation.

AD&D (and by that I mean 1st edition), is what I’ve played and ran the most. AD&D is a collection of “modules” that one can use or not use. My preferences for how I run it are largely influenced by how we played it back in the day. One example is weapon speed. We tried it a few times and gave up on it.

In some ways AD&D is a better as a source of an example system for something, like random gems and jewelry. I like a simpler set of rules, like Delving Deeper. The Dungeon Master’s Guide is a great tool for any GM for any game.

AD&D is also a great example of how NOT to organize an RPG rule book. Like rules should be near each other, like height, weight, and age tables. I recall similar things being near each other in the DMG, but that is only my mental catalog, some things have 40 or 50 pages between them. Then there is something like multiple attacks by fighters like 3/2 attacks per round, which is mentioned in a couple places in the Players Handbook and a couple more in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

I used to have a fully functioning catalog and ability to find stuff in the various manuals, but over the years, some things have faded. Things that I recall as near each other, are nowhere near each other. I am slowly getting the pieces needed organized.

Books Used:

For the DM, whatever I want. But generally the Dungeon Masters Guide, Monster Manual, Monster Manual II, and Fiend Folio. I use all kinds of things for planning settlements, lairs, tombs, and dungeons.

For the Players, the Players Handbook and spells from Unearthed Arcana as they discover them.

[All of the above links are Affiliate Links.]

Character Creation

4d6 arrange as desired. I have a rule I call, “But I want it….” that allows players to have the minimums they need to run the sub-classes.

But I Want It – Players wishing to play a class who do not roll the stats for it, can set the minimum stats for those ability scores that are pertinent, but all other stats will be rolled on a d4+8 making their range 9-12.

Starting gold is 3d6 x10.

Hit points are maximum at first level, including the bonus or penalty from Constitution.

Death at -10 Hit Points. Binding wounds stabilizes, but does not bring consciousness. If knocked to negative hit points, you have experience trauma and are out for 1 hour per negative. Magical healing can minimize this.

Birth Date: Calendar is 12 months of 28 days, so d12 for month and 3d10-2 for 1st-28th day of the month.

Alignment: Good and evil are as one does. I have evil characters who are saving the world as long as they continue to get rich off it. Are they truly evil?

Alignment Languages: NONE. We NEVER used them that I can recall back in the day.

Detect Evil – Only beings of great power and consciously and consistently devoted to evil will register. I don’t necessarily play kobolds, goblins, and orcs as evil, just against the status quo of the “civilized” groups. I take this from the DMG. Good or Evil are based on one’s actions. Call yourself evil but if you save children from a burning building, you’re not necessarily evil.

Classes: Players Handbook, bard class document. Any race can play any class. I also allow non-standard multi-class options, like a half-elf cleric/ranger.

Experience Points for casting spells. Spell casters get 100 XP per level of spell they cast that benefits the adventure. The spell has to work, so interrupted spells are just waster, no benefit. I took this from my brother Robert, my first and favorite DM.

Reading Spells – We never required Read Magic to read spells. That’s how I still do it, as do most I have played with. Nor do we require Write to inscribe a spell into a spell book.

Spell Components – We alternated or were not consistent with spell components. sometimes back in the day we were super strict about spell components. Other times we only required components for the big power spells that needed rare or valuable components. In my campaign, I don’t worry about spell components.

Spell Range and Area of Effect – Range is in feet indoors and yards outdoors. Area of Effect is ALWAYS as stated, feet are always feet. It’s easy to confuse this and an enormous AoE gets used, when it really isn’t that big.

Gaining levels. If the party acquires enough loot to level up, they must be in a safe place, such as getting back to town, or a fortified location that allows them to rest up. On the journey across the sands of The Broken Lands, I have ruled that the lairs they cleared out are secure.

Don’t Roll a 1 – When a task is relatively trivial, but there is urgency, danger, etc. I tell players, “Don’t roll a 1.” on a d20. This ratchets up the tension and focuses everyone to watch and see if the 5% chance of failing a simple task under stress thwarts their plans. I use this mostly at convention games, and use it in all games I run, not just AD&D.

Deities – Not really a rule, but they way I’m handling deities in my campaign. Instead of pantheons and all the different bits, the main focus is the general phrase powers of light and powers of darkness. There are individual deities, but few stick to just one. This has a bonus for the home brewing GM. You don’t have to make up a pantheon to fit your world, or file off the serial numbers from another pantheon to make it fit.

The powers of light support life and natural death. The powers of darkness deceive and promise eternal life, that ends up being undeath. This is the good/evil conflict in my campaign.

GM Rulings

As situations come up in the course of play, I make GM rulings and add them to a GM rulings document in Roll20 for the players to see, and to remind me.

Shooting Into Combat – Normally, there is a chance to hit allies. After a fight with an Ettin, I decided to make a formal change, so it is clear. It makes sense to me that when the party is fighting a giant sized creature and no one in the party is Enlarged/Polymorphed/Etc. to also be giant sized, and there is sufficient illumination/vision to see both targets, that there is no chance for friendly fire. I made one formal check and no one was hit. I silently decided not to make further checks to avoid bogging down the combat with discussion. If you do missile fire into the dark or vs. an invisible opponent, even if a giant, there is a chance to hit an ally.

Spell Casting While Invisible – Enlarge does not constitute an attack when cast on an ally. Thus an invisible caster stays invisible. My current party loves to enlarge their tank so he hits harder.

Adding spells from Unearthed Arcana – I added some spells as part of the normal spells, like ceremony, phantom armor, and alter self.

Brazier for summoning Fire Elementals – As per MM p. 37 Elementals can only be summoned once per day per device. A device capable of summoning more than one type, can summon one of each type each day.

3/2 Attacks per Round – Like so many other simple things in AD&D, all the rules for this are scattered. I made a GM ruling that gathers all the information together and how it works.

This rule is all over the place and buried in the Gygaxian prose. It ONLY applies when fighting non 0 Level types. Any classed PC or NPC or monsters of 1 or more Hit Dice. For 0 level types fighter classes get 1 attack per level up to 6 available opponents, if surrounded.

3/2 means every other round of melee you get 2 attacks, once at beginning of the round, and once at end. The first attack goes first, in spite of the initiative.

This is made clear on page 63 of the DMG (see quote below in yellow) that the 3/2 means every odd numbered round of melee they get 2 attacks. (Every odd numbered round of melee for that individual is how I interpret this. If the first round of combat is only melee for SOME combatants, and those with 3/2 don’t engage in melee until round 2, then it is their 1st round of melee. One attack at beginning of round, and one at end.)

Those with 2 attacks per round get one at beginning and one at end of each round of melee.

Haste adds one to this number, 3/2 would be 3 attacks one round and 2 the next. 2 attacks per round becomes 3. Slow removes the 2nd attack in melee.

Casting Verbal Component Spells underwater – Water Breathing or Airy Water or similar required to cast spells while underwater.

Water Breathing in air – Air breathing creatures in air with this spell can breathe normally and don’t need to stay underwater until the spell expires.

Rules From Other Games

I like the Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic from D&D 5e. This would make sense in a situation where a player or party says they avoid the medusa’s gaze. If the medusa tries to gaze into their eyes rolling the save vs. petrification with advantage makes sense.

I also like the Usage Die from Black Hack [Affiliate Link]. This makes a lot of sense for a magic item with charges. The DM assigns a usage die and that way there is the mystery of no one knowing how many charges it has, and the benefit of the DM not having to keep track.

Fudge/Fate dice are interesting and can add a special element to a challenge or other scenario. The plus, minus, blank options could be used to gauge the degree of something. For example, with a reaction check, you could “flavor” the role with a fudge die. + means the best possible interpretation, – the worst interpretation, and blank a meh interpretation.

I have yet to incorporate these into my campaign, it is there in the back of my mind, in case there is a situation where it makes sense to use it.

Conclusion

I feel like I’m leaving something out. If I think of it, I will update the above. Part of my method is habit and preference born of habit. The rest is either from my experience as a GM or playing with various GMs.

RPGs

GMs Reference Library

Leave a comment

Cavegirl has this to share on Twitter.

I don’t know what instigated this, but this was my reply. I thought it good enough to make a blog post out of it.

What fool said this?

My role as both GM and player is a hodge podge of every book, comic book, TV show, movie, play, conversation, random thought, and past play experience.

I’ve taken ideas from they way we ran our games BITD, plus ideas of bloggers, and other games.

I like advantage/disadvantage, usage die, and other simple tweaks that can make a game fun and flow.

I’ve tweaked my GM style with the way other GMs do things. It may be subtle, but I still learn something from every game I run and play.

In recent weeks, it finally sunk in to my old set in my ways self, that I have a passive/aggressive streak that comes out in all my characters when I’m frustrated with what another player is doing to drive the narrative.

Strongly outspoken people who will talk nonstop really bring that out.

It was like I’m naked under a floodlight in a crowded room when the lightly went off.

I’ve been playing over 40 years and didn’t see it til now.

This may seem like a segue, but this illustrates the player growth aspect.

Now I can work on not doing that and changing my timing by anticipating these things and using my player agency to improve the session.

What are your resources? You should have an enormous reference library in you memory.

Work on utilizing it.

Brainstorming, free association, just writing whatever comes out, daydreaming, etc.

My whole blog is built on using my ever expanding personal library. My ideas that become PDFs on DriveThruRPG use that same library.

It’s OK to play or just read other games. You might find something you like, or think about something in your favorite game and get an idea to improve it.

Change is inevitable. We can either waste our strength resisting change, or we can ride the wave and see what we can do with new information.

RPGs

A Village Of Healing

1 Comment

Imagine a remote village with a remnant of an ancient tradition. Every decade of life, a person gets a cure disease. End to parasites, cancer,etc. As long as one does not meet an accident, or disease they can’t survive, hey will reach their maximum age.

As a remnant of a past age there is only a 5th level priest who can only do one 3rd level spell per day, baring an 18 wisdom and time to rest and relearn spells.

Twins and triplets would be a challenge as oldest gets the day, etc. Get 23 plus people together and 2 of them will share a birthday. (I had a logic professor who proved this in every class.)

I see an overworked aging cleric with a young assistant not up to the task.

The aged would be honored. Death would have a grand ritual to show the deceased into the nextv realm.

In ancient times, all healing spells would be available. Healing, restoration, disease, etc.

A lost or hidden town or city where this is still the case would be a fun adventure.

Customs and norms a party would wreck, or be a welcome relief.

A healing fountain that is broken or lost to living memory would fit well here.

My inspiration:

I got home from surgery for prostate cancer and would love a cure serious wounds to get some energy back. Then I realized cure disease would have handled the whole thing. My mind naturally wandered to an adventure scenario.