I will be at UCon 2019 in Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor, Michigan this weekend (November 22-24). I leave today and will enjoy the pre-con catch up with friends and pick-up games. Here’s a link to the PDF of the Con Book.
Friday morning, I will be running the AD&D [Affiliate Link] module, Village of Hommlet T-1 [Affiliate Link] . This is an homage as this was the first thing I ever ran as a DM/GM at a convention. That was at Marmalade Dog, here in Kalamazoo, a few years ago. I am now much better at running convention games. Since I put in the time to learn this module all those years ago, I wanted to give it a go and do a better job. I know I can do a lot better than when I ran it the first few times at Marmalade Dog. [You can see all my posts that mention Hommlet here.]
Friday evening, I will run a follow up scenario to last year’s Boot Hill 2e [Affiliate Link] adventure, “A Posse For The School Marm.” At the conclusion of the game, all the players asked for a sequel. I just had to oblige them. I hope I do it justice. [You can see all my posts about Boot Hill here.]
Saturday evening, I’m scheduled for 4 hours to have play testing of my card game. I will also be available for pick up games for those who are interested. The art is not moving as fast as I want it to, so I’m trying not to get ahead of myself.
As always, I look forward to some me time out of the house and away from work. Visiting with friends, making new friends, and playing games is a great mini vacation. If you’ll be there and we haven’t met, I’m the one with the black Follow Me, And Die! T-Shirt. I have several of them so I can wear one each day.
October 1st, 2019 would be Dave Arneson’s 72nd birthday.
Too many D&D players and RPG enthusiasts don’t know the history of D&D.
Dave Arneson and his gaming group, through a well documented iteration of influences, developed their fantasy game that they called Blackmoor after the town and dungeon for Dave’s campaign.
Dave and friends drove from Minnesota to Wisconsin to show Gary Gygax the game. Gary, the co-author of Chainmail, with Jeff Perren, was a prolific player and creator of games. This game lit Gary’s imagination and Gary created his Greyhawk campaign.
Gary asked for rules, and Dave sent him several handwritten pages, as the rules were in his head. Gary typed up the rules and began making his own changes or filling in perceived gaps. Eventually, they formed a company TSR and Gary wrote the rules that would become the three little brown books. Gary made a list of words for possible names, and one of his daughters picked the combination Dungeons & Dragons.
Without Dave Arneson, Gary Gygax would not have had his imagination and life focus re-directed to create D&D, with full credit to Dave Arneson as co-creator. At some point, there was a parting of the ways. While we can speculate and debate and argue the whys, what matters is, they parted ways and did not reconcile until decades later.
The big reason Dave is forgotten is that his name is not prominent on the covers of AD&D, and he left TSR early on.
Just because one does not know the name of the person who invented the role playing game from the influence of many others, does not change the fact that it happened. We all owe Dave Arneson a debt of thanks and gratitude for starting the ball rolling on the concept that has captured our imaginations and continues to capture the imaginations of new players.
Arneson’s name is forgotten because he doesn’t have a convention to remember him. I think he should. I’ve heard rumblings that maybe the Minnesota gaming community might actually do something about that.
It should not lead to heated debate. Dave Arneson was first on the shoulders of giants. Like so many original creators and inventors, he is obscure because someone else did a better job of presenting it and making it happen.
Dave may have been a very creative and entertaining GM, he does not seem to have been able to commit his ideas to a coherent form on paper to get into the hands of others. Had he been so, we may never have heard of Gary Gygax. Gary is the one with the organization and persistence to get a manuscript and get it published. Even that took the help of others for the finances.
It’s hard to talk about D&D and Dave Arneson without mentioning Gary Gygax. They were a productive team who co-wrote other things together and did a lot of play by mail and other in person gaming together before the role playing game.
I just want to say, “Thanks, Dave!” Several others have documented various aspects of Dave’s rightful place in the history of Role Playing Games. I don’t need to regurgitate them here. Read about it. Watch the Blackmoor documentary when it is released. There is a lot of interesting information available.
My renewed efforts to use a Bullet Journal to organize all the things I do under Follow Me, And Die! Bullet Journal is commonly shortened to BUJO. [Companion Podcast here.]
Here’s a List of What I Do Here:
Blogging
Both here at Follow Me, And Die! and at Multiverse.world
Podcasting
Patreon
Monthly PDFs
All the other things I do
YouTube Videos
Goal is 2 per month
Card Game
My goal is to Kickstart in 2020 and deliver by November 1, 2020.
Other Game Ideas
I have several other game ideas for card games, board games, and RPGs.
Convention Scenarios
UCON November, 2019
Gary Con March, 2020
Marmalade Dog , 2020
etc.
Any other task or project I need to track.
Possible NaNoWriMo for maybe one of these:
Finishing Novel
Western Campaign Building Supplement
Campaign/Worldbuilding How To
Prior Experience with BUJOs:
In 2017 I started a Bullet Journal to organize work, home, and other tasks and projects, and just getting all the items in an organized format in one place made all the difference in the world. I was massively productive, until I got distracted by my busiest time of year at work, December and January.
That time is so chaotic as we deal with triple the normal volume of support calls. It is all hands on deck, no time off in January, etc. Clients tend to wait until the last minute to do things, and other things happen that constantly derail plans to ensure things go smoothly.
That time of year just saps all of my mental and physical energy. The worst part is my creative energy is just gone.
Goals:
Since I know my prior experience with BUJOs and how much I need to get done between now and mid-December for work and how much I want to get done for Follow Me, And Die! something has to change. I’ve done better about making notes and keeping them organized on my computer, but there is something to be said for having it in your hands. Writing notes by hand tend to stick in one’s mind better according to studies.
I’m trying to organize my thoughts and ideas to maximize follow through. My health will also be improved with greater mental clarity/decluttering and organization overall will help me maintain a better sleep schedule, diet, and exercise routine. Building better habits is a challenge. We are hard wired to not make something a habit until we get rewards (addiction is the worst case extreme) or repetition until we essentially develop muscle memory for the task. It took years to get there, but I have brushed my teeth at least twice a day for 35+ years. The benefit is amazing my dentist with how old some of my fillings are. The current and prior dentist comment on it every visit.
With any type of creative endeavor, especially in the modern internet centric world, regular posting of content leads to growth. It is a combination of playing the algorithm game with various social media, getting the word out about your efforts, and achieving some level of recognition or financial success. I have no illusions of getting rich. I have that dream, but more realistically, I want to be able to negate my expenses on conventions, Kickstarters, and other game related things I buy.
Other Type Of BUJOs:
There are other types of BUJOs that one can use related to RPGs, namely the GM BUJO and the Player BUJO.
GMs can make a BUJO to record all their ideas. It doesn’t need to have the same format as a work, hobby, or personal BUJO. The key to a BUJO is the index so one knows where to find the information one has entered. GMs can have a single BUJO they fill with all their ideas across all game systems and genres, or they can make one for each game system, genre, or individual campaign or world. I have mentioned in the past that I have an article and plan a video on how I approach a GM BUJO, but it has yet to take form. Part of this new effort is to bring such ideas to reality so I can finally share them with others.
Players can make a BUJO for all their characters in all game systems they play, or they can have a BUJO for each campaign they play in. If you have the fortune to play with GMs that have long lasting campaigns, it may be realistic to have a BUJO for each campaign. But for many, one BUJO may last a long time.
Differences:
A standard BUJO is recommended to cover a single calendar year, and that one start a new one at the beginning of the year. However, a GM or Player BUJO can last for years, if one starts with a notebook with enough pages, or uses each page to its fullest.
Some creative people that do YouTube and other things, have one BUJO for YouTube and another for all other things they do.
Some people can get by with one BUJO for work and all other activities. I find for me, it is better to keep work and personal separate. Any crossover for me is noting game days in the work BUJO and days off or work travel in the personal BUJO. I only cross post when something for one impacts the other. The main thing to keep in mind with Bullet Journalling is to use what works for YOU. If it doesn’t work, don’t force it. Find the system that fits you best. If you don’t use it, it’s worthless.
The best part is you don’t have to use an expensive notebook. You can use any notebook that works for you. I find it best to start simple with a smaller notebook and figure out your system. Once you have a general idea of what works for you, plan your next BUJO when it’s time to start a new one. Don’t carry over the things that didn’t work. Use any hacks you come up with or stumble upon online.
Some people spend more time decorating their BUJO or other journalling method than they do entering and processing the tasks and projects they have. For some having the decoration or making the decoration is part of their process. It helps them focus. Having something that is pleasing to view encourages them to use it. Others, like me, just want something functional that will help us get to the next goal. I’d love to decorate my BUJOs with flowery lettering and intricate designs, but I’d spend so much time decorating I’d never get anything done. Find the balance that works for you.
Conclusion:
Bullet Journals are one form of tracking one’s tasks, events, projects, goals, and anything else one wants or needs to track. They can be used for work, personal projects, hobbies, and side gigs. You can make a BUJO as simple or complex as you need it. The level of complexity involves the precise coding you use in tracking items, to the level of detail in your data, and the level of decoration implemented. The key to its success is finding what works to help you move towards achieving the desired end results. If it works for you, hone and master the parts that work for you. If it doesn’t work for you, take anything of value that you find helpful, from the system to “only” learning what doesn’t work for you.
On September 12, 2019, I started a new Thursday night Roll20 campaign using Delving Deeper, called Delver’s Deep. Delving Deeper is a re-organization of OD&D(Original Dungeons & Dragons), AKA the 3 LBBs (Little Brown Books) in the first box set. My last post talked about campaign prep and linked to my podcast where I discussed it. [UPDATE: Here’s the companion podcast.]
I reviewed OD&D [Affiliate Link] , Holmes Blue Box Basic, Moldvay [Affiliate Link] , and Cook [Affiliate Link] . and Rules Cyclopedia [Affiliate Link] looking for the classic 2d6 morale and reaction tables. First, I was surprised to see that OD&D Book I, Men & Magic [Affiliate Link] only has the 3d6 loyalty table on page 13. It mentions checking morale, but I didn’t find an explanation of that mechanic via a PDF search.
[UPDATE: A comment posted that the reaction table is on page 12 of book 3, but it is labelled: Random Actions by Monsters. It has three tiers with instructions to modify based on various factors.]
The classic 2d6 table is in Holmes for the Hostile/Friendly Reaction Table. Since it didn’t use the normal language I had to flip though my book to find it. Moldvay has the 2d6 Retainer Reaction on page 21 and Cook has no table but uses text to describe the 2d6 Morale Check. Ouch, that’s hard to read at a glance. The Rules Cyclopedia [Affiliate Link] has the 2d6 table on page 93. I looked at Blueholme [Affiliate Link] and it has a 2d6 reactions table. all with the classic. five options tending towards neutral in the middle with degrees of positive or negative on the upper and lower end.
I had the realization the other day that a 2d6 additive table, where the results of 2d6 are added together has 11 possible options. 11 goes into 100 nine times with a remainder of 1. As I thought about 11 options and there being 9% if the table was evenly distributed, I recalled my EMT training and a past article on the Rule of Nines. This gives a 2d6 table a possibility of representing the chance of a hit being a particular location – at least by the number of available options. One slot for each arm, one for the head, two for each leg, and four slots for the torso.
I was driven by thoughts of a hit location table for a possible Western RPG. I keep going back and forth between doing my own Western RPG or a generic Western campaign building supplement. I looked to AnyDice to get the percentages in perspective, and was quickly reminded that two or more dice added together have a bias towards the middle. This article on AnyDice explains the details.
My hopes were slightly dashed for making a balanced table that gives a balanced chance to a certain area of the body. It is close enough, that it might be OK in practice. I’m no math guru. I know just enough about statistics to have a general feel for them, but the nuts and bolts of the analysis is beyond me.
The 2d6 Reaction Table from Delving Deeper with the total of the chance of results based on the sum of the values from AnyDice.
This shows just how strongly weighted the neutral result is.
I liked the number of options, five, on the 2d6 Reaction and Morale tables, so I used the same values to create a table for the god of luck in my new campaign. The name, Losefka, comes from the religion and deity generator tables from Table Fables II by Madeline Hale. I decided that if you were a devotee or cleric of the god of luck and fate, you would have a hold coin for binary decisions and roll the holy bones each morning to determine your luck or fate for the day in the following table, screenshot from my Roll20 macro.
I didn’t come up with special verbiage for the slightly negative and positive results. (I’m open to suggestions for cool way to phrase it.)
So far, there is a cleric of Losefka who has used the above table each day. There is a potential bonus/penalty for persistence in checking each day or failing to do so.
2d6 Appreciation
I have a new appreciation for the simple 2d6 additive table. The most common number of options for 2d6 tables in Delving Deeper are five options on the Morale and Reaction Tables. Seven options on the Wilderness Weather Table. Eight options on the Random Dungeon Location Table used for dungeon creation/stocking. If you want a number of results with even distribution, it is easier to use a single die of the right size for single digits or even divisible by 2, 3, or 4.
I have read lots of articles about 2d6 tables with the classic five tiers as in the Reaction and Morale Tables. When I searched for the tables from my recollection, I realized I had conflated re-use of the reaction/morale table and dungeon restocking. Various blog posts about both below: (It’s easy for all the blog posts I’ve read over 11 or 12 years of following the OSR to blend together. Some of these I read when they were new, and some from 2017 and later are new to me.)
In addition to the results one gets from adding 2d6 one can use 2d6 to generate simultaneous options for a single roll to get two independent d6 results, like for dungeon restocking. There are also d66 tables where one can get 36 different options using one die for the tens digit and the other for the ones digit. This is seen in Maze Rats [Affiliate Links] and Knave [Affiliate Links].
Conclusion
I don’t think I (and perhaps we) need to reinvent the wheel for tables. I am growing to like the simplicity of OD&D/Basic as expressed in Delving Deeper. Variations on existing tables can be used to get a good spread of options for all kinds of things from moral and reactions, to re-stocking, to wondering monsters, and checking one’s luck/fortune each day. While I think the d10/20 made a more balanced to hit chance for combat, we don’t necessarily need to use dice in all the Platonic solids.
I think it is more that we don’t need to invent tables and mechanics to allow us to use all the different die types. Some die types lend themselves to a more balanced approach. A prime example is the 2d6 hit location table that started this whole thing. There is a d12 with body parts on it that gives an even chance for any body part. The one I have is not balanced, so making a table and using a balanced die would give more far results.
If you need 2 results of equal probability just roll any die and go high/low. If you need 3 balanced results roll a d6 and divide by 2, etc. I think using the die type that best fits the spread of what you are seeking, whether a weighted value or equal odds for any result makes the most sense.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my dice, or magic math rocks, as some call them. I love the challenge of making a useful table for each die type. However, I have a growing love of simplicity and minimalism in prep and at the table.
For my Delver’s Deep campaign I am trying to use all the different resources I have besides Delving Deeper. AD&D[Affiliate Links] , Table Fables & Table Fables II [AMAZON Affiliate Link], d30 DM Companion[Affiliate Links] , d30 Sandbox Companion [Affiliate Links] , story cubes, various card decks, etc. I’m trying to avoid making everything too similar to everything others have done, and also creating more variety in the setting and dungeon so it has both unique and interesting results. Crafting a story to make it all fit together is half the fun!
I’ve been working on a new Delving Deeper [Rules Links, Hypertext, Lulu] campaign that will use Roll20. It’s first session will be Thursday, September 12, 2019.
I’ve liked Delving Deeper ever since I encountered it on G+ in 2015 or so. It makes for a good system for convention games for quick at the table character generation. I like it so much that when there is free shipping at Lulu, I buy 5 or 6 copies at once to take to conventions to sell at cost. Every con game I use Delving Deeper, every player eagerly grabs a copy.
My desire to run a sandbox hexcrawl & dungeon crawl with procedural generation for prep and at the table has finally borne fruit. I’m pulling out all the stops and using all the tables from RPG books (DMG, Dungeon Alphabet, d30 Sandbox & GM Companions, my own PDFs, Table Fables & Table Fables II, etc.) [Affiliate Links] and PDFs for as many ideas as possible. I have several card decks for wilderness generation, dungeon generation, Game Masters Apprentice, and many more. I’ll use my Inkwell Ideas Dungeon Dice and Village Dice, and Rory’s Story Cubes, etc. Plus I’ll toss in all the cool ideas I’ve always wanted to put in a game. Nothing is held back. It only remains for the characters to find them. Any new idea I have will be put closer to the starting point.
It is also a drop-in/drop out game so while many can only commit to bi-weekly, I have a weekly schedule for the first few sessions.
Danger abounds. Combat is deadly and encounters are not leveled. Awesome magic and powerful beings may be encountered at low level. Mucking about in the ruins of an ancient civilization can lead to discovering powerful items that are dangerous to all concerned.
Preparation
To prepare for the game I am focusing on building an organized framework to help me find information and various tables for ad hoc generation. I’ve put in 50 or so hours, mostly populating GM tools in Roll20, typing up ideas, and organizing various PDFs. (My PDFs are organized, but I made new shortcuts for the PDFs I most want to reference and put in a new folder on my desktop.)
I’m using a simple character sheet in Roll20. I made handouts with links to Delving Deeper information, and my YouTube series, Roll20 for the Absolute Beginner. Other handouts allow the players to keep notes about people and places, party loot, etc. I have created folders for any eventual maps, books, documents, or other things they might acquire.
For the GM I copied all the most relevant tables from Delving Deeper with a page number reference. I used a spreadsheet someone made. I lost the reference to who, but here’s the link. I much prefer copy & paste to typing something that exists in electronic form. In addition, all the player tables that are needed in play I put in the player section of handouts. I didn’t include all the ability related tables, as one doesn’t usually need them after character creation is finished.
I created a Campaign wiki at https://campaignwiki.org/. I offered players 100 XP per page of useful information they add.
I also made a spreadsheet to help calculate encumbrance and remaining gold from starting gold. I built it when I played in Cody Mazza’s Barromaze [Affiliate Link] game that uses Delving Deeper.
For campaign scheduling I made a Google Calendar with all of the dates the initial players indicated would work.
The first level of the dungeon starts with an interesting idea I had while working on the campaign. I used the Delorfano Protocols to generate some of the early rooms which had a fortuitous room generation that guided the bulk of the level. The 1e DMG random dungeon generation tables added some cool stuff too. Plus I let my imagination loose. I then used Delving Deeper to populate rooms/areas.
Currently I’m working on a carousing table and avoiding all the sexual innuendo and blatant sexual topics of so many tables I have found online. A discussion on the Audio Dungeon Discord, home to many RPG/OSR Anchor Podcasters, suggested downtime activities instead. That is, activities adventurers can pursue when they are in town instead of in the wilderness or dungeon. The general consensus was spending gp on a one for one basis for XP. I will keep the carousing table and add tables for warriors, wizards, and priests to do their non-carousing activities. I’m working out boons and detriments, I guess banes and boons is more alliterative, for the downtime tables.
I like the idea from Cody Mazza’s Barromaze [Affiliate Link] game where you don’t roll on the table if you save vs. poison. Fail your save and risk something on the table. Ray Otus’s elf got cursed and turned into a goblin. He is stuck until the curse is removed.
Elevator Pitch
Delvers’ Deep is a large complex of dungeons, tombs, ruins, pits, caverns, shafts, tunnels, and more.
Most just call it The Deep. It gets it’s name from the many deep natural and manufactured pits and shafts.
Some are claimed to be bottomless, or to go to the end of the world.
The Deep lies several days west the town of Crossway. Crossway lies at the crossroads of The King’s Way and the ancient Dwarf Road. Both Crossway and Delvington are an eclectic mix of races as it is near a crossroads leading to a hilly and mountainous region that borders The Deep. There is a forested area nearby where lumber for the “mining” and other work of Delvers intent on finding the riches of The Deep. Lumberton is the lumber camp/town.
Near a relatively safe entrance to the dungeon is a small village with the feel of a boom town called Delvington.
East Gate Tavern is the last safe building inside the walls on the Eastern edge of Delvington. East Gate Tavern is a hangout for adventurers, commonly called Delvers. Delvington has walls, towers, gates, and guards.
To the west are hills and mountains. The deep lies largely in the hills between Delvington and the mountains of the Dwarven Kingdom. The ancient Dwarf Road comes from the North Pass of the mountains and through The Deep.
To the south is the great forest. The King’s Way passes through the forest, home of the elves, Verdant Vale, and it crosses the mountains at South Pass.
Glory and riches at the risk of life and limb await.
Conclusion
I’m so pumped about running a regular game, I haven’t run or played in a regular game in nearly a year. Life and work stuff derailed it. I can’t make my Wednesday night group for the foreseeable future.
I will do my best to document and share things.
I want to share many things about the campaign, but I don’t want to spoil anything for the players. I’ll share things as they encounter them. I’ll either talk about it on Saturday episodes of the podcast, or blog about it. One thing’s for sure, I’ll have to either record Thursday’s podcast episode the day before, or rapidly between the end of work and start of the game.
WOW! D&D for Extra Life at Gary Gygax’s old house was a huge success! We raised $3,140! We played 4 games of D&D 5e with 4 different DMs. See my prior article announcing the event here.
A very common question while we were still streaming is when and where can people see the games if they missed it live. According to Bill Allan, it will be about a week until the VOD (Video On Demand) will be available for posting on YouTube or other sites. Each DM that has their own YouTube will post it there, or Bill will post on his YouTube Channel. I will host my session on my YouTube channel.
The Venue
Yolanda Fronteny and her husband are gracious enough to open the house to gamers. They gave the house a Facebook page: Center Street Dungeon. Yolanda is a great advocate for the game and brought one of her neighbor’s kids to Gary Con.
We were all amazed at how tiny this house is and that a family of 7 lived here when D&D was published. The basement is a lot bigger than I expected.
We were slightly surprised that Alex had never been in this house. He is Gary’s youngest child and only child of his second marriage.
I brought my original AD&D Player’s Handbook [Affiliate Link] and 5e Players Handbook for all players to sign. Several others did the same.
The Line Up
Game 1: DM: Bill Allan Players: Fenway Jones, Alex Gygax, John Gilbert, Mark Clover, GM Travis, and me.
UPDATE: August 28, 2019 – D&D at the Gygax House for Extra Life – DM Bill Allan
Game 2: DM: Fenway Jones Players: Alex Gygax, John Gilbert, Mark Clover, GM Travis, Bill Allan, and me.
UPDATE: August 20, 2019 – Game #2 Ran by Fenway Jones is not online.
Game 3: DM: Me (Larry Hamilton) Players: Mike Gygax, John Gilbert, Mark Clover, GM Travis, Bill Allan, and Fenway Jones.
UPDATE: August 28, 2019 – Game #3 Ran by me for D&D for Extra Life at Gary Gygax’s old house is now online.
Game 4: DM: GM Travis Players: Mike Gygax, John Gilbert, Tony Klaczynski, Bill Allan, and me. We only had 5 players for this game. Tony was one of the two crew. We tried to get Yolanda to join us, but she had never played.
UPDATE: August 20, 2019 – Game # 4 Ran by Travis Taub for D&D for Extra Life at Gary Gygax’s old house is now online.
The Stream Experience
Game 1 was the first streamed game I ever played in. There were three cameras and three panel lights around the dining room table. Bill Allan is the one who ran streaming for Gary Con 10 and GenCon 51 this year. I met him online a few years ago, and finally in person at Gary Con 9. We had never managed to game together, but we finally got to play in games each of us ran as well as co-players in the other two games.
Bill led with running the first game and then had me start as the first player to introduce themselves. Even though I had seen the 3 cameras being set up, I looked at the DM camera and had to be directed to the camera I was generally facing. I wasn’t the only one to make that mistake. For those who have never streamed, and it’s a multi-camera stream, tell the players (especially those who have never been in a streamed game) which camera to look at.
I had one other faux paux. A fidgeting habit when I’m waiting for my turn to do something is to twist my pen open and closed and it was squeaking. Another player handed me a note. I stopped, but still found myself doing it a few more times throughout the evening. Again, something to consider warning new streamers to find a quiet fidgeting device to not annoy those watching the stream.
I was not nearly as nervous as I expected to be. Just like running a game for a con, I forgot about nerves as I was so into each game.
Game 2 by Fenway was a great mystery and we had a couple of combats. I met Fenway at the first Jasper’s Game Day last year, and interviewed her for my podcast at the second Jasper’s Game Day. I’m glad we finally got to play in a game ran by each of us. She’s a lot of fun. We had some puzzles and a mystery to solve with a final combat.
Game 3 ran by me was not only my first time DMing a streamed game, it was the first time I ever DMd D&D 5e. The other players and crew couldn’t believe it when I told them. Of course, if you know how to GM any RPG, you can take the general skills to all RPGs. One just has to learn the differences. I ran my scenario, No, Realy, It’s Me [Affiliate Link] and we had a blast. It was roleplay heavy and the players avoided getting into combat. I cut my game to two hours as the first two games went 3 hours each instead of 2.5 hours each. This left time for Travis to run his game.
Game 4 ran by GM Travis was a dungeon delve and we had puzzles, challenges, traps, obstacles, and creatures to fight. It was a lot of fun and a great way to end the evening.
The Extra Life Donation Method
They had an option to give a name to pregens that didn’t have a name, for those who came without a ready character. People donated $25 to name those characters. We should have had all characters start without a name. Something for next year’s list.
A fun thing was different levels of donations could give a re-roll, advantage or disadvantage, higher amounts a natural 1 or 20, and $100 a magic item for a player.
It was hilarious to see regulars from Bill’s and Travis’ streams and games give them a slew of natural 1’s and that party a bunch of re-rolls, advantages, and nat 20’s. It really broke some of the games, but it was hilarious. Several donated a lot of natural 1’s to the DM, but some also gave the DM some 20’s.
I had a bunch of advantage, re-rolls, and natural 20’s given to me as a player in the 2nd game, but I couldn’t use them as DM in the game I ran. So all those carried over to my character in the final game. Each player then had another slew of re-roll, advantage and nat 20’s and I was given a ring of 3 wishes! I was doing everything I could to use all those rolls and wishes. I didn’t want to break the game too bad. I only managed to use 2 wishes to hilarious results.
The Aftermath
Yesterday was a long day. I live in Eastern time, but the venue is in Central time, an hour behind. I was wide awake long before I needed to be, and haven’t slept well several days before that. A lot of caffeine got me through. We got done about 10 or 10:30 and were packed up and cleaned up quickly. I left about 11:00 PM Central/midnight Eastern to start the 4 hour drive home. I drove until I got to the Michigan rest stop just over the line. I got there about 2:20 am and slept til 10:30. I then headed home and stopped for brunch along the way. I’m so tired, I am looking forward to a sound sleep tonight.
Bonus
I arrived just before 11:00 am Friday and met Mark Clover, Tom Wham, and Brad ???? we played Sushi Roll. It’s a quick and fun game.
After that, we went to Lake Geneva Games, where Mark is the manager and played a new Tom Wham game, Felithian Factories. That’s the only copy Tom got from Game Crafter. I’m impressed with the quality of the pieces and game board. I use them for the play test decks for my card game.
Mark Clover, Tom Wham, and I playing Felithian Factories at Lake Geneva Games
It was a 3+ hour game, but I liked it. After that Mark encouraged me to play my card game with Tom. So Tom played my game, gave some great feedback, and said, “It’s got a nice fame work.” So he liked the core of it. This was very cool as I am a fan of both tom’s art and his games. My brothers and I played Awful Green Things From Outer Space like crazy. That is one thing I still have my original and I got Tom to sign it this past Gary Con.
Tom Wham playing my card game at Lake Geneva Games.
Gallery
Here are all the pictures I took and several I downloaded from other participants.
John Gilbert – Event Organizer
The Dining Room serving as studio/game space
David – one of the crew verifying internet connectivity to ensure this will all work. Yolanda with her T-Shirt (She’s planning for more. No Details Yet.) Bill Allan DM of the 1st game & Fenway Jones with last minute social media posts before going live.
Fenway Jones took this picture right after the first game ended. I’m intently catching up on my socials.
Yolanda chatting with the crew from her spot to watch our games.
John checking the Twitch channel for updates and Travis & Fenway handling their socials prior to game #2.
Me, Alex Gygax, and Mark Clover prior to game #2.John, Travis, and Bill for game #2 ran by Fenway Jones.
Fenway, DM, and the others in final prep prior to game #2.
Picture of Fenway’s game by Mike Gygax.
My view from the DM seat prior to game #3. Mike Gygax and Travis. My view with all the players. Fenway Jones, Mike Gygax, Mark clover, John Gilbert, GM Travis, and Bill Allan.GM Travis running Game #4 by Yolanda FrontenayAlex & Mike Gygax with Yolanda before Alex had to leave for work.
Old School
Both Alex and Mike learned AD&D from their father and grandfather respectively. It was cool to be able to help introduce them to the game. I’m no expert, but before their first game, I knew more than they did. Now they’re as proficient in 5e as I am.
Suggestions For Next Time/Others Doing Streams
There are all minor points that will improve the over all experience of the stream and maximize the social media impact of social media postings between sessions.
Ensure those new to streaming know where to look prior to starting in a multi-camera setup.
Advise those who fidget to bring a quiet fidgeting gadget and not one that squeaks.
Pre-plan for the live social media slam prior to each session for each participant.
Ensure all participants are following each other on all mutual social media platforms and tag each other in all posts leading up to, during, and after the event. Have a print out with the stream link to use in postings. Have a list of hashtags for consistent use by all participants across their social media. Any available social media packet from Extra Life would also be helpful. Messages that one can copy and paste can save time and allow for rapid posting on multiple sites.
Ensure all participants are photographed as DM and player in each game for any follow up articles or posts.
This also ensures each person who DMs has a memento of the occasion. Especially nice if their first time streaming or the location is memorable.
Use a small white board to relay messages to the DM running the game, or explain hand signal methodology in advance.
UPDATE: Of of August 25, 2019, our Extra Live event is 76th overall for YTD funds raised and 2nd for Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin!!
UPDATE: August 27, 2019 :
WOW! We made the top of the Extra Life page! I’m not in the picture because they used the picture I took when I was in the DM seat!
In just over two weeks, on Saturday, August 24th, I will participate in a fundraiser for Extra Life in a Twitch streamed series of D&D games ran by different DMs. I have the pleasure of running one of those games!
Bill Allan, Fenway Jones, Grant Ellis, GM Travis, Jason O’Brien, Alex Gygax, and I will join John Gilbert at the former home of Gary Gygax live streaming D&D for a fundraiser for Extra Life.
Please consider giving, and if you can’t give, please share!
Extra Life is where gamers play games to bring attention to the needs of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Twitch, Wizards of the Coast, and others lend their support to streaming to help maximize the reach of these games to a wider audience.
I was blessed with two healthy sons and two healthy granddaughters. But even healthy kids need an emergency room. Children’s hospitals are designed around the needs of children and they handle emergencies, surgeries, chronic care, cancer, and ICU.
Pardon me while I geek out
I’ll play in multiple games and will run one of them. This will be my first time playing and running live streamed games! I’m so excited to share my DM style and my adventure with the audience. I’ll bring my relaxed old-school methods to D&D 5e and live streaming.
I’m sure I’ve written about this before on my blog, Twitter, and elsewhere. I’m not going to go dig up those links, as there’s not a lot to what I have to say about it.
Feedback is very helpful for those of us creating RPG materials. So like it or not, please let me know in a constructive way.
If it’s crap, can it be salvaged?
If it’s great, what is great about it?
Did I spend too much time in one area and not enough in another.
Did I leave out something that really makes sense to be there?
To me, silence means it’s perfect, which I find hard to believe. All creators feel self-doubt to some degree. I always have a nagging feeling I’m not good enough or do a good enough job.
However, I’m not looking for a pat on the back or false platitudes or building up my ego. In some ways the downloads says one thing and the money towards PWYW titles on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link] says it more strongly. Still I think I only have one review on one product. Part of that may be that publishers on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link] can’t leave reviews. (I think some bad actors gave bad reviews to punish competitors.)
Over on Twitter I started a hashtag, #IYLSSS (If You Like Something Say Something) as a way to support small creators. Related tags are ResponsibleFandom and #SupportSmallCreators. I’ve not done much myself with those hashtags for awhile, and I should be better. Especially as a small creator myself.
The idea is if you like something tell the creator AND tell OTHERS! Word of mouth is the best advertising. Likes are great, but sharing and re-tweets actually help others know about something.
Here’s a Sample List of Ideas:
Tell others about the Kickstarter you backed, and talk about the final product when it arrives. In person and on blogs and social media.
Do a review on your blog or on the creator’s website or DriveThruRPG product page, and then share it across all your social media.
If you have a YouTube and/or Twitch channel, talk about it there.
If you have a podcast, talk about it there.
Even if your social media only has a few followers, maybe someone who follows you has a lot of followers. If they share your mention then all of their followers see it. I have just over 1,000 followers on Twitter, but since I had around 100, I’ve had those with thousands of followers follow me. I don’t mention those people directly without their consent if I’m pitching my own stuff or the stuff of others. But when I like something they are doing, I mention them and they often like or re-tweet/share it.
I’m almost 55 years old, and if I can figure out this social media stuff, then anyone can. If you’re not a creator, then you are a consumer and your words of support are often more valuable than your single purchase. I’m not asking people to plug my stuff because they like me, but because they like what I’ve made. I’m not asking for just me, but for any small creator who does something you like or think is cool.
While I’m under know illusions of being able to make a living creating games and game materials, I believe it is possible to break even. I have over a decade before I anticipate retirement, so while I have the income to subsidize my hobby and creative efforts, I will take advantage of it. My hope is that I can make enough to continue that creative effort in my retirement years for a few decades. This creative outlet brings me satisfaction in spite of the frustrations of layout and design.
Others are so much more creative and prolific than I am and I’m surprised they aren’t able to make a living at this hobby.
I hope you will always support the small creators with your likes and shares, posts, reviews, podcasts, live streams, and videos.
I backed the 2017 Kickstarter for Isometric Gaming Paper. I’ve had mine for a nearly two years, and am finally posting a review, lost in my drafts folder.
The video with the Kickstarter does a great job of showing how you can use isometric paper for your maps. I got two rolls of isometric paper, and two rolls of hex paper, one on regular white paper,and the other on blue. I also got a package of 100 sheets of 8.5 x 11 inch isometric Gaming Paper.
Just like my review of the original, the same holds true for this stuff.
It’s a great Michigan company, so it’s a way to support a local/regional company for gamers in and around Michigan.
If you need an inexpensive battle map, or just want to do wall sized doodle or mapping, this is for you. It has a bit of reusability, and can roll up or fold up to use an old map in the future.
If you’re looking for a water safe medium that can take a bit of standing liquid for a few minutes, a plastic or vinyl mat is more durable, but gaming paper can handle a small amount of moisture or a quick clean up.
If you’re looking for something that won’t matter if you use permanent marker on it, this is a cheaper and therefore less stress inducing option.
I’m not a big one for elaborate battle maps and don’t play in person often, so I’ve got many year’s worth of maps for live gaming at the ready.
I had three different ideas related to magic come to me today.
What are the effects of light emitting spells on infravision?
Cursed item idea.
Luck Blade Idea.
Light Emitting Spells and Infravision
Fireball, lightning bolt, light, shocking grasp are all light emitting.
What is the effect of using them in the dark?
Infravison, ultravision, and normal vision would all be seeing spots if in a certain range and not killed. Even the caster would be affected.
At least the next round possibly -2 to -4 to hit. Casting spells might not go where you want. You might accidentally heal an opponent in the fight, or wound an ally.
I think we’re used to light spells, lanterns, torches, candles, and campfires spoiling infravision, but I don’t recall ever having a DM rule that casting lightning bolt, fireball, or other light emitting spell does anything to vision.
Similarly, a lightning bolt should produce a thunderclap. How loud will this be underground or indoors where the sound wave is bounded? Will it cause a ringing or other issue with hearing? Will it give a penalty to hear noise?
Cursed Item
My idea for a cursed item can be anything, a book, scroll, ring, weapon, or other mundane item. If the person suffering under the curse can’t get remove curse, their only recourse is to give it to someone who willingly accepts it —as long as they do not know it is cursed. One might suspect it is cursed, but only if they know it is cursed can they avoid taking on the curse.
If the cursed person gives it to someone who knows it is cursed, their only recourse is remove curse or other magical means.
Luck Blade
A luck blade is a +1 weapon with one to three wishes. What if a luck blade were also an intelligent sword, but it had no more wishes? I see a couple of possibilities:
The blade long ago granted it’s last wish and is now “merely” a +1 blade, but it longs for the glory days of having such power within. It might be boastful, needy, cowardly, smug, or helpful. It might have vague, unreliable memories of the past locations of ancient rings of wishes, genie lamps, scrolls, etc. The locations are so ancient that they now lie in buried ruins, sunken cities, or someone in the more recent past has already found and removed the item(s). The removed items might have had their wishes used.
Another way to handle this is that while intelligent and no longer having any wishes to grant, the sword still thinks it has wishes. Somehow the “counter” of how many wishes it has is broken, and it will say it has 1d6 wishes available, and never less than one.
Perhaps it secretly knows this but strings along it’s bearer hinting about the possibility of granting wishes if the bearer completes a great deed. Once completed, the great deed’s achievement is somehow flawed, or they say the wish will bear fruit once the time is ripe. Anything to avoid admitting they don’t have any wishes left.
Maybe there is a way to truly restore its ability to grant wishes by performing some great deed, but the sword and bearer have to work together to figure out what that is.
