Category Archives: RPGs

RPGs

Ten Years of RPG Blogging

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Today marks ten years since I posted the first article on my blog on July 18, 2009: Why Follow Me, And Die!

That was a terse few sentences that only gave the barest of details of the origins of Follow Me, And Die! {You can get the long version here.] It was followed by lots of posts with stories from back in the day and my own ideas about generating ideas and preparing to run games. I later touched on some of the sessions of play when I finally introduced my sons to AD&D.

Since that time I have interacted with a lot of other RPG bloggers and gamers online. Eventually, G+ became the main place to interact and the blog content went down. Occasionally, I would make a blog post out of a comment that was just too long. Many ideas for blog posts were generated from the fertile soil of G+.

G+ faded away with a bit of a return to blogs, and I’m blogging much more regularly, close to once a week.

In 2014, I think it was I posted every day until mid-September when I ran out of things to write about. Over the years I’ve had times I barely looked at the blog.

I started attending cons regularly and met other bloggers and gamers that I knew from online. I attended Gary Con 8 where I met Satine Phoenix, who created my current social media avatar which debuted January 19, 2017. Satine was kind enough to fix my blog header to look better with her art. I have an image on a black background and another on a white background that rotate. [You can get a black shirt with that image here.] A couple months later, I added another blog header in rotation by Del Teigeler. I also use that as the header for my Twitter account.

I started a YouTube channel and am not posting as frequently as I’d like, but I just reached 400 subscribers the other day.

Over on Twitter I passed 1,000 followers.

Last month I wrote this post about the first anniversary of my podcast.

Last August, I started publishing PDFs over on DriveThruRPG and in September I launched my Patreon. Before July is over, I will publish my 12th monthly PDF.

I also am working on a Kickstarter for a card game of all things. If you’d like to get an email when it launches, you can sign up here.

I’ve been gaming for 42 years and on August 24th I get to run a game and play in other games at Gary Gygax’s old house where D&D was written for an Extra Life fundraiser. It is hosted by John Gilbert, with Bill Allan, Fenway Jones, Jason O’Brien, Alex Gygax, Grant Ellis, GM Travis, and me. I am so excited for this opportunity for my first streaming game as player and GM! I hope that we raise a lot in addition to having a great time.

Ten years is a blink of an eye. I’ll be in my mid-fifties in a couple months, and ten years is nothing. I hope to keep playing for decades to come, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the world and gaming changes as I watch my grandchildren grow.

I want to thank everyone who has been part of this wild ride and I look forward to more chats, conversations, and games.

You can listen to the companion podcast here.

Rant, RPGs

No More Nerds – A Rant

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A recent article on The Guardian has the terrible title: No more nerds: how Dungeons & Dragons finally became cool.

This struck a nerve with a lot of people. My own opinion is that the title of this article sucks.

“No more nerds: how Dungeons & Dragons finally became cool“

Joshua Kubli over on MeWe is on point: [Emphasis added.]

“We will have made progress when “finally became cool” is instead written as “people finally realized how cool it was all along.“

The article itself seems to be OK, but that title is a “kick ’em for being nerds and take their stuff away” click bait.

I then went on a rant about this over on Twitter. I even looked up their process for submitting a complaint, but being a member of an interest group isn’t in their editorial code for them to even consider it. I pointed out that every category listed in their discrimination clause includes nerds.

Titles like this are a backhanded ad hominem that has no place in civilized conversation.

We need to do better and all nerds, geeks, dorks, and so forth need to complain about such things. Yes, things have gotten better culturally since 1978, but we don’t have to take it.

The post Revenge of The Nerds world should be better. We’re all nerds in our own way.

The nonsense I endured was nothing compared to racism, religionism, appearanceism, ableism, orientationism, & the like.

Everyone is welcome at my game, my table who is there to play the game & show respect & common courtesy to each other.

The only reason to exclude someone from your game is if they are an unrepentant jerk who has had intervention to explain the errors of their ways.

I did a podcast episode about this here.

RPGs

One Year Of Podcasting

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You can hear the companion anniversary podcast episode here.

Monday, June 24, 2019 marked one year since I started podcasting. Initially, I was podcasting whenever I had an idea, with often a new episode every day. It wasn’t until September of 2018 that I settled into my three episodes a week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

I maintained that schedule until after Thanksgiving, 2018 when I had to deal with the combined chaos of the day job and some personal issues. Once the personal issues were under control I had a few episodes here and there and was back to the normal 3 episodes a week, except for Gary Con, but I did do a joint episode with Ray Otus and Cody Mazza. I was consistent with episodes until May and was just tired and dealing with work and stuff around the house.

I finally started back on a regular schedule and the rains and flooding overwhelmed my sump pump. I thumped it and it started, but it wouldn’t turn off. I spent all day last Saturday replacing it. I live in a house that’s almost 100 years old. It has 3 or 4 different types of pipe in the plumbing, and this sump pump was not installed the way it should have been so it took several trips to the hardware store to get all the right parts, but I got it done.

Unfortunately, the water got deep enough before I could get the new pump in place that it knocked out the pilot light on the water heater, so we’ve been without hot water for a week. I have tried a couple times to light it, but no go. I think until it dries out completely in the basement, that it’s useless to try. The water finally quick coming in through the sump and the seams in the floor. Now the dehumidifier is slowly drying things out. As long as there’s no more rain, I can relax a bit.

I was so worn out Saturday, that I just vegged the rest of the day, and no podcast. I have a fitbit and I made 50 trips up and down stairs. I also took it easy Sunday.

Then the internet wouldn’t work for my home computer, so I was limited in what I could do. I finally determined that I just needed to move the Ethernet cable to another spot on the modem. I just got the new modem in March, when I switched internet providers. For a couple days I was worried the network card went out. I’m glad that’s not it, as I need to be ready for other expenses.

Thankfully, my RPG collection is high and dry and mold free! I lost most of my original collection to a water leak, so there’s no way I’m storing any of it in the basement!

I had my end blurb since before the 3 episodes a week. Is that too iconic to change how I do that? What do you think?

I’m way behind on listening to my fellow podcasters, and it seems like there are a lot of new ones over the last few months. I’ve tried to listen to them. I keep hoping to change that, but too much other stuff keeps interrupting my fun.

Next month, I will publish my 12th monthly PDF on DriveThruRPG supported by my patrons on Patreon. Most of them are PWYW, but I will be going back to each of them and improving their formatting as I’ve gotten a lot better at formatting. I have 1 Silver Seller (Caravans & Trade) and 2 Copper Sellers (Library Generation Tables and Locks, Vaults, and Hiding Places).

Next month is also the tenth anniversary of my blog! I can’t believe it’s been that long!

The end of August will be 1 year since I launched Follow Me, And Die! Entertainment LLC to get ready for the Kickstarter for my card game. The game is moving along. So far, things are on track to launch in the first half of 2020.

September will mark 1 year since I launched a Patreon. I want to thank all my patrons who have been on this journey with me!

RPGs

Allergies In RPGs

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I suffer from seasonal allergies, things like: pollen, dust, mold, and dogs and cats.

This got me to thinking. What if adventurers had a defect of being allergic to something in the dungeon? Normal molds and other airborne fungus in the depths will lead to constant blowing of the nose, coughing, and sneezing. I sneeze very loudly and I would alert the entire level of a moldy or dusty dungeon of my presence with a single sneeze.

Perhaps monstrous molds and fungi would also provoke a similar reaction, perhaps serving as a warning to a party. I can’t tell the difference between all the pollen that makes me react. I can smell mold when my basement is damp. I can taste mold in tea from fountain machines, so I don’t order it if it isn’t brewed.

What spells and precautions could be taken to help alleviate an adventurer’s allergic reaction to irritants in the dungeon, tomb, or other location? How does the adventurer convince the party to let them tag along?

Perhaps a hireling is the one with allergies and they don’t mention it until their in the dungeon coughing and sneezing.

In addition to normal allergies, what if the person is allergic to monstrous creatures? How do they know until they encounter it? They have to survive the encounter long enough to use the knowledge, if they are sure what it was that cause their reaction.

What if the monsters are allergic to humans or something the players carry?

What happens when a dragon sneezes? Does it trigger an involuntary use of their breath weapon?

Does another type of creature with an allergy have one of their abilities triggered, like invisibility, cause fear, or fly?

There are too many possible combinations of things for a list of all possible allergens. The only ideas I have for tables is effect on the sufferer, range that the effect reaches the sufferer, etc.

Allergic Reaction d6

  1. Watery Eyes – Vision Affected
  2. Scratchy Throat – Clearing the Throat and/or coughing
  3. Runny Nose – Lots of sniffles or Blowing the nose
  4. Post Nasal Drip – Gagging, hacking, coughing, blowing the nose
  5. Hives
  6. Anaphylactic Shock (Anaphylaxis)

Remedies d6

  1. Nasal Irrigation (Neti Pot, etc.)
  2. Roots with anti-histamine properties
  3. Berries with anti-histamine properties.
  4. Herbs with anti-histamine properties.
  5. Two of the Above.
  6. Nasal Irrigation plus two more. (May include using a substance for irrigation made from one or both of the other items.)

Cures

Heal is obvious. Will Cure Disease cure an over active immune system, such as with allergies? Will Remove Poison only clear the substance causing the reaction until the next occurrence? Slow Poison would be nearly useless with allergies, since their effect is almost immediate. For anaphylaxis slow poison would be helpful in keeping the person alive.

Will wizards and alchemists have concoctions that work?

What folk cures actually stop and prevent future reactions?

Perhaps fresh honey from giant bees will cure pollen allergies.

Eating a rare giant mushroom might cure fungal allergies. What if it’s a sentient mushroom, is it an evil act?

Surviving a monstrous mold attack might cure mold allergies. I mean being affected by the mold and managing to survive. Surviving in spite of a failed saving throw.

Eating a displacer beast’s tentacles might cure cat allergies.

Eating part of a monstrous fish or other water or ocean dwelling creature might cure fish allergies.

RPGs

Circlets Of Golem control

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I made some notes about magic items for controlling golems. I had plans of introducing them in my AD&D campaign, but they have yet to appear. This is an idea that others may find useful in their own games.

The AD&D Monster Manual [Affiliate Link] lists four kinds of golems on pages 47-49:

  • Flesh golems inspired by Frankenstein‘s monster (perhaps more by the Universal Movies). 1% chance per round of continuous combat of becoming out of control. Creator has 10% chance per round of ragaining control. Created by magic-users.
  • Clay golems inspired by the 16th century golem of Prague. 1% chance per round of continuous combat of becoming out of control. No chance to regain control. Created by clerics.
  • Stone golems – Creator always maintains control. Created by magic-users.
  • Iron golems – Creator always maintains control. Created by magic-users. Iron golems are subject to attack by Rust Monsters.

The Circlets

The circlets are needed because the creations can become out of control of their creators. Thus the need for something to improve control and the chance of regaining lost control.

Flesh Golem Control – Band of leather made from the skin of a slain flesh golem. The usual story of creation of this device is that a magic user has had to slay their first creation in the interests of self-preservation. Creation of this magic item from the remains of a golem is one way to use what one has learned and expand upon it.

Clay Golem Control – Precious metal circlet of either silver with gold weave, gold, or platinum with a clay “stone” from a slain clay golem inset in the center that rests over the forehead.

Stone Golem Control – Precious metals similar to that used for a clay golem, but the stone insert is of the same form of stone from a slain stone golem.

Iron Golem Control – Iron band from a slain iron golem forged into a circlet.

Circlet of Controlling All Golems – The leather from a flesh golem wrapped around the iron circlet from an iron golem with stones from a clay and stone golem.

NOTE: Those who create golems who are forward thinking, can use a portion of the material from their first creation to make a circlet of control. Such a circlet will improve the control over the related golem.

Abilities of Control Circlets

  • Circlets improve the chance of maintaining and regaining control of golems of the appropriate type.
  • The wearer is invisible to out of control golems.
  • The wearer receives a special protection to enemy controlled golems and is at -4 to hit.
  • The wearer has a chance to wrest control of enemy controlled golems. There is a 50% chance that a failed attempt to gain such control causes the golem to go berserk.
  • The wearer can focus on a single golem for one round to attune to a single golem and then access all the senses of the target golem. Such attunement is interrupted by dispel magic. A spell of dispel magic will prevent regaining control of the affected golem(s) for 1d6 turns. Similar effects occur by other spells such as anti-magic spheres, rays, etc. Rooms or areas with an anti-magic or dispel magic effect block and prevent control for the duration of time the golem is in such an area. If the wearer is in such an area, if the effect is not permanent, control can be regained in 1d6 turns after leaving such an area.
  • Range: 60′ per point of intelligence of the bearer. Alternate range: Line of site. Spells and items that increase the range of vision will boost this.

Similar Items

Potions and Scrolls of golem control also exist.

Potions, scrolls, rings, or other items can render the bearer invisible to golems, and provide the same benefit as control circlets for out of control and enemy controlled golems.

RPGs

Monstrous Creatures Not Slain

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A recent picture making the rounds is of an alligator with a knife in its head. There is nothing for scale, so the size of both the alligator and the knife are unclear. One person interviewed said it appeared to be in or near its eye, and appeared to be a steak knife. The picture above makes it appear in the center of the skull. [Photo by Erin Weaver/Facebook]

Without scale, it is easy to see a giant alligator with a sword in it’s skull. I imagine a furious battle and a final blow from a valiant knight merely embedded his sword in the creature’s skull instead of slaying it in a final flurry of blows.

How many creatures a party encounters are wounded or bearing marks of battle?

Adventurers vs. Creatures

In a living world type of campaign, the player characters are not the only ones acting on the world. Other NPC adventurers will try to find their own fame and fortune, some will fail miserably, but still leave a mark.

How many giant boar bear a splintered lance or spear in their shoulders or hindquarters? Perhaps it is a magic spearhead that prevents the creature from dying of disease. Is is coated with silver or copper which have antiseptic properties?

Giant alligators or crocodiles that bear magic swords in their skulls like the sword in the stone. The one who removes the sword is the one true ruler of the river or swamp, or they just have a cool sword with a tale to tell.

Any large, giant, or enormous creature might bear wounds with weapons or fragments of weapons still protruding. Non-intelligent or lone creatures might not be able to reach a protruding weapon. Some might make a bargain for those who can remove the offending object, like the fable, Androcles and the Lion.

Elephants, mammoths, wholly rhinos, rocs, bullettes, dragons, wyverns, giants, and so forth are all examples of large creatures that might have a fresh, festering, or healed over wound with a weapon in the wound.

Animal vs. Animal

During mating season, males of both carnivorous and herbivorous species will fight each other. Deer will butt heads and antler may shatter or wound both parties. Occasionally both combatants become locked at the antlers and both starve as they cannot disengage.

Carnivores may be wounded from fighting with other carnivores or dealing with scavengers. Both hunter and prey may be wounded in the fight for survival. This is true of animals of all sizes. Will a wounded animal be fleeing from a predator or limping back to its lair after a hunt gone wrong? Wounded animals are more likely to fight.

In fantasy games, a dragon wounded in a fight with a pair of wyverns over a meal would not be a pleasant encounter.

Environment vs. Creature

Animals of all sorts can be affected by environmental hazards, such as tar pits, mires, quicksand, landslides, tree falls, etc. As well as the various forms of traps by hunters from snare and pits, to falling boulders and logs, to mechanical or magical devices. In addition to hunters and trappers seeking meat or pelts, villages might try to trap a marauding tiger.

Strong predators in a pit trap would not welcome a hapless adventurer falling on them.

Variety

Not all animals need be wounded, sick, or in a fight for their lives. An encounter with a creature can be normal animals of all sizes, or giant forms of each, or magical or monstrous. Similarly, the intelligent species encountered need not all be bent on violence or part of a secret evil cult.

It is easy to make a side table to help you determine if something encountered is healthy, sick, injured, or dying. Also whether any injuries are by competitors, predators/prey, environmental hazards, villagers, patrols, or adventurer. One can set a target of 30% of encounters are other than healthy, so 1-2 on a d6, 1-3 on a d10, 1-6 on a d20, etc.

This same mechanic could be applied to creatures in a dungeon or underdark environment. Unless the dungeon is a place that re-sets to starting conditions when any adventurers leave, an actively delved dungeon will have signs of others braving its dangers. Those who live in the dungeon will have injuries from their hunting or being hunted, or territorial disputes.

That room with 10 goblins behind a barred door might be healing up from an encounter with the carrion crawler just up the hall. It might even be wounded from that encounter.

RPGs

The Problem With Gatekeepers

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Gatekeepers are a foul lot. They are incapable of just moving on when anyone in any group or category that they don’t like does anything in a way that is not the way they’d do it. Often they invent new reasons for dislike, especially when any form of fun is not the way they’d do it. If their parents ever told them to keep their mouth shut if they didn’t have something nice to say, they ignored it.

In my mind’s eye, I see gatekeepers as two guys guarding a “gate” across a path. These gatekeepers are under a delusion that there are walls around fun and that they are imposing and powerful creatures who guard a massive door in the only entrance.

In reality, it is two rotten posts of wood with a frayed, decaying rope across a path. Their only power is the ability to convince others in the reality of their delusion.

They are most outraged when others ignore their delusion and walk around their gate and “through” the walls to fun. Their only recourse is to spew vile words of mockery and belittlement. They would be clowns if what they said was actually funny. Unfortunately, they pile their manure to the sky, and impose themselves on conversations.

An ability to drive people off in tears and outrage, or enflame the embers of past kerfuffles keeps their efforts and their names alive. It’s like their afraid if they are silent and let people have what they call “bad, wrong fun” that they will cease to exist.

Sadly, they have two effects. First, they convince others who are new to the fun that they don’t belong, and they leave with the belief that all who participate in that fun are just like those rude, foulmouthed “gatekeepers.” Second, others with similar ideas join their cause and make the shouting louder.

Unfortunately, those who stand in opposition to the “gatekeepers” are just as loud and actively seek out those who support the “gatekeepers” even if it is just a follow on Twitter or Facebook. Maybe they follow them because they followed them before they were so nasty, and their stuff doesn’t show up in their feeds.

I follow over 600 on Twitter and hundreds on Facebook, and only a fraction, or those I’ve flagged to see their posts show up prominently in my social media feeds.

I’ve blocked the most vile and outspoken of those in the realm of RPGs. I’ve seen anti-gatekeeper forces bully a friend into unfollowing someone on Twitter. They don’t think it’s bullying. However, online text communication has no nuance of face to face communication. Context, tone of voice, etc. are not well conveyed in the limited words of a tweet. Also, just like sexual harassment is in the eyes of the harassed, so bullying is in the eyes of the bulled.

There has to be a better way to alert a person with tens of thousands of followers and who follows number in the thousands than to assume they know all about one person’s actions amongst thousands. I live in a town of about 2,000 I don’t know what everyone in town is doing. I can’t see them all at the same time. Even if they were all in the same place, I couldn’t keep tabs on all of them.

Put things in perspective. If there is a group dedicated to getting people to unfollow someone, get better organized and if no one in the group is personally acquainted with the person who follows a known bad actor, then appoint ONE person to make ONE contact. Bombarding a person with dozens or hundreds of tweets and direct messages is not the way to convince them you are acting for the good of all.

A scorched earth, annihilate all who stand in our path against the “gatekeepers” is the kind of behavior one would expect of the “gatekeepers.” What happened to “Don’t be a dick?” Or my version, “Don’t be a sphincter?”

Not everyone is on your level of information. There are better ways to cure ignorance than with anger, vitriol, and shame. Those are the tactics of the worst version of Christianity. I’ve fought that version of Christianity my whole live. I get lots of gasps and anger when I would say, “It’s better to love the Hell out of people than to scare the Hell out of them.”

Very few people will change their minds or their way of behaving with direct full frontal assault. They tend to dig in their heels and cling to the way they’ve always done things.

There are two different things going on here. The “gatekeepers” and their minions deserve to have someone stand up to them and call them on their bullshit. Stand up and call evil what it is. Their fringe followers need to be shown there is a different way than spewing hate.

Secondly, those who are bystanders who have innocently followed a bad actor don’t need a full frontal assault on their day or week. Just think, how would you like it if you received multiple tweets about someone you followed who is a colleague and friend. You just stepped into a personal relationship and asked it to be ended. That is very presumptuous.

There has to be a way to do that that doesn’t make someone feel like the “gatekeepers” make their victims feel. Consider the human element. Some people more easily experience strong emotions than others. Some have had trauma in their life that makes confrontation difficult. One can’t assume that everyone will react to the same presentation of a message the same way.

Yes, the truth hurts, and bullshit kills, but there has to be a way to speak truth without blasting a person’s good day to oblivion.

I’m angry and fed up with the petty nonsense that people spew online. I can’t shut them up.

I have two choices, block, ignore, and warn others of my experience, or pull the plug on the internet. I’ve got too many friends I only interact with online, so I’m not pulling the plug.

I’ll just stand here in my little corner of the net shouting into the raging winds. Those who stand near to listen will hear.

RPGs

More Variety In Adventure Structure

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Panzerliion on Twitter mentioned this:

I retweeted it and added a thread with my response:

In essence this is about the need for more variety in in how adventures are developed. It urges all publishers of RPG modules to stretch the bounds of their creative vision beyond the standard skeleton structure.

As I pointed out in my Twitter response, original D&D focused on the megadungeon under the city and the focus was always going there for adventure and treasure. Rarely did the dungeon force itself into the affairs of the surface.

My Idea

I’m not sure it’s new to me. I seem to vaguely recall something like this several years ago on a blog.

The idea is to take The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker or The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations by Georges Polti and list what classic and current modules fit each situation. The idea is to break out of the oft-repeated story structure of someone from outside has to save the day. Dicegeeks has a PDF of the 36 Dramatic Situations with the examples from the now public domain book. However, it does not list specific modules.

I also found some other related ideas while trying to find what I seem to recall from an OSR blog or on G+ from several years ago. John Hodgman’s 55 dramatic situations. This takes the five primal conflicts and gives 11 examples of each.

Seven Six Basic Plots

A computer analysis found six basic plots in an analysis of 1,737 books from Project Gutenberg‘s fiction category, that matched an idea from Kurt Vonnegut. This begs the question, what about a similar analysis of non-European languages? While there may be less than a dozen basic plots in all human literature, are we sure? I only have expertise in English, my native language, as I was born and raised in the United States. I have studied other languages, unlike the majority of Americans whose family are in the US for three or more generations. I’d love to hear from someone of a non-European background or anyone with knowledge on the topic.

The seven basic plots are:

  • overcoming the monster (The Hunger Games)
  • rags to riches (Aladdin)
  • the quest (Lord of the Rings)
  • voyage and return (The Time Machine)
  • comedy (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
  • tragedy (Romeo and Juliet)
  • rebirth (A Christmas Carol)

Computer analysis reveals these six:

  • rags to riches (where there’s a rise in the emotional trajectory of the main character)
  • riches to rags (fall); man in a hole (fall then rise)
  • Icarus (rise then fall)
  • Cinderella (rise, fall and rise)
  • Oedipus (fall, rise and fall)

Five Primal Conflicts

  • Man versus man
  • Man versus nature
  • Man versus society
  • Man versus himself
  • Man versus cyborgs

Another interesting list is Aaron Diaz Dresden Kodak’s 42 Essential Third Act Twists, which refers to most plays and movies with a 3 act structure having a big twist at the end.

Of course, let us not forget Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, and Satine Phoenix’s The Action Heroine’s Journey that looks at it from the perspective of a female protagonist.

Five Common Character Archetypes

There are five common character archetypes:

  • The Hero
  • The Mentor
  • The Everyman
  • The Innocent
  • The Villain

Other Ideas

The Alexandrian has an article, Don’t Prep Plots. He argues to prep situations instead of plots, since plots are the sequence of events that drive a story. Just like a ship’s navigator plots its course. For the open world sandbox style of play, the situation is definitely desirable. The plot works better in a one shot, module, or streamed game where time and focus is a must.

NPCs Should Have A Life Of Their Own

Whether you focus on a plot or a situation for your adventures, the key is how to diversify and have a story that doesn’t treat the NPCs as merely window dressing in the world? To make your campaign world seem more alive, the NPCs have to be more than cardboard cutouts. Think of it as the difference between special effects in 1960’s Star Trek and the Star Trek movies and later TV shows. NPCs as merely one-dimensional fonts of information, money, or conflict are low budget special effects. NPCs with a voice, mannerisms, or something else to make them stand out as individuals brings more life into your world. NPCs aren’t stupid or dumb. Weighted random encounter reactions make more sense. A group on a bandit raid is leaning to either fight or flee. A warband is more weighted to fight. A suspicious person is less likely to be persuaded to do something outside their normal behavior.

More on the 36 Dramatic Situations

Loren J. Miller applies RPG examples to the 36 situations, I think this is the website I recalled, as mentioned above. One should keep in mind that these plots from Georges Polti were from an analysis of ancient Greek literature and more current French works. The original French was published in the late 19th century and translated to English in 1916. I am unaware, and so far, not finding anything similar that may contradict or expand this list from other literary traditions. Having seen this list, and the other examples I have listed, I am not sure what I would add as a general category.

Old Man Grognard mentioned the 36 plots on the 109th episode of his Radio Grognard podcast.

In my Twitter reply above, I mentioned making a list of the 36 plots with a module that represents each. I thought of them as plots and not dramatic situations, as I had mis-characterized the list in my recollection. I think such a list will still be helpful, but I want to know examples where the players are not outsiders coming in to solve the locals’ problems.

Motivations

Originally, the motivations of characters in D&D were to go to the dungeon to get loot with the ultimate goal of retiring with a stronghold or a castle, temple, or tower. Adventurers were not necessarily good, or even heroic. In general, from my experience of playing AD&D when it came out and it presenting the entire wilderness, cities, and other plans as a place to find adventure, it also leaned toward presenting most classes as heroic. Except for the assassin, and some aspects of the thief, the rest of the classes tended towards good or benign. Subsequent versions of D&D portrayed the adventurers as heroes doing heroic things. Many modules required characters to be heroic and save the day, such as with the slavers and the drow modules.

So the characters have somewhat transitioned from merely treasure seeking to adventure seeking to being heroes with gold as a nice fringe benefit.

However, the characters are the only ones who can save the day in most modules. Are there any older or current modules that don’t require the heroes to be the outsiders who rescue the natives?

Change It Up

While the seven plots and 36 dramatic situations may be truly universal among human storytelling, when it comes to RPGs, we can find new ways to express them. The biggest challenge for those raised in the European tradition of literature, is to find new hooks for our adventures.

Can we avoid writing modules and convention games that don’t involve outsiders solving the problem for the natives? We are so used to it that it is hard not to think like that.

  • It is reasonable for the adventurers to save themselves. If they can’t keep themselves alive long enough to return to town, who will save them?
  • Occasionally, having an object or a person to rescue is valid, but not every module or adventure should begin that way.
  • Go to the roots of D&D and stick to the megadungeon.
  • DCC in my experience, tends to do things right with 0 level funnels where the characters are all from the same village. So the villagers save themselves.
  • Why don’t more adventurers make enemies from villages near the tombs they just looted for taking ancestral burial goods? (Does that happen in your world?)
  • In cities, the watch should be competent unless the city is a corrupt place on the verge of societal collapse and riot. (See the above comment on NPCs – not all oblivious and complacent to the player’s whims.)

Once the characters leave their home turf, how can they not be the outsiders solving problems for others? Wandering adventurers can easily be sidetracked from their initial goals. Have you even not taken weeks to deal with a side quest?

At the very least, language and cultural barriers should rise up once characters leave their starting location. If elves, dwarves and other non-human characters come from far away, how will those types fit in? Is your world a mish-mash high fantasy where all possible species intermingle at every village? If elves and dwarves mistrust each other and are mistrusted by the humans in your world, how will a party form from that?

Conclusion

I must admit, I’m having a struggle determining more than the few ideas above for avoiding the outsiders have to save us trope. I’ve seen that in some foreign films too, most recently from China. While the outsider was from outside the village, it was the same culture/nation. The biggest problems are when the nation or culture changes from the one to which the characters are native. Here, let the foreigners fix it for you….

How do we get past that? I’m not sure that there’s an easy solution other than to put our efforts as GMs to be more creative about the plot and make them such that they don’t reinforce ideas from the era of colonialism and imperialism.

One option is to make the villains the imperialistic colonialists. This would put the characters in the role of rebels and freedom fighters. Something those who know the origins of the USA should get behind.

I’d like to know your solutions to this. What plot hooks would you use that are not the characters swooping in to save the day?

Listen to the companion podcast here.

RPGs

Spell Idea: Blood Trail

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If you need a spell to let the BBEG wizard track the party, here’s a way to do it that doesn’t require a crystal ball or other scrying device. It doesn’t require summoning a dangerous creature and risking it attacking you. Send a powerful ally or minion after the party.

SPELL IDEA:

If you need a spell to let the BBEG wizard track the party, here’s a way to do it that doesn’t require a crystal ball or other scrying device. It doesn’t require summoning a dangerous creature and risking it attacking you. Send a powerful ally or minion after the party.

Spell Name:

Blood Trail

EFFECT:

Allows the caster or other recipient of the spell to track anyone to a point where they spill blood.

Can be cast on a hired bounty hunter/killer/assassin.

A monstrous creature – either one summoned and bound to service, or an ally of the caster. Perhaps the creature is now an ally of convenience with the caster as the party or other target has plundered both of them.

Undead can also be the spell recipient.

The recipient of the spell can “see” or “know” who was at a site of a fight or battle, and distinguish which side of a fight each participant was on.

Commands, such as, find & kill the minions who were defeated and ran, then bring me the heads of those who defeated them.

Find the winners of this fight and keep tabs on them and report back to me.

Befriend them and betray them to another.

Retrieve what was stolen from me. Do not let them live so they can’t follow you.

DURATION:

Until the command related to the tracking is satisfied, either by the letter or spirit of the command as best fits the mood and personality of the recipient, or until dispelled.

NOTE: While dispel magic will remove the magical ability to track the party, the creature may have other reasons to continue their pursuit.

HIGHER LEVELS:

Improved Blood Trail – The recipient knows the location of the next fight the party will have. They may warn their opponents and help them set an ambush, or wait until the party has fought the other group and strike while they are weakened.

Superior Blood Trail – The recipient can teleport to an advantageous position to observe the next fight and either follow more closely, or attack when most advantageous.

GM NOTES:

Give party hints that they feel like they’re being followed but never see anything. When they defeat some other creature or group, such as a large predator that was tracking them, mention that they still feel like they are being followed.

Listen to the companion podcast episode here.

RPGs

Cultural Idea – the Dead Are Put to work

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I have an area in my campaign world that is yet to be visited by player characters, so I haven’t worked out all the details. The area is a place with high plateaus, more like mesas, that are isolated and self-contained places for those who live atop them. Islands, isolated valleys, or deep caverns could also be the locale.

It occurred to me that not all plateaus will be large and spacious, and that fertile land for crops is at a premium. Perhaps fuel for large fires, such as for cremation is also limited. How would they dispose of the dead, if not by burial? I imagined that the rock is tough and takes a lot of effort that one does not desire to waste it on the dead.

Whether they are a dwindling group in need of workers, or an overcrowded living space where everyone must do their part, even in death.

Whether it is their religion and the priests raise the undead after the conclusion of the funeral ceremonies, if there are such, or wizards in service to the state. The end result is a loyal workforce who unquestioningly do the most back breaking and dangerous tasks.

To avoid both odor and the unpleasant possibility of seeing a loved one in a state of decay, skeletons are the preferred type of undead. To prevent them from getting in the way, they can hang from the rooftops or the edges of the cliffs atop the mesa.

What might the undead do?

  • Backbreaking labor, like digging into the rock to make more living space for the populace.
  • Guard the most dangerous approaches from which predators, monsters, or raiders might attempt to attack.
  • Serve as the bulk of the military.
  • Serve as the body guard for the monarch, oligarchs, or other ruling elite. (Enough armor and cloaks can hide their true nature.)
  • Perform as beasts of burden for moving goods or pulling plows. (Perhaps they turn over the soil with shovels and hoes, or their hands.)

Socio Economic Effects

Essentially enslaving the bodies of the dead until they wear our or are destroyed through accident or battle will elevate the lot of the poorest among them. The wisest among them will live healthy lives to lengthen their years, the foolish will die at a younger age. Those who object to eternal undeath might attempt to flee. By using undead to do all the most menial and dangerous jobs, what might that do to the populace? Will they be degenerate and fall into sloth, leading to a decline in their numbers? Will they use the time to focus on improving their society and both skilled craft and art receive a greater stature? Will there be less crime? Will all have enough?

Aren’t They Evil?

If they aren’t going around killing people to make their undead slaves, then they aren’t necessarily evil. If their religion understands that the vital essence or spirit leaves the body and what remains is just a framework from which the society will benefit. If their religion only calls for this out of necessity for preservation of their ways, and only accepts new undead from the ranks of the group’s recent dead, then most likely, not evil.

An evil twist might be that due to the predations of raiders or ravaging monsters or a battle they lost has left them short of troops. “Lost travelers” might be intercepted by patrols and volunteered into the “skeleton corps.” Only strangers would be targeted. Merchants bring needed supplies they can’t get any other way. Not being fools, they will ensure to learn that no one will miss them, and interrogate them to learn what the prisoners know that might be useful, before inducting them into the undead.

Evil Versions:

If they are an evil cult, they will gladly take all lost travelers in and make them part of their undying servants. How might word of this group get out to warn those who border them?

It might not be an evil cult, it might be a powerful necromancer who is the only one strong enough to keep them safe from warring neighbors, raiders, or monsters, and the populace just goes along with it. So the evil is the silence of those who benefit from it, while the necromancer delves into more ingenious ways to use the dead to serve their means.

How Obvious Is It?

Some might relegate the undead laborers to only work at night, so the populace doesn’t have to look on them. In this case, the undead could be zombies.

Visitors to the plateaus might not see the silent servants, whether they are hidden by natural or magical means. Are they invisible?

How are they Controlled?

Rather than have the priests or wizards guiding their undead creations about, they will develop amulets or other devices to allow overseers to coordinate groups of undead. Ranked devices will allow more control and coordination of groups to common tasks. This will expand the ability to maintain control of the undead and prevent rival clerics or wizards from wresting control of them easily.

Other Ideas:

I’m interested in other ideas, how might a culture use undead that are not necessarily evil?

Listen to the companion podcast episode here.