Tag Archives: Game Design

RPGs

Collaborative Campaign Design & Paranoid Players

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I saw this picture on the Tabletop Role-Playing Games FB page.

This is so true! Other DMs tell me about stuff like this, I have read about it on many RPG blogs and forums, and I have experienced it from play as both a player, and a DM.

In my game with my sons and the girlfriend of my oldest son, they take one thing an NPC they trust says and go with it. It is funny.They make all these big plans, and one little thing turns it on a dime.

I laughed hard when I saw this image because it is so very true!

RPGs

My Wednesday Game

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I have been part of a weekly Wednesday night AD&D First Edition game via Roll20 and Google Hangouts since March, 2014. With the exception of the DM taking a two week vacation in the summer and two weeks off over Christmas and New Year’s we have met every week. I was late to one session because I was travelling for work and another session because I had to take something to my son at the hospital the day after my granddaughter was born. There are two other players that have been with the campaign since it started. Weather was a factor a few times with thunderstorms causing delays. A few times either Roll20 or Google Hangouts had technical issues, but we have kept at it.

Our session last week was the first time that one original player missed and only two of the current six players showed up. Several important decisions for group action were needed, so we decided not to play. That is an impressive track record for a weekly session to only have one session flop, and it was session 44.

The DM, John, just started a blog, Dwarven Automata, about his design process. He also wrote up one of the hexes in Tenkar’s Landing, featuring dwarven automata.

It is a true sandbox where the players can go and do whatever they want. There will be consequences and repercussions of actions that we can’t know. We just make what seems to be the best decision we can based on the limited information we have. A few times we have surprised John with some of our decisions, but he rolled with it. The party set off to go explore some ancient dwarven ruins, and keep getting ourselves sidetracked with other things. We keep getting involved in politics and being heroes, so we are our own worst enemies to getting to our main goal. We can’t do it all, but we sure try to do most of it. Actions taken in the first few sessions have had an impact on sessions numbered into the 30’s and 40’s. It is interesting to see it play out as the players get the information they need to tie it all together.

For example, my character, Thorfus Ironhand, a dwarven fighter, thought one NPC was behind some men hired to kill the party. It turned out to be a different NPC that the party did some work for, and was involved in a major plot in the city. Because of that misunderstanding, I had the party focused on the wrong person, when we should have been focused on something else. This is much like things are in real life. We see something and make assumptions based on what is before us. This has made the campaign that much more believable and immersive.

John uses theater of the mind, so the only maps are quick sketches using the Roll20 drawing tools. As with most AD&D DMs, John makes certain rolls like moving silently or checking for traps and secret doors. These rolls occur with the sound of dice rolling on his desk with our fate unknown. This is an ominous sound. The results are only revealed when a trap springs or surprise was not gained.

We also disable video so that we have the maximum bandwidth possible.

The ages of players range from a high school senior to me, and old grognard of 50, with various ages in between. We have been mostly male, with one female player for a few sessions who played a male character, making all the characters, so far, male. One player lives in England, so our 8:00 PM to Midnight EST sessions make it in the very wee hours for him. He is one of the three original players still going strong.

John gives us XP for session write-ups. These help him to know what happened, and gets the players more involved. We also get XP for writing up descriptions of NPCs and places. This helps expand our known universe and makes it easier for new players to come in and get up to speed.

We started off using weapon speeds and individual initiative rolls, but over time we dropped weapon speed and went to one roll for each side in initiative. John does it differently in that each “side” rolls for the other. That is, players roll for the monsters, and the DM rolls for the players. This is an interesting way to do it.

Other rules have changed or been clarified as we go involving a decision by John as the DM, or by discussion and mutual consensus. These changes tend towards streamlining of play.

Our two dwarven fighters are both fourth level and at the halfway point to reaching fifth level. We had one big treasure haul, but as per AD&D, we can’t go past the halfway point of the next level. We have managed to not find the big treasures that will give us more experience quickly, but are always just around the corner from a big haul, when we do something or miss something that will give us the prize and watch is fall through our fingers. The hook has been set and we are thoroughly enjoying our adventures and learning about this world. I look forward to many more sessions of play.

Here are the main points from a comment I posted to his blog:

I enjoy seeing a bit behind the curtain to explain how you reached your design decisions. I have enjoyed playing in this weekly campaign since it started.
We have narrowly avoided several TPKs and only had one character die. Your level of preparation shows as you make it all seem very seamless and manage to have things planned out for us when we take the bait for something that wasn’t bait.
I can’t wait to see more of your ideas.
Your random generators intrigue me. You explained a bit about the level of detail you have allowed yourself in one of our recent sessions. I had the impression you had these cities mapped out and NPCs detailed down to the last beggar, but you fooled us all. Well done!

RPGs

Why Dice?

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Adam Muszkiewicz told me at Marmalade Dog about a post he wrote just before the con on Why Do We Even Roll Dice? I finally had a chance to read it and he mentions dice drop table and their positions having as much meaning as their value. He also mentions several others who have recently made posts about such tables. He mentioned his article when he pointed out his all the dice table in his Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad, that I purchased at the con.

I wanted to mention Adam’s post and tie it back to my posts on Dice Drop Generators and All the Dice Tables.

I like these kinds of table and generators and want to link them together. I plan to create fixed pages that I can add all the links that I find for a central repository, for my own use as well as anyone else that is interested.

RPGs

Collaborative Roleplaying

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At Marmalade Dog this past weekend, I played in two sessions of DCC ran by Adam Muszkiewicz of Kickassistan. I went into some detail of how he ran the sessions in my post with a follow up on Marmalade Dog 20.

To sum up, he used the DCC rules and had us use a 3×5 index card. We rolled for our prior profession and our birth augur. We then went around the table and used those to pieces of information for different people to say why we were trying to get into Ur-Hadad. Then depending on our characters, we rolled our stats the first time we used them. For spell casters, we chose two spells and rolled for two spells. For random effects of spells that were generic, but could use some color, such as the memories of a dying god, Adam had a different person around the table explain what memories it was.

I believe that all roleplaying is collaborative. The DM/GM prepares some sort of setting, and sets the basic parameters, and the players buy into that and work with the DM to navigate the world. In my usual experience it is more one on one between each player and the DM or among the players as their characters.

However, this style of collaborative roleplaying involves the whole table in figuring out some piece of each character’s story. It is not in an invasive way that hampers or constrains the player, unless the player is not open to that style of play. Not having done that particular style of roleplay at the table, I was not sure I would like it. Having a DM, like Adam, who is very skilled in this style, and players willing to jump in the deep end, made for a very enjoyable time.

The use of the rules was minimal. Adam only had a huge number of dice and a notebook, and his phone to refer to the DCC app if he needed it. We relied on other players that brought their big fat hardcover DCC rule books. There was minimal consulting of the rules, usually only for spell casting, for the mercurial magic table and the specific effects of spells. Once spells were determined, we could have gotten by with the mercurial magic table and a copy of the effects of each spell among the players.

It was clear that Adam had a firm grasp of the rules. I could also tell that the basic mechanic of the DCC rules is one that makes it easy to jump in and play once you understand it. I think I picked it up well enough that it would make reading the rules come together that much faster. I do have a copy of the PDF that I picked up almost a year ago when it was available for one day for free or one day for PWYW, I forget which. I have not had time to read it, but I may do so now.

Adam is also comfortable with running a group of experienced gamers who know how to run with crazy ideas. We had a blast and much laughter. This is the kind of good time I remember from long ago when I started gaming with my brother and our friends. I don’t get to game with my original gang hardly ever, because I moved to Michigan, but I would gladly game with these folks!

I discussed this with Adam, mentioned that this style would only work with a DM that understands the rules thoroughly, or with a very simple ruleset.  Then we both said that Delving Deeper, by +Simon Bull, would be the rules to use. Adam mentioned his series on Delving Deeper, and I was able to tell him that his series convinced me to buy it. $5.00 for a physical set of rules, from Lulu via POD,that are basically OD&D with better organization and clarifications and table progressions that are consistent, such as for combat.

This could be done with any rule set with a DM versed in the rules and capable of improvising the whole thing, and players open to being creative. In the sessions that we played, it was mostly theater of the mind, with a crude map the first session so we understood how to move and rough locations. This style of play is fast with minimal consultation of the rules, and almost all of the by players for things related to spell casting.

Advanced preparation of the table for mercurial magic and then marking the location of each player’s spells on the first such session and copying them later would nearly eliminate the need to refer to the rules.

I liked playing this style of game, it was both entertaining to see the ideas of the others and fun overall. There was much laughing and kidding about the table. I would call this rule -1. Rule 0 is the DM/GM makes the rulings. Rule -1 is if you aren’t having fun, you’re doing it wrong.

I am not sure if I would be the best DM for such a style, but I think I could at least make it work. I definitely have to up my game in terms of off the wall ideas.

I did pretty good in our session on Saturday. Since my character had been struck by lightning, flaming hands and color spray looked like lightning. So each time I cast color spray, i did something different with the color. When the last time I used it I said it looks like plaid lightning, Adam paused for the briefest of seconds, and said something like, “Alright, that’s good!”

For this style of play, those who aren’t good with on the spot improvisation could use a notebook to record wild ideas for describing interesting things. For my wizard who has a new memory of a dying god each time he uses one spell, I am keeping track of each memory invented by the other players. It will be interesting if I ever get to play this character again to see what other off the wall ideas I or others can come up with.

This type of role playing with rules only for some basic structure is as close to the make believe type stuff we did as kids with cops & robbers, etc.  Although with this, we are adults who know it’s a game and don’t get made when someone says, “You missed!”

RPGs

Simple Game with Simple Rules

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Lots of arguments about rules. Games as written aren’t right, so we change them, but some argue whether they can be changed. It’s like poker. How many variations are there? I have played 6 or 7 in my life and still only make sense out of 5 card stud and 5 card draw. I haven’t ever read the rules for Texas Hold ‘Em, but watching snippets here and there, I don’t get it. Why not just stick with 5 card stud?

RPGs are the same way. Play what you like the way you like. If you aren’t having fun, your’e doing it wrong.

The simplest game my siblings and the kids in our neighborhood made up was called “Keep it Moving”. The only object required was a ball that we could throw, bounce, kick, etc. The playing area was how many ever yards we decided on, that is, my yard, the neighbor’s yard and whether or not anyone playing was allowed to play in the street or cross the street, or if old man so and so was home. There was no limit to the number of players.

There was one rule, keep the ball moving. If the ball stopped, we all counted while the nearest person to the ball went to knock it back into the area with the rest of the players, or the nearest player. We did not keep track of how high we counted. It was just a crude timer so that we could be as fast as we were able. I think we just gathered in closer and started again. No score, no time limit, no fouls, no tackling, (no intentional injury). Teenagers would play with 5 year olds. It was just fun, running, laughing, and having a good time. It was great exercise. Kids of all fitness levels and ball handling, kicking, throwing skills could play. Everyone that played that game had fun. The game ended when it got dark, or there weren’t enough kids left to play, or we all got so tired we just stopped.

There were no arguments about rules, no debates about going out of bounds, no need for referees. The older kids kept an eye on the younger kids. The older kids would get silly and do obvious major failures in ball handling to the giggles and glee of the younger kids. While no adults ever joined us, this is a game I wish I had shared with my own kids when they were younger. I guess I will have to share it with my granddaughter and get her father involved that way, but that’s still a few years off, since she is two weeks old today.

Most of us have our favorite RPG as the one we started with, like the first Doctor we watched with Dr. Who. But that’s not quite right. I started with Blue Book Holmes D&D, but AD&D is my favorite, but only the way I like it; i. e.  lots of rules ignored or streamlined, or changed in some way, or new rules added to fill gaps.

We all have our quirks and preferences and in different groups modify them to suit the particular group of people we are with. When I play with my brothers and the group we started with way back in junior high and high school, we have our way of doing it and there is little discussion only for clarification. My interpretation and preferences prevail when I DM with my sons, as they do not know all the rules, and just have fun playing. The weekly online AD&D game I’m in is fairly close to by the book, but some rules have faded from use as it just bogs things down, like weapon speed and all the fiddly bits with weapons. My knowledge and interpretation have helped with clarification, but not lead to my drothers prevailing. I am sure if I were to play with a group of experienced players for the first time, and we all agreed on AD&D, there might be questions about how the DM would do it, but we would come to some mutual agreement on how it should be done.

I haven’t played with teenagers other than my sons for over thirty years, but I would not put up with some of the immature teenage nonsense that some so-called mature adults display online. I don’t care what you are of any category, or what you believe about any topic, if we can agree to play a game with a mutually agreed ruleset in a setting that we can wrap our heads around, and have fun while doing it, then we are doing it right. I don’t have to agree with someone’s life experiences and the choices they make to play with them. I don’t always agree with my brothers, and we are polar opposites on many hot button issues, but we still love each other and can play AD&D together.

I have played with men and women, gay and straight, various ethnicities beyond my own, preteens to people in their 60’s and maybe older, in person, and online. (Don’t freak because I didn’t mention group X, Y, or Z. This isn’t a game to have the most complete list….) We all managed to have fun. However, if we all started talking about our religious beliefs, political beliefs, or sexual preferences, I am sure we would soon find out what each of our buttons are. Hopefully, we would be mature enough to have a civilized conversation and not throw it in each other’s faces and make a friendship impossible.

I find certain topics taboo in roleplaying. Acting out or roleplaying rape or sexual fantasies, or religious rituals to the point of LARPing, is too far. Mentioning that the bad guys raped, would be OK, but not go into a counseling session about it, or dwell on it. Yes, we talk about fictionalized violence and death, and killing “monsters”, but that we can put in context. I prefer a PG or at most R rating on roleplaying, and if young enough players are present, G rating.

The whole point of a game is to be fun. If the “fun” is in putting down or belittling someone else at the table, that’s not fun. I draw a distinction between sarcasm and put downs, and intentional hurt. Some who live on put downs and sarcastic humor have a hard time finding the point at which to draw the line. There are those who don’t like that type of humor, so their line is usually pretty obvious to all but the pathologically oblivious.

The internet and social media has made it easy for anonymous posters to be the ugly trolls that ruin it for the rest of us. Don’t feed the trolls is a good motto, hopefully they will lose interest and go someplace else without having to ban them, or seek legal action.

Don’t let the bastard get you down. Remember, the trolls rolled a one when it comes to having real love and real fun in their lives. We don’t have to play by their rules. I quit commenting on online discussions because my efforts to put things back on track just ended up making me a target. I just ignore commenting on things, or delete my response without sending, since the mere writing of a response got it out of my system.

I stick to commenting on RPG related stuff, and if I have something to say not about RPGs, I have a blog for that. A live, but obscure blog. I don’t link to it from here, to keep my gaming life separate from some of my thoughts and beliefs that at least one or more groups would disagree with and gum up the works here, and try to take me away from something fun.

As I said above, if you are playing games and it is not fun, you are doing it wrong.

RPGs, Writing

Again Alliterative Acronyms

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Adventurous Adventurers Adventuring

Belated Blathering Blogger

Caverns of Cavernous Creepy Canyons

Devious Devils Defenestrate

Eerie Echoes Enervate

Fiery Fiends Flatulate

Grumpy Giants Girate

Hairy Hermits Harass Haughty Heroes

Island of Irate Isolated Islanders

Here’s one I found mixed in my DM notes ( I don’t have any notes indicating if there was supposed to be more.):

Livid lizards licking livers

While wild wombats wobble

And arthritic antelope anticipate.

RPGs

Dungeonmorph Dice Initial Shipment

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I backed the Inkwell Ideas DungeonMorphs 2: Cities & Villages: Map Generator Dice/Cards and just got my initial shipment. I backed at the $40 level which gets two sets of dice, so I took one set from the original dungeon morphs dice and 3×3 dice tray, which is what arrived today, with a pack of cards and two bonus dice. The base set of five dice come in a cloth drawstring dice bag. The two extra dice are dungeon morphs on 5 sides and a village on one side.

I joined this Kickstarter after my October post on my backed Kickstarters.

The dice are easily an inch on a side and appear to be very sturdy with a slight “edge” to the ink. The images on the dice are cut into each face and filled with color. If the color were to fade or flake, one can easily re-ink it themselves. The dice curve in slightly on each face. I don’t think it will affect their rolls. If you don’t like a roll, you can always change it to your liking. It’s not like they are milled to Las Vegas casino standards. These are substantial and would make a lot of noise on certain surfaces. Some finished surfaces could potentially be scratched, chipped, or dinged. So the same caveat for rolling any dice on nice furniture applies. 😉

The dice tray has a high enough “wall” around each square to hold them in position while you move it out of the way or for temporary storage. The tray is sturdy and does have some give in it it one uses force. The only way it would break is if it got caught in something very sturdy and a strong force was applied, like between a door and the doorpost.

The shipment with the new dice is planned for I think May, 2015. I was not finding the planned shipping date when reviewing the Kickstarter. I will post another update when those ship.

Unboxing DungeonMorphs 2
Unboxing DungeonMorphs 2

 

Emptied the dice bag
Emptied the dice bag

 

All the dice in the tray.
All the dice in the tray.

RPGs

Group Name Generator

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I had an idea for a group name generator. Here are my initial ideas. I will polish this and do a proper table after I let the ideas ferment a bit more.

Some groups of players like a name for their group. The online group I play in had a hard time coming up with a cool name, so we ended up using the name of the guard dog of our wizard. The dog’s name is Starchy. Some of us were in the first group of players and by association all of us were referred to by NPCs as “Baldric’s Boys”, since we recovered a gem with significance for the followers of an admiral who died hundreds of years ago. We merged the two into “Starchy’s Boyz”.

It can be used for groups of NPCs, the bad guys, allied good guys, mercenary groups like The Black Company from the book series or The White Company from European History.

Here is a link to the current PDF.

TYPE OF GROUP
Clan
Sept
Tribe
Order
Fellowship
Company
Brigade

PET/FAMILIAR/MONSTER
[Name]
[Species]
Hawk
Dragon

DESCRIPTOR
Slayers
Killers
Seekers
Destroyers

COLOR
Black
White
Red
Blue
Green
Yellow
Plaid

WEAPON/ARMOR/OBJECT
Staff
Sword
Scimitar
Cudgel
Bow
Shield(s)
Helmet(s)
Arrow(s)
Idol