tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50541712125266994372024-03-14T04:10:14.882-05:00The Closet BarbarianGaming and geekery in partial secrecy since 1977.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-369082593676819422016-05-14T19:11:00.001-05:002016-05-14T19:11:22.041-05:00Collaborative Campaign Building, Part IStarting a new campaign is one of the most exciting parts of D&D. New characters, new stories, new potential, and the promise of reaching that unreachable destination -- Best Campaign Ever.<br />
Overshadowed, perhaps, by the thrill of the new campaign are those campaigns that failed. The characters that didn't work, the stories that fizzled, the lost interest (either by players or DM), or the games that simply never went anywhere. We are left to wonder what might have been, with a sort of vague awareness that something worthwhile just died.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Top-Down DMing vs. Collaborative Building</span><br />
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Consider how most campaigns originate. The DM announces his intention to run a certain kind of game: "We're playing Hoard of the Dragonqueen in Faerun." The players say "ok, great, let me make a Forgotten Realms PC."<br />
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This is a top-down approach. A substantial portion of the key decisions about the campaign have already been determined by the DM's decision to run a particular kind of game. This is perfectly fine and can lead to fun and memorable campaigns, and this is how campaigns have been built for decades. There are many games that turned out great when a DM challenged players by dragging them into a game-world in which they perhaps didn't know they wanted to play.<br />
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But think about your favorite books or movies. What are these stories really about? The characters. The setting, the story -- these things exist as scenery in which the main characters operate. <em>The story and setting don't exist without the characters</em>. Hyboria exists as a place for Conan to have adventures. <em>The setting serves him</em>. Robert E. Howard may well have had some ideas about the harsh proto-Earth that his protagonist roamed, but that place was made to shape his themes and provide the excuse for our bronze-skinned Cimmerian to slay his enemies.<br />
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As DMs, then, we have an opportunity to be even more than authors -- we can enlist everyone in the creative process, to make every player a DM of sorts -- and to create settings that would not have existed but for the collaboration of all. In this sense, a collaborative DM is more of a collector, editor, and synthesizer, particularly at the genesis of the campaign.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A Character-Driven Campaign</span><br />
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What if we had a character-driven campaign? A story and setting built around the characters, instead of the other way around?<br />
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We started this precise process last December. I sent out a blind questionnaire to the entire group asking essentially two questions -- <em>what is the character you most want to play in the Best Campaign Ever and describe the world in which (s)he adventures?</em><br />
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For many players, this can be a somewhat profound inquiry. What <em>do</em> we really want to play, and why? Most of us over the years have played characters we didn't really want to play, or tweaked our characters to fit the other players or setting, or otherwise settled for something suboptimal. Forget that.<br />
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We decided everyone was going to play the character they really always wanted to play -- the uber-character they've fantasized about. Maybe something they tried before but didn't get right. Maybe something that is their own peculiar id expression. Maybe something that they were afraid to play because of embarrassment or the feelings of the rest of the group, or something they could never do because of group dynamics.<br />
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The trick was, I didn't ask primarily about the character in game terms (class, statistics, etc.). I was primarily interested in the character's identity and personality, and general background, but general types were fine, too. The main thing was that we delved into each player's veritable gaming <em>soul. </em>This required the players to trust this blind questionnaire process and just <em>let go</em>.<br />
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To make the experiment real, I did it too. Yes -- the DM made a character. Because it's my campaign too. <br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Seven Steps to Collaborative Campaign</span><br />
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<strong>Step 1: Write the Character and Campaign Questions</strong><br />
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This turned out to be critical. I'll post our actual questionnaire. It was designed to be aspirational and throught-provoking, generating true player preferences in a vacuum.<br />
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The Character section is vague. Who do you want to play? Who is this person? Why is she an adventurer? What makes her tick? What is her name and family situation? Encourage the players to build this ideal adventurer of theirs into a 'real' character. The key concept: <em>Why are we building a campaign around this character? What makes him worthy of being an equal co-star of a TV or movie series?</em><br />
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The other section is the fleshing out of the game and campaign world. What kind of a world does the character occupy? What's interesting about it? What role does the character play in the world?<br />
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<strong>Step 2: Send out the Questionnaire and Confirm Understanding</strong><br />
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Get the questionnaire in the hands of your players and give them a deadline. Make sure they understand it is a blind process and that they shouldn't speak of their responses until they're all submitted. <br />
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You will likely get a few immediate, enthusiastic responses and then have to drag it out of other people. Harass them and make them participate, but also accept that <em>you may not get every player to respond</em>.<br />
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Everyone can meta-game, but not everyone can take the further step back to peer into their own meta-gamer soul. It makes us ask questions about why we game and what we want out of the gaming experience, things we intuitively know but perhaps haven't verbalized or openly communicated about. Male gamers, in particular, are often reluctant to openly express their hopes and dreams in their fantasy expression.<br />
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You may need to assist some players in completing the questionnaire, or do it in Q&A / interview format with them rather than in writing. They may need help articulating what they really want. Part of your role in facilitating this is to be their interrogator and counselor, odd as it sounds. Drag it out of them in the way that works for them. They'll thank you for it later.<br />
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Check in with any players whose responses are vague or unclear. Confirm with each of them that you understand what they want to play and the world they want to play in.<br />
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<strong>Step 3: Compile the Responses</strong><br />
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Once you have your responses, you need a way of organizing the information. I used a spreadsheet to track the responses so I could view them as a whole and shared it with everyone (with the exception of information a player wanted to be hidden from the rest).<br />
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The players -- longstanding gaming friends -- were very curious about the responses of their buddies. The questionnaire both confirmed prior observations of players and yielded new insights. The process allowed us to dig a little deeper into what makes each of our gamer souls tick.<br />
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<strong>Step 4: Ideation / Connections</strong><br />
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We had a group chat (over instant messaging) regarding the spreadsheet. <br />
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Some of the connections between player responses were immediate and obvious. Player A wants to play a heroic noble fighter; Player B wants to be a member of a noble court with magical powers and a hand in everyone else's business. That's a pairing that happened, and Players A and B immediately began collaborating on how they might know each other.<br />
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On the setting front, you will start to see patterns too. I had asked many character/player preference questions -- tone, magic level, power level, genre, episodic vs. "story arc" play ... everything down to the climate of the "home area" and more details about the home area itself.<br />
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Other connections will be less apparent. There are many high- and low-tech solutions to ideation, including programs like MindJet and just using index cards to help organize your thoughts. Spreadsheets lend themselves to sorting and data analysis. Trends emerge.<br />
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What's even better -- at this stage it will become apparent to you that <em>players have great ideas too, and that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts</em>. They will think of things you have not, and it will make for a better game and campaign that also happens to be geared to the exact things they want to do in it.<br />
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<strong>Step 5: Proposal</strong><br />
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Share the data. Share the thoughts. Put out a deadline for campaign proposals. Let the group come up with ideas. You may get player concepts for a campaign and you may not. That's ok.<br />
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Since you (ostensibly) are the organizer and in the DM chair for the moment, you need to come up with a couple of proposals that are (a) interesting (b) unique, both in terms of other content and from the other proposals and (c) keyed to the responses of each of the players in a meaningful way. They each need to see that you have synthesized their answers.<br />
<br />That you have created a concept for discussion and elaboration.<br />
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In our game, I came up with two concepts, based on the responses of the group:<br />
<ul>
<li><em>Dunlyle</em>: A middle fantasy, city-based episodic game set in a coastal, oceanic climate, in a world recovering from a planet-altering celestial apocalypse. The campaign would feature exploration, world-building/settlement, taming of the wilderness, and uncovering historical secrets. </li>
<li><em>S.S. Coralis</em>: A high magic, high-powered episodic game with the players as famous adventurers aboard a magic ship that sails the seas of the world solving mysteries, having adventures, and making stops in exotic ports of call. </li>
</ul>
The players liked both concepts but elected for Dunlyle. This was done via consensus, and at least 50% of the concept was the result of direct player input.<br />
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<strong>Step 6: Retrofitting / Fleshing Out</strong><br />
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This next step can be short or long depending on the character concepts and the campaign concept decided upon. Simply put, some of the characters are going to fit perfectly into the concept and others may not.<br />
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Your job is to <em>make it work</em> and change the campaign subtly to suit the character concept, <strong>not the other way around</strong>. I cannot emphasize this enough.<br />
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Case in point -- I had a player that really wanted to be a psionic. This was his dream, what he really wanted. I had not planned on this, and really was neutral to it. But let's say for the sake of argument that I <em>hated</em> it. Bad experience with psionics in the past, it didn't jive with my concept of how magic worked in the game world, whatever. I could have shut him down and said, "make a warlock or sorcerer instead." <br />
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Your job is not to stifle the dream of your players. Your job is to make their heroic concept occur in your game. So I put psionics in the game, and made a workaround in the campaign. It's rare, interesting, mysterious, and fun -- just like the player wanted it. He wanted to be special, and so he is. And when he met the aberrant, grotesque and psionically-active Rat-Bitch of the Sewers, he was appropriately freaked out.<br />
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Accommodating your players not only makes them happy, but it allows <em>them</em> to be actual contributors. Dunlyle has psionics now, and it's going to be cooler for it.<br />
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Lastly, remember that some players are going to require more handholding than others on this. You may have an optimizer type of player that is all about game mechanics but is really foundering with this entire process. Talk to her one on one and get the details from her as you can and accept that for some players, the character comes together as the game is played. Not everything has to be defined and understood fully to start the game.<br />
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<strong>Step 7: Bringing it All Together</strong><br />
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As things coalesce, it's probably time to put together a primer or mini-gazetteer for the game world to give the players a sense of the game world they've help build. <br />
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Starting with a single region or city is probably easiest. But before you panic -- <em>I have to come up with an entire city?</em> -- let me let you in on a little secret: you only have to create the parts that are necessary based on the players' responses and character concepts, and to engender a coherent plan for their coming together for adventuring.<br />
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The nice part here is that the players (who should largely be VERY engaged by this point) will likely have already had their own back-channel discussions with each other and made their own connections. As a general rule, you need to connect every PC with at least one other PC, even if it's through a common NPC connection. Chances are through this process seeds have already been planted to allow that to occur.<br />
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Now there's only one thing left -- to come up with an actual launch of the campaign that is conceptually appropriate.<br />
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In Dunlyle (a land with a Scots-Irish vibe) I determined to start with a festival, something that would both bring the characters physically together while also immersing them fully in the campaign world culture. I wanted them to be a part of something. We played three sessions in the festival and its various intrigues and side adventures. I planned nothing further. I wanted the players to have a sandbox flavor, for them to be the masters of their own destiny.<br />
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After the first adventure, Player A's noble character entered the drinking contest and ended up married the next morning, changing the course of the campaign.<br />
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Now that's player agency. For better or worse. Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-87021254303717668612016-05-12T21:25:00.002-05:002016-05-12T21:25:36.919-05:005e Champion Fighters -- Bring forth the Crit!The Champion is probably one of the least-sexy archetypes in the Player's Handbook. With a scant few paragraphs, it is easily eclipsed content-wise by the Battle Master, Eldritch Knight, heck even the base fighter class itself.<br />
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But underneath the bland exterior is a veritable <em>rock star</em>. Let us explore the Champion.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Archetype Features</span>:<br />
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<strong>Critical Hit Frequency: </strong>at 3rd level, you crit on a 19. At 15th level, you crit on an 18. This can be a substantial benefit -- remember that critical hits double all dice (but not modifiers) rolled.<br />
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<em>Discussion</em>: Well this is the main offensive benefit of being a Champion. More crits = more damage output. The Champion build discussion below will focus on how to best maximize this by getting even more crits per attack, more attacks (and thereby more crits), or more damage per crit. Getting advantage is therefore paramount -- because advantage doesn't just double your chances to <em>hit</em>, it doubles your chances to <em>crit.</em><br />
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<strong>Athletics</strong>: at 7th level, you get a 50% proficiency bonus on any Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check that doesn't already use your proficiency bonus, and your running long jump is (STR Mod x feet) longer.<br />
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<em>Discussion</em>: This seems like a lukewarm poor man's jack of all trades ability until you consider that this covers every physical skill check out there. Thirsty in the desert? Check. Walking along a narrow cliff? Covered. Taking a physical-stat character and making him even better at physical skills is a great example of maximization.<br />
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<strong>Additional Fighting Style</strong>: at 10th level, you get another fighting style. Boom.<br />
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<em>Discussion</em>: Everyone can benefit from another fighting style. This ability can be used either for more versatility or to enhance your core party role.<br />
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<strong>Survivor</strong>: at 18th level, while under 50% hit points but over 0 hit points, you gain (5+ CON Mod) in hit points back at the start of your turn.<br />
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<em>Discussion</em>: This keeps you going, makes you more self-sufficient (and the envy of every other frontline damage sponge), and with a big pool of hit points, you extend the usefulness of this ability by having a bigger range of hit points for it to activate.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Overview & Analysis</span><br />
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The Champion gets enhanced offense from critical hits (and certain fighting styles) and enhanced defense via certain fighting styles and the capstone ability.<br />
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Getting critical hits is therefore key, and engineering critical hit opportunities (either yourself or via allies' abilities) is paramount to take advantage of your offensive opportunities. Having the fighter multiattack base ability -- ending up with an obscene 3 attacks at 11th level and 4 attacks at 20th -- only makes the critical attacks even more frequent.<br />
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The archetype overall suggests a highly physical character, and given the base fighter class' extra ability score improvement feature (getting two more stat bumps / feats than every other class), the Champion is in a position to have very high physical stats by late game.<br />
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This in turn suggests that Champions should pair their racial selections with their intended build, so as to maximize their physical stats. Dwarves, elves, stout halflings (yes!), humans, dragonborn, and half-orcs can all make good Champions subject to wise build selections.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Champion Types</span><br />
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<strong>Two-Hander</strong>: The theme of the 2H Champion is <em>Big Crits</em> -- maximizing the damage done on a critical hit by using a big weapon like a greataxe, maul, or greatsword. Because critical hits double dice, crits mean an extra 1d12 - 2d6 damage when using a two-hander. The Great Weapon Fighting style is a must-have, increasing your base and critical damage significantly. This character occupies an off-tank or melee damage role.<br />
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Half-Orcs, with their <em>Savage Attacks</em> ability, make excellent 2H Champions -- particularly with a Greataxe, creating a 3d12 + mods critical hit. The extra critical chance afforded by Champions is arguably stronger than even half-orc barbarian's rage, and can create excellent burst damage opportunities. Dwarves, Humans, and Dragonborn also make good two-handed champions, focusing on damage output with big weapons.<br />
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This is a great style choice for players that really want to pump up their stats. Only a few feats are truly "necessary" for this style -- so boost that physical potential!<br />
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Fighting Style Options -- GWF, Defense, Archery (for variety)<br />
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Multiclass options: Rogue (more crit damage via sneak attack!), Barbarian -- <em>reckless attack</em> for instant Advantage and <em>brutal critical</em> can yield even more critical damage.<br />
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Feats: Great Weapon Master, Charger, Mobile, Resilient, Tough. Great Weapon master will make even non-critical hits feel special. Oh yes. Pound them with your greataxe until they beg you not to stop.<br />
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<strong>One-Hander & Shield</strong>: This character (offensively, anyway) is all about getting <em>more crits</em> -- via self-generated advantage created with the Shield Master feat and the shove action it affords. Grab a shield, use your Athletics to knock down some enemies, and enjoy the extra crits that advantage garners you.<br />
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This style also favors a tanking role, based on a high AC with heavy armor and a shield. Being a more feat-heavy role, and with less benefit from DEX than other types, you may want to focus strictly on STR and CON and spend the rest of your Ability Score Increases on feats.<br />
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Humans are obvious fits for this Champion type, with access to a feat at first level. Dwarves and Dragonborn are also naturals here with their STR and CON bonuses and other resilience-based racial abilities. Thrown weapons (with their STR focus) are a natural for One-Hander Champions.<br />
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Fighting Style Options -- Protection, Dueling, Defense<br />
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Multiclass options: Not recommended. You really benefit from the <em>Survivor </em>capstone ability. If you must multiclass, consider the Devotion Paladin (more defensive / healing / smite abilities)<br />
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Feats: Shield Master, Sentinel, Tough, Heavy Armor Master, Resilience, Mounted Combat<br />
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<strong>Two-Weapon</strong>: The TWF Champion is built around <em>more crits via more attacks</em>. Because critical hits double damage dice (not mods), you want to use the biggest off-hand weapon you can.<br />
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This style is superficially similar to the 2H Champion -- offensive warriors focused on damage output. But the TWF Champion is about getting more attacks in -- having a higher damage output via more hits but less burst damage. Also known as <em>death by a thousand cuts</em>. Because (at present) the style's primary benefit is the extra attack, this Champion is somewhat front-loaded to lower level play and is eventually outclassed in damage output by the 2H Champion, who is doing consistently bigger blows.<br />
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Because this style often (but not always) uses finesse weapons, high DEX characters (like Elves and Stout Halflings) in medium armor can make good TWF Champions, but with the Dual Wielder feat a high DEX is not required.<br />
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Fighting Style Options: Two Weapon Fighting, Defense, Archery (for variety)<br />
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Feats: Dual Wielder, Medium Armor Mastery, Mobile, Mage Slayer, Defensive Duelist<br />
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Multiclass Options: Rogue, Ranger.<br />
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<strong>Mounted</strong>: Often overlooked, the Mounted Champion "cavalier" (much like the One-Hander & Shield Champion) with the Mounted Combatant feat can generate his own critical hits simply by being mounted and attacking an unmounted opponent. While this is dependent on (a) having a mount and (b) being in a combat where the mount can be brought to bear, it is potentially very powerful, particularly when you consider that Lances do 1d12 damage. With advantage, a 15th level Champion gets a crit 30% of the time, and with three attacks per round, that's almost a <em>guaranteed critical hit every round. </em>And a half-orc Champion cavalier does 3d12 + mods on a crit ... with a shield in the other hand ...<br />
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Most Mounted Champions are built like One Hander Champions, but with Animal Handling skills and a feat focus on Mounted Combat early. The biggest challenge is finding (and keeping alive!) a worthy mount with this character, and being useful when the combats move indoors or underground.<br />
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Mounted champions benefit from using lances, which are heavy weapons and exclude small characters. Humans, dwarves, elves, half-orcs, and dragonborn make good cavaliers.<br />
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Fighting Style Options: as per 2H Champions or One-Hander Champions.<br />
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Multiclass options: Paladin is an obvious fit for <em>Find Steed</em>, though staying with Fighter allows you to have the full benefits of both Mounted and 2H or 1H fighting.<br />
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<strong>Other Styles: </strong>The Champion Archer is probably outshone on a regular basis by a Hunter Ranger due to <em>Colossus Slayer</em> and the <em>Hunter's Mark</em> spell. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Conclusion</span><br />
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Don't write off the Champion. Nobody benefits more from critical hits and (with the possible exception of barbarians) raw physicality as the Champion.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-71339327929753257812013-07-28T19:58:00.003-05:002013-07-28T19:58:54.023-05:00Freehanding Gone WildSo the 35" x 25" aged 60-pound parchment paper arrived.<br />
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Map geek excitement building. Dare I say my scroll case was pitching a tent.<br />
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I immediately developed two uses for my humonguous uber-paper for my Dunlyle campaign:<br />
<ul>
<li>Tolkeinesque overland maps, in black & white -- and in Judges Guild style, a player's map showing the "known world" for their own use and exploration (and, yes, marking on it!) and my own DM's map;</li>
<li>Large freehand custom dungeon maps, in 1" = 5' scale for use as a gridless playing surface. That's right -- no more wet-erase battlemat! <em>We will play on the map</em>. I will also take the opportunity to use color (pencils, mainly) where appropriate, though I'm going for a black & white aesthetic generally.</li>
</ul>
And then, when we're done with a particular dungeon map, the map will represent mapping by the player-characters. It will be a map-log of the campaign. I imagine the players will be making various notes on them -- much like their characters would.<br />
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Some practical issues -- obviously, I need to figure out a way to photocopy these before the players get their hands on them. I don't want to have to redraw them. Also, they are obviously vulnerable to spills, tears, etc. Then there is the matter of storage -- I'm thinking of either buying a blueprint tube or getting a large luggage-like portfolio to carry them in. Lastly, in game play I need to figure out a way to cover up the unseen map sections.<br />
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I'll post some pictures in my next post. Exciting stuff -- it's a lot of work but I'm hoping my first playtest of Dunlyle with my home group goes well. The first set of maps are for the campaign opening -- after that, at the end of each session I'll be asking them their next intentions so I can keep up with the mapping duties.<br />
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P.S. Next time, I'll order more paper. At $.50 per page as of this writing, more than half the cost was shipping and packaging.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-18934091947519165872013-07-15T23:16:00.003-05:002013-07-15T23:18:30.280-05:00Getting the Band Together, Part 2Let's use some specifics from my recent PC planning sessions (both in-person and via email) to illustrate some of the points from my prior post. Some of the names have been changed to protect the innocent.<br />
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Player 1 is a roleplayer and enjoys both story elements and gamist elements and is a pleasure to have in the group. She dove right in to my background and setting information and came up with a concept (scoutlike halfling rogue) that was tightly connected to the gameworld. She developed a few NPCs (family members) and gave me some additional ideas for the campaign, writing out a backstory (and names!) for herself and immediate family members. In this way, <em>she became a contributor</em> to the campaign itself. I will have no issues connecting her character to the game or story elements and she provides her own motivation. I just have to make sure I can incorporate her creativity and keep up with her work product!<br />
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Player 2 is a blended player with both roleplaying and powergamer tendencies but doesn't really have the time to create the extensive backstories of Player 1. He told me what he wanted overall (a thuggish half-orc barbarian with a revenge backstory) and was eager for me to help fill in his details. Via mutliple emails, we worked through his origin, came up with a name, and explained how his character has narrowly avoided imprisonment and being ostracized in the predominately human and halfling campaign area. He also asked for a specific supernatural ability -- a sort of sixth sense -- we negotiated this and I have a secret "disadvantage" that I'll be springing on him in mid-campaign. While I had to do a little more work with him on character creation, he will be relatively low-maintenance once the campaign begins so long as I can keep the revenge element present in a significant portion of the adventures. We may have to shift his focus if and when he gets his revenge.<br />
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Player 3 is one of the DMs in the group and is a flamboyant roleplaying, team-focused, and storyteller type. Typically, he waited for everyone else to declare their concepts and chose the "leftover" role for balance purposes and (predicably?) ended up as the cleric. While I had something in mind for him, he very much wanted to go his own way and created a character with a dark yet whimsical secret. He created his character but left the details of his insertion into the campaign up to me. In this way he can be both a team player (as a cleric) while indulging in his desire for playing over-the-top, humorous characters. As with Player 1, Player 3 will not require a lot of maintenance, providing his own motivation and enjoyment.<br />
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Player 4 is a returning player who last played in 3.5 edition games. He's a powergamer that enjoys playing chaotic, id-driven characters as a way to blow off steam and have fun. An analytical type, he is also one of those hyperintelligent players that likes to see if he can break the game. Fortunately, he is good-natured and recognizes that creativity is not one of his strong suits. I suggested a concept that fit his predilection (a Mad Martigan swordsman type with a background as a minor knight -- a character that I originally had envisioned as an NPC) and he was off to the races, diving into the character creation rules to maximize his character's potency. <em>He actually appreciated me supplying him with a concept, background, and name. </em>So long as I provide him with an opportunity to engage in his wild side and give him a chance to be powerful, he will be a fun and non-destructive element in the game.<br />
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Player 5 is a sardonic, introverted player with interest in both gamist and story-driven elements, though she is not a huge roleplayer. She often plays a particular type of character (usually an elven druid or other support-oriented divine caster) and has decided to "branch out" a bit by playing a human bounty hunter that found religion/philosophy and became a monk. As with player 2, I will likely be doing back-and-forth emails with her to get the story elements to her liking so she can enter the game fully-formed. My challenge will be to provide her with engaging story elements and combats that allow her to be rewarded for her non-standard character choice.<br />
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Player 6, while a good low-key "blended" player, is relatively disengaged by the character creation and campaign launch process. He hasn't replied to my many emails and has committed only to playing a Wizard. No race, no name, no background ... utterly generic. His wife (player 5) has warned me that he'll procrastinate to the end. So I can either keep paddling upstream to get some more information out of him, simply assign him a character (as I did with player 4) which he will likely not appreciate ... or I can go with the flow and challenge my own need to develop everything. Maybe I can let go. Maybe I can just wing it and let Player 6 be the mystery man in the group. Since I am going for a "sandbox" type of game allowing the PCs to do as they will unbound by a central story, maybe having a "sandbox" PC is okay too ... the PC that is in the process of discovering himself or possibly even revealing himself to himself via a curse or mental illness.<br />
<br />
So there it is -- this process of character generation and campaign launching, played out with real players with differing motives and personalities. <strong>By cooperatively working with the players to give them what they want -- but within your previously-established framework -- you maximize the likelihood that they will take ownership of their fledgling characters and the campaign. This in turn will generate many story ideas and character interactions that you would not have imagined on your own, turning the campaign into a collaborative process</strong>.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-46507322077151103612013-07-02T21:09:00.003-05:002013-07-04T08:43:58.660-05:00Getting the Band TogetherSo you've decided to start a campaign and have identified a group of suckers, er, "players" to participate in your little fantasy world come to life. Now what?<br />
<br />
<h3>
Tell Them About the Campaign</h3>
Unless you are intentionally going for a hodgepodge, anything-goes campaign, you need to tell them that you're running a post-apocalyptic world of mutations and magic, or whatever. The key factors that players want to know:<br />
<br />
<em>Setting</em> -- they need the gist of the world at first; later they'll need the "common knowledge" bits about the world, the assumed background information that any self-respecting PC would know from the get-go. I use the "STAMPIERE" model, addressing the Social, Technological/Magic, Administrative, Military, Political, Industrial, Economic, Religious, and External factors relative to the starting game-region. This is a tremendously helpful tool to communicate meaningful bits about about your setting.<br />
<br />
<em>Power/Magic Level</em> -- if, for instance, you are running a low fantasy world for players accustomed to Faerun, they need to know to adjust their expectations.<br />
<br />
<em>Character Generation Rules</em> -- you need to tell them how to generate stats for your game, available races, classes, etc. They need to know what is possible and your overall parameters. What races, classes, spells, and other character elements are allowed? If you have new elements of your own creation, you need to communicate that.<br />
<br />
<em>Tone</em> -- Players really want to know the sort of campaign you are going to be running. Dungeon crawling? Story-based? Humorous? Exploration? All of the above? Basically many of them will want to know how their character fits in with YOUR expectations of the game.<br />
<br />
Tone covers a lot of ground, including:<br />
<ul>
<li>"sandbox" do-what-you-want vs. plotline</li>
<li>"points of light"/exploration vs. "known world"</li>
<li>seriousness</li>
<li>importance of combat</li>
<li>importance of roleplaying and interaction</li>
<li>importance of the rules overall</li>
<li>heroic vs. antiheroic/netural vs. evil campaign</li>
<li>static vs. dynamic content</li>
<li>quantity of wilderness content</li>
</ul>
The last point is surprisingly important for class and race selection. <br />
<br />
Lastly, you need to tell the players what you want them to tell you about their characters. If you don't ask for their adventure motivations, family backgrounds, etc., don't be surprised if you don't get them.<br />
<h3>
The First Draft</h3>
You will then get the first drafts from players. Some of them will be wonderful, evocative, creative characters needing little if any polishing; they are ready for insertion into your game-world as is and you congratulate yourself for having such a wonderful player.<br />
<br />
The remainder will either lack a connection to your game world, have no identifiably interesting traits, need further translation to and application of the game rules, abuse the letter or spirit of your previously-set parameters, or all of the above. Viewing the characters collectively, you may run into the additional probem that the characters appear to lack cohesion from a story or party-balance perspective, which, depending on your campaign, may be a big deal or a non-issue.<br />
<br />
Your challenge is to address the character's unfinished aspects without (a) taking over the character or (b) offending the player. Ask the player to flesh out the character and offer to help. Some players are just not good at the game rules, making characters come to life, or connecting their characters to the game-world. Help them.<br />
<h3>
Pre-Campaign Communications and Planning</h3>
As the PCs are coming together, communicate regularly with the group (email is great for this) to let them know how the roster is shaking up. While a balanced group is not required, one of the nice things about a relatively balanced group is that everyone has a chance to shine. Some players may want to change concepts after seeing what others are playing. That's ok.<br />
<br />
Once the roster is set, if you are running any kind of roleplaying or story-based campaign, you will need to develop a short background for each character anchoring them to the game world, the NPCs, and (possibly) the other PCs. This is tremendously helpful not only for verisimilitude but also to help you coherently develop a feasible campaign opening to actually launch the campaign.<br />
<br />
On that note, I find the easiest way to come up with a campaign opening (unless it is already preset in your campaign concept -- if everyone starts as a shipwrecked castaway, your opening is set) is to write down all of the PCs in a circle and draw connecting lines to each PC with a preexisting relationship. Then add key NPCs and do the same. You will start to see patterns emerge, a visual commonality/degree of separation. That will help you link the players to each other and the NPCs that relate to your first session.<br />
<br />
Even in the most "sandboxy" open games, you may find it useful to have the very first session be somewhat planned to at least set some campaign story hooks, introduce key NPCs in-game, and give the PCs some ideas on what to do next.<br />
<br />
Next time, I'll get into campaign and NPC planning issues, for use in both story- and non-story campaigns.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-51457234794160416442013-07-01T22:04:00.003-05:002013-07-01T22:04:26.236-05:00Back in the Saddle and 5th EditionThere is no excuse for a 15 month blogging absence -- a virtual blog lifetime. Other life elements intrude, excuses abound. But like a bad case of the clap, I keep coming back to D&D. Or it to me.<br /><br />I have been sucked back, simply, due to 5th edition D&D (I refuse to call it "Next," unless they promise to call the next version after that "Last."). <br /><br />While the playtest versions (as of now) are only about 60-70% complete at best, it is in playable form finally and I like what I am seeing. It's enough to get me to run a campaign using it.<br />
<br />
Good News Part 1: the game has taken many of the best elements from prior editions and mostly merged them:<br />
<br />
* ability checks a la many OSR systems are the new default, making skills both relevant and simple to execute<br />
* simplification (relative to 3e and 4e, anyway)<br />
* return to class-based design rather than MMO-inspired "role"-based design of 4e<br />
* cribbing from a few of 4e's strengths such as at-will spells<br />
* A flatter power curve (more like OD&D/2nd edition)<br />
<br />
In sum, it feels like a streamlined version of 3e with 4e/OSR elements. What is still lacking:<br />
<br />
* The monsters overall have relatively low ACs. This may be intentional.<br />
* Multiclassing is still an unknown. Whether it will look like AD&D (level up in multiple classes simultaneously, splitting xp), 3e (add a class as you go) or 4e (get a little multiclass functionality from a feat) is anyone's guess. I am guessing it will be more 3e-ish, though the only way that worked for spellcasters was to use prestige classes or take feats to boost their caster levels. I would be open to an AD&D version too, though once you took your classes you were locked in ...<br />
* We still need a few more "core" classes, like the bard and (for me, anyway) the sorcerer. I wouldn't mind seeing a warlock, either. Essentially, if a class' features can't be added as a subclass to an existing class, or if it has some unusual mechanic, it needs to be its own class. For my money, the 3e bard (bardic music effects), sorcerer (spontaneous casting/wizard alternative), warlock (eldritch blast, unique warlock powers and invocations) all justify their own classes; they can't be wizard variants, other than possibly the sorcerer.<br />
* The spell list, magic items, and bestiary are sparse. More content will be needed to justify an end product.<br />
<br />
All in all, I am encouraged. I want to play this version of the game. Moreover, I am encouraged that the designers are taking their time and listening to feedback.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-6437262280937133702012-04-30T16:08:00.002-05:002012-04-30T16:08:35.652-05:00Current Project: DunlyleWell I've gone from posting twice daily to once every two weeks. Rest assured this has not been idle time; the current project: Dunlyle, my campaign setting. The end result is hoped to be a sandbox setting with optional "story line" elements, along these lines:<br />
<ul>
<li>Spiral/"Wire-O" bound (so as to be durable and to open flat) and tabbed, on durable paper stock</li>
<li>Overview & Area Map</li>
<li>Important NPCs</li>
<li>Gazetteer & Local Maps</li>
<li>Multiple dungeons fleshed out in One Page Dungeon style </li>
<li>Campaign flowcharts and calendars</li>
</ul>
All of this, to echo my prior postings, will be done so that it is system-neutral though obviously flavored for D&D at its various offshoots and mutations. In other words, the goal here is to be content-rich while maintaining utility to a wide range of games and DMs. The book itself is intended to be both a campaign prep/background document as well as an in-game reference.<br />
<br />
At present, the manuscript is completed but I am converting my traditional map & key dungeons into one-page dungeons and removing all system-specific references.<br />
<br />
I would welcome your feedback on this proposed format.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-20552683290191307562012-04-17T11:59:00.002-05:002012-04-17T12:21:42.673-05:00Sample Dungeon Using Proposed Generic One-Page FormatTime to put my money where my mouth is.<br />
<br />
Here's a sample dungeon using the one-page format I proposed in my <a href="http://closetbarbarian.blogspot.com/2012/04/adventure-formats-and-osr.html">earlier post</a>:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgisCTaCIblRtJWJ6ioRVfD3UQuz1fYWjPDoRCSVYZKpxhr7oyKOcjK2gyeYAhIqediga9N5YTudZXh2jHtovloU7vjvpGi8Vq8M-RJNsSsD4hPJB8_ECCfn399ktkjWcDoslXw8tcCRbI/s1600/goblin+temple+sample+one+page.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" qda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgisCTaCIblRtJWJ6ioRVfD3UQuz1fYWjPDoRCSVYZKpxhr7oyKOcjK2gyeYAhIqediga9N5YTudZXh2jHtovloU7vjvpGi8Vq8M-RJNsSsD4hPJB8_ECCfn399ktkjWcDoslXw8tcCRbI/s640/goblin+temple+sample+one+page.JPG" width="492" /></a></div>
<br />
Again, the idea here is to present a "keyless" OSR dungeon that is usable, generic/system-neutral, content-rich, and requires the DM to refer to no other scenario materials. It also assumes the existence of DM Text backround that the DM read and customized pre-adventure; the map above is for in-game usage.<br />
<br />
Thoughts, criticisms, and comments welcome as always.<br />
<br />
(Really irritated here at my inking, by the way, the smudges and other marring is really annoying. Need to find a way to cover up those errors. Used my usual H pencil overwritten with 1 mm, .5 mm, and .1 mm sepia pens. Also, I need a shading technique to better offset the rooms and halls from the white background.)Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-45574840068869678302012-04-13T16:53:00.000-05:002012-04-13T16:53:46.653-05:00Amateur Gridless Mapping Tip #1: On Rulers and StencilsAs I continue in my journeys in "gridless" mapping (i.e., without graph paper), I have found that using a ruler and stencils is invaluable for buildings and dungeon floorplans. Simply put, straight lines and even curves are generally more pleasing to the eye than the alternative, unless you are drawing a cave complex. So, for those of you who want to learn from a fellow amateur's mistakes, I offer the following.<br />
<br />
A good ruler or stencil is:<br />
<ul>
<li>in the correct shape (!)</li>
<li>has a smooth edge with no flashing or nicks (plastic edges occasionally have a bit of flashing from the molding process -- they can be carefully cut off with a knife)</li>
<li>easy to align with preexisting drawings</li>
<li>easy to keep flush with the writing surface, to prevent slippage</li>
</ul>
Of these, the latter is surprisingly important, particularly if you are drawing lines longer than an inch or so. If you do not have a heavy ruler or stencil, it is vital that you are able to hold the stencil securely against the paper, or your pen may slip under the edge and ruin your line. I have had several otherwise very good drawings marred by such slips while inking. If your edge is lightweight (as many plastic stencils are), take the time to reposition your non-drawing hand to hold the edge down securely while in mid-line.<br />
<br />
In my experience, the size of the ruler or stencil is not a major factor, though because I often draw in a spiral-bound drawing pad, smaller edges tend to work better. Larger edges are heavier and therefore better for prevention of slippage.<br />
<br />
Of course, if you use a drafting table and t-bar, many of these issues (at least those pertaining to straight lines) go by the wayside.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-38949559396736105092012-04-11T13:06:00.000-05:002012-04-11T13:06:04.881-05:00Adventure Formats and the OSRSome of the obvious accouterments of the old school renaissance have included intentional graphical and layout throwbacks to the previous era, particularly the Gygaxian format of adventure presentation.<br />
<br />
<strong>OSR Format (roughly 1977 through 1983)</strong><br />
<br />
Using the <em>Steading of the Hill Giant Chief</em> as a template, the following format emerges as the traditional standard:<br />
<ul>
<li>Cardstock front and back cover with artwork/description </li>
<li>Maps, typically on inside front and back covers (though sometimes at the end of the booklet)</li>
<li>Booklet, staple-bound</li>
<li>Short Introduction/DM Notes</li>
<li>Fairly Short Background (Setting the scene, placement within game world, getting the PCs involved, etc.)</li>
<li>Map Key, including wandering monsters, room descriptions, and descriptive artwork. Text within the map key was kept brief except where further explanation was needed.</li>
<li>Appendices (New spells, monsters, treasures, player handouts and artwork, etc.)</li>
</ul>
This is fairly typical of pre-Hickman TSR fare, all of which can be fairly said to be within the OSR wheelhouse. Judges Guild materials of that era follow an analogous format, although virtually none had a cover and maps were usually printed inside the booklet or were separate fold-out affairs.<br />
<br />
<strong>Later Tweaks & Content Bloat</strong><br />
<br />
As the game matured, the format of adventures was tweaked. The biggest changes were in two areas: backround/story-related material (for Hickmanesque storyline-driven games) and in the quantity and bulk of text included in the product.<br />
<br />
Once adventures became less site-based/sandboxy and more story-based, larger amounts of background and story material were required to guide DMs through various story flowcharts and matrices. NPCs, in particular, became much more fleshed out and given a life of their own. While the point of this was to enhance the "story" and dramatic aspects of the game, it undoubtedly contributed to content bloat within published adventures. It further made the products <em>less</em> adaptable for individual DMs -- more story details require <em>more</em> work to customize to one's own game-world.<br />
<br />
The other content infusion of note was the addition of descriptive "boxed text." While the goal was laudable -- to provide greater immersion and verisimilitude -- the inclusion of subjective descriptors left some DMs (and many more players!) feeling that they were reading from a script and trapped by the content. If the author was not both brief and evocative, boxed text became a millstone around DMs' necks.<br />
<br />
Other tweaks to the format included improved quality maps and experiments with different types of maps, such as the famous quasi-3D iso maps of <em>Ravenloft</em>.<br />
<br />
<strong>Encounter Format</strong><br />
<br />
One of the more irritating-to-grognards developments in late 3rd and most 4th edition adventures was the advent of what can be called "encounter format," in which everything needed to run a particular encounter was generally (though not always) on one page or two facing pages. Thus, a detailed dungeon room, its monsters (and their game stats) and all tactics and "developments" were listed in one place.<br />
<br />
While generally hated by the OSR due to the "encounter" nomenclature and the size of stat blocks necessitated by later editions of the game, the encounter format has one big advantage -- utility. All of the traditional formats require a DM to juggle no less than three documents -- the map, the key, and at least one rulebook (usually the DMG or Monster Manual). The encounter format eliminated that juggling and allows a DM to focus on the players, the flow, and the game rather than shuffling papers about. This philosophy has developed its own subculture of sorts via the "One Page Dungeon" contest.<br />
<br />
<strong>Building a Composite OSR Format: Goals</strong><br />
<br />
My mission statement, therefore: <br />
<strong><em><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<strong><em>OSR content should be adaptable, easy to use, evocative, creative, and customizable</em></strong>. </blockquote>
</em></strong>I would further add that we, as consumers of said content, should value such publications on these merits alone and not, say, by its sheer size or bulk. Furthermore, OSR publications must by necessity adhere to the OGL -- requiring either close adherence to OGL rules or a more generic approach so as not to violate the license. I advocate the generic approach simply because everyone is seemingly playing a different game. Within the OSR itself there are at least three major subsets -- white box, Basic, and AD&D systems -- and substantial variation in basic game mechanics.<br />
<br />
I therefore propose the following format for OSR site-based adventures:<br />
<ul>
<li>Notes/Introduction</li>
<li>Background (brief)</li>
<li>Small-scale overland map (optional)</li>
<li>Unified large-scale map showing the entire site and labelling its sections</li>
<li>Sectional small-scale maps done in "one page dungeon" style (i.e., "show me don't tell me") with clear links to other sections</li>
<li>Appendices</li>
</ul>
By eliminating the Gygaxian map-and-key format and later hyper-wordy formats, the DM is given what he needs -- introductory materials to read and digest for application into his own game-world, and in-game materials to use while sitting at the table playing. The "one page" sectional map format, by necessity, will provide brief information in order to avoid OGL problems and to keep it adaptable, it should be as generic as possible in terms of game mechanics and statistics. The downside to this, of course, is that it will require that the DM either adapt the content to his rules system beforehand or have the rulebooks handy during play.<br />
<br />
For those wanting to inject a "plotline" into OSR adventures, a slightly expanded background section and a one-page story flowchart is recommended for in-game reference.<br />
<br />
So what do you think? Would you consider buying and using a scenario in my format as described? How strong is the pull of sentimentality of the Gygaxian format? Is the size/bulk of a publication relevant to your perception of its value?Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-85883685903853094702012-04-10T13:05:00.001-05:002012-04-11T10:44:00.449-05:00Experiments in Drawing and LetteringAfter a two-week hiatus caused by garage sales, the demands of parenthood and matrimony, and a job relocation, I return. Below is Castle Rockabie, a location in my Dunlyle setting. For those who care, this is on 80# drawing paper, originally drawn in H pencil with the aid of a few stencils, then gone over in sepia ink pen in varying widths: 1mm, .5 mm, and .1 mm. Some quick notes:<br />
<br />
The point of this was threefold: to have fun designing something in my campaign area, to experiment with line drawing and lettering, and to prove to myself that the one-page keyless concept was usable.<br />
<br />
I am pleased overall with the line-drawing and design. On the layout, I wish I'd moved the third floor over a bit and given more separation to the small minimap at the bottom of the page. My lettering is uneven and as you can see I am struggling to find my own style -- it's a mash of wannabe architect, comic lettering, and my own scrawl. One of the biggest challenges has been to <em>slow down</em> while lettering.<br />
<br />
I am not happy with my weak little castle drawing in the upper right corner. Bleh. My attempt at an ivy-covered wall makes it look like a giant bush, fire, cave-in, or some other calamity rather than the regal foliage I had envisioned. I think I'll always be more of a layout/design guy than an illustrator.<br />
<br />
Lastly, I now see the value of getting a drafting table with a T-bar ruler (I forget the correct term for it) so that lines are properly horizontal and vertical. Eyeballing the registration of my lines produces some uneven results, most easily seen in the "Garden" description text.<br />
<br />
Anyway, it was a fun experiment and I will try a similar concept with a dungeon environment, using the text areas as a true key.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbbard7AAxiFg8zbciyH4aL8hdySyRMNcOuPM9APaQtFiVmTggN6Ap04shMWkWsdmKXu-nFI6tnEJPLsFUVqvaM7KsA8UHAR7IS_JUJpA21ZM1YrH5dLmZXlv-dEcy4S4T3-P4PWLS3Ok/s1600/castle+rockabie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbbard7AAxiFg8zbciyH4aL8hdySyRMNcOuPM9APaQtFiVmTggN6Ap04shMWkWsdmKXu-nFI6tnEJPLsFUVqvaM7KsA8UHAR7IS_JUJpA21ZM1YrH5dLmZXlv-dEcy4S4T3-P4PWLS3Ok/s640/castle+rockabie.JPG" width="494" /></a></div>Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-28670540394546492012012-03-28T21:10:00.000-05:002012-03-28T21:27:05.900-05:00Wilderness Terrain Generation ProjectOne of my current projects involves rules for generation of wilderness terrain on both a continental and regional level for all game systems. My idea is in the testing stages, but I've noticed some interesting phenomena in some of my mechanics and assumptions.<br />
<br />
<strong>Starting Assumptions</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>Some people will want to generate Big Picture aspects of the game world (world size, axial tilt, number of moons, etc.) and others will either pick or assume these aspects, or not care in the first place.</li>
<li>The aspects of a terrain we need to know, on a continental basis, are the presence of: salt water, fresh water, elevation, predominant vegetation, and intelligent-life settlement.</li>
<li>Terrain comes in bunches -- it's not "choppy," though there are pockets of varying terrain. I have come up with a simple mechanic to determine "sameness" from hex to hex.</li>
<li>Hills are near mountains -- whether due to tectonics, glaciation, or volcanic activity</li>
<li>Forests are more likely near fresh water sources -- I'm frankly not sure if this is actually true, but it feels right</li>
</ul>
What's interesting here, beyond the assumptions themselves, is the effects of <em>combination</em> of these assumptions and the inclusion or removal of the "sameness" mechanic.<br />
<br />
<strong>Order and Method of Generation</strong><br />
<br />
The assumptions dictate a certain order of terrain generation; you have to know whether mountains and/or fresh water are present before you can generate elevation and vegetation.<br />
<br />
The question then becomes how to generate these baseline elements (coastline/mountains/fresh water) with a simple mechanic and optional user choice.<br />
<br />
<strong>Weather and Rainfall</strong><br />
<br />
One of the harder elements to simulate is that of weather. There are deserts, for instance, in every latitude of the Earth (some of which are fairly close to fresh water features), and areas of forest without a lot of water on the ground. Put another way, the mere presence or absence of lakes and rivers is insufficient to determine the prevailing vegetation. Simulating this in a simple way is tricky.<br />
<br />
<strong>Mapscale</strong><br />
<br />
On the continental level, a larger scale is necessary so that you can create a map of a sufficiently large area within a manageable mapspace. The scale also has to be small enough to depict fresh water sources (which determine vegetation) in a meaningful way. I presently believe about 50 miles to the inch is an appropriate continental/campaign map scale, and 2 miles to the inch on a regional/local level.<br />
<br />
<strong>Fun</strong><br />
<br />
Generating a world or campaign map should be a fun experience. I'm experimenting with many different ideas to inject ease of use, creativity, and <em>fantasy</em> into the process. I want to make sure this isn't completely antiseptic and scientific for those who want funkiness and ways to generate campaign ideas.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-35027304768001219312012-03-26T20:07:00.000-05:002012-03-26T20:24:22.033-05:00Here's to You (off-topic)Bud Light presents: Real Men of Genius.<br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><br />(singer in background: "real men of geeeeniuusss ...")<br /><br /> Today we salulte you, Mr. After-Yard-Sale-Curbside-Jun<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>k-Remover.<br /> <br /> ("Mr. After-Yard-Sale-Curbside-Jun<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>k-Remover!")<br /> <br /> Only you can take a mildewed shower curtain, broken toilet, and rusted engine block and like a modern-day alchemist, turn it into flea market gold.<br /> <br /> ("it's leaking oil")<br /> <br /> We count on you to stalk our streets, like a Nighttime Trash Angel, scouring them clean of debris that wouldn't sell for a nickel.<br /> <br /> ("I'm calling 9-1-1!")<br /> <br /> So crack open an ice cold Bud Light, oh Sultan of the Scrapheap. You save us our sweat, our toil, and a day-after trip to the charity donation bin.<br /> <br /> ("Mr. After-Yard-Sale-Curbside-Jun<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>k-Remover ...")</span>Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-70143697626999491952012-03-25T21:07:00.000-05:002012-03-25T21:10:54.765-05:00On Hubris, Strengths, and Weaknesses in GamingOne of my favorite non-gaming subjects is that of personal development; who we are, why we are, what we individually do well, and how we can get better at whatever these things may be to achieve Name Level fulfillment in real life. For those interested, I recommend checking out <a href="http://www.strengthsfinder.com/home.aspx?gclid=CNu97o-zg68CFchdTAodkiHp1A">Strengthfinders</a>, but self-discovery is not for everyone -- and there are certainly many ways to skin this particular cat.<br />
<br />
I bring this subject up after checking out what appears to be the <a href="http://www.xtremedungeonmaster.com/">current endeavor</a> of Ravenloft author Tracy Hickman, "XDM: X-treme Dungeon Mastery." While I am certainly in no position to be calling anyone's baby ugly, I confess to a bit of an eyeroll when I read the name of his book and his game system ("XD20"), and began to understand his overall thrust, which appears to be to inject humor, energy, and magic tricks (I'm not kidding) into one's DM bag of tricks. Indeed, Hickman appears to have transformed himself, rather vampire-like, from an RPG author to what can best be described as (1) a DM motivational writer and speaker and (2) a consultant for budding RPG writers. I'm not sure whether his seminars involve a firewalk or sawing an assistant in two, but he does his damndest to make them appear "xtreme," as if he were the offspring of the union of Gary Gygax and Anthony Robbins.<br />
<br />
Setting aside my distaste for buzzwords and useless jargon ("xtreme" is really unforgivable), I couldn't help but wonder whether Hickman isn't a bit like the surgeon who has made his millions in the operating room then believes, magically, that he is somehow able to invest that money wisely (I'll give you a hint: doctors are the number one target for stockbrokers, commercial realtors, and scam artists). Here's a guy who, by all accounts, was the darling of the RPG world for many years writing successful adventures and novels. I would consider buying original content written by Tracy Hickman. I would not consider buying an "xtreme" motivational product or attend a paid seminar put out by him, for one simple reason: hubris. Tracy Hickman's arrogance is the glue that holds his website together; it is visceral.<br />
<br />
This sort of "I'm good at X, so I must be good at Y, since X and Y are so much like each other" is pervasive among successful people of all industries and nationalities. Its relative is the thought of "I'm smarter than Bill, and Bill is good at Y, so I can be better at it than him." Both of these beliefs are born of an inflated ego and pride.<br />
<br />
<strong>I'm Good at Game Writing, So I Can Run a Game Company</strong><br />
<br />
This is common in the gaming world because, frankly, nearly all of the companies we know today started as one- or two-man operations where the head guy wore all the hats in the company. Bob Bledsaw and Bill Owens ran Judges Guild for its first few years. Bledsaw was a great content guy (particularly in map and setting design) and philosopher of the game; Owens appears to have been more of an organizer. After Owens left around 1980, JG's production quality worsened and the company lost its exclusive license to publish under the D&D logos. Bledsaw was not free to do what he was best at -- writing, designing, and leading -- and got stuck in the back-end of the business (editing and publishing), things for which he was poorly-suited.<br />
<br />
<strong>I'm Smarter than the Technical Games Guy, So I Can Run a Game Company with No Technical Expertise</strong><br />
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The same could be said, to a lesser extent, in the TSR saga of the early 80s, pitting the Blumes (and then Lorraine Williams) against Gary Gygax for control of the company. We'll never know what would have become of TSR had Gygax retained control, but we certainly know what happened in his absence. People with a lack of understanding and appreciation for the technical product could not be expected to appease their core demographic, design appealing new content, and keep up with the changes to the game market.<br />
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The conclusion? Do one thing, and do it well.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-28646133325034514692012-03-25T07:20:00.001-05:002012-03-25T07:34:43.301-05:00Dungeon Engineering, Room Density and the Space Between<a href="http://vaultsofthemadarchmage.blogspot.com/2012/03/more-of-purple-storerooms.html#comment-form">Ragnardbard</a> inspired this post, via his beautiful maps for the "storeroom" DIY level of the Vault of the Mad Archmage. One thing leapt out to me immediately: the tightly-packed nature of sections of the dungeon level. I liked it, but I realized immediately I would never have drawn it that way because of my own preferences and biases.<br />
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For you see, to my dungeon engineer's eye, you've got to have Space Between!<br />
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Compare, for instance, these two classic D&D maps:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQcuUStBxBxvlbzEXtZlxXbU3844steD_qDznMn16VuvW7Lhhxbus93alpnfi7wD-hhTRRRQzqbF09vZog7vcZVrO-jO-mEk8GuaGe-tI2Z4uVUefiNz6Mkkw_-jhGsfWzLLuUncHrFM/s1600/quas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQcuUStBxBxvlbzEXtZlxXbU3844steD_qDznMn16VuvW7Lhhxbus93alpnfi7wD-hhTRRRQzqbF09vZog7vcZVrO-jO-mEk8GuaGe-tI2Z4uVUefiNz6Mkkw_-jhGsfWzLLuUncHrFM/s320/quas.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
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Quasequeton is <em>packed</em>. The Tower of Zenopus (as the Homes D&D dungeon has been called) is sparse. I fall somewhere in the middle here, with an acknowledged preference towards having <em>some</em> space between rooms, usually 10' worth.<br />
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I find it amusing that I care about such things in a fantasy world that is home to monstrous levitating meatballs with eye stalks, but I imagine somehow that without such a rock buffer my dungeon would structurally <em>fail</em>. This would seem to be more true the deeper one goes -- more support needed for all that rock-weight above. Thus, I look at Quasequeton and see a proverbial house of cards, albeit one with some magic pools on the seven of hearts. <br />
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But then I eye Zenopus' abode and say, "my, that's an awful lot of wasted space. That seems less functional." Without a design goal (like, say, to reach the underground river in area M), why tunnel when you don't have to? Couldn't all of rooms A - J been put closer together and achieved the same functionality?<br />
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Here's something more up my alley, though it's certainly more Zenopusian than in my preferred middle ground:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXjjpSn5gAudlKceOEwuz5TW4V-vdVITQAWyWIlOibcEYRFyKTTWRivj5BlNIL3NyrIywgyq73I-4g6_cs8lsVRfJhapVXVmFU60nE3NTgVokprYIsy6q8AxWRk_Yy9sLlRqL8ijCLag/s1600/moathouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXjjpSn5gAudlKceOEwuz5TW4V-vdVITQAWyWIlOibcEYRFyKTTWRivj5BlNIL3NyrIywgyq73I-4g6_cs8lsVRfJhapVXVmFU60nE3NTgVokprYIsy6q8AxWRk_Yy9sLlRqL8ijCLag/s320/moathouse.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Moathouse dungeon works for me despite its relative sparseness -- though I think Gygax could have fit several more rooms in here easily without having the Moathouse crater upon itself. Gygax's own above-ground structures were more packed (needing less support) while his caverns and dungeons had Space Between to one degree or another.<br />
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Torn between realism and functionalism, and asking myself WWGD, I have suconsciously decreed that a 10' minimum Space Between has become my default for underground designs. Armed with this, I can effectively suspend disbelief and maintain functionality and design flow. <br />
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I just have to catch myself to not do this above-ground, though. 10' spaces between everything is not functional in a building, unless we are discussing exterior castle walls.<br />
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I think I need to go out and draw a dozen outdoor hedge mazes now to break myself of this. Ah, the little internal boxes we make for ourselves, eh?Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-80394811303320190092012-03-23T14:40:00.000-05:002012-03-23T14:52:42.513-05:00Judges Guild Retrospective #4: TarantisAnd so, <a href="http://closetbarbarian.blogspot.com/2012/03/greyhawk-and-fall-of-judges-guild.html">as promised in my earlier post</a>, a retrospective reivew of Tarantis:<br />
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This 1983 publication from Judges Guild was the last of its kind, a city-state guidebook for the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. Joining the inimitable City State of the Invincible Overlord and the City State of the World Emperor, Tarantis was the third city state to be detailed. Written by Bob Bledsaw, it bears many marks of his authorship -- namely, attention to detail and a strong sense of setting. It's also "Bledsawian" in the sense that, like the rest of the Wilderlands, it's a sandbox too. There are no dungeons detailed here or plotlines to follow.<br />
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Overall, I give Tarantis a "C" grade and can only recommend its purchase for collectors and those running a Wilderlands sandbox campaign.<br />
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<strong>Setting & Flavor</strong><br />
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One of the nice things about a Bledsaw work -- you always have a great sense of <em>location</em>. On the shores of an Eastern subcontinent in the Wilderlands, Tarantis is a port city and home to a people reminiscent of the Turks, the Sumerians, and a dash of distant India. Bledsaw captures the maritime flavor of the area with a nice historical overview of the area. Like the other large cities of the Wilderlands, Tarantis is an orderly place with a relatively brutal government with a Lawful Evil / Neutral flavor. How much of this is a reflection of Bledsaw's politics or worldview is hard to say, but it is a recurring theme in the Wilderlands.<br />
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On the edge of an Asiatic wilderness with its own Mongol analogue, Tarantis, while interesting, lacks much of the fantastic whimsy of the City State of the Invincible Overlord. Rather like the nations of the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting, Tarantis is very much a human-focused nation; the elements of fantasy are few and far between. With its mercantile/piratical/barbarian-horde-avoiding tone, the area feels more like a low fantasy swords & sandals locale than one where elves and ogres and mind flayers congregate. That's a minor quibble, but perhaps it's a strength as well -- perhaps Bledsaw deliberately wanted to give "Judges" a low fantasy city option.<br />
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Other bits of flavor are sprinkled throughout. A particular standout is a huge rumor table (provided in a d100 list that is much easier to use than the rumor in the CSIO (which were one rumor per city locale). The rumors themselves evoke the setting and provide Judges with a huge repository of adventure ideas.<br />
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The artwork, all black and white other than the cover, is of fair quality and overall evokes the setting well. My overall impression is that it is light on art.<br />
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<strong>Physical Product</strong><br />
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You knew this was coming, but here it comes regardless: Tarantis' overall physical presentation is poor, especially by 1983 standards. Once you get past the single-page glossy color cover sheet, you are dealing with two 96-page newsprint-paper staple-bound books in the traditional JG mold, along with the campaign map (DM/Judge and Player versions). I find these production values increasingly hard to justify, but JG at this point in their lifespan was trying to keep costs down by having an arrangement with a newspaper printer that did JG stuff "on the side" on the condition that the material be prepped for printing in a precise way, run once on their paper with no do-overs, and be done. While this low-cost printing strategy kept JG in business in the short-term, it crippled them in the long-term from a competitive standpoint. It also led to questionable editorial decisions where full-page artwork of dubious quality was slapped into a product to fatten it up so that the manuscript could get to the required number of pages.<br />
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Overall then, we are left with a fairly shocking conclusion: that a 1983 JG publication was of <em>lower</em> quality than TSR's original white box OD&D offerings of 1975. Let that soak in for a moment.<br />
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<strong>Content & Organization</strong><br />
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The maps, as always, are great. They are as usable now as they were in '83.<br />
<br />
My initial beef with Tarantis' content is that a large portion of it is regurgitated, particularly many of the tables and charts. I estimate that no less than 10-15% of the content (encounter charts, terrain generation, etc.) was previously-published. More infuriating is that this is content that likely Tarantis buyers already owned by virtue of having a copy of the CSIO, the Campaign Hexagon System, or some of the Wilderlands releases.<br />
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On top of that, there is unnecessary content. Pages and pages are devoted, for instance, to a listing of settlements <em>in the entire 18-map Wilderlands</em>. How this information was supposed to be useful to a purchaser of one-map Tarantis is beyond me.<br />
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Editorially, Bledsaw also fumbled, allowing his military fetish to shine through as he waxes about every significant military unit within Tarantis' military. Four to five pages are taken up with descriptions of company commanders and their troops with tangential, if any, interest to player-characters adventuring in a typical exploration/dungeon-based sandbox setting. Those were five pages that reasonable purchasers in 1983 would have wanted back -- pages that could have been used to supply actual adventure-related content.<br />
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By way of comparison, the CSIO contained adventure seeds and some blank dungeon maps. It was <em>screaming</em> for adventure. Gimme some encounter charts and let's head off to Thunderhold! Sadly, Tarantis has no adventuring locales even <em>partially</em> described, requiring the DM to do all of the work. This is not a fatal flaw, but it certainly renders Tarantis less "ready-to-play."<br />
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As I have previously explained in other posts, in 1982 JG lost the license to publish gaming materials using "approved for use with D&D / AD&D." Thus, Tarantis was printed with the "Universal Fantasy System" imprint, a thinly-veiled attempt to make the game statistics as generic as possible. Miscellaneous odd statistics were added, rendering characters as a long statblock of sometimes-comprehensible abbreviations.<br />
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Which brings me to my final gripe: the organization of the city locales themselves, being laid out as though each were another room in an above ground dungeon. A rote name-and-description style works for a dungeon because the DM needs to read it a few times to understand the contents so that he can describe it in-game. Consider, however, how players actually interact with an urban setting. Unless a given location plays into a particular adventure, all I as DM want to know is the name and personality of the main NPC at the location (so that I can roleplay his part) and what products and services are available at the location. The game stats of the NPC and remaining fluff (e.g., that the NPC has a chest with 500 gp and a toy doll, etc.) is simply filler that can be placed elsewhere or eliminated entirely. While town/shopping adventures can be fun for low-level parties, they rarely devolve into wholesale blood lettings involving the shopkeepers.<br />
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I am experimenting presently with a facing-page urban layout with the map and key on the left (the key merely identifying the location) and a chart on the right describing the NPCs, products and services, and random encounter chart.<br />
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<strong>Conclusion</strong>: It's a C, and I'm being rather generous.<br />
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While it is a useful and evocative product, in retrospect Tarantis is an uneven and rather sad coda to the Wilderlands offerings of Judges Guild. Not even my nostalgia and love of the Wilderlands and its cartography can get me past the numerous failings of JG's later offerings.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-44159653155302971302012-03-22T21:59:00.004-05:002012-03-22T21:59:41.781-05:00What he said<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwF6T6W62dQP0V6lIfhRU1xMvTghcg6NVk13okn7AmE0jmop1jdwpNNiMPCWJZq45xJYmbSaZi282UWEFqP0VCpnywZSk1QYiIN_KxODIlWOQKdGy7U0BGRfqWQ3Cahwqe5RUjgfuY3Do/s1600/healing+surge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwF6T6W62dQP0V6lIfhRU1xMvTghcg6NVk13okn7AmE0jmop1jdwpNNiMPCWJZq45xJYmbSaZi282UWEFqP0VCpnywZSk1QYiIN_KxODIlWOQKdGy7U0BGRfqWQ3Cahwqe5RUjgfuY3Do/s400/healing+surge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-8177607090939807962012-03-21T20:33:00.000-05:002012-03-21T21:36:18.881-05:00Greyhawk and the Fall of Judges GuildIt's 1983, and Dungeons & Dragons, despite the documented problems within TSR's ownership group, is apparently doing well by all <em>external</em> measures. Its core gamer base remains in an expansion mode despite the protestations of satan-fearing religious types, and many of the kids and adults who started playing over the prior eight years are clamoring for new and better content and game aids. While TSR was fighting its own internal battles, a few hundred miles south in Decatur, Illinois, a competitor and sometimes-friendly colleague in the RPG publishing business, Judges Guild, is in deep trouble.<br />
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I am not breaking any news here, but my thesis is that JG was at its best in publishing two categories of gaming product: campaign setting content and maps related to the Wilderlands of High Fantasy, and game aids (tables, charts, and mapping materials) for use in the Wilderlands or in homebrew settings. JG was at its weakest, with a few notable exceptions (Tegel Manor and Dark Tower among them), in writing adventures and rules-related offerings. In this way, JG was a great complimentary publisher to TSR, which had roughly opposite strengths and weaknesses.<br />
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To give you an example of why I adore JG campaign materials:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDCvUgx4W-t8DgVpntR6BbC9WEmghN4b_t6GRS7TB-C-grNZwXrmbT5lFJs3BfnERaqwTXgKmbudkfYe88uKjUm7aLc0VVSey1tEWRdIz_R5k44p6KRmJtg4DVvDiYuwn9E8urxoIH92s/s1600/tarantis+player+map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDCvUgx4W-t8DgVpntR6BbC9WEmghN4b_t6GRS7TB-C-grNZwXrmbT5lFJs3BfnERaqwTXgKmbudkfYe88uKjUm7aLc0VVSey1tEWRdIz_R5k44p6KRmJtg4DVvDiYuwn9E8urxoIH92s/s400/tarantis+player+map.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A "Player Map" of Tarantis: Campaign Map Four, printed in 1977</td></tr>
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For its time, JG printed <em>wonderful</em> maps. Not because they were beautiful (though I thought they were), but because they were big, they were on the faux-parchmentish paper, and <em>because you were expected to write on them and actually use them</em>. The Player Maps were exactly that -- to be filled out as the players explored the unknown, with only a coastline, a few rivers, and some distant mountain ranges to guide them. Now THAT is how you sandbox, people.<br />
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So as you read this post, please don't think I'm dancing on JG's grave. If anything, I am angry that this company didn't recognize and capitalize on its niche while it had the opportunity. Bledsaw and Owens, the main operators of JG in the 70s, had a virtual monopoly on officially-licensed campaign settings. They came up with two fabulous ideas: (1) the Wilderlands itself, a huge sandbox of a game-world (really, about the size of Europe) and (2) an ahead-of-its-time subscription-based publishing strategy to put out setting-related materials, supplemented by the <em>Pegasus</em> magazine, one of the main functions of which was to promote and support the Wilderlands setting. They had a good plan. They did not <em>execute</em> the plan.<br />
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With respect to the maps of the Wilderlands, 18 campaign maps (with mostly-blank Player versions) were published and distributed on or before 1978. The often imititated, never duplicated, City State of the Invincible Overlord (launched in 1976) was the centerpiece of the game world. JG's setting-related offerings (e.g., Modron, Shield Maidens of Sea Rune, Verbosh) often focused on nearby locations within easy reach of the City State. Thus, in fairness, JG's main intent was in supporting City State-based campaigns, rather than necessarily expanding the Wilderlands. The Wilderlands' next most substantial content-related expansion arguably was the 1980 release of the City State of the World Emperor, detailing the Overlord's main rival to the West and the surrounding lands.<br />
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In prior <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5054171212526699437#editor/target=post;postID=9086754568785411195">posts</a>, I have more or less identified the core reasons for Judges Guild's fall (from a product standpoint only; I can't speak to JG's financials or ownership issues), to wit: low-quality and stale production values, poor art, missing-in-action editing, a tendency to regurgitate previously-published material, and a failure to adapt to the rapidly increasing sophistication of TSR's product line (as well as the D&D target market itself) in the early 80s. The <em>coup de grace</em>, however, was JG's 1982 loss of the license to put the D&D and Advanced D&D logos on its products. JG already was moving into second-class publisher status; the licensing debacle relegated it to the role of gonzo publisher -- though one with a fairly impressive back catalog.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamrwc8-Zg-M7L6WDmBjZR1lC5CCYHBfcnmAukhfAoN7lYVaigOPbvnkN02OJrPeM6LxeyppRiS1rOdLpiZ9bYqZmlb_VYsIKGoedBIbl2F_zwnFlIujLLIJtEB9UDr4djJeIoSsXQFzA/s1600/IMAG0017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamrwc8-Zg-M7L6WDmBjZR1lC5CCYHBfcnmAukhfAoN7lYVaigOPbvnkN02OJrPeM6LxeyppRiS1rOdLpiZ9bYqZmlb_VYsIKGoedBIbl2F_zwnFlIujLLIJtEB9UDr4djJeIoSsXQFzA/s320/IMAG0017.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kiss of Death</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So in 1983, my guess is that Bob Bledsaw, one of the founders and the remaining owners of JG, decided to stick to what had worked in the past (and frankly, something that capitalized on his best personal skills -- writing and setting design), and published Tarantis, a city-state in the eastern portion of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOy1owTpxlUBke0iI0GigOZw-ohcRWcbMtzioFUCWtD2gN830V5IHc5D3IA7-hoO56n_ds5XiiDlhdXUkV5-IyvGLxZXJuJU0fPI6Mr20FOrf4JHkB6AVSslAwCf0I1DfJU9xLyXJMhqk/s1600/IMAG0015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOy1owTpxlUBke0iI0GigOZw-ohcRWcbMtzioFUCWtD2gN830V5IHc5D3IA7-hoO56n_ds5XiiDlhdXUkV5-IyvGLxZXJuJU0fPI6Mr20FOrf4JHkB6AVSslAwCf0I1DfJU9xLyXJMhqk/s400/IMAG0015.jpg" width="303" /></a></div>
<br />
At first blush, one would think this was a significant upgrade for JG, which in some sense it was. A glossy color cover certainly was <em>de rigueur</em> in the early 80's. As with many JG offerings, however, this was lipstick on a production pig, for under the single-page glossy cover, under the shrink wrap, were two 96-page staple-bound cheap paper books. <br />
<br />
To make matters worse, look what else came out in 1983:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9TjiD1S895IqREpWYjWr2lM1M1uXU0UnISKphRrcXNCG_LfB0WSddB2gm5MO_0-UZ8aY1uHgWqenek3E6aacXrs8UMJ59762YjmQFqr6Btjnl_i-CxuFm0ScKk8aIxAPdQzIRAAfe5E/s1600/greyhawk+box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh9TjiD1S895IqREpWYjWr2lM1M1uXU0UnISKphRrcXNCG_LfB0WSddB2gm5MO_0-UZ8aY1uHgWqenek3E6aacXrs8UMJ59762YjmQFqr6Btjnl_i-CxuFm0ScKk8aIxAPdQzIRAAfe5E/s400/greyhawk+box.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
<br />
As you will recall, this was the fabulous boxed set for which fans of D&D had been clamoring for <em>years</em>. It had a polished gazetteer and of course the iconic Darlene Pekul map of the Flanaess. Tarantis (as good as it is -- see below) -- had <em>no shot</em>. This was the "game over" moment for JG, because TSR had officially gotten into the campaign setting business. JG's Wilderlands of High Fantasy had a six-year virtual monopoly on this sub-industry -- and the World of Greyhawk smacked it aside like the proverbial redheaded stepchild.<br />
<br />
As a side note, 1983 also saw the release of Ravenloft, which was in itself a seminal moment in the development of D&D. JG had long since fallen behind the curve on adventure publishing, which TSR absolutely dominated since around 1978 (despite a few Paul Jacquays standout offerings for JG).<br />
<br />
Now here's the punchline: remember the date on that Tarantis Player map? 1977. When was Tarantis published? 1983. Why did it take Judges Guild six years to publish Tarantis? Or to put a finer point on it -- <em>why couldn't Judges Guild fully flesh out the Wilderlands with a six year head start</em>?<br />
<br />
So to recap -- JG had no D&D license, third-class citizen status amongst the game-buying public, stale production and 1970s sensibilities -- and it lost primacy in its best category. Frankly, they are fortunate TSR didn't get into the setting business sooner, because if Gygax had published the City of Greyhawk and World of Greyhawk early on in D&D's life-cycle, JG wouldn't have made it past 1978.<br />
<br />
In the end, though, Tarantis was a largely forgotten product, which is sad. As a whole, the Wilderlands is in some ways a superior product to the WoG, especially for OSR players. I'll post my review of Tarantis in in the coming days.<br />
<br />
Edit: a day late and a dollar short: Grognardia's <a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2011/08/retrospective-wilderlands-of-high.html">retrospective</a> on the Wilderlands makes many of my points for me -- as usual. Looks like I'm playing catch-up!Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-61498150976436462922012-03-20T14:16:00.000-05:002012-04-17T12:00:06.188-05:00For Your Consideration: Holy SwordI've submitted my one-page dungeon, Holy Sword, to <a href="mailto:kensanata@gmail.com">Alex Schroder</a>, the affable organizer of the event. With his permission, I'm going to go ahead and post Holy Sword right here, right now.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVWxKfa-9B4kqjtTlzv0Cc-x7ppA8wta6TTQE7uGhprr5qlGF6tpRDuj-EaRaEktCSbNUWm4vmrMGmEe7cLhFuxYDO9KMNWeS6hOGpYIT1WouTvK21TykOJluvCQkKjDIPll3UQTcryE/s1600/holy+sword.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVWxKfa-9B4kqjtTlzv0Cc-x7ppA8wta6TTQE7uGhprr5qlGF6tpRDuj-EaRaEktCSbNUWm4vmrMGmEe7cLhFuxYDO9KMNWeS6hOGpYIT1WouTvK21TykOJluvCQkKjDIPll3UQTcryE/s640/holy+sword.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for Expandy Bits</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-35384530209094812172012-03-20T06:35:00.003-05:002012-03-20T06:35:45.995-05:00One-Page Dungeon 2012This year's <a href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/DungeonMaps/One_Page_Dungeon_Contest_2012">One-Page Dungeon</a> contest is up and running, and I'm in. I'll be submitting my freehand entry very shortly. Best of luck to the other contestants!<br />
<br />
I had a great time designing my entry, Holy Sword. It's something I had kicked around for a bit but hadn't really considered for One-Page treatment until I started working on my freehand more and started to see the beauty of the key-on-map -- at least for my own use. The next step was to make a key-on-map that was usable by other people that were coming to the product cold and with their own points of view.<br />
<br />
One-Page, to me, means the following:<br />
<ul>
<li>Using as much of the page as possible within concept</li>
<li>Going stat- and game-mechanics-free as possible -- both to save space as well as to keep it system-neutral</li>
<li>Simple illustrations substitute for verbiage</li>
<li>Brevity! Less is more in descriptions!</li>
<li>Providing real, usable content that is more than a skeleton or flowchart</li>
</ul>
Here's hoping my scanner can pick up the details and render them readable; I'd hate to start over!Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-28301950419277057162012-03-19T19:20:00.001-05:002012-03-19T23:20:49.719-05:00Incredible color freehand mapping courtesy of the Vaults of the Mad Archmage<a href="http://www.vaultsofthemadarchmage.blogspot.com/">Ragnardbard</a> is far too humble. His work makes my meager sepia offerings downright pathetic. What an inspiration, though!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://vaultsofthemadarchmage.blogspot.com/2012/03/gardens-and-graveyard-colour.html?spref=bl">VAULTS OF THE MAD ARCHMAGE: Gardens and Graveyard, colour...</a>: <br />
<br />
There are some <em>seriously great</em> freehand mappers out there.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-21401776092825627932012-03-18T22:07:00.004-05:002012-03-18T22:18:46.907-05:00Basic DnD Bard ClassHere's what I came up with, using Erin Smales' <a href="http://breeyark.org/files/perfect_class.pdf">class construction kit:</a><br />
<br />
Conceptually, this bard has 3.x-style abilities. He's a face-man, a tale-teller, and repository of knowledge. Top that off with musical inspiration and fascination abilities; enchantment, auditory illusion, buffing, and healing spells; and fair combat abilities, he's a true jack-of-all-trades that complements the party without stealing anyone else's thunder. The cleric will always be a better healer, the thief will still have his unique skills, and the magic-user will have a greater spell selection and much more damage capability. As a support character, he most resembles the cleric.<br />
<strong>Bard (Prime Requisite: Charisma)</strong><br />
<ul>
<li>Hit Die: d6</li>
<li>Save: as Cleric</li>
<li>Combat Progression: as Cleric/Thief</li>
<li>Armor Restriction: restricted leather or magic chainmail, no shield</li>
<li>Weapon Restriction: restricted to sword, dagger, club, light crossbow, sling, shortbow</li>
<li>Spell Ability: Cleric/M-U blend (I priced this at cleric level) </li>
<li>Special Ability Rank II: Bardic Music (1/day, +1/day per 3 levels after 1st): Inspiration (+1 to hit and damage (+2 at 6th level, +3 at 12th level; Fascination (as Hypnotism)</li>
<li>Weapon Mastery: non-fighter</li>
<li>Skills (priced at 2:1, as per Thief): Music, Singing, Persuasion, Acting, Deception, Read Normal Languages, Knowledge: History, Knowledge: Legends</li>
<li>Level Limit: Unlimited</li>
<li>XP Progression: 2000 xp to 2nd level (as Fighter)</li>
</ul>
<u>Spell List</u> (progression and spells/day similar to cleric, but spell level capped at 6. Learns spells and has a spell book like a magic-user and can copy any spells on the spell list (even from cleric scrolls) as a magic-user)<br />
<br />
1: <em>remove fear, light, detect magic, read languages, charm person, faerie fire, sleep, read magic, ventriloquism, auditory illusion, hypnotism, identify</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em><div>
</div>
</em><br />
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2: <em>silence 15' radius, speak with animal, hold person, cure light wounds, protection from evil, snake charm, deafness, magic mouth, amnesia, scare</em></div>
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<em><div>
</div>
</em><br />
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3: <em>locate object, hold animal, striking, fear, invisibility, clairaudience, fumble, suggestion</em></div>
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4: <em>dispel magic, charm monster, confusion, tongues, emotion, heroism, feeblemind</em></div>
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</em><br />
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5: <em>cure serious wounds, protection from evil 10' radius, hold monster, geas, lore, charm plant</em></div>
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</div>
</em><br />
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6: <em>find the path, cure critical wounds, maze, antipathy/sympathy, power word stun, mass charm</em></div>
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*Spell notes: some of the spells are cribbed from 1st edition. <em>Heroism</em> is taken from 3.x; it's a single-target buff spell; I'm thinking it should be around +2 to hit, 2d8 temporary hit points, and fear immunity, say for a duration of one round/level.<br />
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Your feedback would be welcome.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-42691194628089652832012-03-17T23:31:00.003-05:002012-03-19T23:21:17.096-05:00More scrapbook map goodnessI've managed to transfer, edit, and expand some of my Dunlyle maps to the 12" square scrapbook paper format. Not bad for amateur freehand, though I've yet to settle on techniques for lettering, shading, and how to draw more or less squared-off dungeons without using graph paper. I noticed that, if I didn't rotate the paper or adjust my position, my rectangles started looking more like parallelograms.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9Zs2bgOdVU4FyNRWo7WkzQYx6bkJCqws5YNqrXZo2Jw9QdETyjAb7F8UMqspLR7MvQEO7RBnG229xg8Yyr9FFWDb_DAl_G0S6eP4SBotXrqUjrPKiOR7RsY_v4ZPmz0bHO_r4TodSzM/s1600/scrap2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9Zs2bgOdVU4FyNRWo7WkzQYx6bkJCqws5YNqrXZo2Jw9QdETyjAb7F8UMqspLR7MvQEO7RBnG229xg8Yyr9FFWDb_DAl_G0S6eP4SBotXrqUjrPKiOR7RsY_v4ZPmz0bHO_r4TodSzM/s320/scrap2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A low-level complex, with multiple side-caves sprouting from a large central cavern</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGyTdjZ23ZT5QY1eazIhLKd4LhGz4TeNvw3_5DnPADB83IQJMKqxBga6Jq_1pKGaSKrBpfqeJyg9j8b7wtGO8sR1spQ0KaLu_-M94ZR6XpHFy4CwvKi1X7UqT80dAEiW45phpjrRN9Jl8/s1600/scrap3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGyTdjZ23ZT5QY1eazIhLKd4LhGz4TeNvw3_5DnPADB83IQJMKqxBga6Jq_1pKGaSKrBpfqeJyg9j8b7wtGO8sR1spQ0KaLu_-M94ZR6XpHFy4CwvKi1X7UqT80dAEiW45phpjrRN9Jl8/s320/scrap3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One dungeon level, along with exterior and overland mini-maps.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
What I'm proudest of, though, is the use of my .1 mm sepia ink pen to key the maps on the maps themselves, for ease of use in running the dungeons. This kind of shorthand is obviously great for DMs running their own material; many DMs coming to such a product cold will likely want a traditional written key. Since I'm doing this for my own use and pleasure, however, it's more than acceptable for my own purposes.<br />
<br />
Thanks to <a href="http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/">Zak</a> for the idea (and stunning visual execution) of using the map/key combination, though in his case, he uses his own art, flair, and clip-art images to convey a lot of the information to himself, whereas I'm writing supersmall text on the map.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-89103882278327419722012-03-16T12:47:00.002-05:002012-03-16T12:51:01.992-05:00Skill Systems for pre-3.x D&DAs I've posted over on ENWorld (in the Legacy games sub-forum), I am weighing the various options for a skill system for my planned Dunlyle campaign. As I explained, there are several options:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>No skill system at all -- use ability checks with appropriate modifiers</li>
<li>Secondary skills only (as per 1st edition)</li>
<li>Rules Cyclopedia skill slots</li>
<li>3.x skill points</li>
<li>4e trained/untrained skills</li>
<li>The <a href="http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com/">Adventures Dark & Deep</a> system, based on a prior OGL creation, which involves the purchase of skill ranks with experience points, the skills themselves use a modified ability check system.</li>
</ol>
<strong>Flexibility vs. Specialization</strong><br />
<br />
At first blush, the "no system" has a lot going for it. There is something liberating, frankly, about not having a skill system and just winging the outcome with your players. Obviously, this requires a level of DM flexibility and skill, as well as the trust of the players. It also requires consistent application. Over the course of a campaign, the flexibility/"winging it" solution ends up with loosely codified houserules using a variety of modifiers to either the target number or the die roll itself.<br />
<br />
My main beef with this (as well as the 1st edition solution) is that it does not allow a PC to excel at a particular skill. How do you simulate arcane knowledge, tracking, or even being a great horseman in Basic D&D? Clearly, not everyone has this knowledge -- so you end up with a houserule that says some ability checks are only usable by certain classes. This creates a de facto "class skill" system where some skills are only usable by trained individuals and others (like stealth, say) are usable untrained.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, there are other cans of worms opened with a full-blown skill system exported to pre 3.x D&D. Many of the rules mechanics (surprise, finding secret doors, falling into traps, etc.) are handled on a flat 1 in 6 or 2 in 6 probability, with no distinctions between different races and classes of PCs. Once you inject perception, athletics, and other combat and non-combat skills into the mix, you are fundamentally altering how the basic game works -- and not just for the PCs. You then have to account for these attributes for all of the monsters. Which is probably why Gary went with a simple mechanic in the first place.<br />
<br />
<strong>What 4e got right</strong><br />
<br />
Yes, my fellow grognards, there were some advances in 4th edition, the biggest one in my mind being the rules for passive perception and insight. The passive mechanic allows PCs to spot secret doors (in elf-like fashion) without looking for them, and also provides a target for opposing stealth rolls to determine if PCs are surprised. Passive insight functions like 3.x's Sense Motive skill. Once you decide that you need a skill system, you need a way to keep it manageable, and passive skills fit the bill. Passive perception, in particular, helps deal with the trap-finding problem in prior editions, where the paranoid thief/rogue character searches every 10' square with a fine-tooth comb. Of course, that's what wandering monsters are for, too.<br />
<br />
I also like the concept of the trained/untrained skill in 4e, though I'm not a fan of the execution. Trained skills in 4e are essentially ability checks against a set DC, delivering a flat +5 bonus for training, and all skills go up with character level automatically. I think this could be adapted to basic with tiers of bonuses for each rank of training (which is very similar to the Adventures Dark and Deep implementation).<br />
<br />
<strong>How Skills are "bought"</strong><br />
<br />
If you have a skill system, you then have to decide how they are acquired. The Rules Cyclopedia uses a weapon proficiency analogue called skill slots, and allows the expenditure of multiple slots to simulate greater expertise. 3.x uses skill points and is by far the most customizable system. 4th edition essentially uses skill slots. <br />
<br />
Adventures Dark and Deep uses an interesting xp purchase option, trading off xp for skills with a maximum number of ranks per level. I am lukewarm on this last option, simply because it is such a giant tradeoff for a player to learn an interesting "flavor" skill (like a social interaction skill) at the cost of hard-won xp. This system feels more like a GURPS-like, character-point driven game where character advancement is piecemeal (do you want to increase your skills or other abilities?) rather than level-based. I like point-buy games, having played Champions for years, but to me this runs counter to the level mechanic in all versions of D&D and I'm hard pressed to see where a player would want to learn any skills until he was of a fairly high level and the xp costs involved were proportionately less painful.<br />
<br />
At the moment, I'm leaning heavily towards the Rules Cyclopedia as a way to provide some structure and specialization to skills in pre-3.x without getting overloaded in details or having to create monster skills to oppose PC skills. I also think having some kind of rules makes it more clear to the players how actions will be adjudicated. But I would love to hear how you deal with skills in your games.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5054171212526699437.post-23330839864627937162012-03-15T23:34:00.002-05:002012-03-15T23:36:29.273-05:00Adventures Dark & Deep KickstarterJoe Bloch, aka the <a href="http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com/">Greyhawk Grognard,</a> has just launched a <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/623939691/adventures-dark-and-deeptm-a-curious-volume-of-for">Kickstarter</a> funding event for Adventures Dark and Deep, a Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore. This product is a supplement for 1st edition and OSR products, adding new classes, spells, monsters, a streamlined combat system, and other features.<br />
<br />
If you haven't seen Joe's material, painstakingly and lovingly coaxed out of dozens of sources on Gary Gygax's intentions for the advancement of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, you are missing a distinctly Gygaxian expansion and clarification of the game. As Joe puts it, it's his attempt to render the AD&D 2nd edition Gygax would have written.<br />
<br />
I support this on Kickstarter and I encourage you to do so as well.Gene Sollowshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11329711228140134967noreply@blogger.com0