Chucking Dice

Lack of content

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Nov 2013 20:59:00 +0000

I have posted nothing, nada, zero, zip, zilch over the last month and a half due to personal matters. On September 21st I married my lovely fiance of four years. While this should have been the happiest time of my life it was dampered by the fact that on October 2nd my father lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. My father was a business owner, role model, friend and all around great guy. The last month and a half has been a whirlwind of lawyers, funeral homes, family and emotions. I have never had this feeling of overwhelming joy ( because of my wedding) mixed with such a bitter sadness( my father) before in my life.

Needless to say I have not been gaming, nor have I been thinking about games in anyway as of late. I do have every intention to get back on here and into the scene, right now I have to play adult for a little.....

4E Red Box

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 17:25:00 +0000

I have avoided 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons like the plague. I read the quick start when they where released and found the sweeping changes to the game to be abysmal. I detested the focus on combat, the way roleplaying was reduced to a series of skill checks and nothing more. I despised the way the new game attempted to emulate popular computer role playing games. I did not want to play World of Warcraft on my table, I wanted to role play dammit. I maintained these opinions for a long time and I defended 3rd and 2nd edition with all my might, insisting that they where the best systems for Dungeons and Dragons ( while I realize that some old school purists would argue that 1st was the best but I am 29 so my introduction to D and D was 2nd). I wanted nothing to do with the grid-based combat, if I want grid-based combat I will play HeroQuest or Decent. I did not want to have to carry around cards for my characters because they worked on some crazy keyword system that looked more like if-then statements than gaming rules. If I wanted to multi-class into a fighter/ranger/rogue/bard/wizard/druid/monk then I would, because I played 3.5 and was not and will never play 4th.

So, I bought the red box for 4th edition last week.....

I have two friends that are very into video games but have never role played, I also have a seven year old son who has a ten year old friend. Over the last couple of months they have all expressed interest in playing D & D. I did not want to introduce them into my 3.5 group that has been playing together for years for two reasons. First we have been doing this a long time and when we go off into character it can get kinda scary for someone who has never been exposed to this hobby before. Secondly we are all around 30 and our language can get rather crass and what kind of father would I be if my son repeated some of the things said around the table to his mother?

With that in mind I hopped on Amazon and snagged the red box for $16. I figured if we all tried it and hated it at least I was not out a ton of money and could go right back to my main group and never bat an eye. When the box arrived I set to creating a fighter NPC using the character creation rules that come with the beginner box. This was by far and large the worst part of the entire experiment with the red box. To put it simply the solo "adventure" that Wizards uses to create new characters is horrid. I slogged through it and ended up with a fighter and a moderate understanding of how 4th edition worked, and I still hated it. After helping my son and friends through the process we sat down to play the short dungeon crawl that came with the box.

As they made their way through the adventure, killing monsters and failing skill checks something magical began to happen. I had to help my young son less and less, he started telling me what he was doing and why. My friends also caught on to the rules rather quickly and began questioning how powers worked and when they could do what. After a nail biting fight with the final boss of the dungeon I closed the book and looked around. Everyone at the table was laughing and having a great time. I asked if they wanted to do it again and was greeted with a resounding yes.

After this experience it's looking like I will be DMing an essentials campaign now as well as my 3.5 campaign. I don't know that I love the new rule set but I do love what it was able to do. With the understanding of MMOs that my friends and son have they where able to adapt to the 4th edition rules rather quickly and everything just kind of clicked for them. So while my older friends and I will stick to our 3.5 role playing, if the video game style approach of 4th edition is going to allow my son to enjoy a hobby that has given me so much joy over the years than in my opinion it is the best role playing game ever.

Keeping Your Players on Their Toes

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:21:00 +0000

Over the years of DMing I have come up with a few ways to keep the players guessing and involved in the game. Some of my tactics have become well known in my groups and the players are constantly on edge of what might happen next. I wanted to share some of the things I have used over the years that I feel made my games more interesting and memorable.

Chucking Dice
As the title of my blog implies chuck some dice. This is some advice that can be found in different role playing game rule books and it works so well. The PCs will be plundering some ruins, or navigating a sunken temple and I will grab a handful of dice and let 'em roll behind my DM screen. These dice serve no purpose other than reminding my players that at any point and time something could jump from the shadows and get them. Now I don't over do this to the point that my players never expect anything when I roll the dice, just once and awhile here and there to keep them guessing.

Finding Stuff
My players know that I love to hide things around in where ever they are adventuring to the point that they will search every nook and cranny to find something. One thing that I tend to do is allow them to find meaningless stuff. The way I look at this is the creatures in the dungeon they are in are not going to go out of their way to hide only the things that the players need to advance their quest. Most of these monsters are not smart enough to understand the value of gems, coins and magic items, yet it seems like that is all they keep around. I have had PCs leave with backpacks full of parchments and scrolls that where nothing more than a series of love letters written between two goblins in their language. Now a lot of this useless stuff I tend to make up as we are going along and pre-plan the important items. This leads to another advantage, if the players show real interest in an item I invent on the spot I will sometimes rework it into a plot hook for a later adventure. I cannot count the amount of times I have had campaigns go off in completely unexpected ( yet very entertaining) directions because of something I put in a dungeon that I had considered useless.

Traps Don't Have To Kill
I don't know how many games I have played where every trap is a pit trap, or an arrow trap, or goblins behind murder holes. Sure maiming and killing things with traps is fun, but it can be more fun if they are not dead. Having traps that hinder players can be more entertaining and really breaks up the " saving throw or take damage" that a lot of trap encounters turn into. I have done traps that silence mages, or an animated rope that binds the hands of a player. There are many different things you can do. The way I tend to make them is by taking the different hindering spells from the PHB and triggering them by a device like a pressure plate in the dungeon. This is something that again is gone over in the DMG but in my experience DMs tend to fall into the pit trap so to speak.

Beat Them Down
D&D is not supposed to be easy for the players. Sure you are telling a good story, but name the last action movie you saw where the heroes made it out without a scratch. My regular players know that they are not going to escape whatever adventure they are on with out being beaten. This does not mean that you have to throw countless creatures at them and whittle down their HP to nothing, there are fates worse than death. You can take away weapons and make them work to get them back, kidnap or kill NPCs that they players are close to and of course split up the party. If you go the route of killing off NPCs that the PCs have relationships with do not do it to often. Killing off everyone the PCs meet will cause the players to metagame this and none of the characters will get attached to anyone in the world. Splitting up the party for a session or two is one of my favorite things to do, it can be hard to run both sides of the party but done right the results are worth it. Having half the group watch on helpless as the other half is thrown in a dungeon, tortured and left to their own means to escape can really help build a relationship between the players characters. This can invite very heavy meta-gaming and as the DM you have to ensure that this does not happen. On the topic of taking away weapons and items, much like killing NPCs don't do it all the time or the players will get mad. If you do want to take away a magic item they players have earned make sure you give them a way to get it back. There is nothing worse for a player than to earn something only to have the DM change his mind later and take it back.

Take Notes
My players know when they meet Sir Kendelor that they need to remember his name or when they find the combination of runes needed to get into the magic vault they should write it down. This might be me being a bit of an ass but if I take the time to make up this vault or very important NPC I want my players to remember it. My group knows that "we enter the rune combination we found earlier on the wall into the vault" is not going to work. I started this years ago because I wanted my group to care about the world around them. The first time they did not write it down and they could not get the item they needed to complete their quest without first going to get the information they learned to write it down. Now I will admit at first it really annoyed some of my players but as time has gone on it has just become part of our game. Since it is so ingrained in our games now and the players are constantly calling him Sir Kendelor instead of "What's-his-face" they do grow to actually care about the NPCs populating the world around them.

Stay In Character
I saved the best for last and this is one thing that I am really well known for doing. I don't do it all the time but if there is a lot of metagaming or side conversations going on I will enact this rule. I will also do this to teach new players how to role play, I tend not to do it to them as it can piss people off but only to the players that have been with me awhile. I will treat everything that a player says as being in character, unless they say otherwise. I don't know how many times I have had a character piss off the king by asking " Does he know we accidentally killed his son?" This one can be tricky and you have to feel out your group because you don't want to anger anyone by doing this. I will not treat an entire session like this either but rather for a few minutes as this tends to snap the players back into the game.

Creature Feature 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 12:58:00 +0000

The Sea Lion

From the Monster Manual: " A Sea Lion is a fearsome aquatic creature with the head and fore-paws of a lion and the body and tail of a fish."

The Sea Lion is nothing special in terms of combat, with a 1d6+4 claw attack and a 1d8+2 bite attack combined with the rend ability they are pretty standard fair as far as monster attacks go. There are no breath abilities, no level drains, and no spell-like abilities, just claws and teeth. The artwork and the glaring pun alone are enough to make the Sea Lion one of my favorite D&D monsters and for those reasons I have chosen it as my first monster for my Creature Feature.

Bristin slowly made his way across the slippery rocks along the shore as the waves crashed just beneath his feet. He clutched his fishing pole as a particularly strong wave smashed the rocks, causing him to stumble briefly. Regaining his balance Bristin continued his walk, thinking about the events that had transpired over the last couple of months. After making his way through the cave of horror to stop the wizard Ventrice from over throwing the world with his army of undead Bristin had decided to take some time and return to his home village. While at home he had resolved to do some fishing, an activity that always helped clear his mind. Reminiscing about his exploits, with the sun shining on his back and the smell of sea salt in the air Bristin felt at ease with himself for the first time in a long time. He was in fact so content and relaxed that his normally sharp hearing failed to detect the deep low growl off in the distance. Blissfully unaware that danger may be lurking ahead. Bristin continued along the rock face towards his favorite fishing hole, whistling a Dwarven drinking song Gergin had taught him as he went.

The small crevice in the rock face had been Bristins fishing hole since he was a kid. Few people know it was there due to the dangerous walk along the rocks one had to make to get there. Bristin preferred it this way, fishing was his escape from the world and he certainly did not want other people around while he was doing it. It had been quite a few years since he himself had made the journey but, he was confident not much had changed in his absence. Descending the final rock Bristin found a suitable perch and sat down. As he began emptying his tackle box another low grow echoed along the rocks. Bristin paused as the noise managed to catch his attention this time. The noise reminded him of a large cat, but that could not be right way out here by the ocean. The growl came again, this time it was closer and followed by a deep hiss. Slowly reaching into his boot Bristin drew a dagger and turned around.

Before Bristin sat two creatures with smooth seal like green skin and golden brown fur. Their heads looked to be half way between a fish and a lion and their arms ended in razor sharp claws. The larger of the two creatures let loose a terrible growl as it's piercing feline eyes started Bristin down. It appeared to while he had been away a couple of Sea Lions had taken up refuge in the alcove Bristin preferred fishing from. Bristin readied his dagger, he knew it was too late these creatures did not take kindly to people invading their homes.

The largest of the beasts lunged towards him at a speed much faster than Bristin was expecting from a creature that size. Deadly claws bearing down Bristin side stepped the attack at the last moment. As he turned to face his attacker the second Sea Lion brought its paws down on his back. The crushing weight of the monster along with the searing pain of its claws caused Bristin to fall to one knee. Bristin hoist his dagger up and over his shoulder, directly into the eye of the creature behind him. The being let out a long loud hiss as blood poured from its eye socket. The momentary pause afforded Bristin the opportunity he was looking for. Turning quickly to face the wounded animal and plunged his dagger into its neck, over and over. Blood sprayed from the stab wounds while small patches of fur flew through the air. The creature fell to the ground lifeless as the remaining Sea Lion let out a growl of anger

Searing pain ripped through Bristin as a mouth full of teeth bit down into his shoulder. The Sea Lion behind him had recovered from missing its attack and was upon him. Blood flowed freely as the jaw of the beast clamped hard against him. Claws began raking his sides and back over and over. Bristin could feel him strength waning as the monster continued to rend and tear at his flesh. With what energy he had left Bristin reached up with left hand and grabbed a hold of the monsters jaw and began pulling it back and forth in an effort to free it from his shoulder. The pain was intense as the creature continued to bite down, Bristins actions ripping free flesh from his own shoulder. With one final push Bristin ripped its jaw from his shoulder, his right arm barely hanging onto the torn flesh and sinew. In one fluid motion Bristin spun around and disemboweled the monster with his dagger.

Pausing a moment to catch his breath Bristin began bandaging his shoulder the best he could. When he was done the wound was covered and the bleeding had slowed but his arm would be of no use until he received some professional medical attention. His chest and back where covered in wounds from the claws of the beasts, but was nothing that could not wait. Limping over to the nearest Sea Lion Bristin began carving small sections of flesh from its body and piling them on the rocks next to him. With a satisfied look Bristin turned around and sat next to the small pile of flesh, facing the ocean. With his pile of bait to his side and his fishing rod in his left hand Bristin settled in to do some fishing.

The Worst Group I Ever DMed

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 15:17:00 +0000

I have been Dungeon mastering for a long time, I have seen groups come and go, some good some bad. Over the years however there has been one group that stood head and shoulders above the rest. To this day the single game I ran for them haunts my memories and sends chills down my spine whenever I am asked to DM for a group I have never played with before. What follows is a recount of that night and the horrors within.

The following is true, the names and places have been changed to protect the innocent.

I remember it well, I was sitting at home with nothing in particular to do when the phone rang. On the other end of the line was a good friend of mine that I went to school with and had been a member of both my D&D campaign as well as my Vampire campaign for years. Having recently started a job at a new hobby shop he had met a lot of new people that shared the passion for gaming that we both had. The excitement in his voice could not be contained as he told me all about this group of people he met that where avid D&D players. These people want to play some D&D and they wanted to do it now, but needed a DM. I had an low-level adventure I had been tossing around in my head and assorted notebooks so I agreed. We decided to meet at the one guys house at 10pm after everyone had gotten off work. I hung up the phone, gather my core books and began to flesh out the details of said adventure.

Directions in hand I arrived at the house slightly before 10, a little nervous but excited to meet more people who potentially could be added to our regular campaign. I knocked on the door and was greeted by a beast of a man.
" You must be Jeff, My name is Chris but you can call me Shrek." The man-beast proclaimed

"Okay." I stammered as I shook his hand/paw and stepped into his lair.

Inside I was greeted by a woman who I quickly found was Mr. Shreks wife. She seemed pleasant enough, if not slightly timid. We chatted awkwardly for a moment before another knock on the door caught our attention. Behind the door was my friend, Al and one of his co-workers Joe. We exchanged greeting and began to slowly make our way to the dining room table. Once seated we began pulling out character sheets, dice and the like, preparing ourselves for a fun-filled night of dungeon stomping. Aside from the awkwardness of meeting a man named Shrek who could snap me in half and eat me as a light appetizer things seemed to be going ok.

As I normally do when playing with a new group I asked the players to go around the table and give me a brief introduction of their characters. The names of each individual character escapes me at this point. Rest assure however, it was the actions not names of these characters and players that have stuck with me all these years. Shrek proclaimed that he was a human fighter whose single purpose in life was to behead, maim, or disembowel just about everyone and everything he encountered. Mrs. Shrek would be playing a Halfling thief who had a secret crush on the warrior (of course) and would lie, cheat and steal to get him as her lover. Al would be his normal human barbarian, only he enjoyed playing a rather intelligent barbarian who loved to solve logic problems in his free time. Finally Joe would be a Dwarven fighter who was separated from his clan years ago and forced to live on the surface, making him very bitter towards other surface dwellers. Now aside from the obvious love connection between the husband and wife of the group, and they fact that almost everyone was a fighter to some degree the characters where not half bad.

The adventure I had prepared actually synced up well because I had the players going to investigate the ruins of a lost Dwarf clan. A local noble with more money then sense had a fetish with Dwarven culture and wanted to know what happened to this particular clan and perhaps gather a few artifacts from their home. This could not have worked out better, with a few changes I made it so the ruins belonged to the clan that my dwarf fighter belonged to when he was young. I thought this would be great and give a more personal touch to the adventure that everyone would enjoy.

After a short intro of the adventure to the players we began our session. Things went well as the characters made their way through the forest towards the entrance to the dungeon. As I described the surroundings I must have dwelled on one particular tree for too long as this prompted Shrek to want to search the area around it. I figured fine, there was nothing there other then grass, dirt and trees, but what the hell I would let him roll some dice to keep an air of mystery. He rolled his check, I told him he found nothing and then a PHB and DMG materialized in his hands. I sat and waited as he leafed through both books repeatedly trying to find some rule as to why he should have found something. After a few minutes of dealing with the oddest rules lawyering ever ( if there is nothing there, there is nothing there I don't give a damn what you roll) I quelled the beast by telling him he found a scrape of parchment. Shrek quickly made note of this parchment and, satisfied the party continued on their way. At the entrance to the ruins Mrs. Shrek rolled to check for traps and the like, as thieves often do when entering a scary place. These checks all succeed, but since there where no traps there nothing was found. Once again the books appeared and once again we debated. Shrek was not satified until I told the part about the loose rock they found on the side of the entrance way. Once again noting the rock they entered the ruins.

The above is the abridged version of the journey to the ruins. The entire process of walking the few miles to the ruins took about 2 hours of real time. This adventure was designed to take place in the ruins and I had no wilderness encounters planned for the journey.

Finally they made their way into the ruins and I was able to open the notebook with the adventure and begin actually playing the game. As I went over the details of the entrance to the ruins I made sure to describe they clan symbols to ensure that Joe was aware they where in the home of his clan. Joe preformed wonderfully and his character began going crazy, overwhelmed with anger, fear, and happiness. While I was impressed with the way he was portraying his character and acting everything out I caught sight of Shrek slowly reading a passage from the DMG. As he looking up slowly he began asking me hypothetical questions about combat. Since the group had not encountered anything to fight yet this caught me a little off guard, but I tried my best to accommodate. It was at this point that Mrs. Shrek chimed in and the dynamic duo began to argue the finer points of dismemberment in the world of D&D.

The table had dissolved into a lovers quarrel at this point and Al, Joe and I just sort of sat there and watched. I could tell Al had enough at this point and just wanted to play so he decided to have his character just stomp his way down the hallway of the ruins. It was at this point that the group encountered their first trap. Al fell into a pit trap and me knowing no one could hear over the domestic violence occurring in the room decided to make the pit a whole four feet deep. Al was the only one to hear the depth of the pit and decided to play along.

After getting the attention of everyone at the table he informed them of his situation, omitting the shallow depth of the pit. the group went into a panic, trying to figure out how to get the barbarian out of the pit. Being the munchkins they where no one thought to bring rope or climbing gear. Debate began and once again the rule books came out. At this point the entire group with the exception of Al is working under the assumption that he is stuck in a twenty plus feet deep hole. A good forty five minutes went by before the following occurred.

Shrek "how deep is this pit exactly?"
Me: " four feet."
Shrek" Just step the hell out of it!"

With the barbarian rescued by the valiant efforts of the rest of the group I began packing my dice and books. the group asked what I was doing. I informed them that the sun was coming up, it was now 5:30 in the morning and I was going the hell home.

The TL;DR is if you are going to marry some one that you role play with, that is great just make sure you are both not rules lawyering munchkins. I have never before or since that night ran a game where the group literally made it nowhere in over six hours of playing.

Summer and Gaming

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 18:24:00 +0000

This month the Blog Carnival over at rpgba.org is hosted by Dice Monkey and is about summer and gaming. This is a rather wide open topic and can be anything about gaming in summer.

Please note that the below post is meant as satire. I love gaming and love the gaming community. The purpose of this post is to poke fun at the stereotypes we have all endure because of our hobby, as well as share a little bit of what happens at my local hobby store.

So what does gaming in the summer mean to me you ask?
The scent in the local hobby shop makes the transition from overwhelming smell of Subway to the nauseating scent of Subway and lack of deodorant. Looking on as our local Warhammer players stuff extra foam into old gun cases to protect their miniatures paint jobs. Gaping in horror as the sweat pours over the XXL D20 t-shirt of our resident rules lawyer. Becoming hypnotized as the pit stains under the arms of my groups munchkin continue to grow and glisten like a radiant pool of sweat. Shaking my head as the Magic: TG players wipe their hands before every draw in a vain attempt to keep their cards dry. Realizing that without their trench coats and eye-liner the Vampire players do sort of look like people. At some point and time I will be chasing character sheets and adventure notes through the parking lot as a cool summer breeze whisks them away. Someone at some point will get the idea that gaming in the park would be awesome, it will rain. my mind will spend many nights pondering how, with the sun so bright, can so many people be so pale? Being asked to remind the Yu-Gi-Oh players that heat related injures are five times more likely in children than adults. Apologizing when I realize that the Yu-Gi-Oh players are 35. For the next three to four months I must substitute at least one Mountain Dew per session to a bottle of water. This is done to ensure I stay hydrated and can continue to eat Cool Ranch Doritos. The fights over 4th edition vs 3.5 dissipate because it is "just to damn hot to argue." Calling my group to confirm a gaming session only to find that at least one of them will be on vacation and well will have to reschedule. The rescheduled date is normally some time in October. Almost falling out of my chair when I saw that Fantasy Flight Games finally released Star Wars: Edge of the Empire. Seeing people fall over from heat exhaustion as they attempt the hill climb up the parking lot to the hobby shop, arms filled with dice and books. My local shop fills with creepy anti-social kids because school is out. I like it better when it is filled with creepy anti-social middle aged people better. The Warhammer players convert half the gaming tables to "painting tables" because they do not have air conditioning at home. Due to the close proximity of the Subway and the A/C a select few people will live in the shop, attempting to lay out sleeping bags in the back gaming room under Berlin, right in the middle of a game of Flames of War. D20s fall at a snails pace as the humidity sinks into the shop. Finally, and by far the best thing about gaming over the summer, it's only three months long here and then its fall.

Making a Dungeon That Works

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 22:52:00 +0000

Exploring Dungeons is a staple of most fantasy role playing games. Generally speaking the word dungeon is used as a very broad term that describes just about anywhere characters may adventure. This could be anything from a series of caves to a castle floating high above the earth. These dungeons are traditionally filled with creatures for the players to fight as well as treasures for them to take. Plundering dungeons is fun and a great many nights have been spent looting deep beneath the bowls of earth, but making a dungeon can be a bit tricky. I wanted to give newer DMs a couple of ideas that might help ensure their dungeons are not boring and off putting to players. These tips are more about the feel of the dungeon instead of the actual layout itself.

Make It Real

Storming randomly generated dungeons can be fun for players but there is really no staying power. Players will tire of running through random tunnels with no other purpose then to get the loot and kill the big fozzle at the end of the road. The best way to avoid this is to give your dungeon and its denizens a purpose. Monsters generally do not stand around waiting for adventures to come running down the halls to kill, so give a reason why they are there. You do not have to spend the time to create a complete ecosystem in your dungeon and hundreds of pages of back story on it but you do want to spend some time figuring out why the dungeon is there and what motivates the beings that reside there. These details can be more important than the layout of the dungeon itself as a good back story will leave lasting impressions on your players.

Hit Them Where It Hurts

Don't be afraid to challenge your players. There is nothing worse for a player then to spend hours stomping around a dungeon and never receiving a scratch. Many new DMs are afraid of hurting their players characters and will design encounters that they can waltz through. Make sure that your normal encounters are challenging as well as that epic boss fight you have planned for the end of the dungeon as well. keeping things challenging will keep your players on their toes and make them appreciate every last hit point. If you over estimated your players abilities or the dice are rolling in their favor remember, you are the DM and you can tone down your encounters at any time and they will never know.

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

Keep thing varied throughout the entire dungeon. If your players have encountered a spiked pit trap in the last 10 hallways chances are they assume there will be one in the next. Keep your players guessing as to what is around the next bend. There are a lot of traps, devices, and monsters out there that you can use to fill your dungeon don't be afraid to use them.

Risk vs Reward

This can be a big one for new DMs, and veterans as well. If you are going to give your players a challenge as I advised you to ensure the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is worth it. There is nothing more disappointing to a player then fighting his way through hundreds of foes only to end up with a handful of copper pieces and a couple rags. Make sure your reward matches the challenge of the dungeon. The other side of this coin is not to give to much. Your players will love you for the vorpal sword they got from that last pack of kobolds but it will unbalance your game to no end and cause you headaches later.

Change It Up

A lot of D&D players will run from the dungeon back to town to rest when the going gets tough. Unless there is a good reason why they cannot do this you should allow them to do this. The problem with this is it leads to players doing one or two encounters, running to town and coming back recharged and ready to go. Over the course of a dungeon this can eliminate all challenge because they are facing every encounter fresh as opposed to being slowly beaten down over the course of many encounters. One easy way to overcome this is to change things around in the dungeon. For example if the dungeon is a goblin mining community chances are someone is going to notice the bodies that keep piling up near the entrance. The next time the players come back after a quick rest in town maybe they find that the guards have been doubled at the gates and there are extra patrols roaming the tunnels. You don't want to do anything to punish the players but you do want to challenge them.

I hope these couple of tips help new dungeon builders on their quest to build an epic dungeon that their group will talk about for years to come.

Barbarians of Heavy Metal Kickstarter

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 17:21:00 +0000

Unplugged Backer rewards.

I was checking around Kickstarter this morning as I often do, looking for something new, something exciting, something eye-catching, and then I found this. Barbarians of Heavy Metal, a role playing game where the players get to play Guitar wielding, apocalyptic metal heads, with mechs. I am so in on this one. Everything about this game screams classic 80s heavy metal fantasy album art. While I do find the setting to be interesting and as I read through their Kickstarter page it is evident that they guys doing this have a sense of humor and that is something you really need when developing a role playing game about 1980s metal music. The idea of the game being released on tablets, while an interesting concept honestly kind of put me off. I don't what to have to be the GM that has to tell everyone that they have to have an android tablet to role play with me. My other concern is that I don't have to worry about my character sheets bugging out, crashing and erasing themselves in the middle of a gaming session. Now they are offering a soft cover version of the game, called the "unplugged" version and that is what I will be looking at. Reading the questions at the bottom there is some concern over the programming knowledge of the people involved, however they did say that if something would happen and the app release would not work they will be doing softcover versions of the game for every backer. It seems that they people running the campaign are really into their product and very willing to talk to the community about the game. I would say check it out and if you are interested at all back them, I don't know that this would work well for a long term campaign but I think this would make a great setting for those one off games.

Tips for New RPG Players

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 17:17:00 +0000

I wanted to follow up on my tips for new GMs by posting a few tips for players new to the world of role playing. Being a new player in a role playing game can be hard and if you are not careful the veteran players around you will steal the stage and you have the potential to end up on the side lines so to speak and miss out on a lot of fun. As a new player if you keep the tips below in mind it will lead to a much more entertaining experience and leave you wanting more instead of wondering why you just wasted the last couple of hours of your life sitting around a table with these people.

Leave Your Inhibitions At The Door
Role playing can be really weird looking if you have never done it before. You have a bunch of people sitting around a table telling a story, laughing and having a good time talking about a bunch of things you probably do not understand. Being new to a role playing group can be akin to being in a room where everyone but you gets the inside joke being told. When you first join a group don't be afraid to jump in, ask questions if you have to and play along with what is going on around you. No one in the group should fault you for asking questions or joining in the conversation, after all they asked you to play right? If you sit by and watch and wait I can promise you that the entire group will pass you by and do their own thing. This is not them trying to alienate you but rather the group getting together to play a game they have been playing for possibly years. Most important don't worry about being embarrassed by saying something or asking something. You might feel like a fool when attempting a Scottish accent, but guess what everybody else at the table did to at some point.

Everyone Knows You Don't Know Anything
Don't stress about rules or not understanding why you are rolling the dice. Any good GM will instruct you as you go and help you learn the rules to the game. Role playing games have big rule books, and I mean big. Most GMs will not expect a new player to sit down and read all the rules to the game before starting. These games are designed in a way that the GM can teach you as the campaign goes on. Why waste the time reading and worrying about falling damage if you never set foot over a cliff? Just go with the flow and roll the dice when asked, ask questions when you have them, and get involved with the rest of the group. If you do these things within a few sessions you will find that you know the rules of the game but can't really recall learning them.

Have Good Group Etiquette
What I mean by this is if you can't show up for a game session make sure the GM knows and don't get into conflicts with the other players. The people you are playing with are taking time out of their lives to play this game and like any other social engagement it will all fall apart if people do not attend. This is not to say that things don't happen, but do try to give notice of your absents when you can. You may find conflict with other players, we are after all human and for whatever reason you may find that you do not like one or more of the people you are playing with. If you can have a good time in the game and keep any personal conflict out of the game then by all means continue with that group, if not find a new one.

Back story Please
This is more of a pet peeve of mine but I feel that it is shared by many GMs around the world. When you create you character make sure you have some sort of back story in mind for them. When you are new this can be hard so the trick is to focus on the genre of the game rather then the specific setting. What I mean is if you are playing a fantasy game then come up with a short back story that fits, the same would be true for a science fiction setting. Most GMs would prefer a warrior way is hell bent on revenge because of the murder of his brother by an evil warlord then " I am a warrior". These back stories give us something to work with, a way to integrate your character into the group and may spark an idea for a latter adventure. The idea of a GM planning an entire story arch revolving your characters history will be more fun then plundering dungeon number 57.

Have Fun
This is the most important rule of them all because when you pack up the dice at the end of the day it is all still just a game. You and everyone you are playing with should have fun while you are playing. Most of us have busy lives and role playing is a good way to get away from the stress of real life for a couple of hours now and again. Different groups have different ideas of what is fun, some like more serious war game like combat, some like borderline improvisational acting, and others get together and laugh and drink while throwing dice around. If the group you start with has a different idea of what fun is then you that's ok, find a group that shares your idea of fun. If you find that your role playing sessions are more stressful then real life you have defeated the point of playing and might as well stop.

This Just Isn't For Me
At the end of the day some people just don't like role playing and that's ok. If you give it a try for a couple of sessions and it's just not your thing that's ok just tell the GM and they can work in away for your character to leave the game and everyone can move on. What you should not do is continue to play even when you hate it. Most groups would rather you tell them this is not your thing then continue to show and fake it. Just like anything else in life if you are doing something you do not enjoy it is going to show and bring everyone around you down. Just cut you losses and move on, at least you tried something new right?

That's about it, keep those couple of things in mind and I am sure that you will find your time role playing a lot more entertaining.

A Couple of Tips For New GMs

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 07 Jul 2013 17:49:00 +0000

If you are new to the world of Game Mastering (or Dungeon Mastering or Narrating, or whatever your game system calls it) the task before you can be daunting to say the least. It has been a long time since I started GMing but I still remember the first game of Dungeons and Dragons I ran. I did everything wrong, from skill checks to role playing in general I messed it all up. Over time I got better and today my players consider me one of their favorite GMs. Whenever we get a group together I am always volunteered to GM, I in fact cannot remember the last time I played a role playing game instead of running it. So without further ramblings I present you with a few tips to help get you through your first couple of games.

Don't be nervous
This can be hard if you are asked to GM a group that is very familiar with the rules and setting of the game you are playing. More often than not though this is not the case. Chances are if you are a new GM then you are going to be running a game with new players as well. When running a game of new players remember they only know you screwed up if you tell them. For example if you have a player roll a skill check for the wrong skill or calculate it wrong they will never know the mechanics are wrong, only what the results are. As long as everyone is having a good time don't get hung up on the fact that you botched a rule, just make note of it and change it the next time that situation comes up.

Don't get hung up on rules
This almost coincides with my first piece of advice. The idea behind playing a role playing game is to have fun and ultimately tell a good story that your group will remember for years to come. That being said, don't let yourself fall into the trap of flipping through the rulebook whenever a conflict or situation occurs. If in doubt have the players roll some dice and determine the out come on your own. This keeps the flow of the game going and prevents down time while you are sifting through a few hundred pages of text.

Engage Your Player
Many times players, especially new players will be nervous about role playing. To overcome this interact with your players and make sure that you as the GM are role playing your NPCs as well. When the players watch you doing this it will help encourage them to get into their characters as well and make the entire session more entertaining to all. Keep in mind that you do not have to be a trained actor to get in character, some of my most memorable NPCs spawned from the horrible attempts I made at certain accents.

Don't Get a GOD Complex
While it is true that you are the GM and you are in charge of the world the players are playing in don't let that go to your head. Forcing characters to do things simply because you are the GM and you say so is bad form. Let your players feel that they are the ones making the choices and give them as much control over their characters as possible. This will allow your players to create a bond with their character and they will look forward to playing them again.

Don't Railroad Your Players
This goes hand in hand with the last tip. While it can be upsetting to see hours of work go down the drain because your players do not feel like going into the deep dark mines to rescue the princess, don't let it get you down. If the players choose to stray from the adventure at hand don't force them back to it. Doing this takes away choice from the players and they will eventually stop trying to think up inventive ways to accomplish tasks and just let you direct them, which is no fun for you or your group. As a GM you cannot prepare for every idea that a group may come up with and there are going to be times that you need to make something up on the fly. Don't get stressed over it just make it up and go with it, you might be surprised what great moments come out of the unexpected.

I know these tips do not seem like much but they will help you become a better GM and help you get through those first couple of games if you keep them in mind. I have found that these are the most common mistakes that new GMs make. Avoiding them will keep your players engaged as well as make sure a good time is had by all.

UPDATE: I have also composed a list of some tips for players new to the world of table top role playing. They can be found by following this link.

Winging It

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 23:24:00 +0000

Sometimes when I show up to run a session of whatever we are playing at the time my arms are loaded down with notes, charts, books, and graph paper. Other times I show up with nothing more than a sack of dice, some rulebooks and a pen. I love sitting down and writing up the next grand adventure for my players. Spending late nights drawing maps and crafting encounters, but as I have gotten older I find that time is at a premium. With real life getting in the way of my gaming time I have found myself winging it more and more the last couple of years. Now I have been gaming with pretty much the same group for the last 15 years so they know what to expect when I show up at the table empty handed. I don't mean to wing the sessions most times, I set out with good intentions and lots of cool ideas in my head. There are times though where these ideas of grandeur sit in my head and the next thing I know it is Saturday night and I have six people sitting around a table looking at me expectantly. When this moment strikes I am left with two options, call off the whole night or make something up on the fly and see where it goes. Since the first option is not an option we go for the second for better or worse. I have had some amazing sessions over the years that just evolved organically out of a single plot point that may be stuck in my head. As I said before my players know me and they are there to help when they know I did not have a lot (if any) prep time and will chime in with their own ideas to help the story along. Some of my most memorable gaming sessions have come out of my complete lack of preparation. Not having a set structure allows me to get the players involved and keeps me from railroading them. This is not to say every gaming session I have ran without prep went wonderful and was loved by all. I have had my share of nights where things did not go right and I could tell by looking around the table that no one was really into it and we just called it early on those nights. So the next time you see that game night is looming upon you and you are still staring at an empty sheet of graph paper don't cancel, just show up and make it up. If you encourge your players to help a little by dropping hints that do not intrude with the game you can get everyone involved and have a ton of fun. In the end that is why I do this and I image it is why you all role play, to have fun and get away from the pressure of real life for a little while.

Five Quick Free RPG Rule Sets

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 17:54:00 +0000

There are many people writing free RPG rules these days. Most of these rules are published online in PDF format for download. Some of these free games are as big and complicated as the big names in the role playing world, others not so much. I have compiled a short list of quick free RPG rule sets. These rules are only a couple of pages long and most assume that you have done some role playing in the past and are familiar with the common terminology. If you have never played a role playing game before I would not suggest starting with these because most of the basic knowledge needed to play an RPG has been omitted. If you have experience with role playing these games offer a nice alternative to the major games on the market and because of the short rule sets they are great for those one off nights.

1- Super Hero Fun
Super Hero Fun is a very simple set of rules to role play super heroes. The entire rule set is about six pages long and covers the basics of combat, character creation, and skill resolution. The game works on a dice pool system and exclusively uses six sided dice. With no back ground or NPCs there is a heavy reliance on the creativity of the GM. The rules are well written and work decent enough. I did find the format of the PDF to be a little strange and I missed some of the rules due to the text placement. If you are looking for quick and dirty super hero role playing give it a shot. The rules can be downloaded here.

2-Pocket Dungeon
This one is a little different in that it is a solo game. The idea of Pocket Dungeon is to be a "stealth" game that you can play just about anywhere by yourself. If you use the stealth dice rules this is something that you could play by yourself while sitting at your desk at work and your boss would never notice. The rules can be a little strange to wrap your head around because the entire game is played on graph paper and is set up almost like a computer rogue-like game. Once you grasp the basic concepts of the dungeon generation system pocket dungeon can be a lot of fun and a great way to kill time on your own. You can find the games homepage here, the files are hosted on boardgamegeek.com and will require you to register an account to download.

3- Zombie D6 Lite- It does not get any more lite than this. Zombie D6 Lite is a single page rule system for role playing a zombie apocalypse. The system here is not surprisingly really simply since it is only a single page of rules. There are no rules for character advancement so this would make for a great game for some on the spot gaming. Get a bunch of friends a couple of sheets of paper and see how long your players can handle endless waves of zombies. The page of rules can be found here.

4-Dungeon Squad-this one is short and neat as it is designed around younger players that do not have the attention span older players might have. While at it's core Dungeon Squad is a rather basic fantasy hack and slash everything has been designed to be fast, simple and streamline. If you have a younger sibling that you are looking to get into role playing this is a great way to start them. The Dungeon Squad rule can be downloaded here.

5-Risus-Designed around quick play and never taking itself to seriously Risus can be a lot of fun for those short bursts of role playing. Character creation takes less then a minute and the whole system is only six pages long and using on six sided dice. Risus is supposed to be a game of comedy but if you really wanted to it could be adapted for more serious game play, but it works so well as is I don't think you would want to. You can download the rules and expansions for the game here.

There you have it five short, quick and dirty role playing systems. There are a ton more free role playing systems out there for players looking for something different, but these five should give you some ammo when it comes to that last minute gaming session. Happy gaming I look forward to hearing your comments.

Skullduggery: Competitive Role Playing

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 16:58:00 +0000

As I was searching around the Internet for a new game for my group to try I came across Level 99 Games website. After poking around for a little I downloaded the quick start rules for their game, Skullduggery.
I have not had a chance to play it yet but after reading over the rules I must say I am really excited to give it a shot. Skullduggery places the players in the roles of super villains. Each player has a secret objective that they must complete to win the game, the catch is every players objective revolves around the same object. While the game is a narrative game, it is not a role playing game in the traditional sense. From reading the rules it seems that the game world is created by the players as the game progresses as opposed to being laid out by a Game Master. I don't really want to get into the rules and concepts because as I said I have not played it yet but from what I read it really looks entertaining. I am going to be getting a group together to play through the free print and play preview version. I will certainly follow up with an overview of our play session once we complete it. In the mean time if you are looking for something different head over to http://www.lvl99games.com/ and download the preview version for yourself and give it a spin. There is also a link to the kickstarter on their website, if you like what you see please consider backing them.

What the hell is a Role Playing Game Anyway?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 14:08:00 +0000

To the outside world a normal Role Playing Game session looks like a bunch of people sitting around a table littered with books, snacks, soda, graph paper, and quite possibly a viking helmet. While this is true for most part there is a lot more going on then just carbonated beverages and bad Elizabethan accents. Role Playing Games encompass the art of story telling and acting while using a defined set of rules like those found in a board game.
In a normal session one person will take the role of the Game Master. This person can be identified by the large cardboard screen he hides his face behind. The Game Master is the person that runs the game and directs the players. Think of the Game Master as the director of a movie and the other players as the actors. It is the Game Masters job to create and tell a story that involves characters created by the players of the game. Everyone who is not the Game Master makes a character using the rules set forth by the game they are playing. There is an overwhelming amount of role playing games available, allowing players to be anything from superheroes to demon possessed mutant petunias. Once the Game Master has the story ready and the players have created their characters ( be they flora, fauna, or something all together different ) the game is ready to begin. A normal game progresses by the Game Master telling players the situations that their characters are in and the players describing how their characters react. Role Playing Games include rules for conflict resolution and just about anything that includes some element of luck. These rules often include rolling really odd shaped dice to represent the randomness of life. From a player's point of view that really is all there is to it, make your character the way you want within the confines of the rules the Game Master tells you, decide what you want your character to do based on the story the Game Master is telling, and roll some dice when the Game Master says so. This is one of the best parts about role playing, if you have never done it before it is easy as a player, just pretend you are your character and do what the Game Master says when it comes to the rules of the game. To be a good Role Player you do not have to read through the rules and know every little nuance of the game system just show up with an open mind and a good imagination. If you have never tried a role playing game before I really would encourage you to go find a local hobby shop and ask around about giving a game a shot. Most of these stores have people who are very friendly and are always willing to show someone new to the hobby the ropes. In case I did a really lousy job of describing what a role playing game is I have included an excerpt from one of our Deathwatch games below as an example of the flow of a game. Please note I have left out all references to the mechanics of the game because I want to give you an idea of the flow of the story and not the rule system itself.

Game Master(GM): As you slowly approach the bunker you can see that it has been heavily damaged. There are scorch marks from laser fire and numerous holes in the masonry most likely caused by explosives.

Player A: Is there anyone around at all?

GM: You do not see signs of any living being, however the remains of what looks like a small detachment of Imperial Gaurdsmen are scattered around the ground.

Player B: I want to check it I can pick up any psyonic activity near by in case the sorcerer was here.

GM: You detect a large warp disturbance coming from within the bunker itself.

Player C: Well I guess we know where we are headed

Player D: I am going to prop my heavy bolter on the nearest rock and keep watch for anything that may approach, I don't have a good feeling about this place.

A: I am going to walk slowly up to the main entrance of the bunker, keeping my bolter up and ready the whole time.

GM: As you approach the door you notice that it has all but been blown from its hinges. Inside all the lighting has been destroyed or shut off, your helmet adjusts to low light setting allowing you to see inside with ease.

B: I am going to take up a position behind A, just in case there is something nasty in there.

GM: B you can feel the distortion in the warp grow as you close in on the door, something here is not right. A noise from the west of the bunker catches player Ds attention

D: I swing my bolter around ready to unleash hell on whatever it is.

GM: you hear a slight rustle from the woods to left and suddenly the night air is shattered by the sound of gunfire as a group of cultist charge forth from the woods.

D: "Incoming!" I scream as I let loose with my heavy bolter on full auto

C: I charge over to D to reinforce his position, dropping to a crouch with my bolter up and ready to fire.

GM: Round from the heavy bolter crash into the first line of cultists sending blood and gore flying through the air around their allies. The remaining cultists are not shaken and continue their advance while returning fire.

B: " keep them busy guys" I yell as I begin to circle around away from the bunker in an effort to flank the bad guys.

A:I am going to duck into the bunker door way in order to get some cover from the incoming fire.

GM: as rounds bounce off the rocks around you an explosion at the back of the bunker grabs the attention of A, you glance back into the bunker and see two glowing eyes staring back at you from the end of the hallway....

I will leave it there, that should give a good overview of the way a normal role playing game goes. If you are interested in knowing more or just have comments in general please feel free to leave them.