Delving Into Ancient Odysseys For an Abstract Battle Map

I’ve always loved the preciseness of a battlemap and knowing where everyone is at. After reading this post and studying the abstract battle map provided, I’ve come to realize why I love the visuals. It’s not about exact placement. It’s all about relative placement. When I’m the wizard, I want to know that the fighter is between me and the Big Bad. When I’m the fighter, I want to know that the cleric is nearby and that I’m protecting the wizard… and so on. The only downside to the battlemap is the amount of preparation required and the in-game setup time to draw out the scenario on the battle map. Having things shown in a relative manner is sufficient for many games. In my own game, I’ve been struggling with the balance between visual play and imaginary play, especially during battle. I think I might throw together something similar to this for my RPG, but with a few tweaks and such.

You Are Not Entitled

I once gamed with a fella that learned to role play solo. It was just him the GM. Of course, he won all the time. His character’s death would always result in a TPK. While TPKs happen, they are rarely a good thing. This fella thought he was destined to win every fight, would never consider retreat and was always puzzled when the GM tossed out a fight we should run from instead of face down. He learned that he was entitled to win. Period. He was a great role player, decent strategist and all around good guy. I still have beers with the fella! However, he expected to win. Every. Single. Time. It was aggravating. In the vein of this post, there are times when the GM just feels like the party needs a good ass-whippin’. It happens. A good GM reins in those urges, and will make a combat difficult for folks, but won’t guarantee a loss (or a win!) until the dice, players and GM-controlled creatures decide the fate of everyone involved.

1e to 4e: Bringing wandering monsters back into D&D

Now I have another reason not to like 4e. No wandering monsters. I hadn’t realized they were missing because I didn’t play the system long enough to wander far enough to realize I was missing random encounters. This is a great breakdown of wandering monsters and can be applied to any fantasy game system out there, not just D&D 4e. However, I feel that D&D 4e could benefit the most from it.

Travelling Through the Wilderness: the Es of Travel

This is a fantastic writeup of the logistics of overland travel. I don’t even know where to start summing up things. Just click the link already!

Curses!

I love these curses! The standard D&D/Pathfinder Curse spell is painful for the players, but rather boring and very mechanic-driven. These curses, while geared toward Old School Hack, can be easily adopted into any fantasy setting. This is an excellent piece of creativity!

This is a great list of random “jobs” that a person could partake in for the short-term to raise a few extra copper. Good stuff here. The reason I toss “job” in quotes is that during the time period that most fantasy games represent, there were no “jobs.” People just were. If you tossed out the question, “What do you do for a living?” you would most likely receive an answer along the lines of “I am a farmer.” It’s not a job. It’s a definition of being, not a way to earn coin. Either way, I still like this for the down-and-out PCs that may need something to do to kill their time.

It’s Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: Game Fraud and Counter-Fraud in RPGs

I hate cheating. It’s aggravates me. Pisses me off, really. I punish players that I catch cheating, but I do it in subtle ways. I “counter-cheat” and make life harder on them. Maybe the monster they’re fighting never misses. Maybe the monster does a little more damage. Maybe the skill checks they’re trying to perform are a little harder. Either way, I make life harder on the player that cheats. I rarely kill their character directly. That’s just the easy way out. Someone that is a chronic cheater gets booted from the game in front of the entire group… usually mid-session. Just to embarrass the hell out of the guy. I gotta say, though. It’s been decades since I’ve had to invoke this kind of justice on people. Oh. BTW: This article isn’t about players cheating. It’s about characters cheating at in-game challenges or gambling. Just wanted to clarify that because I went off on a side tangent.

Epic Baking: Profession and Other “Useless” Skills

Every character I create has a craft (or similar) skill that I can fall back on during downtime to earn a few extra coin. I’m not sure why I do this. It’s just ingrained in me that my characters need something to do beyond kill orcs and scoop up loot. Do these crafting skills come up during the game? Usually, but that’s because I bring them up. I mention (usually several times) to the GM that I am using the skill to garner some extra wages during downtime. A good GM will find a way to work it into the game.

Analyzing Gencon 2012

This is a great graphical analysis of the games being played at GenCon. I’m wondering what the difference between “D&D” and “Dungeons & Dragons” is, though. I’m very happy to see GURPS on the list. I’m especially happy to see Pathfinder dominating the gaming tables. It’s awesome!

Dungeon Kickstarters

This is a great riff on the website kickstarter.com! I love it! No, I’m not bashing Kickstarter one little bit. I think it’s a great idea and a wonderful place for indie/small publishers to get word out and support for their products.

If you’re reading on RSS, you won’t see the header. If you don’t mind, click through to the site and let me know what you think.

Other Travelers in the Wilderness Caravan

I love the ideas presented in this list. Great flavor. Good hooks. All around a great Dungeon Dozen.

Medieval levies and revenues for fantasy RPGs

Do your PCs pay taxes or get involved in levying an army? Maybe they should if they’re powerful enough. This post is a good kick start to those ideas and concepts. Good work, Rob!

The Age Of An Elf: Demographics of the long-lived

I’ll admit that I’ve not put much thought into the demographics of those folks that live different lifespans from the Human race. This post is certainly food for thought for my game, my world, and my role playing in general. Good stuff here.

The Fun of Being Ignorant
The Curse of the Lazy GM

Here’s the two-fer! These posts (from the same blog) play off of each other like two sides of a coin. One is about how much a player should know about the meta-aspects of the world/game/environment. The other is how much the GM should know about the same matters. My take? So long as someone at the table knows what’s going on, it’s all good. Yeah, that someone should be the GM, but it could be a helpful player. My only caveats are that the player shouldn’t be an ass, lord his/her knowledge over the rest of the people at the table, or misuse the information they have their head to gain an advantage his/her character wouldn’t normally have.

“What’s My Motivation?” – Alignment

Are you a method actor? No? Well, this post still might help you (especially if you’re a GM) play different aspects of the (A)D&D alignment system. Enjoy the ideas from Dungeon Mastering!

PS: No comments on my 300th post makes Hungry a sad role player.

I want to do more.

But I’m not sure what.

I know I’d love to review more full RPG offerings beyond just the booklets and such given away every year.

But I’m not sure what.

Maybe I should start pulling the older RPGs off my many shelves of role playing materials? Maybe I should dig through my gigs and gigs of PDFs (all legal, mind you) and review those? I enjoy doing reviews and it allows me to look at the books in a different light.

I’m going to open up the comments here and ask a question: What do you want me to do with this blog?

Every answer is legitimate. I’ll even take comments along the lines of, “Shut it down.” as well. While I don’t want to shutter this site, I’m cool with doing that if no one really reads what I have to say here. My content hasn’t been the greatest or more glorious or most insightful to gaming. I wouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t get a single comment on this post. Just sayin’.

Now time to ponder what I’ll do with the next 300 posts (if there are any.)

Thanks for being with me on this long and strange ride. It’s been almost 3 years. I’ve had fun. Have you?

I also don’t have much time today/tonight to actually put the post together. I’m hastily writing a 20-page synopsis of my book to send off to an editor who is interested in seeing my novel. I’m 11 pages in, so I’m a little over halfway through.

Welp. Back to the synopsis writing!

Speaking of missing Friday Fives, I can guarantee that there will not be one this week. I’m going to be eyeball deep in writers, agents, editors, rum and cokes, and so much more this week while at the conference. I’ll be back next week with more links (unless someone really wants to see my book and I have to do more edits!)

Bwahahahaha…. This is a hilarious trip down memory lane. Love it!

Musing: Campaign Genre Affecting Combat Frequency

How often does your party get into a fight? What genre are you playing? Maybe they’re related!

What’s on the Guard Monster’s Mind

Ever wonder what that orc is doing right before the party kicks in the door and attempts to kill him? Now you know with this handy Dungeon Dozen!

Is Your Lucky Die Fair?

Ever wonder if your die is rolling “right?” By right, I don’t mean all 20s. I mean fairly and evenly across the spectrum of random numbers it’s designed to generate. Only one way to know! Take the chi^2 test!

Minis vs. Monster Manuals

Ever adjusted monster stats based off of the mini you had on hand? I’ll admit that I’ve never done it before, but I just might start! I usually take the monster as written, and then grab the mini that most closely matches the critter. It usually works, but I can see how plopping down a Bad Guy and telling the party, “What you see is what you get.” may go a long way into the suspension of disbelief. Good advice behind the link!

This Game Starts At Level Three…

What? Huh? Are we (*ahem* read: WotC) going to coddle newbie gamers so much that we won’t “pile on” the new abilities everyone gets at first level until level three? What happens when a newbie player gets up to an iconic level that grants them new powers? I’m mainly thinking of 5th level wizards and suddenly getting access to all those awesome 3rd level spells! Yeah, I’ve started out parties at 3rd level (even as high as 5th level) because I wanted to start deeper into the power curve for more advanced challenges and critters. I’m not sure this is a great idea, though. It’s going to bore the experienced gamers and not challenge the newbies.

A Simple Primer On Converting Between Systems

Ever had a module or adventure for one system that was a perfect fit for your current game, only the game systems didn’t merge well? Need some advice on approaching the conversion of one system (any system!) to another? Then clicky the linky and see what Mr. Arcadian has to say!

Dividing Treasure

There are many different ways to decide who gets what when splitting up treasure. The coins, artwork (does anyone use these anymore in their game?), gems and other obvious valuables are easy to split. When it comes to magic items, the strife begins. There are loads of approaches, and they’re all well detailed by Ameron over at Dungeon’s Master. Go have a look. BTW: For what it’s worth, we tried the method of “cashing out” all magic items and having the PCs that wanted an item “buy” the item from the group, but the accounting paperwork required to get such a thing accomplished fairly was insane. I don’t recommend this method unless you’re in some sort of tournament play.

The Art of Wonder

Need to set the mood? Need to enhance your players’ sense of wonderment in the game? Need some tips on this? Follow the link!

How Do You Handle Missing Players in Your Game Sessions?

Mr. Tenkar asks a good question here. We usually carry on if one or two people are missing. If it’s more than that, then we drop the game for the week and get together for some Munchkin, Arhkam Horror, Dominion or some other random card/board game I’ve drug along with me. If it’s just going to be 2-3 of us at the table, we’ll usually call off the entire session and just do our own thing for game night. When this happens, I make sure to spend a few hours working on my own RPG that I’ve had under my hat for a while.

TSR Era D&D vs WOTC Era D&D: Differences in Acceptable Play Style
The Other Senses
How a Blind Player Improved Our Game
What assumptions do you make for PC actions?
How To Solve the Cold Dice Problem
Time Bandits vs Monsters
Stocking the Dungeon

PS: I just had to link to the Time Bandits post. That’s my favorite movie of all time! Yes. I’m serious. Stop laughing. Hey! Stop laughing. Okay. Okay. Laugh all you want. It’s still may fav………