Are Your Characters All The Same?

or...

Why I Always Play Goofy Characters

I do. Or at least I always seem to, and now I'm wondering how much of my character choice reflects my personality. People often write about how roleplaying games are a way to step out of your environment, "pretend" to be someone else, or explore some part of your personality that you can't normally do in RL. For me, this never seems to be the case. Instead, I find that playing characters in an table-top RPG somehow always manages to be some distorted, or magnified, version of myself.

Goofy. Someone who speaks first and thinks... well, much much later.

As a scientist - these are not really great characteristics to have. Fortunately, they only come out at the game table (no really! it's true!)

As a gamer - well... things can be pretty fricken funny at times. For example - I regularly game with a couple of friends in a Deadlands Reloaded campaign where I play a seven-foot 160lb. marshal arts expert named Wen "Chewey" Shui. He is on the run for setting fire to his family's business ("It was an accident!") - The Seven Yellow Dragons Theatre. The fire killed the daughter of Shao Fan's mayor (San Francisco) and now there is a bounty on his head. Oh, did I mention that he's also a clutz?! And that I can't keep a secret? And he thinks he is Iron Man? Yeah... lots of fun, but goofy as hell.

There are plenty of examples of similar, silly characters that I've played in the past. Goofy wizards in a D&D game: a engineering dwarf wizard that believes the answer lies in explosives, not magic. Bumbling paladins who are scared of their own shadow, but follow the god of Stars and Night. I could go one... but I won't bore you with the details. My point is that these characters always seem to be spin-offs of one another; perhaps evolutions on a theme. I always seem to end up looking for obvious ways to mix oil and water in my PC creations. Fortunately, this is something I've only recently realized and now that I've figured it out - I'm quite sure that next time I'll shoot for something completely different. So, I started thinking about how other people conceptualize their characters and found some very good advice out there.

One of my new favorite blogs recently is The RPG Anthenaeum. The author (Alric?) writes in his article Character Development: What's My Motivation:

"When taking on the role of a character, improvisational actors often ask each other, “What’s my motivation?” The answer serves as a guide for how an actor might believably portray a character, since motives dictate actions."

Or more accurately, the question is aimed at themselves. Motivations. Goals. This is something I often miss when creating my PCs - instead I'm asking nothing and just thinking: What's a goofy combination that might be fun in this setting? The motivation sometimes follows later as the campaign develops, but not always. So - Alric has a point: by thinking about your characters GOALS and MOTIVATIONS before rolling the dice you can both challenge yourself and enrich the campaign world through your characters actions. In a truly old-school way, he presents a quick and dirty way to push the envelope even more by determining your characters motivations from a random die roll. Looking back on a (no-so scientific) survey I did last year where over 60% of you though random character background were indeed very old school - it's not that surprising. You would think I'd learn a thing or two and try random backgrounds / motivations myself - perhaps next time I'll remember to do this.

Another way to branch out and make something new is start with the crunch and then work backwards. Try to tightly interweave your character's background to their class, race, or abilities and think about what their motivations are in light of their character sheet. How did they become a Fighter? What are your Fighters goals? To be lord of the land? Get rich? End the war? Or... what life path made them a Thief, Rogue, Assassin, etc? Do they regret it? Are they remorseful or do they embrace their dark ways? You get the idea. John Lewis over at RolePlayingPro.com covered this topic in his post Class-Based Character Backgrounds. It's a bit D&D centric, but from his examples you can see what I mean. Again... personally, I fail at this and tend go think "what's a most goofy way to play a kung-fu sorcerer?"... perhaps there's something I should learn here.

Or perhaps not. I personally can't remember ever power-gaming my way through character creation as a player. As a GM/DM.. sure! Power game away! I mean, there's four to six other players at the table looking to do you in! As a DM, you have to power game your NPCs like crazy - so maybe that's why my PCs are always so goofy? Sort of the anti-power gamer character? Personally, I agree with Ameron over at Dungeon's Master. In his post Playing Against the Type, he writes:

"Creating a PC shouldn’t always come down to crunching the numbers. Embrace the role-playing ... it’s this spirit of adventure that I’m asking all of us to embrace as we make characters in the future."

Well said friend. Well said. So, whether you are rolling random character traits, thinking up backstory first, or starting with the crunch first - once again it's all about the story, the character, their role and how we have fun playing the game.
Its also important to make note of the inherent differences in player types. What kind of gamer are you? Are you a roleplayer or a rollplayer? (See Mike Bourke's explanation over at Campaign Mastery for info on the difference). Are you an actor or director? Leader or follower? Participant or observer? Players come in all shades and each has their own comfort zone. Which begs another question:

Do you prefer gaming in your comfort zone or do you look for ways to get out of it?

And I think that's the crux of it - the reason I play goofy characters is because that's where my comfort zone lies. The thought of playing a super-serious paladin or a dead eyed gunslinger screams BORING to me. But I'm just one person. There's no right answer here. Maybe what I need to do is exactly the opposite of what I'm comfortable with: play a furry for my next character...

Oh... the horrors...

The Complete, Unabridged Manual Of How To Play Roleplaying Games

Has it all been said before?

The RPG internet community has roots that extend back more than two decades. Yes, it's true - people were discussing roleplaying games on the internet before it was even the internet. Shocking. I know. Go here to boggle your brain. OK... back? Now that you have read advice on gaming that is some 25+ years old... you might now be wondering the same thing: Is it possible that everything there is to say about gaming has been said? Is tabletop gaming a finite creative space? If you take the collective meta-mind of the tubes (read:teh intehnetz or teh blogezfear) - is there anything really new for the community to discover? Has the community as a whole really made any DING! groundbreaking revelations in the last few years?

I might argue NO. I might even say that everything the RPG blogging community rants about has been ranted about by thousands of people for close to 30 years. I should really post some screenshots from some early Dragon magazine "Letters to the Editor" columns... but I think you get my point.

I'm not talking about new creatures, adventures, villains, worlds, creative settings, dice, types of miniatures, or even rule systems. That's all in the field of content - which is arguably inexhuastible. That would be like asking if every story that could be written has been written. Of course... that may very be true too. But that's another issue.

I'm talking about advice. Comments, shared with others, about HOW to play. HOW to be a better game referee, GM, DM, storyteller, marshall, or whatever you call it. What works - what doesn't. How to build tight social groups that faciliate immersive play. etc. What's new? If you were to read everything that has been written before, in chronological order: at what point in time would you say "OK... nothing new here". Would it be the early 80's? Gaming has changed alot since then. Perhaps the mid-1990's? Maybe never?

Is it possible that I'm completely out-of-the-park off base here?

I'm still going to say no - so if I'm not off base, and I am on to something... then has anyone tried to make a definative guide to roleplaying games? I'm not talking about D&D For Dummies. I'm talking about something akin to Black's Law , but for tabletop roleplaying games. A reference that everyone hails as being the de facto jumping off point for further discussion. A manual on RPGs in general, in all its crazy variations on a theme that is not tied to any one game.

A manual on HOW TO GAME.

If such a book exists, please let me know. Perhaps Gygax's Master of the Game counts - but I have yet to read it yet. Have you? Is it any good?

Triggering Combat Powers in 4E D&D

This post over at tenletter prompted inspired me to make a suggestion - one which I'm sure someone else in the blogosphere has made before (but I can't find the reference): what if you removed the names of the combat powers in 4E? Instead, just have the players actually describe what they are doing instead of "pushing a button".

But I'll actually take this one step further.

What if you made these nameless Encounter and Daily powers triggered effects, instead of chosen actions? For example:

• Player's Daily powers would trigger (and replace) any critical hit on an opponent made with a basic attack or an at-will power.
• Encounter powers would happen only after any successful hit with a basic attack or an at-will power, and replace the effects of the initial attack.
• At-will and utility powers would be used as they operate now.

The effects of this might be to limit character choices, thus promoting player creativity. It might play out much like 3E or previous editions of D&D where there are far fewer choices for your "toon". Heck, few classes had multiple ways of making melee attacks (monk's being on exception; flurry of blows anyone?) eliminating character choices from one round to the next might also speed up combat.

Now, such a house rule might also apply only to martial and primal classes: divine and arcane classes might remain as they are. I mean, wizards have always had tons of choices - that was their specialty - and still is considering that Tomes have been added to 4E (greatly expanding the flexibility of wizards in game).But I digress...

If you remove the names of encounter and daily powers and simply move them over to the existing at-will powers as triggered effects (immediate interrupts maybe?), it might have a very strong effect on the mood/feel of 4E combat as it plays out.

Crazy, stupid idea? Or maybe there's some traction here? What do think?

Through the Looking Glass

"Conscience is the window of our spirit, evil is the curtain." - Douglas Horton

Obviously, a mirror is not a window, so the looking glass reference may not be the most accurate - but that's why you're reading this article instead of 'Clever and Accurate Blog Post Titles.' But, now that I have your attention, I'd like to introduce you to the . . .

Johari Window

Chances are, if you've worked in any sort of corporate environment or taken any psychology courses, you've encountered a Johari Window - even if you don't remember the name. It was created in 1955 by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham to serve as a graphic model of interpersonal awareness. The window is a simple 2x2 grid that helps organize adjectives and characteristics that a group of people know about an individual, as well as what that individual knows about him or herself.

Click for a printable version, complete with terms.

The four areas of the grid can be described as:

• Arena: Traits of the individual of which both they and their peers are aware.
  
• Facade: Information about the individual of which their peers are unaware; the participant choose whether or not to reveal this information.
  
• Blind Spot: Traits the individual has that he or she is not aware of, but others are. The individual most often learns about these traits only when they receive feedback from others.
  
• Unknown: This quadrant contains the behaviors and motives that are not recognized by either the individual or their peers

Below is the list of 55 adjectives most commonly used to populate the quadrants. There is also a negative variant, known as the Nohari Window, that contains negative personality traits:

Application in RPG's

The easiest and most direct application of the Johari Window to a roleplaying game would be for players to flesh out their characters - a player can fill out a window to deepen their character's personal history and background, sharing how family and friends felt about them 'back home.' Each person's actions and behavior are shaped by past experience and relationships. Using a Johari Window for a character can provide an opportunity for a player to define how those relationships affects their character's current relationships and a guide for future decision making and roleplaying. Another interesting application of the window would be in assessing character growth. An initial window is filled out in the context of past relationships, and a new window is completed for the character for his or her current social environment. This brings us to the second use of the Johari Window - relationships among the members of your party.

Inviting the other characters in the party to contribute in filling out a window for a character can help delineate the social roles each one plays and provide some insight into the party's social dynamic. The longer the group has been adventuring together, the more useful this exercise will prove. Players who have just started their adventure might be able to try and fill out the windows based on an agreed upon history or background, but until they have worked together to come through a social encounter and witnessed each others' strengths and weaknesses in action, one cannot really know how a PC will perform in such a situation. I would encourage the DM to state explicitly that such an exercise be kept within the context of the game - the PC's are evaluating the 'characters' in the party, not the other 'players' - and act as a moderator to keep participants objective.

Surprisingly, the Johari Window may be of most use to the DM beyond stalling for time as you scramble to get your materials together for the night's adventuring. In addition to profiling the PC's and determining how NPC's might react to them in a social encounter, the DM can fill out a window for prominent NPC's. How do the townspeople feel about their mayor? What about the mayor's feelings about the temple priest? Does the innkeeper have a bias for or against adventurers, and how will that affect his rates? Using it for the BBEG is especially interesting when you consider the Unknown quadrant. Knowing the BBEG's flaws, insecurity or greed for example, a canny DM might allow for his PC's a way to overcome the villain by exploiting them. Meanwhile, the cruel DM (you know who you are) might keep their PC's from having an easy means of drawing the BBEG out from his Castle of Doom and vanquishing him for the Greater Good.

Finally, I would like to propose one final, more abstract use of the Johari Window. Instead of filling it out with character traits, try putting in plot points. The group columns represent common knowledge in this instance, while the rows can apply to either the heroes or the BBEG. Do the heroes know about the haunted cave that the townsfolk are afraid to talk about? Does the villain know about the underground resistance plotting his downfall? Has no one heard the legend of the dragon that died alone in its cave, its treasure hoard remaining undiscovered?

Over on The Kingworks Creative Blog, I am always seeking to find or invent new and interesting ways of adding spice and variety to a game. What I like about the the Johari Window is that is has something to offer people on both sides of the screen - a tool for players to integrate more closely with their characters and their party; and a means of not only building a richer, deeper campaign world, but of working out plot details for DM's. So give it a try and let me know what you think.

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Please welcome our latest guest blogger, Kingworks, to The Core Mechanic. Kingworks Creative Blog is a recent addition to the RPG blogging community; and from what I've seen thus far it is shaping up to be a truly unique place to visit. You may already know of his Monster Cards (which are awesome), but if you're tired of  the all-too-frequent echo chamber effect that often plagues the RPG blogosphere, drop in and visit Kingworks, or even better -- subscribe to his blog. You won't be disappointed. -- Jonathan.

PHB2 Character Backgrounds - A Modular System for Emerging Complexity

The recently released Player's Handbook 2 offers 4E Dungeons & Dragons players and DMs a new game option: player backgrounds. These are a set of simple rules that allow you to apply in game bonuses to certain skills based on the character backgrounds you might choose at the time of character creation. D&D players who are familiar with the Forgotten Realms' regional benefit system will no doubt see many similarities in this new option as well.

The 4E character background system found in the PHB2 offers up a fairly comprehensive set of backgrounds to choose from. There are 62 backgrounds that fall into five broad categories: Geography; Society; Birth; Occupation and Race. The last of which is the largest since there are two or three backgrounds for each of the 15 player character races in the game (thus far). Each background description is limited to one short paragraph and a set of one or more associated skills.

 This was a welcomed surprise in comparison to the 3rd Edition PHB2 - which only provided 11 archetype backgrounds drawn out over 8 or 9 pages in the book. It was too unwieldy of a system to use effectively.

At the time of character creation, players can choose as many of the modular background components as they like, but one of them will provide any in-game benefits to skill rolls, bonus languages, class skills, or regional benefits. Its very straightforward and provides a foil for players (especially those new to the game) to help shape their characters backgrounds by picking a couple of these and making them work together.

The basic template for each background is:

[NAME]: One or two statements, followed by two or more questions.
Associated Skill(s): A list of skills; one of which can be chosen to give a +2 bonus or be treated as a class skill.

This very simple system is not meant to be all inclusive. It also allows DMs who are home brewing up their campaign worlds with a quick way to add a few backgrounds seamlessly into the mix. While this no doubt may be regarded by some as "too formal" or "too regimented"; its important to remember that not every player is a creative genius, and 60 or 70 backgrounds in a modular format can be just the trick to help fuel their imaginations.

This system also works extremely well with an emerging complexity approach to generating character background. How? Simply don't answer all the questions presented in the background until there is a need to do so in game. For example, below I've included the character background Birth:Among Another Race from the Players Handbook 2.

Among Another Race: Your were born among a race other than your own. Did you grow up among the trees of an elven forest, deep in a dwarven mountain fortress, or in a halfling caravan? Did your family live among that race when you where born, or did some other circumstance bring you there?
Associated Skill: A skill the other race gains a bonus to.

Lets say that you are playing a human that lived in an Elven community as a child. Don't answer the second question at the time of character creation; leave it open ended. Then, later in the campaign you answer the second question to make the storyline a bit more connected. Let's say, for example, the DM introduces a new villain into the game and you decide then that this villain killed your family, which is why you lived with the elves as an orphan.

Another thing to consider is to start with those first questions, and then - without answering them - brainstorm a few additional questions. Write them down on the back of your character sheet or in your notes, and then use those unanswered questions to help build your character's background on the fly as the campaign progresses.

For the DM, remember too that using these background with an emerging character could be applied to any longstanding NPC or villain that needs fleshing out. It works very well.

I am curious to know how other players are balancing character background generation with the in-game rules. How are you limited "power-creep"? So, how are you handling character backgrounds in your campaigns in general? NPC backgrounds? Does this new modular background system presented in the PHB2 work for you?

Players Handbook 2: The Invoker ... a REAL Bad Ass

On March 21st, the Player's Handbook 2 is being released in coordination with World Wide D&D Game Day. Someone at Wizards of the Coast must have realized the growing importance of the RPG blogging community because I was offered a free copy of the book - weeks before it is released - in exchange for reviewing any one of the character classes included in the PHB2. How could I say no? I was already anticipating the release of the Invoker because, from what I had already read online about the class, it seemed right up my ally.

The Invoker is a bad ass.

Plain and simple.

The whole idea behind the Invoker is that they are a divine caster, much like an Avenger, Cleric, and Paladin -- but unlike those classes, the Invoker does not rely on the trappings of a divine focus (i.e. holy symbol) for their abilities to function. They do not pray for spells and are not granted them from some agent of the gods. Instead, the power wielded by Invokers is cut from the very fabric of universe. They channel immortal powers of the gods directly -- and use their power to lay waste to anyone who stands in their path.

Invokers are controllers.

Much like Wizards, in combat Invokers can cast their "prayers" against multiple opponents as early as first level. What I find interesting is that many of their abilities have burst effects that are not simply aimed at damaging foes. These are not the specialist-wizard invokers of AD&D, whose power lay entirely in dishing up massive amount of damage. 4E Invoker prayers include involve plenty of pushing, pulling, sliding, slowing, dazing, and immobilizing. And that's just up to Level 5. Like I said -- they are controllers.

Invokers are summoners.

This is likely the biggest departure from the AD&D version of the Invoker. Whereas invocation and evocation schools of magic were juxtaposed to that of conjuration, the 4E Invoker gets the best of both worlds. Starting at Level 1 they have access to a daily prayer, Summon Angel of Fire, that summons "an angelic figure wreathed in fire." Yeah... and it burns you to a crisp if you stand next to it. The conjuration / summoning abilities of Invokers don't end with angels either: the list of things include magic walls of light, dancing blades, angels with dancing blades, walls of blades, and walls of angels with dancing blades. OK, the last one was a joke -- but you get the idea. As an Invoker, the forces of heaven got your back.

Oh, and at Level 19... you can summon the Tomb of Magrym. Yeah. It's a tomb that pops into existence on top of your enemies. The sorry souls who are stuck inside are in for a confusing experience and have to hack their way out. Did I mention the tomb was made of stone?

Paragon Paths
The Invoker also features four Paragon Paths: Angelic Aspect, Blightspeaker, Flame of Hope, an Hammer of Vengeance. I'll leave it to you to be the final judge of these paths - but in my estimation they are all top notch and provide highly flexible options for your end-game Invoker. My favorite? The Blightspeaker.

I've always had a soft-spot for classes that blend the dark elements of death, pestilence, and decay. Some of my earliest posts here at The Core Mechanic were in fact a 4E conversion of the 3.xE Forgotten Realms Talontar Blightlord prestige class and the blightspawn monster template - both of which were core to my campaign at the time. The Blightspeaker makes their enemies vulnerable to necrotic damage, and then uses the same energy type to harvest the life from their victims to fuel their own power -- but that's not the best part. These foul characters heal themselves every time they score a critical hit.

PHB 2: More Options, No Creep
The Invoker is a welcome addition to what is now a huge variety of classes that are available. For one -- it provides you with a new controller character type for players looking for something a little different than the wizard class. Secondly, the Invoker is substantially different from the 2E wizard-specialist class -- it feels like something entirely new. It is a flexible controller class that can easily play into a secondary role of striker or leader. And, for those looking for options to use during role playing scenes (i.e. non-combat encounters), the Invoker also includes a number of utility prayers to boost your PC's diplomacy and intimidation skills.

All in all I don't feel like the Player's Handbook 2 suffers from any "power creep" -- that is, the Invoker class and the other new classes, are on par with what was offered in the PHB1. It just might take a while to get used to all the core options - but options are good in my book, and I'm very satisfied with the way they are presented in this new member of the D&D family.

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Want to learn more about Player's Handbook 2? Read on...

• Atomic Array: Episode 018: Player's Handbook 2
• Game Cryer: Player's Handbook 2 Review
• Gnome Stew: A Veteran GM's Take on GMing and the PHB2
• Critical Hits: The Avenger
• Campaign Mastery: The Barbarian
• Uncle Bear: The Bard
• Critical Ankle Bites: The Druid
• Kobold Quarterly: Review: Player's Handbook 2
• The Core Mechanic: The Invoker
• Flames Rising: The Shaman
• Stupid Ranger: The Sorcerer
• Musings of the Chatty DM: The Warden

Drop by Wizards of the Coast today!

10 Ways to Save Your Friendly Local Game Shop

In the last couple of days, I've seen read some disturbing news and blog posts about the independent hobby game store business. You know... your FLGS.

Today, Nicholas over at DungeonMastering.com posted "Requiem for a Game Store" where he laments the slow decline of his own FLGS. This stood out to me because just yesterday I read Aoen's foreboding satirical forcast of 5E D&D ("Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Review") at GameGrene.com. Their point was the same -- FLGS are becoming a thing of the past and there is little we can do about it.

I disagree, there is a ton the gaming community can do to help the FLGS industry survive these tough economic times. All it takes is a bit of creativity and initiative. (I should preface this post with a warning: I have nearly zero understanding of how the actual RPG industry works from the ground up -- so, to many of you this may make you chuckle.)

1. Get to know your store. Set aside at least one-day per month to attend a gaming event at your FLGS. By visiting the store regularly you will get a vibe on how they are doing and get to know the "locals" as well.
2. Meet the Owner. Make a point of introducing yourself to the owner of the store. Putting a face on the store will help you remember that, when you shop at Amazon or Barnes & Noble, you are making a choice that doesn't include this person.
3. Make A Suggestion. Your a gamer, therefor you have strong opinions. Make them known to the guy behind the counter, let the store owner know, talk about it in the aisles of the store. Once your idea is out there, you never know what kind of impact you can have. Unrelated to gaming -- I made a suggestion to my FLB&WS (that's beer & wine in the middle there) about a certain Chilean wine I recently had enjoyed at a local restaurant. A few weeks later I noticed it was on the shelf, and it turned out to be one of their best sellers.
4. Special Order Something. Instead of click click ordering with Amazon, stop by your FLGS (or better yet call them) and ask them to special order what you are looking for. By ordering through the store, you are likely to pay a similar price as you might find in a big-box store like B&N, but will also be supporting them as well.
5. Order Online. Addicted to purchasing stuff online? Then make sure your store doesn't have an online ordering system. Many FLGS have online stores - some even with Instant Pick Up service (it's in the store waiting for you the minute you order it). If they don't have an online store set up -- see #3 above.
6. Bring a Friend. Two customers are better than one, so the next time you are going to drop in to your FLGS ask a friend to come along. The two of you can geek'out together, and the store owner might even be able to offer up a small discount if you buy two copies of that gamebook instead of one.
7. Try a New Game. The best way to spend money wisely on gaming (is that possible?) is to branch out and try something entirely new. Whether it is a new RPG, a new card game, strategy game, or something else -- your FLGS can guide you in making the decision as to what you might like to play best. I mean... do you REALLY think the stooge at Barnes & Noble is going to be able to tell you that Dominion is awesome and you definitely will like it? No.
8. Volunteer to Lead an Event. See #1 above, if that doesn't float your boat -- then see #6 above and repeat as necessary until you have enough people to run your own event in the store. Not all FLGS have the space for tons of concurrent games, but check their schedule. Ask them if you can host an event in their store. Got a regular gaming group? Depending on the location, you may even opt to host your regular gaming group at the FLGS.
9. Write About Your FLGS. Are you a blogger? Frequent forum poster? Then write a review about your FLGS. Provide links to their online store or their calendar of events. You will help them get some free advertising and through an honest review you will also give them straight-talk advice on what you like and don't like about their business (which is a good thing). Then send the link to the review to your FLGS by email and let them know about it.
10. Join Their Mailing List. All hobby shops have mailing lists - or at least email lists. Give them your contact info so that you can be informed whenever their is a sale, event, or other tidbit worth knowing about. By volunteering to be part of their marketing pool, you will stay in the know and sometimes even get coupons / discounts on items only available to people on the list. Its a win win.

The economics of hobby gaming is definitely changing. I too have seen my local store become somewhat more sparse than I remembered it to be. And while the digital initiative push by WotC certainly can not bode well for most FLGS owners, I'm sure this is not the only thing in their threat zone. We are a digitally centric group of people (gamers), but we need to remember that there is value to your FLGS that Amazon, DDI, and big box stores cannot give you: a connection with your local gaming community. Start thinking of your FLGS as a community center for gamers, and maybe it will follow that you'll remember them before you click "Checkout" at Amazon.

My local store? It's Dream Wizards in Rockville, MD. -- a 30 year icon of the region. I'm interviewing the owner in the next week or two, so hopefully I'll be able to complement this post with an insider's view of the business.

OK.. lunch break over... back to work...

Player's Handbook 2 is in my backpack...

Yes. I was one of the lucky ones. Wizards of the Coast bestowed upon me a copy of the Player's Handbook 2 weeks before it comes to print.

Don't worry though... I'm not going to keep all the awesome goodness to myself for long. And... this is not just some media blitz brain washing thing (OK, maybe it is) but... in all seriousness, the PHB2 looks amazing and from what I have read thus far (about an hour flipping through it) -- its top notch. Power creep is to a minimum and there's lots of juicy bits beyond just the "new classes, new races" part.

I'll bring you the noise in a few days... because I know you want to know.

Hero Building vs. Stronghold Building

The "adventuring company" is distinctly different from "the party".

It is, however, a common misconception that these terms are in fact synonymous.

They are not.

"Old School" is to Stronghold Building as "New School" is to Hero Building.

... there, I said it.

The meaning behind the phrase "adventuring company" has drifted away from its original intended meaning. This is likely due to a similar change in play-style (in general) over the more than three decades D&D has been around.

Our beloved hobby started with dynamic groups of players, sometimes as many as 10 or even 20, mingling and mixing between different Dungeon Masters and different campaigns -- all in a shared world. Characters moved around with their players too, from game to game, sometimes even between campaigns. Player characters had henchmen. Players would often play more one character, although not at the same time.

Nowadays, the focus is on the "the party". This likely started in the mid- to late-phases of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The game started to shift its focus away from stronghold building and toward being heroic and playing "epic campaigns". I suppose this is what people wanted - I mean... just look at the success of the Dragonlance modules. Both 2E and 3E Dungeons & Dragons defaulted to a 4-person group of "heroes", making most viable games requiring 5-players (including the DM). In 4th Edition the default part has been expanded to five PCs. Other than for the obvious commercial advantage, the reasoning for the subtle increase in the default party size somewhat escapes me. To be fair - the 4E DMG does do a fine job of offering a very scalable system. You could easily play with fewer PCs without much house ruling, in terms of DM planning, etc. But I digress... the point is that it is easier to be heroic and epic if each player invests all their time into a single character's development. The more emphasis you place on Tim the Wizard, the more you want Tim to be a (super) hero. Whereas, if you have a whole entourage of characters to worry about then you just might be more interested in the development of the group over time (stronghold building) instead of just one of your PCs (hero building).

Your hero requires ever increasing challenges. Your epic gear must be upgraded to even epic'er gear. Your foes must become even more eliter than the eliterists. Your gold must become even biggerer. In the end, you become a god.

The funny part is that this is finally in the core rules. It's no longer implied, its explicitly the goal of the game. It is the RAW.

Now, you all know I play 4E D&D. I don't see that changing any time soon as my gaming group is somewhat in the middle of things. However, the next game that I run I'm planning on steering it more towards a stronghold building campaign - as a basis from which to have a fun time, etc. I just think I've realized something though -- this sort of game is going to be difficult, or extremely house ruled, if I stuck with 4E D&D as the rule set.

4E is to Hero Building as 1E/2E/CC/S&W/etc is to Stronghold Building.

Maybe if I run a stronghold building campaign I should use a different rule set? Maybe... because you know what they say...

"Always use the right tool for the job"

Share you comments, and I'd love to hear what game system is best suited, in your opinion, for a stronghold building game.

10 Things To Do Before Starting A New RPG Campaign

Seeing as my own D&D campaign recently went bust - it just had me thinking about what I could do to get things started on the right foot the next time around.

1. Get a reliable and committed group of players. Nothing can be more frustrating that planning to start a new campaign and having it fizzle out before it even starts because one or more players decide to bail. As a gamemaster, a key to preventing player false-starts is to shorten the time frame between when you get their commitment to play and when the game actually starts. If several weeks go by before the first session, you should expect some people to bail. As a player, a key to prevent your own false-start is to not agree "on a whim" to start a new campaign. Player cooperation and commitment to the game are essential for any campaign, and if you bail out before it starts you are doing nothing short of holding up the fun for others.
   
2. Get a reliable and committed game master. Much like getting reliable players - the same holds true for the GM. This may not happen as often, but in my experience it occurs often enough to mention. Some people love the idea of running a game, but when the $%iT hits the fan they might realize how much work running a good game is and decide to bail. Being a dependable GM trumps being a imaginative, innovative, or cool GM in my book. The former being a requirement for an ongoing campaign; the latter being something that can come from the player group just as much from the GM. Basically - don't make promises you can't keep.
   
3. Make known your expectations. Do you want this to be a one-off adventure? or a long-lived campaign? Are you going to play your character seriously or with a sizable degree of "salt"? Let the other players at the table know what you are looking for and what your expectations are. How many hours do you expect each game session to last? How often do you want to gather for gaming? What is your play-style? As long as everyone is open and honest about want they want to get out of the game, then the group as a whole can benefit by trying to meet those needs.
   
4. Have everyone agree on a (semi-)regular schedule. Its hard for working-professionals to meet more than once a week, or even twice a month. College age or younger players may be able to game more often, but this also taxes the GM tremendously. Whatever the schedule, everyone should agree on at least a tentative schedule before game play starts. If you want game for more than 3 hours at a stretch, then try to avoid game sessions that start later than 7pm. Gaming late into the night can be fun; but consider that some of the players in your group may have day jobs the next day.
   
5. Have the GM provide everyone with character creation and setting guidelines. The GM should email everyone with general guidelines about character creation and the setting. Players can all participate in helping define these guidelines, but ultimately the GM should firmly decide what is and is not permissible for a given campaign. Is the game going to be the default game system setting or a home brewed world? What races and/or classes are allowed or prohibited? Where can the participatory players find more information about the setting?
   
6. Have all your characters made before the first session. Having character sheets finalized before the first day of gaming is critical. First of all, it smooths out game play so that the dice can start rolling ASAP and there are no hangups. Secondly, it allows the discussion about the characters to focus on what has been decided a week-beforehand instead what was decided 5-minutes beforehand. Often times a snap decision about character design may leave players regretting their choices in the long run.
   
7. Have an elevator pitch for each character. Its important for each player to know something about the other player characters at the start game play. An elevator pitch is a great way to convey this information. This is basically a 20-30 second pitch (the average length of an elevator ride) about who your character is, what they look like, what stands out about them. Try to have this ready when game play starts; if all the other players do the same then you all will be much better off in the long run.
   
8. Have the GM think of and flesh out at least one reoccurring villain. Personally, I'm a huge fan of the villain who narrowly escapes only to rear his or her (or its) ugly head another day. At early levels of game play, these types of villains can bring an important level of depth to a campaign. Then, after having faced off with them two or three times before, the characters can finally have a big showdown once they are much higher level. The best setups include having two or three reoccurring villains, with showdowns for each at various, progressively higher levels of play.
   
9. Decide on and write down all the house rules. Every gaming eventually has a few house rules. These may be minor rule changes such as "no multi classing" or "dwarfs are the same size as humans". Or more significant rule changes such as "there are no classes, its all free form" or "wizards as player characters don't exist in this campaign". Whatever they are, its important to write them down and make them available to all the players. A simple solution is to use a public wiki service like GoogleWiki or Obsidian Portal to house your house rules. Oh, and if you don't have any? Then make your campaign your own and make some up! The heart of RPGs is the do-it-yourself approach to gaming.
   
10. Remember the most important rule is the Rule of Cool. We all want to have fun, right? That's the whole reason we are into this thing called roleplaying games. So, in an effort to keep up the fun... remember the Rule of Cool and your game will be forever better for it. ChattyDM has a great spin on the whole topic (as it relates to RPGs) here.

I hope this list is helpful. Think of it as my 2¢ towards helping players new to RPGs (whatever game that may be) in getting their campaign off to the right start. Have some other suggestions? Please leave a comment and let them know what else might help!

In the meantime, have a great New Year!

L30 DM LFG

Two weeks ago my ongoing Kingship Chronicles campaign went bust. It was a 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign set in The Great Dale from 3rd edition Forgotten Realms. The elevator pitch for the campaign would go something like this:

Three orphans must defend their homeland from an invading army of disease ridden living zombies, and they must also find a cure for their adoptive mother who has fallen ill to the blightspawn. The short campaign is for level 1 characters, who are expected to reach level 5 after several overland and underground adventures. The PCs will battle against mindless hordes of decaying blightspawn, thieves and bandits from Thesk, buried dead in the Crypts of the Arcomancer, and abberations from the Underdark. Can they convince the clansfolk of The Great Dale to join together to fight this common enemy? Will they be able to gain the help of The Circle of Leth in Yeshilmar? It will all be revealed in The Kingship Chronicles...

My players reached the end of the current saga with a huge - "final battle" style ending whereby they helped defend Yeshilmar from a massive horde of blightspawn and (barely) managed to save their dying mother. It was a solid close, with no loose ends, and everyone seemed very satisfied with the end result. All in all, it was a really fun 6-months that introduced us to the 4th edition rules.

And then we all just sorta decided... "Meh... lets do something else."

Some of the players want to go back to an RPG that doesn't use miniatures at all. Others want to stick with 4E, but to try something new (for them) like a sandbox-campaign. Still others want to continue with the current set of characters, but are willing to play "whatever the rest of the group decides". Me? Frankly, I always want the same thing: to be a player.

I've been a player in only 4 campaigns in 25 years, but I have DM'd countless campaigns and introduced the game to probably two or three dozen new players (ok, maybe not countless... but too many for me to count right now). Some of those players are still avid gamers today, and I'm happy to know that they credit me with getting them into gaming. But, none of them, to my knowledge, have ever been a DM. All my "converts" are still players and seemingly unwilling to make the jump to running their own game (with one exception: Hi Ray!). So, I'm left with this kind of hole in my experience where 90% of my gaming experience has been from "behind the screen" so to speak. But, is this a problem? Is it time for me to sit somewhere else at the table? Has the group stagnated as a whole? Or, is this just DM burnout?

So, what's a DM to do?

1. Cut-off my nose to spite my face. "I'm not DM'ing ... so I guess that means we won't game at all!" This solution is not only childish, but it just screams "whiner!" and should stop right here.
   
2. Look for a new group of players to game with that have their own DM. This is something I've honestly not done enough of. I've never been to a FLGS event, let alone a convention, and players at my table almost always been new inductees into RPG gaming. Rarely have hard-core gamers (people who go to cons) ever gamed at my game table, or vice versa, and the few that I know of happen to be entangled in a hugely awesome Star Wars campaign that already has seven players - which means "No Soup For You!".
3. Convince one of the players at my existing game table to be the DM. I've tried this once before with very limited success. As I have said before - for many of the people I game with their entire RPG gaming experience has been limited to my game table. I think there must be some kind of critical inertia issue here, because none of them have volunteered to be the DM. Maybe they think it takes too much time? Maybe they are afraid of a botched attempt? Meh, I'm happy to help with both of those issues, or any other that would come up, but still they resist.
4. Stop playing until inspiration strikes me again to be a DM. This is the way I usually handle campaign fizzle - by taking a break (as Phil suggests as well). Sometimes these breaks are months to (in one case) years. The problem is that I don't want to stop gaming or take a break. I'm not having gaming burnout.
5. Post something on my blog and see if any other ideas come done the pipe. Well, here we are... what do you think I should do?

POST EDIT: My wife may actually take up the DM seat for the first time. After reading this post she remarked "Why couldn't I run a campaign?" And I thought, "Yes young Jedi. Now your training is complete!"

Your Game World is (NOT) teh SuXXorz

Got your attention? I just finished reading an essay on world building from The KOBOLD Guide to Game Design, Vol 1 (which is worth the money, btw). Then I pop open my browser and, viola, Uncle Buck just posted about Vanilla Game Worlds, and how they all must include all 31 flavors of Dungeons & Dragons... or it isn't D&D. And people want D&D, that's why they are playing D&D. To quote his (funny) D&D is Vanilla Ice Cream analogy:

What you end up with is vanilla. No chocolate. No other flavors. Like ice cream, you can customize it with toppings, and like ice cream, toppings can make it unique and yummy. But underneath, it’s always gonna be vanilla.

I disagree. Much like statblocks are just numbers on a page that can be remolded into anything a DM wants (see my previous post about this), so too are all the campaign elements of D&D. You do not need elves, clerics, magic wands, portals in your game if you create a well conceived internally consistent game world.

By example, I'll make my point: you have a player who wants to be an elf but your campaign is set in the New World of the 16th century? Easy - let them make "an elf" but have the character be a Mayan hunter who escaped from a Spanish prison or something. Another player in the same campaign wants to be a "wizard" ? No problem: he's an English scholar who happened upon a rare set of Middle Eastern texts that he's been studying for a number of years. Now that he's in the New World, he feels liberated to try his "witchcraft" without the prying eyes of his colleagues.

Now of course, not all recasting of game mechanics and campaign elements will be successful for all settings. But - with some creativity and a well designed back story, the internal consistency can be maintained in most settings and, IMHO, you can still have your vanilla ice cream from the PHB. Only, in your new setting - it will be chocolate, or strawberry, or double caramel mint swirl.

Just my 2¢

"My Character Should Know That..."

Have you ever heard another player at the table utter the above words?

Well, I've heard it far too many times. This post is dedicated to those players who think their character should "know something" during a non-combat/role-playing encounter. Sometimes they should, sometimes they shouldn't. The only one at the table who really knows is the DM. Nonetheless, as the DM, it can get very tiring if the same players (or gods forbid, all of them) keep using this tactic to wear you down. The reason they do it is because it works. The reason it works is because the DM _wants_ you to know some things some of the time; all in the interest of internal consistency and storyline progression. However, there are times where your character does not know something. There are times when your character should not know something, but in the confusing mess of 50 dice, 12 or 13 npcs, 10 maps, a couple of notebooks, and no less than 3 rule books, the DM slips out something that shouldn't have come out.

"OK OK, YES, Zanazabar just knows that the Mad Gibbon King is buried under Matchbook Hill! OK, are you happy now?"

Then it sinks in. And this makes DM's very very angry. Like, HULK angry.

Ok, maybe not that mad; but it IS annoying and can wreak havoc on gameplay. So, this post is also dedicated to the DMs across the universe who have to deal with these role-playing munchkins and need some advice.

For the Players
First of all... stop.
Stop asking for handouts.
Stop nudging the DM using metagame speak at the game table with statements like "I should know this or that." or even worse "He should know this or that."
Instead, write it down on a little piece of paper, maybe even slip the DM a note that says something like "Hey, would Zanzabar the Necromancer know where the Mad Gibbon King was buried? I mean, I wrote his backstory such that he grew up at a mortuary." Or, something similar. Whatever you do, don't break character. Metagaming during a "non-combat encounter" destroys immersion, ruins the flow of the encounter. Maybe some gaming groups never establish this "flow" so you are reading this going: WTF is he talking about. For those of you who know, I'm with you.

(BTW - us old-school D&D players just call it role-playing; "non-combat encounter" is like it was created by a career Warhammer gamer who worked in the marketing department. "Oh sigh, here's another 'non-combat' encounter.. can I just sit this one out? Role-playing is sooooo boring." What asshats... ) But I digress...

Secondly, for the players, establish what your character knows and doesn't know outside the game table. Use email, your group's wiki, or (OMG!) the phone. Get into your character's head and establish their backstory's knowledge horizon. This might only take 5 minutes or much more, but whatever it is, write it down for future reference. Have your DM help you brainstorm ideas - especially if the campaign is in a homebrewed setting.

For the Dungeons Masters
Players are like toddlers. They want and want and want. They will cry and whine and beg and crawl to get it. They will push you to your limits. So, when a player breaks character mid-sentence with some ugly, mind-jarring game speak during a role pla... i mean "non-combat encounter", stop them. Politely ask that they save their discussion for what they might know and don't know until afterward. Remind them that playing both the King, his Councilor, and all the jesters in his court is taxing on you creatively, and that everyone would benefit if the suspension of disbelief is maintained a few minutes longer. Group hug? Either that or smash the table into a million pieces like the Hulk - come on; you know you want to...

But what if Zanzabar the Wizard did indeed know something about the burial location of the Mad Gibbon King? Then it is your responsibility as the DM to say something to the player ahead of time. Or, even better, slip them a prepared (i.e. printed) note about what they would know just before the beginning of the encounter.

A good strategy is to establish a regular rapport with your players by email - individually. Discuss their character's long-term goals within the campaign arc; establish their knowledge horizons, and decide what are their motivations. A simple exchange of one or two emails in this respect goes miles towards maintaining the longevity of a particular character's development over the course of a campaign. Maybe this is too much immersion for some player's (I'm looking at the 4E designers), but trust me - gaming this way is just better.

In Closing...
Whatever the details are, there are times when player knowledge does not match up with character knowledge. It goes both ways too. Sometimes (perhaps more often) the player knows things the character does not (maybe your players all have copies of the Monster Manual at home). In either situation though, everyone benefits if the player and DM don't "break character" during the role-playing. It makes the game more enjoyable for everyone; its one of those things that separates D&D from all those other silly games. And please, for the love of the game, stop with the "My Character Should Know That!"

I hope this post makes sense to some of you...