Douglas E. Berry

It's not me, Class & Level systems, it's you.

Sun, 27 Feb 2022 00:00:56 GMT

On my gaming bookshelf, I have about 14" of space dedicated to Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, most of it official WOTC stuff plus some stuff I've picked up on various Kickstarters. I've been playing various forms of D&D since 1978 or so. And I can't do it anymore. I can no longer keep making excuses for the glaring problems with class & level systems. Allow me to begin.

This is a brief summary of the jobs I've had as an adult: light weapons infantry, car wash worker (all positions), retail sales (several times), airport shuttle van driver and dispatcher, commercial truck driver, forklift operator, limousine dispatcher, and now school crossing guard.

What character class am I? Even if you just focus on my years as an infantryman, the skills involved went far beyond the core responsibilities of killing people and breaking things. I, for example, learned enough about how the company supply room worked to earn a secondary MOS as a Small Unit Supply Specialist. We are all like that, no matter what our main focus is, we've all picked up weird side skills from hobbies and old jobs.

Class systems lock you into an identity; you are a Fighter, or a Wizard, or a Rockerboy. Your options are limited by design. This means that your game options are likewise limited. D&D5e uses class options to offer more variety, but it still becomes a straightjacket. This has also led to an explosion of class options which has become almost as bad as the nightmare that Feats became in D&D3/3.5 and Pathfinder 1st. The end result is players show up at the table with an esoteric build depending on options given in some third-party book. This results in arguments and destroyed campaigns. I have seen this happen.

Next, we have Levels. As a mechanic to mark progress and increase the power levels it works, to a point. But most systems also tie new abilities to level increases, so very quickly the characters are nigh-unstoppable by any normal force. Which requires ramping up the threats in an ever-escalating arms race. The game becomes the same melee with changing faces. Enough about them, they simply are a kludge.

Finally, and strap in for this one. . . Hit Points.

I hate hit points as they are presented in most class&level games. To understand how low this has been an issue, I think the first defense and attempt to tweak hit points was when The Dragon was still in single-digit issues. Hit points date back to D&D's ancestral miniature gaming roots. When one figure represents a unit of Athenian hoplites, or Napoleonic Grenadiers, or whatever, a set number that counts down to when that unit is no longer combat capable for whatever reason makes sense. They may have died, been wounded, run off, whatever. It doesn't matter in the context of the game.

But when you are playing a single person of flesh and blood, wounds matter. Bleeding matters. Having the shoulder of your sword arm crushed by a mace, matters. This is all ignored with hit points. Joe the Fighter can start a fight with 75 hit points. Six rounds later, he's been ripped by massive claws, hit with a jet of flame, and been hit by six arrows. He's down to 3 hit points.

AND HE'S FUCKING FINE! He isn't holding his intestines in place, he isn't limping on a horrifically burned leg, and he's not coughing up blood from the arrows in his lungs. Joe will fight at absolute full capacity until he drops to 0 hp. There are no consequences to combat. Combat with hit point systems aren't combat, they're whittling contests devoid of any consideration of tactical thinking. Everyone just min/maxes their attack. The reason the joke about Warlocks always using Eldritch Blast is funny is because it is true. I've played a Hexblade Warlock, and I had no other effective combat option at my disposal.

So done with it. What are you replacing it with, you might ask if you've read this far?

Runequest - Adventuires in Glorantha

It's a skill-based system with no classes. There are professions, and some of them are combat builds, but everyone is a well-rounded character coming into the game. Honestly, playing someone who was a herder and got swept up into the wars against the Lunar Empire and is now seeking his fortune is far closer to the Hero's Journey. One of the more intriguing pre-generated characters in the Starters Kit is Narres Runepainter, an initiate of Eurmal, the Trickster. She was trained to tattoo the dead to prepare them for their journey to the Underworld. She's not a combat monster but has some useful magic and very useful skills.

Combat in Runequest is brutal. Every character has total hit points (work with me here) and hit points in seven hit locations, head, chest, abdomen, and arms and legs. Taking damage to these areas not only lowers your total but has very real consequences. For example, Narres has 14 total hit points, and location hit points:

Head: 5
Chest: 6
Abdomen: 5
R/L Arms: 4 each
R/L Legs: 5 each

Narres does not wear armor. So if a Red Earth pirate hits her right arm with a broadsword doing 8 points of damage, not only does that come off her total, having taken twice the locations total, she falls incapacitated. One hit. But it gets worse! Runequest has what are called "spacial" results if your to-hit roll is 20% of what was required. So if your weapon skill is 80%, a 16 or below is a special hit. This can get nasty, as damage is doubled and all sorts of fun can ensue. For example, if you thrust your spear at a Dark Troll, get a special success, and score enough damage to get past his armor, your spear is stuck in the troll.

RQ demands tactical thinking, using ranged weapons and magic first, and always having the option to run away. There are also rules for the shield wall (something I've never seen in another TTRPG) and challenging leaders to single combat.

So there you have it. Why I'm done with class & level systems and whitling down hit points.

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Faster than light shipping! Or close to it.

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 02:56:17 GMT

One funny thing today. A few weeks ago I bought the Cepheus Engine PDF from Drive-Thru RPG. I'd heard good things about the game system as a Classic Traveller reimagining and wanted to read more.

Well, I was very impressed. so much so, that I decided to splurge for the POD softcover. I just read better with a physical book. When I made the order, I got all sorts of warnings that due to high volume, shipping delays, and Vargr corsairs, I should expect at *least* an additional 6-8 weeks on top of the Usual 2-3 weeks for printing and cheap-ass shipping.

I made that order on November 21st. This morning, as I left for work at 0700, there was a box sitting in front of the door. I didn't have time to look at it, but when I got home after my first shift, I opened it up.

Cepheus Deluxe. Ten days after I ordered it.

I guess it misjumped.

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Beauty and truth in a portrait of exhaustion.

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 01:09:40 GMT

I've been seeing a lot of ads for people who do character portraits, and they are awesome. But there's a problem. They're all so clean and heroic.

If I got a portrait done of one of my characters, and I usually play fighter-types, he'd be tired. His armor would be patched, his sword stained, and his hair and beard would be kind of scraggly. He'd be sitting on a wall or rock leaning on his worse-for-wear shield. The look on his face would say "Fuck your 'long rest' wizard girl, I'm taking a few days. Or not. *sigh* Mount up, that lich ain't going away without help."

Because I was an infantryman. This is how warriors look.

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Building better characters by setting goals.

Sat, 02 Oct 2021 01:22:18 GMT

Way back in 1995 when I was first diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma I was given some great advice by one of the nurses on the oncology ward. I needed to set two goals, one short-term to get me through treatment, and one long-term for the usually rough years of post-treatment recovery. I chose the release of The Regency Sourcebook for Traveller: The New Era for the short-haul, and living to see the year 2000 for the long-term goal. It was surprisingly effective as a motivator to make it through the next chemo session or when dealing with the inevitable illnesses that cancer survivors deal with.

When you are creating a character for a TTRPG, consider using the same concept. What does your character have right in front of them to accomplish? Where do they want to be in five or ten years? Setting these goals, while working with the game master, can help you both define who your character is, why they aren't at home raising turnips for the local lord, and what steps they need to take to get to the end of their personal long game.

Short-term goals need to be things that can happen with acceptable effort and time expenditures. Slaying Tormudeos the Eternal, an ancient red dragon, is not a short-term goal! But learning where a manuscript that might lead to the location of Tyrhung, a legendary dragon-slaying sword that is Tormudeos' bane weapon is a short-term affair. The quest to track down the sword might end up requiring more than one goal to be defined.

Of course, the short-term goals don't have to have anything to do with the character's eventual goal. My wanting a Traveller book was utterly disconnected from seeing the novelty of the year 2000. But do plan to have at least some of the goals further your life's work.

To use a classic example, Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride had a clear long-term goal: hunt down the six-fingered man who killed his father and gain revenge. We learn he has been pursuing this goal for twenty years. In the book and movie, his short-term goals change as events unfold. First, his goal is to help Vizzini kidnap the Princess. Then he changes to assisting the Man in Black. Which leads to his fulfilling the long-term goal in what is one of my top five sword fights in movie history.

This brings up my last point. Goals need to be reached. If your character's long-term ambition is to overthrow your evil uncle and reclaim your rightful place as an Ealdorman, you and the game master need to work to make that happen. Achieving long-term goals make it easier to retire a character to NPC status, or if the players are into it, changing the nature of the campaign. Sure, you're sitting in the Ealdorman's fine hall and Tormudeos the Eternal's skull hangs over your hearth, but now you have rivals, orcs are raiding, your cleric friend is dealing with church politics, and your weird wizard buddy has stated that some nearby caves are not quite right.

Time for some new goals!

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Roll less, Play more.

Sun, 19 Sep 2021 00:28:20 GMT

Several years ago I came out as a reformed gearhead. I put aside detailed TTRPG design systems that designed vehicles down to the last bolt, planets down to the fifth decimal place, and weapons in excruciating detail. Because I realized that almost nobody cared.

Things in games should be useful and can be covered in pretty general terms most of the time. "The grav truck can hit 500kph and cannot normally make orbit," "Frelbog's gravity is a bit heavy, and the air is breathable, but soup-like with humidity" or "It's a blaster. It can reach out to 60 meters and does x dice of damage."

I've now gone that route with my taste in rules systems. As the great Ernie Harwell said: "The game's the thing. That's why people tune in. They don't tune in to hear an announcer." Nor do players come to a game to explore the rules. They come to game. So I've been drawing back from rules-heavy games like D&D5e in favor of games like Savage Worlds Adventure Edition or FATE.

What I'm looking for is faster, innovative gameplay that puts the player in control, and encourages more than "I swing my longsword at the orc" in combat. A game that gives players agency in what happens next. Also, something flexible, so we can go from playing Elvish Pirates of the Carbibean campaign to Space Truckers! without having to relearn systems.

For this, I think Savage Worlds Adventure Edition is my best shot. An easy to learn character generation system with plenty of options, I love the characteristics being die types (you have a d8 in Smarts and a d6 in Vigor, for example,) and the use of a deck of playing cards for initiative and other things is quite innovative, as it's not just the card you draw, but the suite affects what happens that round. Combat is fast and action-packed.

One thing I am totally stealing from FATE is Aspects for places, things, and anything else. In short, these are short descriptive items that highlight some way the environment can be used, for good or ill, by both the GM and the players. As an example, the lost temple of Yu-Kargzant can be described like this:

The temple is being reclaimed by the jungle. Thick vines cling to the walls and hang from holes in the broken roof. On a dais in the center of the circular room, a large golden statue of a horse with a fiery mane stands. Parts of the walls and roof have collapsed, creating irregular piles of rubble.

Everything in bold is an aspect and can be used by a player. You can do the same with NPC tavern keepers or starship captains. A few short sentences that give him or her a few aspects to play with. It's a very useful system and a great shortcut for the GM.

Luckily for me, one of my Kickstarter backings was a port of Pathfinder to Savage Worlds Adventure Edition, and I should be getting those rewards soon. It's going to be a big box.

Gaming soon, I hope.

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There is one thing you will never find in any more my games.

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 17:57:21 GMT

Random encounters. Dear Halford, how I loathe random encounters. Shall I go on about this?

Thank you!

To me, one of the goals of any TTRPG is to create a narrative storyline, a plot that has highs and lows, thrilling moments, and times of quiet reflection. This is accomplished by designing adventures in separate scenes that define a few things: why are the characters here, what happens that starts the events of the scene, and possible outcomes.

A scene can be anything from meeting with a border king to negotiate to clearing an orcish camp. But the Gamemaster needs to know what is coming. To keep the flow of the game going, the GM needs to know the layout of the king's hall and who is there, as well as the possible outcomes based on player actions and die rolls. The same goes for the encounter with the orcs. Each scene should have three scripted outcomes: Player success, Neutral, or Player Failure, with further scenes written to handle these possibilities.

And yes, the players will find a way to wander wildly off track, but that's why DMs get to decide what's on the pizza.

But random encounters just seem to stop the game cold. first of all, there's all the rolling on charts, then looking up stats, then setting things up. . . it's a colossal waste of good gaming time, especially for meaningless combats!

If the group is traveling from Point A to Point B, plan a few encounters. If they're on a well-traveled trade road, there might be a patrol from the local lord (who will be most interested in a heavily-armed group in his territory,) or a merchant caravan that will share news and barter for supplies around the campfire. You might meet religious pilgrims who will ask for an escort to the next monastery where they can seek shelter. If the party is coming close to a hobgoblin camp, it would make sense to have them encounter goblin patrols, or villagers fleeing the monsters begging for help.

But plan it out! Know the name of the merchant in charge of the caravan, and give him three features (balding, laughs everytime he speaks, wears an obviously magical amulet). Have the stats for the goblin patrol at hand ready to use. The villagers might need someone rescued, so have that adventure ready.

Keep your game moving. Don't let the dice dictate the events. Reject random encounters and all their works!

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Finders, Incorporated. A potential Traveller campaign.

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 21:16:00 GMT

I've got the itch again. I want to run a game for a local group. I'm ready to go back to Traveller. Specifically, Mongoose Traveller v2. And the campaign I want to run is my old Finders, Incorporated campaign.

The premise is simple enough. Space is huge, and things and people get lost. Finders, Inc. locates those items and returns them to the client, or at least issues a complete report on why the target could not be recovered. Recovery operations fall into a few categories:

Skip Tracing Starships are massively expensive and meeting the mounting costs of loan payments and maintenance fees, plus fuel costs, crew salaries, etc., are sometimes more than the owner can handle. So they bugger off, changing transponders, forging ship papers, and trying to put as much distance between them and the bank as they can.

Skip tracing brings in the biggest bounties, as recovery is usually measured in a portion of the ship's value. Of course, shipowners that have skipped out on their payments are not going to hand over the keys when asked politely. Getting a ship back requires planning, guile, and in the end, violence most of the time.

Bounty Hunting This isn't just tracking down fugitives from justice but tracking down anyone who has fled their usual situation. The heir to a planetary throne who ran off with the servant she fell in love with; the archeologist who went missing in the Trojan Reach and his family and university has posted a reward; a megacorp executive who has fled is suspected of trying to defect to a rival. . . all are fair game along with the usual criminals on the run.

Of course, laws differ from world to world, so getting your target back on the ship might be an adventure in itself! Again, Skill trumps violence in this case, for the most part. It's Traveller, the guns will come out at some point.

Objects of Art or Historical Value Things get stolen, lost, or misrouted all the time.Tracking down a minor Imperial Count's heirloom chair can be quite rewarding. Recovering a lost masterpiece by one of the Vegan (the race, not the dietary option) master sculptors? Priceless. Finders might also be sent to search for obscure legal papers, family genbn=anks, or anything under the 11,000 suns of the Third Imperium.

Each of these adventures will be a bit different. Recovering a stolen art piece from a crimelord's mansion will be different from getting access to the centuries-old archives of Strouden's family records. As a GM, I could've fun putting a rare bottle of Terran wine at the center of a firefight.

Debt Collection The reality of interstellar commerce means that debtors can avoid judgments from courts on different planets. The Imperium steps in these cases and will issue writs ordering the payment of the debt or seizure of assets to be auctioned off. Finders, Inc., is one of the companies bonded by the Imperium to carry out these writs.

If you want to know how much fun this can be, look up Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away on YouTube.

"Special" Missions Sometimes, Finders get handed a mission so sensitive they don't even know what they are after. These usually come from the heights of power, A Count-Elector, the Imperial Navy, or a Megacorporation Regional Vice-President; and usually come with an NPC who oversees the mission. These can be quite nasty and even be used for deniable black ops. In which case, the Finders crew better realize that dead sophonts can't spill the beans and guard their collective lives.

The campaign would be episodic, so there would be downtime between assignments rather than continuous "what are you doing this week?" push. Four Player-characters would be optimal, with a mix of investigators, starship skills, and combat abilities.

I'd be looking to play every 2-4 weeks, based on everyone's schedule.

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Du willst Jade? Wir haben Jade!

Sun, 16 May 2021 21:40:11 GMT

The Giants won today, and so did I! Playing CivVI on King Difficulty on a Huge map as Germany. Won a Cultural Victory in 1958, which was an achievement, as Sweden was also in the game, and Kristina usually mops up on culture. I was playing with the Corporations, Secret Societies, and the Barbarian Alternate settings.

Only fought a few border wars with the Ottomans and the Netherlands. I kept my Army large and up to date to discourage adventurism. At the time of my win, I was halfway to landing on Mars. Good game.

But I'm amused by the fact that what put me over the edge was a performance by the band Renaissance Genius. "Oh, sure, Germany has great museums, national parks, and wonders right and left, but dude. . . did you see that show?"

Speaking of accomplishments, I picked up a new one. Germany controlled the world's jade supply.

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There and back. . . no, wait! Let's go there next!

Tue, 11 May 2021 21:22:36 GMT

One of the toughest questions in assembling a TTRPG group has to be "why are you all working together?" The usual random assortment of races (some of which hate each other,) classes and goals can make it hard to understand why this team doesn't just split the spoils and got their own way after the first big score.

I'm going to discuss one of my favorite methods, and I was inspired to do this after being reminded of the story of ibn Battuta, a 14th-century scholar and lawyer from Tangiers who set out to spend a year or two doing the Hajj and came home 26 years later having seen much of the world. You can see an amusing take on his adventures in these videos. The idea of the traveler in distant lands isn't a new one, we do have Marco Polo and Pánfilo de Narváez as excellent examples of this sort of adventure.

But it rarely shows up in TTRPGs for some reason. This is a shame because you can have so much fun and take the player-characters to new lands where new and interesting things will try to eat them! Or enslave them or get them involved in a plot to overthrow the evil snake people. . . you get my drift.

I'll admit that his sort of game does require a bit more world-building than mapping out yet another dungeon, but there are so many good, detailed settings, not to mention the real world, that the diligent GM just needs to fill in the blanks on the map. Pick a starting point, pick the initial endpoint, and add in a few side trips and you're off!

As an example, using the real world, let's say one player, a low-level cleric in Aachen, is charged with carrying a case of letters from the Archbishop to a church synod happening in Constantinople. This is when Session Zero becomes very important. We need to add each character to this group and give them a reason to join the trek all the way to the end. A fighter might be attached to the Archbishop's guard and be sent as protection. A ranger might be hired to scout the way. An arcane magic use might be friends or related to one of the established characters, you see how this is going.

The best part is you can use these character motivations to establish side trips along the way. The Wizard might offer her services in exchange for a side trip to Prague, City of Mages, so she can call on her order's home and make a report. Which becomes an adventure in itself! You can do this for each character, which gives each of their players starring roles as you go along.

What happens when the party finally reaches Constantinople and delivers the goods? Well, after some adventures in the Queen of Cities where they foil a plot to kill everyone at the synod, they might learn that the Princes of Rajputana are offering money, titles, and land to anyone who comes to help them finally end the threat of the Rakshasa Lords.

Of course, once they accomplish that, they'll be shown an opportunity to travel even further in pursuit of a greater goal, and so on.

Running this game almost cries out for a flow chart, as you can use it to track not only each stage of each journey but also those lovely side trips that are going to be half the fun. Using a flowchart lets you plan for how to move the party back on track, and how to maneuver them into places you need them to be without railroading them. If the next major waypoint is the City of Screaming Statues, does it matter if they walk in, arrive in a stolen pirate ship, or emerge from a cave after sacking the Derrow stronghold?

You can also build in something that is very important: stumbling blocks. All three of the great voyagers I mentioned gained and lost as they traveled. That needs to happen to the party. They are shipwrecked, and all their armor and ger except for a few precious items are lost. The Mad ilKhan imprisons them, and they escape with nothing but the clothes on their backs and few spears. Steal their money, steal their goodies, and leave them to figure out a way to climb back on top again.

Also plan for the players to pause for a time, especially if they get good jobs. The DMG has good rules for this, but wintering in a fortified inn, or waiting out a religious festival are other reasons to slow them down if need. Illness, war, and insurrection are always good, especially if they trigger an uprising against foreigners (guess who our characters are in this instance?)

Finally, one great strength of this type of game, is it allows players and characters to come and go with relative ease to the ongoing story. If Mike is tired of playing his Rogue, that character announcing he's from the city they are in and retires. Easy enough to introduce a new character in the next stop on the itinerary.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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Setting Goals Is A Good Thing.

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 02:32:38 GMT

I don't like the word resolutions. In conjunction with the new year, that word has become laden with a heavy sense of obligation. I prefer goals, things to aspire to, and reach. So, here are my goals for 2021:

Write. I have an unfinished novel, a great idea for turning the Bay Area into a Cyberpunk setting, and a thousand other concepts flying around my head. Buckle down and write. Which leads into. . .

Study the Craft. Having books on writing do you no good if you don't read them, study them, and do the exercises. The same goes for my copy of Scrivener and Scrivener For Dummies. If I really want to improve my writing and my use of that great writing tool, put in the grunt work!

Exercise! I have been terrible about even trying to make my daily step count, and I'm angry that the bike we bought for me has barely been touched. I also have the TRX band and the push-up paddles. Devote time each day to doing some form of exercise. It's not only good for my general health, it improves how well I digest things. Which brings us to. . .

Eat Better. A Little. Look, I'm never going to be bellying up to the salad bar, but I can try to improve my diet. Even little things like reducing my reliance on microwaved chimichangas in favor of fresher food will help. Eating three meals a day is also a goal.

Work On Getting New Dentures. This is a biggie, but I'm not getting some coverage under kshandra's new insurance, so I might be able to get the work done so I have teeth that work. Be warned, we may run a Go Fund Me campaign to cover the costs. Being able to chew properly will be a boon to my health.

Talk Less, Smile More. To quote Hamilton. I get drawn into too many pointless online arguments. It wastes my time and causes stress.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame. . . Try to make six ballgames this year. San Franciso or San Jose, either flavor of Giants is good for me. The schedule will be posted, all are welcome to watch me get tortured.

Run A Game! Face to face or online, I need to shake off my Gamemaster dust and run a game. I'd love to run a game of Bulldogs! which is a really fun FATE-based space opera game. Finally. . .

Breathe. Take Time To Be Mindful. I need to spend more time centering myself. Using the skills I learned in therapy to relax and refocus.

I haven't mentioned Burning Man as that is out of my control. If we're on for this year, we'll go. If not, we'll plan for the next year.

Happy 2021, y'all!

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Radiance Bath! Wait, wrong game. . .

Sun, 22 Nov 2020 22:58:44 GMT

The latest DLC for Civilization VI dropped last week. We got as a new Civilization, Babylon, under the benevolent rule of Hammurabi. Just finished my first game with him, Diplomacy Win in 1974. Large map, Prince difficulty.

Each civilization and leaders have different strengths and weaknesses. For Babylon, it all comes down to Eurkas. As you research new technologies, or just play the game, certain actions or events will give you a boost to specific technologies. Kill a unit with a slinger, get a boost to Archery. Settle on a coast tile, gain insights on Sailing, and so forth. Such boosts can influence your decisions on research and planning. For example, if you find iron in your borders, building a mine on it not only starts your stockpile of iron but gives a Eureka for Iron Working.

Hammurabi changes that. Now, gaining a Eureka grants the technology. Which leads to some spectacular leaps up the technology tree. The problem is effectively making use of these new discoveries. But this comes at a price, as the usual Science generated by your civilization is cut by half, giving you longer research times. It makes for a nice balance.

I found that strategically building Campuses for maximum science output, building every wonder that increased science, and taking policy cards that increased science helped balance the 50% cut. But when playing Babylon, getting Great Scientists is your goal. Each of them gives 2-3 Eurekas when activated. So building Holy Sites just to harvest Faith for buying scientists out from other leaders is a strong plan. Also, build a strong economy.

One very nice new feature, the game scoring system now recognizes that playing peacefully is worth rewarding. My only war came when Trajan declared war on me due to an Alliance. But he was on another continent and my Missile Crusier made short work of his frigates.

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One article, two game ideas!

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 19:50:52 GMT

This Gothic castle wasn't near water, wasn’t strategically important, and had no one living in it. So why was it built? According to legend, the answer was the only other logical option: to trap demons.

For Ars Magica, move the construction back to the 10th century and you have a tailor-made abandoned House Tytalus Covenant. Everyone says the portal was sealed, and that the old Covenant should be revitalized. . . but are they right?

For more rational FRPGs, the portal isn't to Hell, but an unusually large and shallow entrance to the Underdark. The fort was abandoned after decades of inactivity, but now it appears that something has taken over the old keep and is growing in power.

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"Don't meddle in the affairs of Wizards" also applies to Netrunners.

Tue, 18 Aug 2020 19:22:44 GMT

I just added Cyberpunk 2077 to my Amazon wishlist and it got me to thinking about the great times I had playing Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun. Great games, the both of them.

But there was always one thing that bogged down the sessions. The Netrunner. Yeah, early-80s conceptions of what netspace was going to look like aside, the game bogged down when one player need the full attention of the Gamemaster to deeply attack programs and fight deadly ICE programs. While the rest of us sat around wishing Wizards of the Coast would hurry and invent Magic: the Gathering so we'd have something to do during those sessions.

If I were ever to run a cyberpunk game again, and it's not out of the question, here's what I'd do. Netrunners are wizards. They are holed up in a safe space with all their gear and a phalanx of guards and security around them. They are otaku, focused entirely on pushing the net to its limits and fighting anyone, corporation, or government, who tries to keep secrets. Money isn't a concern to them, they crave more and better access to the global network. They are mysterious, powerful, and you street scum don't get to see the electric Sheep, you talk to a fixer who tells you if the Sheep is in the mood to help you. Of course, you'll owe him a favor. . .

Of course, there are street hackers. These are the young and desperate, hauling cobbled-together attack decks and scrounging for every break they can find. But even they hole up when its time for the action to start. Helping a street netrunner get into the lower ranks of the true 'runner community can give the team a useful contact and patron. Doing work for an established Netrunner might draw them into a web of obligations. And when two established netrunners go to war, their organizations do too.

I think this adds an interesting faction to a cyberpunk setting while removing a game-stopping mechanic. The GM decides if the runner succeeds or fails based on story needs.

So, what do y'all think? Have I reinvented the wheel, again?

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Im going to need more shelf space

Sat, 15 Aug 2020 04:20:09 GMT

Hârn is encyclopedic in nature. Different details are released at different times, so you might have a binder labeled “Kaldor” for all articles related to the Kingdom of Kaldor.

The deluxe edition I received today is pre-punched for a standard three-ring binder. To help improve the life of my books I picked up a few packages of those strengthenes you put around punched holes.

I’m going to need more protecters, subject dividers, and probably a few more binders. This is a mountain of information, hail Save K’nor, lord or wisdom and master of all that can be known.

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Bulldogs! In! Space!

Sun, 19 Jul 2020 22:16:28 GMT

C’mon in! Sit down! This will just take a few minutes. First of all, I’m supposed to welcome you to the TransGalaxy family. So welcome. I hate that part, after all, you’ve already signed the contract, right? I mean, the recruiter made sure you did that first thing before sending you to me, right?. You’d be amazed at how many potentials walk in here without a signed contract. Anyway, you signed, you’re part of the family. For five years, with an option to extend. Wish my marriages worked like that!

That’s a joke, son. Relax! Let me pull up your file and get you set up with a ship. Hmm. . . Kid, none of my business, and we’re happy to help folks start over, but ‘John Smith’ is hardly a good fake name to go by and. . .

Really? John Smith III is your real name? Hell, you want something better? I can set you up easy enough, I know some people. . . hey, no need to get touchy, just offering! I’m so used to new hires getting creative with their names. You caught me by surprise there. Almost refreshing not to be speaking with another “Jason Starkiller” or “Nebula Jones.”

So what do we have? Hm. Eight years in the Colonial Legion as an Assaultman qualified on this weapons system and that instrument of destruction. . . son, you are aware we’re a shipping line, right? On-board ship security? We usually use ex-Federation security goons for those roles. Frankly, you’re more “seek and destroy” than “protect and serve,” know what I mean?

Hey, no need to look down, my boy! Know why I fly the Assignments desk? Because I have an eye for talent, for putting the right people in the right job. And you, you fine young fellow, you, are going to be a hit as a Delta Bulldog.

You don’t have a clue what I just said. OK, here’s how it breaks down: TransGalaxy is the biggest name in interstellar transport. We serve over a thousand inhabited star systems belonging to seven intelligent species besides humans, along with sanctioned contacts with the occasional intelligent machine cluster. Shipping is broken down into four basic classes.

Alpha is the top of the line, the big luxury passenger cruisers and high-end bulk transports. Those are the ones you see in the ads. Top of line everything. Crew standards are insanely high. These ships go only to systems that meet the 3S standard: settled, stable, and safe. Ever see that old series Action Aboard!? Shot on the ISCV King Richard, one of our Alpha liners. Yeah, that was a real ship.

Then you have your Beta ships. Almost as good as the Alphas, but smaller and working the areas that are still mostly safe with less-critical cargoes and passengers not needing the red carpet treatment. Crewmen on a Beta are busting their asses to get good enough evaluations to move up to Alphas. Still a good slot.

Up next are the Gammas. Gammas do the less profitable regular runs to colony worlds that are close to the fringe. Gammas also do hazardous jobs like refinery tows and the like. Work hard in the Gammas and you can go places! I myself spent almost 12 years pushing a Gamma along the edges of Stork space. Yeah, that’s where I got the artificial arms and eye.

Now you’ve been slumping down in the chair as I’ve told you this and you’re thinking “what the hell does being a Delta mean?” I’ll be honest. It’s not all glory and big tips like an Alpha, but that five-year hitch will fly by because as a Bulldog, you’ll be right on the edges of known space, going to places most people have never heard of! Yes, it’s dangerous, but with great risk comes great rewards! Company bonuses aside, the, um, high rate of turnover in most crews means you could quickly find yourself captain of your own ship! Stop laughing. What was that?

Fine. Deltas tend to die a lot. Happier now? But I’m not lying about the opportunities! Now, let’s see who needs a warm body. . . Ah! The Driver Carries No Cash just docked and needs, well, a new crew. Mostly.

Mr. Smith! Pleasing stop shouting, you’ll disturb my coworkers! You signed a contract, sir, and TransGalaxy will enforce all the terms of it to the letter! I can assure you that the ship’s artificial intelligence was purged after the incident you are referring to, and we’ve had no trouble since then. What happened this time? Let me see here. Huh, that’s a new one. Cargo escaped and ate most of the crew. Odd, since it was hauling mineral samples. But you see why this is the job for you, right? Had you been there, your combat skills would have come in handy, yes? We call these ships and their crews Bulldogs because they might be ugly, but they never give up! Docking Bay C-54, Bulldog Smith, your captain is waiting for you. Good luck! Our security team will help you find your way and see you safely aboard.

Oh, on your way out, could you send the next prospect in? It’s a busy day.

Bulldogs is a space opera game of blasters and swashbuckling, as the crew of a tramp freighter tries to make a credit her and there working on the bottom of the food chain. TransGalaxy isn't picky about the crews they hire for their Deltas, so long as you have a pulse (or functioning power plant, or ichor ducts, or whatever) and are not actively being chased by the cops when you sign up, TG will take you. Because odds are you'll be dead before they pay out the end of contract bonus.

Obviously, this will be a game with a humorous bent. Think Quark, Red Dwarf, Buck Godot. We will be using the FATE-derived system, which I will share on request. You'll need to be able to log in with a sound device, and a camera would be nice. I may ask for donations to my account to help me buy the cool things to make the Roll20 experience better.

I plan on having a session twice a month, 3-5 hours. Days and times are open for negotiation. We will need to meet for a character creation session as it's a cooperative thing in FATE. Looking for 4-5 players, and I'm pretty sure one slot is already filled (Hi Logic!) Hopefully we'll get this rolling in September or October.

Questions? Answers? I'd like to keep them in one place, so no matter where you read this if you could leave a comment on my Dreamwidth that'd be great. I do allow anonymous commenting, just sign your posts.

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This has been a long time coming.

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 22:02:55 GMT

Dungeons & Dragons Removes Concept of Inherently Evil Races From the Game

Excellent news! To be honest, alignment is such a tired game mechanic I'm hoping to see it quietly sent to a farm in the country where it can play with THAC0 and all the other retired game concepts.

Because races and people don't fit into nice little boxes, and sometimes the truth is defined by the perspective of the person involved. To use an extreme example, the Nazis believed they were right. They believed they were saving Germany. They believed that they were beset by enemies who must be destroyed. They were utterly wrong, and while the world rightly judged them as evil, at the time of the Third Reich the Germans saw themselves as good.

History is filled with examples like this. Shit, American Manifest Destiny, our God-given mandate to occupy North America with good (white) Protestants was held up as the highest pinnacle of our national dream. The fact that in required slavery, genocide, and beating up on Mexico gets swept under the carpet. We are America! We are now, and always have been, the Good Guys!

Bullshit.

But what of our nice, clean fantasy worlds? Can they survive losing these black and white categorizations of morality? Of course they can. I own half a dozen games that do high fantasy just fine without it. And you don't need good and evil to explain hated, bias, or competition over resources. You just need better storytelling.

Even before I owned Volo's Guide to Monsters, which does an amazing job on Orcs, I had my own explanation for why they were so aggressive and greedy. Male orcs outnumber females 3:1. Breeding rights are earned through prowess in battle and bringing shiny treasures back to the tribe. Warbands are out to prove themselves and earn status. Orcs also reproduce fast, so every few generations, either a massive inter-tribal war breaks out, or a mass migration begins. Neither is good news for nearby communities.

Of course, orc bands can be bribed. Just like the Romans paid off migrating barbarian states, local leaders can make peace with the orcs, pay them to direct their energies elsewhere, even hire them as mercenaries. The point is, they are no longer just monsters, but a people with motivations that go beyond being adventure chow. The orc guarding a chest in a 10x10 room is there because that's his offering at the tribe moot! Of course, he's going to defend it!

There are exceptions, things tied to evil deities or creatures from afoul planes will be evil. Gnolls, as an example, are tied to the Demon Lord Yeenoughu and share his endless hunger. A Holy Avenger will only agree to be wielded by a worth champion. But those cases can be adjudicated as needed.

So here's to the end of racial alignments!

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In which I get all pulpy.

Sun, 19 Apr 2020 21:11:34 GMT

I'd love to either run or play in an RPG campaign that starts with a shipwreck. The characters have whatever the can salvage and have no idea where they are.

The nice thing about this is the campaign push and pull are really clear from the start. Find a way back home, and survive. You can throw in all the classic Lost World tropes. Dinosaurs (ridden by lizardmen, natch,) lost cities from fallen empires, noble savages (mortal enemies of the lizardmen, of course) Sorceror Kings, and a slowly advancing menace that must be stopped!

And volcanoes. Gotta have volcanoes. Where else is the female PC going to be threatened with a sacrifice to the local gods?

This would probably work best with a smaller group and a low level of magic. Too much magic makes escaping easy. Of course, I could always have made the storm a magical one, and the Lost World is in the Bermuda Triangle or whatever.

This would be perfect for Savage Worlds; if I could just get anyone to play it!

Plenty of inspiration, of course. Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" and all its adaptations, "Lost," "Land of the Lost," and the entire run of DC's Warlord. Hey, the Hollow Earth is always good for this!

So, a game set in the early 30s or roaring twenties, a crew of strong-jawed stereotypes, a Lost World, and an evil sorcerer-king to overthrow.

A great Golden Age SF/F pulp adventure!

So, what era stereotypes need to be in the game?

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Et mortuus est imperator: vivat imperio!

Mon, 13 Apr 2020 23:14:34 GMT

Well, that's a nice boost to my day. I follow the RPG Bundle of Holding announcements because they usually have interesting offers.

Today, they had two Traveller-related bundles, one for MegaTraveller and one for Traveller: The New Era. Vastly preferring MT, I paid $23 for the following:

- The Core Rulebooks
- Errata
- 2 maps of the Spinward Marches, pre- and mid-war
- A map of the Antares Sector
- Arrival Vengence
- Assignment: Vigilante
- Astrogator's Guide to Diaspora Sector
- COACC
- Hard Times
- Imperial Lines issues 1 & 2
- Knightfall
- MegaTraveller Journal issues 3 & 4
- Rebellion Sourcebook
- Referee's Companion

Notably absent, the legendarily bad Fighting Ships of the Shattered Imperium, or as we called it, Shattered Ships of the Fighting Imperium.

MegaTraveller was always my favorite, and at the time it was noted that Traveller had had ten years of playtesting, time to build a better game. The universal task system is so easy to use, combat is quick and deadly, and playing in a Hard Times campaign gives me what I always wanted out of Traveller: frontiers.

So I'm going to digest all this (insider pun for Traveller geeks there) and maybe set up something.

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Stay at home orders are borning, Ok?

Thu, 09 Apr 2020 17:24:06 GMT

Some RPG questions. . .

1. Never played: DC Heroes. I didn't like the system and wanted my own hero persona, not an established character.

2. A game I don't feel like playing: Traveller, oddly enough. Just not where my brain is right now.

3. Game multiple times: Traveller, Champions, D&D

4. Last game I played: D&D5E
4b. Last game I ran: Champions, and it's been a long time.

5. Everyone likes it and I don't: Starfinder. I just don't think class & level works for science-fiction gaming.

6. Favorite Game: Ars Magica Fifth Edition.

7. Least favorite: Twilight 2000 1st Edition. Great idea, but so damn clunky!

8. Last game I purchased: Mindjammer

9. I want to play: Feng Shui 2E.

10. When I die, bury me with: My author's copy of GURPS Traveller: Ground Forces and my good dice.

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A gaming question regarding Hero Games

Sat, 28 Mar 2020 22:11:30 GMT

I see they are now up to 6th Edition. To run Champions, would I need the whole big-ass rulebook or just Champions Complete?

Because I'm feeling the need for some 4-color action!

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The time has come to tell some tales.

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 16:48:28 GMT

Since many of us are in lockdown, how about an RPG story thread? Tell us your most epic character moment.

Way back in 1984 I was playing in a RuneQuest campaign that had been going on for about 18 months. I was Gath, a Praxian Bison Rider and Storm Khan.

At least I had been a Storm Khan. I had offended the Storm Bull and had most of my powers stripped from me. I was questing to restore my standing in the eyes of my god.

The thing was, the time was fast approaching when I would be leaving for the Army. So the GM and I hatched a plan for an epic exit.

We were in the chaos-ridden wastes of Dorastor hunting for an artifact that might destroy the Crimson Bat. We found it but taking it awakened a powerful demon and a horde of foul chaos spawn.

Already damaged, we retreated from the ruins we were in, our only exit a narrow bridge over a chasm. As we reached the midpoint, Gath stopped. He told the others he quest ended here. He would stand and face the demons. Drawing his twin dragonbone swords, he bade the others flee and save Sartar.

Out of nowhere, clouds gathered and a mighty storm brewed up. Thunder crashed and the other characters felt the presence of the Storm Bull as it restored to Gath his standing as a Storm Khan. Battle was joined. The rest of the party fled. Gath held the bridge unto death.

Great way to end my part of the campaign. When I came home on leave, I learned that Gath's spirit had infused the swords, which were no powerful artifacts in their own right.

What's yours?

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Brummig der Sieben

Sat, 22 Feb 2020 17:53:22 GMT

Reposting this for the players in my D&D game.

The inn was a large one, as befitted a prosperous merchant town at the meeting point of two rivers and numerous roads. Inside the crowded common room, voices were raised in a dozen tongues, calling for beer, food, or just in celebration.

Watse had noticed the dwarf while singing an old ribald ballad from a tabletop. The dwarf sat alone at a table, scowling at the levity around him in between long pulls on his tankard. “There’s a story there,” Watse mused, “and tonight I’m going to learn it.” Taking some of the gold his audience had gifted him, he bought a small keg from the bent old woman tending the bar before carefully making his way through the jostling crowd to where the dwarf sat, still glaring.

“May I sit, my lord?” Dwarves were notoriously picky about status; best to err on the side of caution.
The dwarf grunted, saw the stout barrel Watse was carrying and shrugged. “Sit as you will, although I am no lord. You may call me Brummig der Sieben.”

Watse bowed as he sat, placing the keg and his cup on the table. “My pleasure, Brummig. I am Watse of Isinius, a teller of tales, singer of songs, and a fool of fools.”

Brummig rubbed his large nose. “Singing. I can’t stand singing anymore. Loathe it.”

This wasn’t going well, Watse thought as he poured himself an ale. Another tack was needed. “So, no singing for you. Fair enough. Might I ask what brings you to this place at this time?”

Brummig took a deep pull of his beer and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his red tunic. He stared for a moment at the fire roaring on the heath.

“Fine, Watse of Isinius, professional fool. You shall have my tale. I am on a quest. I seek my six lost clan brothers. Well, five brothers, and one who we adopted as a mascot. He made the others laugh. I have never been one for merriment.”

“A tragedy indeed, losing those close to you. May I ask what led to this sundering? Was it war? A plague?” Watse pulled a scrap of parchment and a bit of charcoal from his bag and started writing.

“War? Do you think a war would cause me to forget my oaths? Stupid humans, it is you who run at the sound of battle! No, it was our own stupidity that caused this pain.” Brummig drained his mug and Watse was quick to refill it.

“Two moon’s march east of here is my home, carved into the Black Rock Mountains. They were rich in gold and mithril, and my clan thrived and served the Underking faithfully. But our greed was unbound by caution. My brothers and I were sent to reopen a mine in the lands controlled by a woman, a sorceress of some power. The mine was rich in gems. . . diamonds as big as your fist! We were ordered to work in secrecy, hidden in a glen. The six of us prospered, then we made our first mistake. We allowed Blöd to join us.”

“Really?” Watse asked. “Who was Blöd? Another dwarf?”

“No, not a dwarf. We never figured out what he was, as he didn’t speak. Hairless, mute, but as I said he entertained my brothers and did passable work. But then came our biggest mistake. We let the girl in.”

Brummig gulped his beer like he was dying of thirst. After a belch that rattled the table, he continued.
“We should have killed her. That was my say on the matter. Our job was to work in secret. But I was shouted down. Arzt, our leader, said we needed to give her shelter. But she freely admitted to being on the run from the lady sorceress. She was her kin! Of course, the sorceress tracked her down! We return from work to find ourselves exposed, with some noble’s son rescuing the girl, and taking her to wife. They lived happily ever after, or so I’m told.”

“What of the sorceress?” asked Watse, sharpening his charcoal.

“Fell off a cliff. The others said she died, but I didn’t trust their judgment.”

“But I don’t understand. The girl was rescued, the sorceress defeated -- why were you and your brothers separated?”

“Because we failed, you fool! Not a tenday past the fall of the foul lady, and there are human soldiers at our mine, at our home, and the prince’s father laying claim to the entire area. We were marched back to our hearth hall in disgrace. The Underking cursed us and took our clan names from us. Blöd was so terrified, he ran from the halls before we could stop him. The rest of us were put under a spell that made us travel away from both the Black Rocks and each other for 20 years. That time has ended. I will find my brothers, and we shall regain our honor. That is my story, Watse of Isinius. Dwarves do not beg easily, but I beg you to spread it far and wide. I am done here.”

With that, he drained the last of his beer, pulled a ragged brown stocking cap over his grey hair, and left the hall. Watse watched him go in amazement before frantically writing the last few lines of the story. He picked up the now-empty keg and carried it back over to the crone tending the bar. She really was ancient, bent back and a horribly swollen eye.

“I see you spent all night talking to that sad little dwarf,” she cackled. “Get a good story out of him?”

“Oh, yes. . . the Tragic Tale of Brummig der Sieben and His Lost Brothers.” Watse was already thinking in titles.

“You do know that’s not his name, yes, dearie? His name was taken from him. Even so, no dwarf would tell a human his real name unless they were bound by oath. Oh, don’t look so surprised, I’ve been watching that one for a long time.”

“Then what was the name he gave me?” Watse spluttered.

“A quest name. Combination of the nickname he used with human folk and a reminder of his quest. Brummig der Sieben means ‘Grumpy of the Seven.’”

She reached under the bar and brought out a shiny red fruit.

“Apple?”

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This would be possible in Shadowrun, come to think of it.

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 19:53:24 GMT

There's a thing starting on Twitter calling for people to draw their D&D character wearing their player's current clothing.

I can't draw for shit, but I love the image of Tusker, my half-orc Paladin of Bane, wearing my crossing guard uniform with a stop sign tied to his glaive.

I imagine that Tusker would show little restraint in dealing with crosswalk blockers. . .

"Foul spawn of Honda! Bane has declared that the limit line is at the stop sign, which is behind you, and now you impede the path of those I've sworn to protect! Feel the wrath of the Tyrant!"

So, that's 1d10+4 slashing, plus 1d8 radiant, and I'm going to burn a spell slot for Improved Divine Smite, adding another 5d8. . .

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Game review: Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 01:51:42 GMT

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes by Wizards RPG Team

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If I needed one word to describe the sourcebooks coming out for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, that word would be "depth." Books like Volo's Guide to Monsters take D&D standards and make them people, with cultures, religions, and ways of life. But where Volo's focussed on tradition "monster" types, the Tome of Foes dives deep into the Elves, Dwarfs, Halflings, and Gnomes, as well as their darker counterparts like the Drow and Duergar. These chapters are a treasure for both Dungeon Masters and players looking to play one of these races with a deep history.

But the book pays attention to threats as well! The opening chapter concerns demons and devils, the unending Blood War fought between the two sides and the structure and politics of both the Nine Hells and the Abyss. Again, they become living places for high-level adventures to explore and the DM knowing the various needs of the Princes of Hell and the Lords of the Abyss, you might find your characters bargaining for souls or sneaking into a library that stretches on for eternity.

The Gith are also covered, both the eternally warring githyanki and the philosophical githzerai. These refugees from 1981's truely atrocious Fiend Folio are now two complete cultures, ready to be friends or foes.

The second half of the book is a comprehensive bestiary. The nice thing is all the creatures make sense in the context of the material presented earlier. So, if your party is raiding Hell, there are plenty of infernal critters and devils listed.

Really, really good resource for any DM and their players.

View all my reviews

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And thus, a campaign idea was born.

Sat, 04 Jan 2020 03:28:33 GMT

Having thoroughly read through Eberron twice now, A campaign idea is slowly gelling in my Jell-O brain.

The jungle region of Q'barra is experiencing a boom. Rich deposits of the magical dragonshards are being found, but the conditions and locals are both dangerous. Cyrian refugees, dispossessed wanders, and wanderers all gravitate to the port city of Newthrone, and then north to the dragonshard fields.

The campaign starts in Sharn, the City of Towers. A functionary from House Kundarak has a problem. A fellow member of the House was sent to oversee some promising mines but has gone silent, and what few reports are getting out are. . . disturbing.

The mission is not simple. The party will have to cross Khorvaire, find their way to Newthrone, find this rogue agent, and deal with him. This means plenty of side adventures and mini-quests.

Yes, it's Heart of Darkness (or Apocaolypse Now if you prefer) on a fantasy stage, but The long travel portion is a great way to introduce the setting and its lands, and it sets up the further campaign with House Kundarak as a patron. Who knows, it's easy enough to find a way for a "The End?" with the villain. Maybe he is swept away by a flash flood that forces everyone to scramble for survival, or triggers the collapse of his palace, seemingly dooming himself, but has the party leaves. . . was that his laughter? The wind? Having a recurring foe is a big part of the pulp feeling of the setting.

So, I'm going to need at least one dwarf with the Mark of Warding, maybe a Valenarian elf to act as a guide and go-between when they pass through the war-bands of the elves. . .

4-6 players. Probably be on roll20.net

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