Monday, December 9, 2019

A World of Our Imagination

The essay below was written as the final paper of a composition class at SFSU.


From Genesis to Revelation
A very brief history of Dungeons & Dragons


In 1974 Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson took Chainmail, a glorified boardgame for adult history aficionados and Tolkien fanatics, and turned it into Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), a game of storytelling and improvisation for imaginative people of all ages. This was a game like no other, in that it captured the free flowing spirit of campfire stories and theatrical improvisation, the rules being simply a tool to help players step into a land of shared make-believe. This was a world of pure imagination.



Original D&D (left, 1974) and Holmes Basic D&D (right, 1977)


This first edition of the game, nicknamed "Original" D&D, was followed by the "Holmes Basic" edition in 1977 and then by the "Moldvay Basic" edition in 1980. This latter edition made the game a definite success.



The Moldvay Basic Rulebook (1980)


In 2014, Dungeons & Dragons jumped into the mainstream with the launch of the Fifth Edition of the game, a huge commercial success. The print and page design quality of the books were unparalleled in the game's history, and the quality of the cover was no exception.



Fifth Edition Player's Handbook (2014)



Visual Aids for the Imagination

Dungeons and Dragons is, at heart, a game of make-believe in which players describe what is happening with words, and the players' imaginations complete the picture. I aim to compare the art of the Moldvay Basic edition cover from 1980, to the art of the 2014 edition cover. I argue that the old, simpler art style did more to stimulate the imagination than the modern, more visually dazzling style.




There is no artwork I know can compete with your imagination



"How do you Win this Game?"
How D&D works at the table

First of all, let us take a look at how a game of D&D actually works in practice. There is a "Dungeon Master" --a sort of Referee-- and a number of other Players --each playing a Character as in a play--, ranging from one to however many can fit around the living room table. The purpose of the game is to create a story. The Dungeon Master presents a situation to the players (e.g. there is a damsel in distress, or a treacherous schemer conspiring against the realm, or a bandit in the forest with a heart of gold), and the players attempt --in Character-- to unravel it. This is all done by talking about it and acting it out, and everybody at the table imagines what is happening as it is being told. Whenever a Character attempts to do something to advance the story, something momentous, where it could change the outcome if it fails or it succeeds, there is a dice roll to determine what happened. Then, the players at the table describe or act out the details of what has happened, and the story continues on.

D&D, then, is not a game with winners and losers, but something more like theatrical improvisation or telling a story around a campfire. There are rules for when a Character attempts something important or difficult, but there is also an element of total randomness. Nobody knows how the story is going to end until you come to a good stopping point (the heroes have triumphed, died in the attempt, fled in disgrace, or decided instead to join forces with the charming bandit of Sherwood Forest), and you collectively declare the story to be over -- at least for that weekend. The only way to lose at D&D, one could argue, is not to have fun. And the best way to have fun at it is to use your imagination.



Blank Pages vs Coloring Books
How style hints at the substance of play


Now that we're all on the same page, let's get back to those two covers. Though one should not judge a book by its cover, it still happens, and so companies seek to make covers attractive. This is especially important when one takes into account that the intended audience of these books spans an age range that starts at elementary school and continues into retirement. D&D lives and dies thanks to its Players and Dungeon Masters, and it has always been in the interests of the company to keep the players coming back for more. Because it is a game that relies on the imagination, it is a game that can potentially be replayed for the entirety of a person's life, with no two games being exactly the same.

The purpose of these covers, then, is to spark the imagination, because the books contain the rules, but the game itself is born in the minds of the players. The rules come complete in order to cover most possible situations, but the game is not complete until it is played.



Moldvay Basic (1980) and 5th Edition (2014)

On the surface, the 5th Edition cover is dazzling. There is good use of color and shadow and the composition leads the eyes to the center of the scene, where the single heroine faces impossible odds against the giant, whose body takes up almost the entire frame. There is another character on the bottom right, but he appears as a mere spectator to the heroine's clash, so much so that he is easily missed. The style is reminiscent of modern computer games and CGI-heavy movies.

The Moldvay Basic cover has not aged that well, as it is much more rudimentary by comparison, with little use of shadow or perspective, as well as less realistic lighting and color. The scene is framed as if viewed through a small window. A party of two adventurers face down a dragon together. The characters and their enemy almost appear to be on the same plane. The style brings to mind fantasy books for children or younger teenagers. It almost seems like the finest details and textures of the figures have been left deliberately unfinished.

These differences are related to the different contexts that these books were published in, but even taking this into consideration, I argue that the 5th Edition cover misses the original intent of the game. Let us first address those different conditions, however.




The Moldvay Basic cover only had other books, and two-dimensional animated movies, to compete with. There was, however, a clear attempt to use art to hook the potential gamer, as can be seen by the fact that the art encompasses about half the page, as opposed to what was happening on the cover of Original D&D (left).




Right: World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment's most successful videogame 


The 5th Edition cover was competing with modern computer games, movies chock full of CGI nearly indistinguishable from reality, and it was no longer the only game in town. By 2014, the concept of Tabletop Roleplaying Games had taken off, and D&D actually had competitors.


Yet, it is the style of the 1980 Moldvay Basic cover that better captures the spirit of the game. D&D is at its core a game that aims to transcend any art displayed in its rulebooks, since no amount of beautiful shading can compete with the imagination. As such, the more rudimentary style of the 1980 art illustrated that concept right from the cover: this is an unfinished template for the most incredible thing you, the readers, can imagine around the table. It is up to you to imagine the shining scales on the dragon and their reflection on the tip of the spear. You will make it come alive.

The 5th Edition cover, by comparison, presents a practically finished product. The heroine faces the giant in deadly combat and something momentous is about to happen. What could it be? Wait-- the text at the bottom reads "Everything a player needs to create heroic characters for the world's greatest roleplaying game." The fact that she is meant to win is a foregone conclusion. Instead of telling the reader this is a game that lets anything happen, it is telling us this is a game where you can do things like this. Insofar as this runs counter to the core of the game, I argue that this cover is actually less effective.

Moving forward, I will address two other points that further exemplify this argument: D&D as a social game, and D&D as a game with infinite replayability.


A Gaming Table to Rule them All
D&D: a social game






A Dungeon Master and her Players getting deeply into character


I was first introduced to D&D by my brother as a young teenager, but after a few games I put the hobby on the shelf until 2017. Since then, I have delved deeper, participating in dozens of games with neighbors, fellow San Franciscans, and through the magic of online conference calls, people from all over the globe. D&D is a game of constant interaction, both with the Dungeon Master and one's fellow Players. At its heart, and from the very beginning, it has been a group game.

This is, in my view, an incredibly positive aspect of the game, in that it promotes socializing and cooperating. It is by cooperation that the party of Characters can make off with the princess, the treasure or both, and it is also by cooperation that a gaming table creates a memorable experience for everyone to treasure forever. Dungeons and Dragons is an inclusive game, a factor that no doubt contributes to the fact that people of all sexes, sexual orientations, gender identities and different walks of life are drawn to the game. D&D has even been used in prisons to improve inmate morale, promote socialization and fight segregation, including within the California prison system.




Going back to the aforementioned covers, 5th Edition presents a lone heroine in mid-jump attacking the giant, while Moldvay Basic shows a group of two adventurers battling the dragon, their feet presumably square on the ground, shield held up and even a torch to battle the darkness. Tell me, reader, which of these covers most looks like an introduction to a social game portraying the journey from zero to hero, instead of the final result? You guessed it -- they had this stuff figured out in 1980.


A Neverending Story
The Old School Renaissance: how Old School D&D inspires creators to this day

One of the main reasons that Dungeons and Dragons has had so much appeal is that the game can be played an infinite number of times and it will never play exactly the same. This depends, however, on the Dungeon Master and Players' ability to use their imagination to introduce twists into the old tropes. This is an area in which the D&D player community has really shined, by writing, compiling and publishing swaths of original third-party content for the game. Some of this is featured in blog form --see the blogroll to the right of this post-- and some of it in books like the one at the bottom below, which --surprise, surprise-- pays homage to the art of an early edition.





Holmes Basic (1977) and Blueholme (2017)


And so it came to pass that...
Until we meet again, adventurer

A game that empowers its players as much as D&D would likely fail to impress a marketing department were it not for the numbers that prove it can be a success. After all, when a table creates its own world, its own content, and its own spin on the fantasy tropes, Wizards of the Coast, the current owner of the D&D brand, does not make a single extra dollar. But once a mind has tasted the fruit of its own imagination, it will keep coming back, and it will gladly pay for a book that serves as an inspiring springboard to another story not yet written, to a world not yet created, a world that will only get its finishing touches at the table -- at least until the following session. Wizards of the Coast has a golden dragon on its hands, and if they only look to past editions, that golden dragon will keep laying golden eggs.





About the author




Ignacio Fernández Ivern is a student of Linguistics from the University of Buenos Aires currently continuing his studies at San Francisco State University with the end goal of an MA in Linguistics. He has made a living tutoring, teaching, interpreting and translating since 2008. He is the co-author of three Tabletop Role Playing Game books of future publication. His free time is spent playing Tabletop RPGs with his friends, or smiling at his very patient wife.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Character Portraits Past and Present





Hida Tomoteru of the great Crab Clan, trained as a Hiruma scout (on assignment)












Winston Hardwick III, perennial university student (dec.)
















Richard Bock, faithful follower of the Charles Atlas method

















Tim Stephen Hawkins, Canadian-born stuntman (dec.)















Baron Eric James Pelsmaekers von Marineris, starship officer














Eacnung, conjurer and matchmaker (dec.)













Richard "Rookie" Everett, singer-songwriter (miss.)


















Sato Kichiyo of the "great" Sato family (rich)
















Api, trickster













Gibuld Gensericason, healer and sorcerer












Robert Fletcher, city-born villain and retainer to the Duke of York















Andrós, warrior and lover
















Jan van der Velde from Antwerp, killer of Spaniards, who used to fuck horses

















Torgall, Yiddish-speaking dwarf, who stood almost eye to eye with Strahd von Zarovich at the young age of 156 (ret.)













John, nine-fingered magic user, who could speak to plants


















Akhalpúkh, foreign to Jakálla, priest of Keténgku, perfumer and scribe (dec.)














Óklyo, aridáni magic user, who walked into the City of the Dead and walked out in one piece

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Nippur Sunnan campaign: a walk down exodus lane




Herewith a recap of Nippur Sunnan for my players before we resume the campaign.







The lay of the Southern Lands

You are in Akkad, capital of the region of the same name. Other cities in the region:
Merielem (East) - the party has been here.
Kuth (Southwest)
Esh-Nunna (North)
Sippar (Northwest)
Mari (West)

To the North lies the region of Assur. Known cities there:
Ashur
Nineveh

North of that is Mittani and then the fabled unknown. You have heard some rumors.

Far West of Akkad is strange Khem. Nippur has told you the name of a friend in the city of Karnak.

East of Akkad is Sybill on the North limit of Elam. East of that is mysterious Asu past the Fishless Sea.

Your party has been to Ein-Rur, the caves of the eaters of raw meat, in Elam, that Ur-El's tribe call home.

South of Akkad lies Sumer. Cities in the region:
Ur, the ghost city (Far North)
Uruk, city of old fame (Northeast)
Umma, home of the hated fish-eaters (West)
Lagash of the white walls (Southeast)

Alas, Uruk and Lagash are now under the control of Lugal-Sagisi of Umma, the traitor king.

Exoduses

Before making it to Merielem, the party had:
-Captured giant Ur-El and brought him to Lagash
-Witnessed the loss of the city and traitorous death of its king
-Escaped, destitute, and gone back to Ein-Rur
-Left their temporary haven for the rigors of the desert
-Lost a friend to Gugalanna and another to the Cult of the Earth Serpent
-Wandered the scraggy sands, suffering permanent scars to their bodies and minds
-Consulted the Sybill and witnessed illusions and sorcery
-Become, through shared hardship, more a band of brothers than a ragtag raiding party

Stirrings of Akkad

In Merielem, the party left behind Nippur and Epulon to plot.
The party is in good standing with Merielem's House of Dust as well as with two itinerant entertainers and the arena gladiators.
At least one unnamed group in Merielem wants the party dead and has made attempts on their lives.

In Akkad, the party has so far:
-Lost Batu and his faithful donkey
-Witnessed a mysterious rooftop murder
-Met Nin-Dar, a mysterious character, who has joined the party
-Met rich merchant Bwerani and undertaken missions under his tutelage
-Lost a cart and a donkey in one of said missions
-Planted some seeds of friendship with the poor of Akkad
-Promised a young girl to try to find the donkey her father was responsible for, its loss having turned both of their lives upside down
-Found that Sargon, cupbearer and hopeful for the throne, who the party knows personally and is in good standing with, was behind attempts to destroy or weaken Akkad's House of Dust
-Maintained a delicate balance of good relations with both Bwerani and the House of Dust
-Not formally announced their presence to Sargon, who they now know is back in Akkad


The party now faces momentous decisions. It is high time to pick sides and make plans.

Monday, August 26, 2019

L5R 5e: The Game of Twenty Questions

This is for a character of mine in a game of Legend of the Five Rings fifth edition by Fantasy Flight Games, a fantasy game set in pseudo-feudal-Japan.

1. What clan does your character belong to?




The mighty Crab clan!


(Earth ring +1, Fitness skill +1, Status 30)






2. What family does your character belong to?

The Hida family directly descends from the great Kami Hida, founder of the courageous Crab clan. Among this illustrious lineage is the household of Hida Takeari, whose cherry blossom Yura gave him seven sons before she wilted: Uchihiko, Koreyasu, Motokata, Kazutaka, Tameaki, Nagaharu, the very recently deceased Munemoto, and Tomoteru. The latter was her favorite, perhaps simply because Takeari never took to him. That lasted the boy a short while, and then she was dead - marking the beginning of the season of his discontent.

(Fire ring +1, Command and Tactics skills +1, Glory 44, 4 starting koku)

3. What is your character's school, and what roles does that school fall into?

It is not simply that he was the youngest or that he was a bit different - he seemed proud of being different, or if not proud at least stubborn. But one's lack of graces forsakes not his birthright, and so buke he would be. His father, however, relished the opportunity to send him away to the Hiruma school. The son lost no sleep either at the thought of being gone.

(Air and Water ring +1, honor 35, 5 skills +1: Fitness, Melee, Ranged, Skulduggery, Survival. Starting Techniques: Rushing Avalanche Style, Striking as Water. School Ability: Flickering Flame. Starting outfit: traveling clothes, ashigaru armor, daishō, yari, knife, traveling pack, finger of jade)

4. How does your character stand out within their school?

At the Hiruma school, he found confidence in his own resilience and steadfastness in the face of adversities. For the first time, he started to believe he could act and behave as a samurai.

(Earth ring +1)

5. Who is your lord and what is your character's duty to them?

Upon return from the Hiruma school, he swore fealty to his Clan. He was recently assigned the duty of yōjimbō to his brother Munemoto, who with his last dying breath transferred his duty to his younger brother: complete the family business at court.

(Giri: make it to court and represent the Crab clan's interest against the Crane's. Island of Doctor Moreau meets The Hidden Fortress.)

6. What does your character long for, and how might this impede their duty?

He longs to die of old age while surrounded by children, grandchildren and the love of a woman he could never openly have. For painfully obvious reasons, this diametrically opposes his duty as a samurai.

(Ninjō: self-preservation, nurturing of his secret concubine and of their son)

7. What is your character's relationship with their clan?

Mutual strain stains the ties to his household and the clan at large. Much to blame is his own solitary disposition. His youth was rife with times where he would disappear from sight and make do in the brush with no supplies or help - there were no barbed retorts in those quiet times, only stirrings of small beasts and birds.

(Survival skill +1)

8. What does your character think of Bushidō?

When in school, he learned true strife, but he also learned much about love - not a child's infatuation, or a beautiful song, or the empty stage play of a samurai marriage, but the true, biting nature of intimate love. Without masks, without ceremony, and entirely behind closed doors. The prospect of dying embraced by just honor and glory seems cold and grey in comparison.

(Sentiment skill +1)

9. What is your character's greatest accomplishment so far?

He climbed countless trees and crossed many a treacherous creek as a child. The Hiruma school honed that talent, sharpening it like a katana blade.

(Distinction: Keen Balance)

10. What holds your character back the most in life?

He never quite learned to be subtle in public. True, his mother knew of that art, and so does the woman who bore him his son - but those delicate brushes of tact could not reshape the rock.

(Adversity: Bluntness)

11. What activity most makes your character feel at peace?

The bark of a bow-worthy tree will snap back just as hard as you bend it. The target of countless sharp jabs, he learned how to look for a weak spot, and hit back just as hard.

(Passion: Provocation)

12. What concern, fear, or foible troubles your character the most?

He has been called resilient, unmovable, tough - or is he just a much deeper well? And if rain should keep coming and pouring, will he not one day overflow?

(Anxiety: Ferocity)

13. Who has your character learned the most from during their life?

Countless men have once frequented geisha, but few fall in love. He found peace and held on for as long as he could, in the way that the roots of an ages-old tree stubbornly love the side of the mountain. And that woman taught him of the peace that Tea brings.

(Passion: Tea)

14. What do people notice first upon encountering your character?




The body of a Hida in a Hiruma scout: not a lithe, petite man, but one stocky and tough, yet much faster and nimble that strangers might guess.


But what sets him so much more apart are his thick frizzy curls, quite an oddity in Rokugan.







15. How does your character react to stressful situations?

After but a short time, you would learn how his eyes open wide, bushy eyebrows come up, and he gnashes his teeth.

16. What are your character's preexisting relationships with other clans, families, organizations, and traditions?

Knowing the gruel of the duty that would lay before him, she saw him off with the cups they would use to drink Tea, and a memento of his little boy.

(Starting item: Tea set and child's doll within)

17. How would your character's parents describe them?

As a young boy before Hiruma school, a girl promised to somebody else caught his eye. Much too stubborn he was - he would wander knee-deep in the taro fields, where the bonge would work, just to catch a quick glimpse of her face as a screen door was opened and closed, and the rest of the time he would work alongside them. Much too stubborn, that boy - and that doesn't leave room for much sense.

(Labor skill +1)

18. Who was your character named to honor?

The famed Hida Tomoteru, his great-great-uncle, was an outstanding warrior, commander and horseman. His steed was a sight to behold, and legend holds that it was part kami and would never die of old age. Family stories tell how when Tomoteru died gloriously in battle, he fell forward but stayed on the saddle, and the horse took off galloping like never before, kicking up dust and fog as it kicked off the ground and flew up into the heavens, taking its rider to Meido and then to Tengoku. The same stories tell that the horse then came back, and wanders Ningen-dō to this day, until it shall be found by a most worthy Hida.

19. What is your character's personal name?

Hida Tomoteru

20. How should your character die?

Things being as they are in Rokugan, I have a feeling that Tomoteru will not find the death he would wish for. I think, however, that he will not go quietly. He will rage against the dying of the light.


The mechanical rundown after session 1:

Hida Tomoteru - Hiruma Scout rank 1

air 2
earth 3
fire 2
water 2
void 1

skills: fitness 2  command 1  tactics 1  melee 1  ranged 1  survival 2  skulduggery 1  labor 1  sentiment 1

honor 40
glory 50
status 30
endurance 10
composure 10
focus 4
vigilance 2

distinction: keen balance
passions: provocation, tea
adversity: bluntness
anxiety: ferocity

kata: rushing avalanche style, striking as water
school technique: flickering flame

4 koku
tea set, traveling clothes, ashigaru armor, daishō, yari, knife, traveling pack, finger of jade

Thursday, August 15, 2019

A hack for threefold saving throws

I am a big proponent of the following fan of possibilities:


1- a good thing happens
2- a bad thing happens
3- both the good and the bad thing happen


Because it presents an interesting risk/reward gamble or venus fly trap kind of situation to the players.

(Of course, for this to work, the good and bad thing must not cancel each other out or be mutually exclusive, because that makes possibility #3 a "nothing happens" situation, and in a game, you never want absolutely nothing to happen.)

However, traditional Saving Throws as in DnD are binary: either something happens or it doesn't. This is very simple, but it can make for boring results. A saving throw with threefold results, however, can interact better with the above venus fly trap.

That's why I'm a fan of the Playtest saving throw mechanic from the last page of LotFP supplement Eldritch Cock, which uses pools of D6s, is super easy to learn and has threefold results:

Full Success (possibility #1: good thing)
Partial Success (possibility #3: both things)
Failure (possibility #2: bad thing)

However, old habits die hard, so here's a method for achieving the same results on a d20 roll without having to change anyone's throw numbers (which has the added benefit of easing conversion and backwards compatibility):

Roll is over the throw number: Full Success
Roll is equal to five under the throw number: Partial Success
Roll is lower than that, or totals 1: Failure


Example: Donglar, a Thief (level 1 Specialist), touches a magical painting. He must save vs Magic (target number 14). Dice rolls of 15-20 will be full successes, 9-14 partial successes and 1-8 failures.



This can also be used to interpret risky casting if using the Weird Magic System (see first page of Eldritch Cock or Vaginas are Magic), etc:

Full Success: spell goes off
Partial Success: spell goes off + miscast
Failure: miscast


Happy Magical Catastrophes!

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Off the Road to Compostela: The Fruitful Friar


The Fruitful Friar

Brother Symposius (real name Honoré de Gourmand) is a French Magic-User from Picardy playing the long con of masquerading as a friar. So long, in fact, that aside from his secret lack of Faith there is scarcely anything telling him apart from the real thing. He has the belly, the hair, the habit, the fondness for good wine and cheese, the less than perfect Latin, the bits of folksy wisdom anyone could get behind, the perfect practiced balance of joviality and distance - through them, this godless man has made a better monk than true devotion ever could.


Brother Symposius: unarmored, Move 120', 2nd Level Magic-User, dagger 1d4, morale 9. Knows three random spells plus Bathed every Veyne in Swich Licour, casts with Weird Magic System rules, can cast while holding a cross, in the manner of a Cleric

The Fruitful Friar drives a cart pulled by a donkey, loaded with spirits of above average quality of his own creation. He will sell them or trade them, though he will not part with his entire supply. He is willing to offer a free sample to anyone who makes a good enough impression. His wine has helped him make quick friends along the road, and as such he is likely to have stories and rumors of other notorious pilgrims.

The Fruitful Friar's wagon will also contain concealed supplies stolen from groups of parched adventurers previously met.

Bathed every Veyne in Swich Licour - Magic-User level 1, Duration: See Below, Range: 60'
This spell renders everyone but the spellcaster who has even a single drop of an intoxicant within the next hour, or has had one in the past 24 hours, absolutely, comically, cosmically shitfaced within one round. Their Dexterity and Attack Bonus are reduced by 4 and Saves and Armor are reduced by 2. If trying to resist the effect, they will instead act as if affected by a Chaos spell. This lasts for 2d4 rounds, after which the real fun begins (the penalties to Dex, AB, Saves and Armor remain; characters are always Surprised on the first round of combat):

Off the Friar's wagon (1d8)

1 Attacks the nearest person
2 Acts as if hopelessly devoted, platonically or otherwise, to the nearest person
3 Evacuates bodily fluids in every imaginable way
4 A near-comatose sleep only broken by Magic
5 A sleepwalking state in which the character is highly suggestible and prone to reveal secrets
6 Acts in an amorous way towards the nearest non-humanoid living being (vegetable or animal)
7 Idyllic Visions: believes himself to be in a locus amoenus surrounded by all he finds pleasurable. He will begin talking at length, to others or to himself, describing the place in great detail
8 Delirium Tremens: horrific visions of unassailable doom plague the character, who flees in a random direction on a successful Morale check, or otherwise curls up on the floor and rocks back and forth babbling of pleas and despair

This second stage lasts for 1d8 turns (full success on a Save vs Magic), 2d6 hours (partial success) or 1d6 days (failure), after which an Intelligence check is necessary to remember anything specific about what has transpired.


Monday, August 12, 2019

Off the Road to Compostela: The Four Suits


The Four Suits (Los cuatro palos)



The Four Suits are a group of four Spanish gentlemen traveling eastward. They are all level 2 classed characters. (Optionally, if the party is of the third or fourth level, they equal the level of the party, or are of level four if the party level is higher than four.) They are all healthy men of low nobility and slightly higher than average means, dressed in an antiquated Spanish style. If the language of the party is not Spanish, The Four Suits always speak it also, but to varying degrees of proficiency.

The Four Suits will purport to be escorting their "Cleric" Alberto de la Cruz to the Orient on a mission of Christian proselitism. The truth is much more mundane: they are ruthless and greedy adventurers who have become altogether too conspicuous to remain in Spain.


Alfonso de la Espada, Fighter, armor 10 (unarmored), MeAB of +2 over his level bonus
Fancy Sword (1d8, 100sp), Dagger (1d4), 1/4th of special deck (see below) of 40 Spanish playing cards (10 cards all of the same suit: Swords (Espadas)), large wineskin

Alfonso de la Espada is the one who speaks the language of the party the least. He is a fellow of alternating somber and fanciful moods, who always enjoys drinking wine and extoling the virtues of Spanish cuisine and Spanish women. When imbibing, he likes to sing.









Alonso de la Moneda, Specialist, unarmored, six skill pips over his level bonus. Skills of choice: Sleight of Hand, followed by Stealth and Sneak Attack
Fancy Short Sword (1d6, 75sp), Two Daggers - one hidden (1d4), one deck of 40 perfectly mundane Spanish cards, 1/4th of special deck (see below) of 40 Spanish playing cards (10 cards all of the same suit: Coins (Oros))

Alonso de la Moneda always speaks the language of the party very well. He is the group's "accountant" and has a prodigious memory and awareness when it comes to stealing, counting, appraising and especially gambling (treat as Int and Wis 16 for these purposes.) He cannot resist an opportunity to gamble and will insist that the party play a card game with them.






Fernando de la Luna, Magic-User, unarmored
Large tree branch used as a club (1d8), Dagger (1d4), 1/4th of special deck (see below) of 40 Spanish playing cards (10 cards all of the same suit: Clubs (Bastos))
Casts according to Weird Magic System rules, except the first X+1 spells he casts in a day will always go off as intended in addition to an accompanying miscast complication, where X is his level. He never prepares spells.

Fernando de la Luna speaks the language of the party passably. He does not advertise his magic talents unless there is a Magic-User in the party, in which case his great curiosity gets the best of him and he wants to discreetly talk shop.







Alberto de la Cruz, Specialist, unarmored, six skill pips over his level bonus. Skills of choice: Languages, Architecture, Open Doors, Climbing
Short Sword (1d6) and Dagger (1d4) - both hidden, 1/4th of special deck (see below) of 40 Spanish playing cards (10 cards all of the same suit: Chalices (Copas))

Alberto de la Cruz is dressed in the manner of a traveling Jesuit priest, but this is a ruse - he is but a clever swindler and thief. His skill for Languages and disguise contributes to his facade, but a clever PC might be able to see past it. He always speaks the language of the party very well, but he does not speak Latin.







The Four Suits are always friendly at first contact, jocularly complaining about the weather and road conditions and eager to share food, wine and tales over a fire. After the social preliminaries are well underway, Alonso de la Moneda will insist on a card game using his mundane Spanish deck. The game will always feature stakes and they will always be high. If the party suggests they use the other secret deck instead, the Four Suits must comply, as the risk is too exciting to pass up - but this of course depends entirely on the party having found out about the other deck. If the party wants to play for that deck, they will also comply, provided the party is willing to offer something of obscene monetary and practical value that will seriously hurt them if they lose.

If your table likes playing cards, you can break the fourth wall at this point, break out a deck and actually play out a game. If you win, the Four Suits won. Otherwise, the game plays out like this: the game is a trick-taking game played by two against two by the name of Truc. Alonso will always be part of the Four Suits' team. The game will be played as two to three hands, resolved by a two-out-of-three opposed Intelligence roll between the average of the two playing PC's Intelligence and the Four Suits' (15). If the Four Suits lose the first hand, Alonso will try to cheat (remember all those pips in Sleight of Hand?). If the party wants to re-up, go double or nothing etcetera, the Four Suits will always agree, as long as they think the party can afford to pay.

The Special Deck

The Special Deck detects as magical and gives a party certain benefits as long as they are within 10' of at least a fourth of it (10 cards of the same suit). The special benefits affect a minimum of two and a maximum of four characters, but the special benefits only apply if all possible PCs are participating in this - if the party is comprised of four PCs, they all have to be willing to do it or it doesn't work. If the party is using the deck in this manner, the conditions below apply (this applies to the Four Suits until they no longer own the special deck):

All saves are at a -1 penalty.

All skill checks at 0-in-6 are instead 1-in-6 and all at 6-in-6 are instead 5-in-6.

Whoever is carrying the ten Swords cards receives a penalty of -2 to armor and a +2 to their Melee Attack Bonus.

Whoever is carrying the ten Coins or the ten Chalices cards gets 6 extra skill pips.

Whoever is carrying the ten Clubs cards, if a Magic-User, must thenceforth use the Weird Magic System. They may choose to forego preparing any spells in exchange for having the first X+1 spells they cast in a day go off automatically in addition to an accompanying miscast complication, where X is their level. Normal risky casting rules apply after that.

If not a Magic-User, a character may cast one random spell per day, which will always go off with an accompanying miscast complication. They may use risky casting once after that.

Clerics get no extra benefits. Moreover, if there is a Cleric in the party, the penalty to saves is -2.

The party must own the entire deck for the benefits to apply.

The party may never again refuse to gamble. They are, however, aware of this.


A deck of 40 Spanish playing cards has ten cards of each suit with the values 1-7 and 10-12.

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Lessons from my first Campaign

In 20 days the Nippur Sunnan campaign will be two years old and about to gear up for its 34th session. This is the first long campaign I've ever ran and as such it's taught me a thing or two about running these things. This post is not so much a detailed retrospective as a handful of things I am pleased with, along with other things that, well, live and learn.



So let us begin with the stuff that don't work for me, which may well be called rookie mistakes...

1- Session zero: using it to worldbuild together and mine ideas is all well and good and productive, especially when creating an original setting and houseruling, but the time is probably even better spent discussing playstyle and play expectations with the core group that you know is committed to playing for long. This is the kind of game I want to play. What kind of game do you want to play? is probably the single most important question when putting a table together, unless you know each other for so long that you already know the answer - even then, I'd double check.

2- Railroads are not fun for anyone - including the GM. On that note, if you railroad the party for the first four sessions and suddenly announce you want the adventure to turn into a sandbox starting with session five, expect mixed results - especially if you insist on portraying a GMPC present in most sessions all the way into the teens...

3- Pregens are no good. This is especially true in a campaign.

4- Don't pull punches. I've never pulled one I didn't regret.

5- Milestone XP is not a good idea - especially so if awarded early. It diminishes players' sense of agency about their characters' advancement and robs the game of the fun (and the terror) of playing a low-level character in a potentially deadly world. You only get to be level 1 once per character...

6- Off-game meta-chat about expectations: I underestimated the importance of having this on a continuing basis, especially when putting a new group together. Sometimes things do not happen organically and you need to hash them out.


Before this becomes a new-GM-self-pity-party (queue Bob Seger's "Turn the Page"), let's talk positives.

1- Sandboxes work better... that is, when you only plan ahead for the next session instead of the next couple sessions. The flipside of this is that the party needs to plan long term - but players are perfectly capable of doing that (again, if expectations are shared and clear).

2- Worldbuilding is incredibly fun. This game helped me imagine a land the size of a subcontinent, dotted with city states with distinct personalities. I can see myself returning to this setting after the campaign is over. Mythohistorical Ancient Mesopotamia is fascinating.

3- You don't need ideas if you got a gameable concept put down on a roll table. Instead of carefully hashed out ideas, prepping for a session by making an idea generator that gives you an array of obstacles to drop in front of the party can have really memorable results.

4- I would do anything for love, but I won't do 5E. Running a game for this long has allowed me to put together a small core group of players that I would play almost anything with. And it is pretty sweet to game weekly with a good group of friends.

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Cliffs Notes for Systems I've played








To be updated as I get around to it...








Lamentations of the Flame Princess (free corebook, pdf/print) - houseruled B/X retroclone
d20 roll equal-or-over: attacks (ascending AC, unarmored is 12), saves
d20 roll equal-or-under: stat checks
d6 roll high: initiative (+Dex modifier)
d6 roll equal-or-under: skill checks
Stat mods affect: Languages/magical saves (Int), non-magical saves (Wis), Melee to-hit/Open Doors (Str), Missile to-hit/AC (Dex), HP gain (Con)
Classes: Fighter, Magic-User, Cleric, Specialist (skill monkey/thief), Dwarf, Elf, Halfling
Vancian Magic or original Weird Magic System. Cleric and Magic-User spells do not overlap
Treasure = XP. Silver standard
Simple, fast combat, easy to run
Slow healing, deadly, firing into melee is risky, firearms, chase rules
Setting: weird 17th century, Europe-centric, pseudohistoric
Awesome published modules, easy to adapt, high production qualities
Character generator


Blueholme (pdf/POD) - Holmes Basic retroclone
d20 roll high: attacks (descending AC, unarmored is 9), saves
d100 roll equal-or-under: Thief skills
Stat mods and what stats influence are different from later versions of DnD and sometimes from other Basics. Different mod spreads for different stats
Race and class interact in a manner similar to ODnD (demihumans have limited options)
Classes: Fighter, Magic User, Cleric, Thief. Multi-classing possible at the cost of more XP to advance. Races: Elf, Halfling, Dwarf, optionally any humanoid monster race
Vancian Magic
Treasure/monster kills = XP
Initiative determined by action type, Dex breaks ties
Relatively simple, has bestiary
Setting: traditional DnD fantasy
Well oiled system, fast and deadly old school play. Faithful retroclone with very minimal houseruling. Prentice covers character levels 1 to 3, Journeymanne 1 to 20 and the monster-as-PC rules
Character generator (nb: does not give correct saves, use corebook for that)


Empire of the Petal Throne (pdf/POD) - Old School science fantasy of Tolkienesque depth
d20 roll high: attacks (descending AC, unarmored is 9), 20 is a critical hit
d20 roll equal-or-over: saves
d100 roll equal-or-under: stat checks, spell success, skill checks
Stats are rolled on a d100, "Adventure" roll is done against the average of Str, Dex and Int and covers wrestling and cases otherwise not covered by the rules
Classes: Fighter, Magic-User, Cleric
Magic has limited per-day uses and chance of failure
Treasure/monster kills = XP
Relatively simple, side initiative (d6 roll high), rulebook written in true old school style, has bestiary, pantheon and extensive setting information
Setting: science-fantasy on vaguely Earthlike planet in pocket dimension, medieval technology, ruins/relics of high tech, intelligent monsters/alien beings, two moons, starless sky, great cities with involved bureaucracy, inspired by non-European cultures e.g. India
Slick system, plays fast and old school, can be adapted to Earth mythohistorical fantasy (Mayan, etc)


Myfarog 2.6/2.7 (POD, now oop) - original 3d6 system set in Antiquity
3d6 roll high: stat checks, skill checks (+stat, skill, trained/untrained, situational mods)
d6 roll high: initiative (+Dex modifier, weapon-based mods)
Five traditional stats, Willpower replaces Wisdom
Armor absorbs damage, Melee ability affects both to-hit and DV (= ascending AC)
Classes: tied into character background through animist or pagan worldview and sex. Warrior, Stalker (scout), Trickster (spy/thief), Civilian (peasant/make-your-own-class), Sorcerer, Berserk/Valkyrie, Bard, Bacchante/Maenad, Ranger, Wood Elf
Magic tied to Stamina (Sorcerer) or Godly Favor (Bard etc)
Combat/skill tests/roleplay = XP
Medium crunch, modular (differing levels of simulationist as desired), learning curve. Potentially a lot of rolling during combat
Simulationist, inspired by HEMA, survival, deadly combat, slow healing, stamina subsystem, bleeding rules, different weapons/armor/shields work differently, original damage mechanics, chase rules, setting matters, unique bestiary
Setting: European/Mediterranean Barbarian Antiquity, animism, pagan polytheism, Germanic tribes, pseudohistoric
Strongly tied into the setting but adaptable, good for historical/mythohistorical and general simulationist, great flaws system (in Curses and Gifts splatbook), moderately priced


Call of Cthulhu 7e (free quickstart, pdf/print) - Lovecraftian investigative horror
d100 roll equal-or-under: stat and skill checks
Skill-based, make-your-own-class is ubiquitous
Magic is rare, the supernatural is mostly on the GM side
No level advancement or stat improvement, skills checked successfully during an adventure have chance to improve
Slow burn, social interaction, both player and character skill important, Dex is initiative, deadly, sanity subsystem, luck subsystem, bonus/penalty die mechanic similar to advantage/disadvantage, "winning" unscathed is unlikely, easy to pick up mechanics
Setting: 1920s Earth with horrors lurking beneath the veneer of reality
Intuitive system, good published modules, strikes investigative tone well, genre needs buy-in
Character generator


The Black Hack 1e (pdf) - Major New School streamlining of Old School DnD
d20 roll under a stat: every roll except damage
Enemies (GM) only roll for damage. To-hit, defense, initiative are checked by the players only
Classes: Fighter, Conjurer, Priest, Thief
Vancian Magic
Goalpost leveling mechanic up to the GM, leveling increases HD and stats
Advantage/disadvantage mechanic, critical hits, quick death save mechanic, armor absorbs damage, damage dealt depends on class, usage die mechanic for supplies, fast HD-based healing, easy to pick up mechanics
Setting: traditional DnD fantasy
Fast play and combat, feels like old school with a bit less dying
Character generator


To Do:
Ruins & Ronin (S&W compatible)
The VSd6 systems: Alpha Blue, Crimson Dragon Slayer v1, The Outer Presence
LBB Traveller
Everyone is John
Don't walk in winter wood
FFG L5R


See also


Edited Oct 2 2021

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Spoils and Fame as Level Advancement






Say you want to run a game based on a Warrior Ethos - Epic and Heroic in the literary sense. Think Homer, Beowulf, the Viking Sagas. Whether your game is set in Antiquity, a pre-Medieval age, a different planet or a pocket dimension, you're going for a certain genre here. A genre where a Hero and his Warband trudge the land looking for a Fame that will outlast their deaths. Tying level advancement to the genre/setting will help your table hit more of the right notes.


An Epic's version of an adventuring party, or an RPG version of an Epic, breaks down like this:

1. A Hero and his Warband share the spoils in return for shared loyalty on the battlefield. The spoils are the worldly manifestation of lasting Fame/Glory/Renown. (If this agreement breaks down, Achilles sulks in his tent, good luck getting any war done, thank you very much.)

2. The Warriors' Fame will outlive them, if their praise is sung and their spoils are well known. (Extra points if the spoils are passed down within the family, who will then do their part to ensure that the Fame stays alive.) Fame = Spoils (treasure) and Songs.

3. The greater the Fame, the longer the Warrior's Name will outlive him, but also, the greater the Warrior's potential for even more Fame before death. Fame = Heroic potential = Level Advancement.

Now to the bronze nuts and bolts. Here's how you tie this into your favorite system.

1- The XP requirements for the Player Characters can be kept the same, or optionally averaged among the party. XP gained is always shared equally among the party long as they adventure together - and it is in their interest to do so.

2- Treasure is XP (as in LotFP etcetera). Rewards count if they come from a patron who has Fame of their own among their party's society (Levels/HD) equaling or surpassing that of the party. Of course, these rewards usually come at a price paid in loyalty.

3- Items gained through defeating an enemy with Fame of their own always count for XP purposes, even if they have no other practical purpose or cannot be sold. Always assign "monetary" value to these items for XP purposes. Remember, there ain't no capitalism in this kind of world - battle treasures matter because of what they represent. Characters don't necessarily trade in their golden arm rings or their dragon gold for a meal; they are given a meal because the spoils make them heroes.

4- The more renowned an enemy, the more valuable it is to defeat him. Assign some multiplier to the spoils. A renowned enemy must have a name. A simple example: The party (level 1) is facing 6 HD Grendel-like Cadmun, who guards a hoard worth 1000sp in real or symbolic value. Cadmun's shield-breaking exploits are well known and feared, so the hoard's XP value is bumped up to 5000 ((6-1) x 1000). Or some other strange algebra - you're the GM. The important thing is the enemy's Fame in relation to the party's, for the same reason why Achilles killing Hector is more momentous than Hector killing Patroclus.

5- Songs are XP: If the party takes efforts to make their Fame spread, this is worth more XP. Every time the party has personally delivered the news of their exploits to somebody new and relevant ( = of Fame equal or higher to the party's), they gain anew a fraction of the XP from their exploits. Example: Beregond the Broad Shouldered and his battle-brothers (highest level = 3) reach King Dugild of the Bedes (level 5). Their best-singing Warrior delivers a harrowing tale of defeating the screeching, wild Cadmun. 5-3 = 2, so the party gains .2 (20%) of the XP they gained from Cadmun's hoard just by teling the tale. You can tie this to Charisma in some way if you want to further complicate the party's bookkeeping; again, you're the GM.

Are we coming dangerously close to killing = XP?

Homer never wrote a hymn about the tenth centaur Odysseus slew. The party cannot find a continent of gold-hoarding creatures and stay for a year amassing XP. After the first time you did Something That Kind of Heroic, that treasure is only worth treasure. Then again, what am I thinking? A GM of your caliber wouldn't put that in front of the players - what is this, World of Warcraft? (File under yet another reason against having a bestiary...)

Plus, "defeating" a creature can be done through ways other than killing it, and again, you do not need to defeat an enemy to squirrel its treasure away. There are plenty of Epics about tricksters and trickstery acts.

If your system has no XP

If your game uses some other gimmick, like milestones, pips, crystal-children heads, what have you, no worries. You can get a similar result by observing the same basic principle behind an XP table: A Hero becomes more Heroic by doing increasingly difficult feats. So, you can reach level 2 by doing two Heroic Things gaining you two Heroic Treasures; level 3 by doing three Heroic Things, and so on (think Hercules' Labors). Likewise, opportunities for Greater Glory may only come about if you sing of your exploits. Again, if you want harder math, be my guest.

Using this to play a Saga

Fame will ensure the childless don't fade (hello again Achilles), but you could also play out a campaign where your table plays characters of the same family throughout generations. Unless your table is into starting from scratch every time, you could make every successive generation start at a fraction of the level of the previous generation. Now go cannibalize someone else's ideas.