Saturday, April 30, 2011

OD&D Origin of THAC0 in 1978

Believe it or not the UCLA Computer Club had a D&D 'zine in the late 1970s called ANYONE WANT TO BUY A COAT OF MITHRIL? Here's an interesting excerpt I found in issue #4 from April 1978:

"One of the devices we use is THAC0 (To Hit AC 0). This is a composite of the character's type, level, strength, weapon, and other bonuses. THAC0 must be recomputed when any of this changes. THAC0 itself greatly speeds things up all by itself".

I guess this settles it. THAC0 is totally old school!

Oh yeah, the last line of the 'zine says: "THE UCLA COMPUTER CLUB MEETS FOR D&D SATURDAYS AT 2:00 IN 3514 BOELTER"! Cool!

This is probably the nerdiest blog post I've ever made. I think like 4 people might be interested in this...

Friday, April 29, 2011

Declaring Before Initiative? Maybe Not...

For years I've run classic D&D combat like this:

1. Players declare intentions.
2. Each side rolls 1d6 initiative. Tie = simultaneous effects.
3. Initiative winners do movement, spells, and attacks in whatever order they choose.
4. Initiative losers do movement, spells, and attacks in whatever order they choose.
5. Morale checks and other bookkeeping, if needed.
6. Repeat.

I know there are tons of variations on this combat sequence, many of them more complex than this, and that's fine... I settled on this sequence for my own games because it's fast and easy and the heavy drama of the group initiative roll is really really fun.

Recently, though, I've been experimenting with making things even simpler by dropping the player declaration step. I've been trying this for two reasons:

1. I want to speed combat up even more. Sometimes I'll referee for adventure parties with 8-12 characters, including NPCs and hirelings. It can take a few minutes for the party to decide on what their strategy is going to be - who's acting first, who's going to attack, who's going to hide, etc. Then they have to tell me what they decide. THEN I have to remember it all when the players' turn comes up. Of course I can never remember what all 10 characters all want to do, so they all have to tell it me all over again... Often this all feels like a drag at a game moment that should be fast, threatening, and exciting.

2. The primary outcome of declaring actions it is to penalize players even more for losing an initiative roll. While declaration might add a tough "realism" to D&D combat, in essence all it does is prevent players from reacting wisely to their opponents' actions. I am a firm believer in awesoming up my players, so I don't see anything wrong with giving players some consolation for losing initiative.

Anyway, the last couple sessions of D&D and Gamma World that I've run without declarations have gone great. With big groups the difference is obvious - everything plays way smoother and faster. For me quick abstract combat is a major attraction of old school D&D, and things just got even better.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Need Your Opinion: A New Model for Celebrity DMs at Cons

I am asking for your opinion about whether it's appropriate for a con to sell individual seats for games run by celebrity DMs. For instance, would you pay $50 or $100 to be guaranteed a place in a game run by your favorite DM / designer of all time? Do you think this is ethical?

I am asking this because I am trying to figure out a financially sustainable model to bring out-of-town celebrity DMs to our Los Angeles gaming events. L.A. isn't Lake Geneva - I can't just call up Jim Ward or Rob Kuntz and invite them to come out and run games for a day or two in exchange for free dinner. We gotta fly people out and keep them fed and sheltered for several days. This costs a lot of money.

The tricky thing, of course, is that only 6-8 people can play in a typical session run by a celebrity DM, so it's not really feasible (or ethical) to charge a lot for con registration fees across the board to finance bringing in VIPs. It doesn't make sense for general con-goers to underwrite sessions they won't even get to play in.

As a solution to this problem it makes a lot of sense to simply sell individual seats in VIP games in order to make just enough money to pay for the DM to be there. There wouldn't be any judgment made about how important the VIP is or about making a profit. Prices would NOT be scaled to a DM's reputation - only to how far they have to travel. The bottom line would simply be that there are enough players willing to fund that DM's presence.

You might say "Well, the traditional model seems to work for North Texas RPG Con... They only charge $30 for registration and they bring in all kinds of out-of-town VIPs!" Well... I hate to say this, but it's not working for NTRPGCon. The organizers have said publicly that they consistently lose money on their event. Quick math: $30 x 90 registrants = $2700 coming in. Even if you count other little stuff like souvenir sales, raffles, etc. ~$3000 is NOT paying for much - it probably barely pays for the venue and one or two guests (this is all speculation on my part, I don't have the actual numbers). NTRPGCon must have an investor with a very long horizon, or who doesn't mind shelling out lots of money for a really really fun weekend. I have to admit I don't really understand the short- or long-term NTRPGCon financial model, and I don't see how they will be able to continue to offer the VIP list that they do year-after-year. I assume GaryCon can pull off what they do because they can easily draw on the unusual concentration of local (Wisconsin) VIPs.

Lots of people will pay $80-$100 to go to an Ozzy concert. I would happily pay this much to play Gamma World with Jim Ward. I don't really see any other practical way of bringing out VIP DMs for gaming events...

Do you?

Seriously... let me know...

Friday, April 15, 2011

STOKED! My North Texas RPG Con Schedule!


Sign-ups for the North Texas RPG Con game sessions went live last night at midnight! I'm so hippidy-jippidy that I was able to squeeze into such a remarkable series of sessions. Here's my schedule, ending with a game I'm DMing myself...


Time
DM
Game
Thurs PM
Kyrinn Eis
Urutusk - World of Mystery
Fri AM
Matt Finch
Swords & Wizardry
Fri PM
Paul Jaquays
RuneQuest
Sat AM
Erol Otus
AD&D
Sat PM
Tim Kask
Original D&D
Sun AM
Cyclopeatron
Original D&D

My biggest regret was that I had to choose between Jim Ward's Metamorphosis Alpha game and Erol Otus' AD&D game on Saturday. I couldn't resist taking a place at Otus' table though - I'm such a slavering admirer of his illustration work and early D&D supplements like Necronomican and this is such a rare opportunity because he rarely (never) makes public appearances.

Another beautiful thing is that one of my favorite bloggers, Tavis Allison, will be a player in the Jaquays and Otus sessions. Great!

On a final note, I'm flattered to already have a couple people signed up for my Sunday morning Xylbocx Starcult OD&D session! I have to admit I feel a little intimidated about running a game at a con with a VIP list like this. I'll work hard to make it a dandy run!

Many thanks to Doug Rhea and Mike Badolato for setting up this event! I hope to see some of you there!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

George R. R. Martin Article in New Yorker

The New Yorker today has a lengthy article about George R. R. Martin. It presents Martin, who has sold over 15 million books, as an ideal model of how authors who actively interact with their audiences through blogs and extensive signing tours can foster huge cult-like fan bases to sell lots and lots of books.

The dark side of this model, of course, is the insane level of pestering and taunting Martin has to deal with from hecklers who feel entitled to a more rapid production of words. As most of you probably know, Martin hasn't published an installment to Song of Ice and Fire since 2005...
The online attacks on Martin suggest that some readers have a new idea about what an author owes them. They see themselves as customers, not devotees, and they expect prompt, consistent service. Martin, who is sixty-two, told me that Franck calls the disaffected readers the Entitlement Generation: “He thinks they’re all younger people, teens and twenties. And that their generation just wants what they want, and they want it now. If you don’t give it to them, they’re pissed off.”
To be honest with you, this slow output is exactly the reason I haven't dug into The Song of Ice and Fire. I don't want to read thousands of pages to be stuck with a cliffhanger for five years. I'm not angry with Martin, though. I have plenty of other stuff to read in the mean time...

Monday, April 11, 2011

9 Ways to Enhance Game Immersion

I’ve played lots of roleplaying games with lots of different people over the years, and some sessions have definitely stood out as being more memorable than others. I often ask myself: what are the common characteristics of the sessions that evoke the most colorful memories? More specifically, what were the conditions and refereeing styles that helped certain games glow in my imagination more than others? Games where I smelled the ozone when walking through an interdimensional gate or tasted the blood in my mouth after having my abdomen punctured or felt the sinking fear and confusion of a supernatural threat beyond my understanding. I guess immersion is the word I’m looking for.

I like roleplaying sessions that maximize immersion. I prefer them actually. But I realize a lot of people don’t and that’s okay. I too enjoy gamier games that are largely tactical in nature, and I respect and enjoy the diversity of play styles out there. With this post I’m not criticizing people that like different play styles, I am simply recommending the common elements associated with the most memorable sessions I've played in. I’ll be the first to say that I don’t always follow all of these recommendations when running my own games – but perhaps I should try to.

1. Don’t use miniatures or battlemats. Most of my favorite sessions as a player have lacked minis and grid maps. Period. This being said, as a referee I use minis and mats frequently because my players specifically request them and I do like the visual and tactile quality of minis. They're fun, what can I say? The minis question is something that tortures my soul endlessly. When will I be able to walk away? Do I want to?

2. Turn off the background music. I’ve always gamed with background music, so it was a revelation to me about a year ago when I realized that the weirdest and most intense gaming moments I can recall have been when the room was completely silent and you could hear a pin drop or dog fart between the referee’s words. Background music seriously diminishes a referee’s ability to control the tone and atmosphere of a roleplaying session. This being said, I still often run games with background music when I am at other peoples’ houses. I don’t want to tell them to turn off their music, ya know?

3. Don’t use a screen. The referee screen creates a barrier between the players and the referee and obscures the referee’s hand gestures. I go back and forth between using my screen - I’d prefer to never use it but it's just too handy for displaying reference tables and hiding maps and minis. Lately I’ve been trying to keep the screen off to my side side so I can take advantage of it without having it sit between me and my players.

4. Sit down and look your players in the eyes. This is simple public speaking advice and it works. Again, this is a rule I often break. I stand a lot because of the whole miniatures thing.

5. Don’t allow distractable players at the table. Players constantly messing around with smartphones or talking about movies or restaurants or other out-of-game stuff are GAME DESTROYERS! Eject these players immediately. Or better yet, don’t invite them in the first place - play Settlers of Catan or something with them first to see what their attention spans are like.

6. Use your words and your voice to evoke atmosphere. Again, this is no-brainer public speaking advice. I like to think of it as refereeing like you’re presenting an audio book, meaning that you can be expressive without turning the game into an overboard theatrical performance. It’s easy to start a session nicely, but during a long game don’t forget to keep dropping occasional color adjectives (odors, sounds, temperature, etc.) and leveraging the volume, speed, and tone of your words.

7. Think about your opening spiel before the game starts. I do a lot of public speaking as part of my job. I can tell you that in any presentation the first five minutes is crucial for establishing your credibility and tone. In roleplaying games the referee has to ad lib once the adventure starts moving. The opening intro – whether it’s a campaign recap or background spiel for a one-shot – is the only moment a referee can specifically prepare for, and it can dramatically affect how the players will approach the session. Take advantage of this and make the opening as clear and as eloquent as you can. I love playing in games that kick off with a great background monologue from the referee.

8. Don’t look up rules while you’re playing
. This wastes time, ruins the momentum of a game, and makes you look bad as a referee. Don’t do it. Make things up if you have to. The only possible exception to this is if you have some tables bookmarked that you can get to immediately. Opening the rulebook before or after the adventure to help with character bookkeeping is fine, of course.

9. Don’t be afraid of interesting NPCs and first-person roleplaying. Sessions that include roleplaying with compelling NPCs are ALWAYS the best and most memorable. A lot of people get real squirmy doing first-person roleplaying, and that’s okay - you don’t want to decrease fun by making players do something they don’t want to do - but if the referee and at least some of the players are into it, first-person interactions add serious color to sessions. It doesn’t have to be a LARP or psychotherapy session, but having at least a few conversations with NPCs with complex or mysterious motivations will make any session more memorable.

Have fun!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

My Player's Rad Homemade Miniature! IMPROVED PHOTO!

For our whitebox session last Sunday one of the players surprised everyone and brought along a homemade miniature of his character Franklin, Cleric of the Zymosian Time Demon! Check it out:

The player said that the hardest part about making the mini was getting it to stand on it's OWN TWO FEET! How many (non-Lego) minis have you used that stand on two feet? Awesome! The other cool thing is that the mini is wearing plate-mail underpants and you can switch around the torches and weapons!

This player is a crafty guy who does a lot of modeling (check out his blog : archaotics) and also does awesome stop-action animation:




By the way, another player (Mackie the Fighting Man) in the game also does some animation. I'll pimp his work while I'm at it:


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

How Sleep Spells Turn Adventurers Into Sadists and Executioners

 
I got some emails today from players in my whitebox OD&D campaign. These are snippets regarding our session on Sunday (picture above):

Mackie the Fighting Man: By the way, Michael the Goblin is probably my favorite creature from our journeys so far. He really made me question what I'm doing with my life as a warrior...I still feel guilty for sending him to his death. :(

Cookie the Fighting Beast: P.s. I've also been reflecting on my role as a warrior! Did Michael have a family, what were his passions.....?

Monolaba the Cleric: I still have a few of his fingers if you guys want a little memento.

Franklin the Cleric: Franklin may have had one swig of wine too many and apologizes for abusing Michael and throwing him to a gruesome death (so Michael would have us believe anyway). But let us take comfort in the fact that he is now reunited with Bort, his other unnamed late comrades, and perhaps even his amputated digits. Oh wait, Monolaba still has the fingers? Anyway, it's when we get overly sentimental that we will end up surprised by a tentacle monster with Michael on the saddle.
This exchange is referring to the party's interactions with a goblin they captured named Michael. At one point the party was holed up in a storage room with an unknown number of goblins waiting outside the shut door. The party interacted a bit through the door with Michael, the goblins' spokesman, before deciding to rush out with the magic user ready to cast a sleep spell. When the group swung open the door they indeed put most of the goblins to sleep, killing those that remained standing.

After the battle the party went through the whole throat-slitting ritual that a sleep spell typically entails. They kept one goblin - Michael - as a prisoner. We did a whole episode of first-person roleplaying as the party interrogated the goblin and bickered about what to do with the pitiful creature. The weirdo child chaos cleric Monolaba even cut off some of the goblin's fingers to show how "serious" the group was. Eventually Franklin - a cleric of the Zymosian Time Demon - threw Michael the Goblin through a door full of grasping hairy tentacles. I made Franklin change his alignment from Neutral to Chaotic, by the way.

I don't know about you, but I still get heebie jeebies when PCs mutilate and/or execute prisoners in a game. I know, it goes down all the time, but I still feel weird when it happens. And it almost always happens because of a sleep spell.

A sleep spell is really the perfect instrument for pushing adventurers into uncomfortable ethical dilemmas. Sleep only affects the weakest little enemies - smelly little confused kobolds or grimacing goblinoids wielding rusty butter knives. What does one do with a pile of snoring kobolds? It's not practical for a party to drag along 8 terrified prisoners while trying to carefully explore a dungeon. So, yeah, in their minds players have to trump up the breadcrumb sins of these pathetic dungeon vermin to justify slitting their throats. And what about the one kept as a prisoner? Is it okay, or even fun, to torture it for information? Hold it for ransom? Hold it hostage? If you let it go it will bite your toe and tell its friends! What would Jesus do?

Sleep... a fucking genius instrument for roleplaying, warping kids minds for over 35 years. Let's rejoice that Gygax and Arneson made Sleep instead of something lame like Kill.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Grognardlings Are Our Future

A new old school gaming blog called Grognardling just came to my attention. I definitely recommend it as a very cool blog that deserves more attention. In addition to simply having great material, one of the striking things about the blog is the explanation of its title on the side bar:
What is a "grognardling?"
I've only been role-playing for a few years, which isn't surprising when you're in your twenties, but is rare when you play the kind of games that were published in the 70's. I'm a grognardling- someone who is young, has never even seen a copy of the LBBs, a Red Box or a 1st Edition book, but is avidly in the process of learning the "Old Ways."
Staples, the proprietor of Grognardling, is representative of a new breed of twentysomething gamers that is specifically attracted to old school RPGs - games that they never actually grew up playing and therefore have no nostalgic bias for. I think this is great because I actually care about old school D&D, you see, and I love to see new gamers getting into it.

I've noticed a recurring sentiment on many old school forums and gaming blogs along the lines of "I don't care if old school roleplaying is dying out, I'll just keep playing what I've always played and ignore the rest of the world". I don't subscribe to this point of view at all. I think old-style RPGs are crazy and beautiful things that inspire creativity, imagination, and camaraderie in a very unique way. I firmly believe that this pastime of ours adds a tiny bit of fragile beauty to the world. I don't want to see it die. I want to see it live and grow. I want more people to play classic RPGs.

The fact that some new gamers are skipping over trendy new rules-heavy games to go for the quirky classic stuff is very heartening to me. If our hobby is going to survive another generation - and I hope it does -  we NEED enthusiastic and articulate younger voices like Staples, Evan of In Places Deep, and Oddysey of How to Start a Revolution in 21 Days or Less (any others I'm missing?). Please visit their blogs and support their endeavors!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Fastest Growing OSR Blogs of March - Mythmere Explodes!

Here's a list of 211 old schoolish roleplaying blogs ranked by the number of followers they gained between March 1st and April 1st. I rank blogs using this system - as opposed to raw follower number - in order to determine which blogs are "hottest" without being biased by how long a blog has been around. My main motivation for making this list is to highlight the blogs that are currently attracting the most reader attention regardless of the blogs' age. Out of respect, I DO NOT list blogs with zero or negative growth.

My usual blogometric caveats apply: (1) This list only has blogger.com blogs because follower numbers are not publicly available for WordPress blogs. (2) Yes, I know some blogs are missing. If your blog is on my big blog list as of today, it should be in the next ranking. If your blog is not on my list and you want to be included, please email me the link through my profile. If I made a mistake please let me know - I am not consciously trying to exclude anyone.

This time the top spot was won handily by Mythmere's Blog. In fact, this is the fastest growing blog I've ever seen. By far. This is not a surprise really, since Mythmere is the publisher of Swords & Wizardry - one of the most popular D&D retroclones. It turns out he's a great blogger too.

In second place we have Hack & Slash. This blog has tons of creative content and is updated with incredible frequency, averaging two posts a day. This is good stuff, I hope -C can keep it up!

In third is juggernaut Playing D&D With Porn Stars. There's not much to say that you probably don't already know - this is blog is full of excellent stuff being pumped out a high rate to a large cross-over audience. Go, Zak, go!

In fourth we have a relatively new blog - Underworld Kingdom - which is the home of the rules-light  Bandits and Basilisks old school gaming system by Omlet of Terminal Space fame. This blog has lots of excellent creative material with a lovecraftian twist.

NOTE: The new blog There's Dungeons Down Under would probably have been first or second place if I had been able to track it for the entire month of March. TDDU went on-line in late February and already has 94 followers! Sadly I only started tracking this blog in mid-March, so I don't have enough data to include it on the list this month. Sigh...

CLICK ON THE BLOG NAME TO GO THERE!


Blog Name
1-Apr
1-Mar
Change
115
24
91
100
54
46
684
641
43
49
8
41
848
813
35
92
58
34
86
54
32
264
233
31
111
80
31
254
224
30
77
47
30
47
17
30
71
45
26
163
141
22
62
40
22
161
140
21
173
153
20
129
109
20
448
429
19
324
305
19
265
246
19
33
14
19
263
245
18
190
172
18
38
20
18
371
354
17
264
247
17
182
165
17
77
60
17
33
16
17
145
129
16
111
95
16
58
42
16
153
138
15
202
188
14
174
160
14
150
136
14
109
95
14
105
91
14
60
46
14
174
161
13
156
143
13
48
35
13
230
218
12
134
122
12
123
111
12
103
91
12
90
78
12
206
195
11
150
139
11
145
134
11
89
78
11
81
70
11
77
66
11
58
47
11
47
36
11
33
22
11
132
122
10
128
118
10
110
100
10
107
97
10
86
76
10
78
68
10
76
66
10
76
66
10
66
56
10
59
49
10
58
48
10
47
37
10
125
116
9
108
99
9
108
99
9
49
40
9
216
208
8
176
168
8
148
140
8
126
118
8
72
64
8
66
58
8
54
46
8
53
45
8
44
36
8
43
35
8
27
19
8
15
7
8
10
2
8
235
228
7
196
189
7
119
112
7
95
88
7
77
70
7
61
54
7
55
48
7
29
22
7
12
5
7
10
3
7
201
195
6
172
166
6
144
138
6
144
138
6
125
119
6
111
105
6
107
101
6
96
90
6
89
83
6
78
72
6
54
48
6
51
45
6
50
44
6
44
38
6
42
36
6
41
35
6
36
30
6
36
30
6
32
26
6
28
22
6
27
21
6
180
175
5
127
122
5
103
98
5
80
75
5
80
75
5
62
57
5
46
41
5
33
28
5
26
21
5
272
268
4
203
199
4
181
177
4
160
156
4
154
150
4
142
138
4
95
91
4
68
64
4
66
62
4
65
61
4
65
61
4
64
60
4
55
51
4
44
40
4
41
37
4
39
35
4
32
28
4
23
19
4
18
14
4
10
6
4
119
116
3
117
114
3
101
98
3
89
86
3
81
78
3
76
73
3
64
61
3
59
56
3
54
51
3
53
50
3
53
50
3
52
49
3
47
44
3
41
38
3
24
21
3
22
19
3
20
17
3
20
17
3
143
141
2
134
132
2
122
120
2
75
73
2
62
60
2
59
57
2
49
47
2
47
45
2
42
40
2
38
36
2
35
33
2
34
32
2
33
31
2
32
30
2
31
29
2
30
28
2
30
28
2
22
20
2
20
18
2
15
13
2
14
12
2
2
0
2
94
93
1
80
79
1
57
56
1
55
54
1
55
54
1
54
53
1
53
52
1
51
50
1
48
47
1
47
46
1
42
41
1
41
40
1
41
40
1
38
37
1
33
32
1
30
29
1
29
28
1
28
27
1
26
25
1
26
25
1
25
24
1
23
22
1
15
14
1
11
10
1
10
9
1