Dragonlaird Gaming Studios

Update: Publications List Updated

I corrected some atrocious formatting that was left over from the pre-blog version of my website, added in recent published work in Serenity’s Big Damn Heroes Handbook and a cool collage of KoDT covers for my column. Much easier to read and more orderly.

Update: Published in Roleplaying Tips Newsletter

An article I wrote on incorporating natural disasters into your campaign world has been published as part of Johnn Four’s Roleplaying Tips Newsletter: http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=464

Enjoy!

Guest Column: D&D 4E Impressions

I’d like to introduce Jeff Rees to Dragonlaird Gaming as a guest columnist starting with some thoughts he had on D&D’s 4th Edition after the recent TPK…

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I’ll have to say that wipe of the original 4e characters has been very educational. It also brings into focus some of the back and forth on the Edition Wars that I have read. I can see where some people will really love this edition, and some will really hate it.

The Love
I think in order to love this system, a couple of things have to occur:

1. Players must embrace the Role, not the Class. In prior editions, a character class’s role may or may not have been sharply defined. Wizard comes to mind – you could make just about any role with a 3e wizard (striker – power spells, leader – haste and other buffs (more of a role for the cleric), controller – Web and Evards Tentacles, etc). That is mostly gone now. Each class was designed to support a role. There are a few red herrings that are legacies from prior editions(for example, Magic Missile is NOT a good 4e wizard spell – it is a striker attack and not a controlling attack).

   Since prior editions were fuzzy, not all roles were covered. There was some implied roles, but most people looked to do damage. We tended to have Barbarians, not fighters; Sorcerers (with a few controller spells), not wizards. Now, we could get away with some role mismatch due to #2 below.

2. The DM needs to understand the PCs roles and the monster roles. 4e has made it easier to understand what a monster is supposed to do. You look at a pre 4e Ogre Magi and it was hard to really figure out what to DO with the monster. Some were obvious, some were not. 4e provides a nice tool to help DMs be more effective running monsters at a glance. But, a more effective DM means the PC party must be more effective. If not, the DM has to figure out how to challenge without just doing the same exploit of the party’s weakness.
3. Everybody needs to enjoy a good fight. I think 4e ups the game a bit in this area. It is not this extreme, but its kinda like going from playing Checkers to playing Chess. If you are there just to push the pieces forward, it probably is no fun. But if you like more intricacies, there is a lot of options that the roles give you (anywhere from just killing stuff to driving the DM crazy). Note that you could get the same options out of prior editions, but those editions supported other types a play better (general was easier, optimization was more work, esp on a group level).

The Hate
Some things that can drive ya nuts

1. Everybody wants to be a . You probably can do it, but being forced into running a role you do not like is no fun. The player stuck with a cleric before 3e was always in this situation.
2. If you love a classic class over a role – this is a big complaint. It manifests in many ways, but basically they liked class X the way it was. For example, they loved the old MM/Web/Inv/Fireball Wiz just the way it it has always been. If you loved pre-4e spellcasting for Clerics and Wizards, it is a tough move. Also those that loved their “sub-optimal” builds will hate the pressure to make something more effective.
3. “I just want to sit down and play.” I think a group can handle a few of these (others will get the PC up to speed). The powers make the play ok and players can help each other. But if your group is mostly there for casual gaming, 4e will not be fun.
4. You like structure for non-combat skills. If you loved crafting/profession skills, the hand waving at these will not be a plus for you.

Just my thoughts.

Jeff Rees

Update: September 2009

So if you can be a day late and a dollar short, am I down two bucks with my September update?

Fall has certainly hit central Ohio with more rain and cool temperatures. I love rain as it makes a sort of sweet spot for writing for me. Just need to leaven it with enough light or it can get depressing.

September was busy here at Dragonlaird Gaming ramping up on some top projects:

1. A Savage Worlds Audition – My primary focus in September was completing an audition piece for the folks at Talisman Studios (home of Savage Worlds). I wrote a “One Page Adventure” (which was actually 2+ pages) set in their Shaintar fantasy setting. We’ll see if they like my style and want to start working with me.
2. The Souls of Serenity – Starting with Shepherd Book, I’ll be examining each of the nine members of the Firefly ensemble cast. We’ll look at what we know about the character, what parts of the ‘Verse they bring to life, what role they play in the group, and then some take-aways for role-playing.
3. Gaming the Movies – The next column published in Knights of the Dinner Table magazine should be Ghostbusters. I’m putting the finishing touches on the next column, an examination of the British TV Series, Rosemary & Thyme.
4. Gaming the Movies II – I’ve begun to post Bonus Content to the website. So far the Shield has the most extensive content, notes that I took during my research that didn’t make it into the actual column. (I also found out that you can pick up a PDF copy of GURPS Cops at their e23 publishing site for $7.99). I’ll continue to backfill bonus content for previous columns as I get time.
5. My first TPK – Although I’ve been game mastering for over twenty-five years now, I’d never wiped out a party through combat before. That was changed a couple weeks ago when a cadre of intrepid adventurers met their match in the Keep on the Shadowfell module. I think it is a good thing since they eagerly went into new character creation to go back and beat the module. I’ll have to try offing the whole party again in the future.

Well, that’s all she wrote for September. As always, pass on this blog to a friend and drop me some topics you’d like me to cover in either the Creative Gamemaster’s Workshop, the Gaming the Movies column, or Serenity Articles.

Cheers,
Jim

Book Review: Superpowers

Hi, my name is Jim and I’m a superhero-themed novel junkie…

(Chorus) Hi Jim!

I’ll admit it. I like superhero comics and I like superhero novels. I’m drawn to comics that have a tinge or more of reality. I liked the deconstructionist stuff of the 1980s and 1990s. Watchman is a great graphic novel and while I enjoy the superheroics of Batman, it’s when he struggles with the strange position being Batman puts him in. Perhaps that’s why I’m drawn mostly to the Marvel characters: Spiderman and Daredevil in their solo titles in particular. A good mix of harsh reality and the freedom of having superpowers.

Anyway, I came across Superpowers by David J. Schwartz a few months ago while trawling for superhero-related titles in Amazon. There were some reviews about it being too soap-opera-y though most were favorable. It was worth a shot.

The story centers around five people loosely connected as room-mates or friends who inexplicably develop superpowers over night. Each of the five gains one power: speed, strength, mind-reading, invisibility, and flight. These revelations are at first treated a little casually by the author, not spending too much time in the initial shock of them. Each power has its liabilities and issues firmly grounded in asking a simple, realistic “what if”? If you suddenly had super strength, how would you keep from breaking things? If you gained super speed, would you start to have trouble slowing down?

Once they understand their powers and they learn who all got powers, one character drives them to follow the superhero paradigm: wear costumes/disguises, do good, don’t get caught. They ponder the equally weighty viewpoints on powers:

Ben Parker (Spiderman): “With great power comes great responsibility.”
John Acton: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”

Now in a typical superhero tale, there is a foe worthy of superhero powers: a supervillain, alien invaders, something out of control of normal authority. In Superpowers, there is no supervillain. Our five heroes foil burglaries, domestic abuse, robberies, and save people from burning buildings. They are powerful, but they aren’t perfect. Things don’t always turn out nice and clean and they have to deal with that as well.

This all plays out over the summer of 2001 in Madison Wisconsin. Knowing the tragic date that is coming lends a dark undertone to the whole book.

All in all, it turned out to be a book I couldn’t put down. I got invested in those five people and in how Mr. Schwartz was handling the ‘reality’ of superpowers. It wasn’t a four-color, Hollywood ending but isn’t that the real fantasy?

Update: August 2009

Summer is coming to a close and I’m ready for some football weather. Here are the recent developments at Dragonlaird Gaming…

1. New Series of Serenity Articles – I’ve got a nine-part series of Serenity articles in development that should start being posted in early September.
2. Gaming the Movies – I just turned in my latest submission for my movie column in Knights of the Dinner Table magazine by Kenzer & Company. I did branch out into TV Series but I started with The Shield. I’ve watched the first two seasons and came up with a lot good information and ideas. I’ll be posting “bonus content” to go along with the column here on Dragonlaird Gaming. Send me your nominations of movies and TV series to be reviewed.
3. Gaming the Movies II – To give folks a taste of Gaming the Movies if you haven’t seen it in an issue of Knights of the Dinner Tables, in September I’ll be writing a web-only column on a new movie or TV series. Watch for it by registering here on www.dragonlairdgaming.com
4. Results of the 17th Annual Ohio Game – The Ohio Game went very well. We had teams of 3 or 4 players who ran through my Serenity/Horror adventure called Heart of Darkness. I’m editing and revising it and hope to have it available here on the site soon.

More info for Gaming the Movies

My monthly column on how to play various movies as RPGs is a year old now and going strong.  But every time I write up a movie (or television series) I end up with information that didn’t fit in the column or was too detailed.  I’ve started a section here on Dragonlaird Gaming where I’ll be putting supplementary information for the columns.  It’ll take me a few weeks to go back and fill it in for all the previous columns, but you should be able to find additional web links, sample characters, ideas for setting/trappings/props, more adventure ideas, etc.

I think this will give readers from Knights of the Dinner Table magazine a nice extra for the column they read in the magazine.

I’m also planning on writing an extra column to post here so visitors can see what one of them is like. 

If I’ve covered your favorite movie already, you can pick up single back issues at KenzerCo.  If I haven’t, leave a comment here and let me know what movie or television series you’d like to see me take on.

Cheers, Jim

Keep Your Eyes and Ears Open

…to new offerings here on Dragonlaird Gaming. You can subscribe to the RSS feeds (found at the bottom of all pages) or join the site and leave your comments directly on the articles and posts. Click the “open” link in the upper right of the screen. It will reveal a control panel of sorts and give you a login option. To avoid the spambots, I’ll have to approve your registration, but that should happen in a day or so usually.

I look forward to your comments and requests for new topics.

What’s in their Pockets? Part 2

I wanted to continue my article on “What’s in their Pockets?” based on some discussions and feedback from readers of my blog.  Here are some more thoughts:

1. It’s Not For Everyone: If your heroes wade deep into battle and slay a troop of twenty orcs, you wouldn’t want to put different significant things on each of the dead.  Consider the dead to be an entity and they find much the same sort of thing on them all, be it the same unholy symbol, the same tattoos from the Spice Islands, or the same scarring from a specific plague that ravaged the orc tribes ten years before.  And sometimes minions are nothing more than faceless ‘stormtroopers’.  That’s okay as long as not every enemy is faceless.
2. The Plot Clue Bat: One of the most important ways to use Pocket Items is to give our heroes an important clue.  Were the soldiers carrying elven gifts betraying an alliance with the elves?  Did one of them have a tactical map of what their group was assigned to do?  Perhaps not all of them were soldiers and you find evidence of other professions on some of the less well armed and trained: papers and books on a scribe or pleader, maps on a scout, etc.  It is an efficient and effective way to hit your players upside the head with the Plot Clue Bat.
3. Red Herrings and Bad Fish: Sometimes the lead you plant in their personal effects is a distraction or actual false lead planted by the enemy.  Be very careful with this one.  If your group is very attentive and engaged in the campaign, a false trail once in awhile makes them more cautious about the clues they do get.  But if your group is more distracted, you may not want to confuse things with false information.  Sometimes it’s hard enough to get them to grasp the straight-forward clues.
4. Filling in the Story: D&D is a game where advancement, acquisition of wealth and magic are core parts of the game part of it.  Other genres and other systems aren’t focused like that and either focus on characters (like Serenity RPG/Cortex Engine) or stories more than the mechanics of the Heroic Path.  Minor Pocket Items will have more significance in those latter games.  In D&D, if it isn’t money or magic, it had better clearly be a clue or it will be dismissed as dungeon dressing.  Of course, this is a generalization, but the point is valid.  What is the heart of the game you’re playing and are little clues given importance.
5. Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge: When you start trying to add more Pocket Items, be pretty clear about what is important in what they find.  Help your players learn your style with this new information.  It’s fairly easy to breeze through descriptions of minor things but then pay more ‘screen time’ to the item that is the clue.  Think about it in a movie: the hero would spot the clue right away.
6. Run With It: If the Pocket Items that you use are too interesting, your players might go off on a tangent trying to figure out the mystery of why an orc commander had a tattoo from the Angel Guard on his neck.  If you have a pretty open-ended game, run with it.  If you’re trying to keep them in a particular adventure that has a distinct direction (if not openly linear), then make sure your Pocket Items aren’t too juicy or you de-emphasize them in the descriptions.
7. Not Just Items: To be clear, not all things in this category are actually items that fit in pockets or pouches.  They can be tattoos, missing digits or ears, brands, disease-scarring, and minor variances on racial telltales.  These can telegraph where the dead came from, who they swore allegiance to, or what their life experiences were.

Kudos to Jeff Rees and Jim Dugger for contributing to these suggestions.

What’s in their Pockets?

I think we’ve all seen the random tables here and there, lists of a hundred useless bits of junk that just slain foes might have in their pockets.  Pure flavor text, of course, so often disregarded by players who learn that there isn’t anything of importance except the coins and magic on a fallen foe.  I think we can do better than that.

The things PCs find in the pockets of their enemies can be useful to the campaign in several ways.  How much weight you give the items is up to you, though somewhere more important than random junk and less than the Key to the World would be best.

1. Who is this? One or more items in their belongings describe what kind of person they were.  Did they carry a small hand-crafted holy symbol to an outlawed gawd hidden in their belts or was it a flashy though cheap holy symbol of the prevailing deity of the day?  Does that pouch contain a set of tools for a drafted soldiers true profession, perhaps carving knives or lockpicking tools?  Do they carry a touchstone of their home such as a rare dried plant or a very unusual stone, identifying them as natives of a far-off region?  Some of these things may still be trivia as far as your campaign plots are concerned, but they provide details about your campaign world. Perhaps the PCs didn’t know that outlawed gawds were still worshipped or why soldiers from far-off Bezika were fighting for the Dread Duke.  Some things might just be useful, like those lockpicks.
2. Where have they been? People tend to pick up souvenirs of where they’ve been, out of curiosity or to show off to others.  A well-traveled mercenary might have scraps and bits from a variety of lands, attesting to their longevity and why they were so tough to defeat.  There might be stories behind some of the items, like the lover who gave him her silk scarf or the token of favor of a local noble.  More gruesome souvenirs might include small body parts of their kills, such as elven ears when elves live far away from here.
3. How did they pass the time? Often, the enemies of our PCs have been stationed in a place for some time, either garrisoned in the Dread Duke’s fortress or assigned to guarding the entrance to the dungeon.  Vigilance only goes so far in terms of passing the time.  Did they play dice with the other guards?  Did they carve intricate animal totems?  Perhaps a well-worn pipe and pouch of pipeweed was enough to make the hours pass.  They might even have a small book, perhaps religious verses or a well-worn collection of lewd bard’s tales.  A person’s hobbies says something about their own intellectual level, giving our heroes an idea of what sort of enemies they are up against.  If they find all sorts of intricate machines made out of bird bones, grasses, stones, and wood, they might decide that watching for traps ahead would be prudent.
4. Not Your Average… Why did this enemy not fit the PCs expectations?  Was the orc particularly young, a teenager perhaps without the bulk of muscle his elders had?  Why was one this young fighting here?  Trying to prove himself or are the orc numbers getting depleted?  Perhaps that tough fighter was actually a woman, hiding her gender to serve the Dread Duke and get those awesome dental benefits.  Drawing off their helm might reveal the all-too-familiar face of a simpleton, directed to fight by his family or tribe without knowing why.  Close examination might reveal a half-breed, weaker or stronger than the average tribe member.
5. They were what??? It’s always good to throw in a twist every once in awhile to show that not every orc or every guard is from the same stereotype.  Did the killing stroke tear open their tunic, revealing the tattoo of the Knights of White Piety?  Was this man a fallen knight or was he “undercover”?  Did he have the signet ring of a wealthy noble family hidden on his person?  Was he a member of that family or just in their good graces?  Should the PCs return him to that family for burial or run from their guilt in his death?  Why does he have Letters of Credit from an elite banker in Port City?  Are they his or did he steal them from someone?

There are many ways to make the enemies less ‘faceless’ and more ‘human’, ways to paint in a bit more of your world for the players, or ways to add clues to the mysteries at the heart of your campaign.