tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92098557378120165092024-03-18T18:17:26.430-07:00Methods & MadnessEric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.comBlogger602125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-48441753034697834512024-03-18T17:55:00.000-07:002024-03-18T18:17:24.432-07:00Fudging, lying and cheating<div style="text-align: left;"><i><b>[D&D] is a game, and outcomes shouldn’t always be predictable! Removing the risk of failure also removes most of the fun. </b></i>(From an <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/03/update-on-wilderness-encounter-book.html">upcoming random encounter book</a>).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Fudging" is a very contentious topic; most people reading this might have an strong opinion before reaching my conclusion. But before we discuss it, we need some definitions. The Cambridge dictionary defines it as to avoid a direct answer or "to cheat about something slightly, esp. by not reporting facts accurately or not telling the exact truth".<br /><br />In the context of RPGs, most of the fudging discussion refers to the moment when <b>the GM secretly changes the results of the dice (or other statistics of the game, such as monster HP) - usually in combat - in order to save players characters (PCs) - or even NPCs - from a fate that the GM deems inappropriate, anti-climatic</b>, etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There could be other definitions (and I'll discuss some), but this is the most common.<br /><br />The debate has two vocal sides: the ones that say fudging is cheating, as per the dictionary, and the ones who think fudging is necessary to avoid anti-climax or to save the PCs from fates they do not deserve. Curiously, the first camp is full of "old school" gamers like myself, despite the fact that the 1e DMG suggests saving "undeserving" PCs from death.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I believe both sides are too extreme and there is some nuance to be considered.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIil3X-ESAEObnvFSOpMDWbrng3dXKja-nw7LQhB_txCcUrhrbDHKdW143SlshrBNO3tzJKX9JE7n9kQmLRRp9at-wNmoXCNWmBdYOjYGnvhYVFa6MsYW6ShYnLDcPzeMVWEEeoJDAxBd8czcv__YJ5cZ_M-wPBqyfUjO_n-pgsiRc_A7lRpt1ukmOGUeC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="102" data-original-width="86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIil3X-ESAEObnvFSOpMDWbrng3dXKja-nw7LQhB_txCcUrhrbDHKdW143SlshrBNO3tzJKX9JE7n9kQmLRRp9at-wNmoXCNWmBdYOjYGnvhYVFa6MsYW6ShYnLDcPzeMVWEEeoJDAxBd8czcv__YJ5cZ_M-wPBqyfUjO_n-pgsiRc_A7lRpt1ukmOGUeC=s16000" /></a></div></div><div><br /><b>First, a small caveat - this is NOT a moral judgment</b></div><div><br /></div><div>In the past, I've seem people get offended by discussing this topic. I'm not calling anyone a cheat for fudging - it is your table, not mine.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think every GM has fudged in some circumstances, <b>and I certainly did.</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>But I also think this is usually a <b>mistake</b>, should be almost always be avoided, and it can ruin games. I'm not saying it is "evil", but I think it is fair to say it is "bad form".</div><div><br /></div><div>This discussion is akin to asking "is sugar bad for your health?". It probably is, but I'm not calling you unhealthy or forbidding you to eat a cake when I say that. I eat too much sugar myself...</div><div><br /></div><div>Please skip this post if you don't like the idea of criticizing fudging.</div><div><br /></div><b>Is fudging cheating?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The dictionary seem to indicate so, although some seem to think it is "cheating with good intent", and therefore shouldn't be considered cheating. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />RPGs are a cooperative game; between a GM and a player, there are no winners and losers, which is why the "cheating" term feels inadequate. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />To that I often reply that <b>GMs who defend fudging in never had to deal with a fudging player</b>. I have, and it is <b>exhausting</b>. I also noticed a GM was fudging and it almost ruined that game for me (but there are exceptions - read on).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[I didn't expel the player or quit the campaign, FWIW; but I avoided these situations in future games]</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Or put it in another way: <b>fudging is NOT cheating if you are honest about it</b>. "So, I rolled a natural 20 here, and that would probably kill your PC... but you know what, that goblin encounter shouldn't be that hard, my bad, let say the goblin missed".</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />On the other hand, if you're fudging and constantly lying about it, then it is probably cheating, even if "cheating with good intent". </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">After, why would you lie is what you're doing is good and expected?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Maybe you can START the campaign by saying that "look, I want to provide a good time to everyone, so I will occasionally change the result of the dice to avoid that any PCs die by accident. I'll try to use it sparingly and you guys try to avoid abusing the system".</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm not sure I'd play in such a game (I probably would!), but I'd like it one hundred times better than being duped into that.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>PC death is a problem</b><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The death of a PC is a problem. That is why HP were created - people get attached to their PCs. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A TPK (total party kill, i.e., the death of ALL PCs at once) is a big hurdle in a campaign unless you already have other PCs/NPCs involved in the campaign to avoid starting from scratch.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Fudging is one solution, but not the only one. You can also:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>- Create a new PC.</div><div>- Turn hirelings or NPCs into PCs.</div><div>- Use some form of resurrection.</div><div>- Make 0 HP mean unconsciousness/maiming as suggested in the 1e DMG.</div><div>- Have immortal PCs (examples: Toon RPG, Dark Souls).</div><div><br /></div><div>I wrote an (unpublished) RPG (with some story-game influence) that actually required the player to DECLARE his PC is willing to die for this fight. If the answer is negative, the worst that can happen is capture, failure, unconsciousness, etc. If positive, you get some temporary bonus but risk death, let the dice fall where they may.</div><div><br /></div><div>This solution is as good as any of the above, depending on the kind of game you're playing.</div><div><br /></div><div>The best way to address this is make it <b>explicit</b>. Talk to your players in the beginning of the campaign. What do we do if a PC dies? Or in the event of a TPK?</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Do PCs ever "deserve" death?</b><br /><br />Many GMs fudge to save PCs from an "unfair" death. Maybe two or three enemies hit in the same round, all with near maximum damage, not giving the player option of running away.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What is more, maybe it was a surprise attack and not a battle the players chose. Maybe the PC lost initiative and didn't even get to act or parlay.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I find that most of these cases enhance the fun of the game by adding risk and unpredictability. But if you believe otherwise, the best policy is, again, discussing this with your players beforehand and even changing the rules in advance to match your play-style.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In addition, judging if a PC "deserves" death is an extra burden to the GM. The GM is not there to morally judge the PC's choices, but to present a coherent setting. In any case, a brave PC might be more "deserving" of an heroic death than an NPC who decided to be a farmer instead.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In short, let the PCs decide what risk they are willing to take. Sometimes, simply traversing the wilderness can be deadly. If you don't find that fun, let your players know that they will always have the option of running before the battle starts (which is NOT the case for most D&D systems; surprise and initiative can kill you before you can act).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What about "unfair" challenges?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Fudging is sometimes related to the idea that encounter difficulty should match the PCs level. I usually advise against that, because:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div><div>- It makes the setting feel “fake”, as if it was built around the PCs.</div><div>- It robs the players of the satisfaction of finally facing stronger creatures that were once too powerful for them.</div><div>- It misrepresents the (RAW) danger of wilderness travel.</div><div><br /></div><div>The last point is especially relevant here. If you keep fudging the dice, the players will never learn how dangerous a group of orcs really is.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Fudge now, and you'll fudge forever</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This brings us to another problem? if you misrepresent the danger of these orcs once, it is unfair to expect your players are more careful next time. Then, you`ll need to fudge again.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, if you save ONE PC from death, it is unfair to not save ANOTHER PC under different circumstances - no matter how you justify it, it might feel like you're playing favorites.</div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Honesty is the best policy</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My PC was recently on the receiving end of a critical hit by a zombie that "should" be easily defeated. The DM was a bit apologetic, but for me it was the first time in the game that I felt my PC was in danger (he lost an eye). It made he game more interesting to me.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As a GM, I don't like the burden of having to lie about dice results. I always roll in the open and never use a DM screen in order to avoid temptation (as someone else commented, would you like your players bringing "player screens" to hide heir rolls?). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[In fact, if you use a DM screen when you make attack rolls I will assume you are fudging. I might even agree that your players <i>should </i>know you're fudging, although I'd prefer if you said it out loud. Online play brings a number of related issues that we will have to face soon - will there be "fudging tools" for the GM in RPG apps such as roll20? I wouldn't know, but I find the idea interesting.]</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I let the players choose the risk they are willing to take, and the dice decide if the risk materializes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If I am "saving" the PCs whenever I want, I am to blame whenever I don't.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><b>Fudging and story-gaming<br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I have said before that <b>"fudging" in D&D is the result of a misconception</b>, since the role of the GM is not to protect the plot or the pacing of the story". </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Fudging seems more common in people that want to play D&D as a story-game, using it as a tool to provide a "satisfactory narrative".</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Again, if that is how you like to play, it doesn't matter what other people say, have fun.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I will just remind you that <b>actual story-games usually do not encourage fudging either.</b> You don't get to choose your rolls in Fiasco or with Rory's Story Cubes AFAICT.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In fact, these games often have no DM, or at least include multiple tools to allow the players to meaningfully participate in the creation of the setting without directly controlling their PCs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Fudging in D&D seems to create a weird, asymmetric situation in which the DM is playing one kind of the game and the players are doing something different; as if the DM could change the dice at will, but PCs will be seems as cheaters if they do the same thing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Fudging players </b>seems to be an ignored point in this topic. Can players "fudge" too or they always cheat? How come DMs get to "save" PCs and NPCs, while the player cannot simply decided that letting his barbarian die against a lowly goblin would not be appropriate to his "character arc"?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If changing the result of the dice is cool for GMs, it should occasional be permissible to players - unless they agreed beforehand only one person gets to change results.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Fudging and random tables</b><br /><br /><div>There is at least one example of "recommended fudging" in the 1e DMG: ignoring random encounters rolls to spare the PCs who are "undeserving" of more danger.</div><div><br /></div><div>Curiously, many people do not see that as fudging. Even GMs that are vehemently against changing an attack roll to save a PC can feel comfortable by planning encounters beforehand and ignoring results that feel "too hard".</div><div><br /></div><div>In any case, you can see the method and results are very similar: changing dice rolls to save PCs from danger.</div><div><br /></div><div>I do not like this idea, for the reasons described above ("What about "unfair" challenges?"), but I don't think it is exactly the same situation.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is an oracular quality to random tables - which could be an interesting discussion, but this post is too long already. For now, I'll just say I'd happily "fudge" the results of a random table when creating a dungeon, for example.</div><div><br /></div><div>For random encounters, I'd prefer to have better tables then to fudge results. I'm working on that...</div><div><br /></div><b>"Acceptable fudging" - or "not-fudging"</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are cases in which the GM is expected to be able to change the dice or mechanics as he sees fit.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I use quotation marks because, <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2024/03/protect-your-gamemasters-and-dont-call.html">as my friend Jens pointed out, this might deserve a different name altogether</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I often change stats from monsters in published modules. I think it is important to say I change the monsters when I do that - these are not super-strong goblins, but morlocks, etc.. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I ignore encounters I don't like and even erase entire sessions of dungeons.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I am not sure I'd call this "fudging", but I don't mind if you do - in any case, this is not what people usually refer to when they say fudging (instead, it is a part of "prep"), so I see no reason to make things more confusing. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are other examples, as pointed in Jens post. Changing the rules, even during the game, can be more or less expected when play-testing, or getting to know a system. As he suggests, <b>"don't call it fudging"</b>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But I'd be careful with that too. I often think of my <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2022/06/shadow-of-demon-lord-review-i-book.html">Shadow of the Demon Lord</a> campaign, in which the PCs almost suffered a TPK in the FIRST adventure by fighting A SINGLE GHOUL. It was certainly "unfair" - nobody had played this game before and they were coming from an "heroic D&D" background.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But it DID set the tone for the rest of the campaign. They immediately realized SotDL is a hard, gritty game. If I had changed the dice (or HP etc.) at that moment, I would ruin the player's understating of the system - <i>unless </i>I explained what I had done.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I still think the first adventure in <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/08/tales-of-demon-lord-actual-play-review.html">Tales of the Demon Lord</a> is <i>too hard</i>, and I'd change it if I were to run again - but I'd avoid misdirecting the players or they'd never really get to experience the system.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>In conclusion...</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I find fudging a dangerous tool.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Letting the dice fall where they may takes a heavy burden of my back when I GM.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Ignoring this tool has a cost, but it creates new and interesting opportunities.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In any case, you should always talk to your players about which kind of campaign you're planning to run. Don't assume they expect this or that.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This feels like an endless topic, and don't feel like I considered every angle. I only hope this post has helped to make my opinion on the subject clearer.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Additional reading:</div><div><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2022/06/escape-truman-show-escape-matrix-god-dm.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2022/06/escape-truman-show-escape-matrix-god-dm.html</a></div><div><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2022/03/what-if-you-dont-fudge-your-rolls.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2022/03/what-if-you-dont-fudge-your-rolls.html</a></div><div><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/09/ad-dmg-cover-to-cover-part-ix-pages-100.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/09/ad-dmg-cover-to-cover-part-ix-pages-100.html</a></div><div><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/12/wotc-is-recommends-fudging-peril-in.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/12/wotc-is-recommends-fudging-peril-in.html</a></div><div><a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2024/03/protect-your-gamemasters-and-dont-call.html">https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2024/03/protect-your-gamemasters-and-dont-call.html</a></div></div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-51610844042932443982024-03-11T09:13:00.000-07:002024-03-14T05:07:54.994-07:00Minimalist roll-to-cast, take 2<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/02/minimalist-roll-to-cast.html">My previous attempt</a> was not minimalist enough, as pointed in the comments. So let's try this again.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The MU gets one spell per level.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Maximum spell level is equal to half your level.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To cast, make a spell saving throw - adding your Int modifier, but subtracting spell level.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Failure means one of the following (PC's choice):</div><div><br /></div><div>- You lose 1 HP per spell level, AND the spell fails.</div><div>- You cannot cast the same spell until tomorrow.</div><div><br /></div><div>A natural 1 means BOTH happen, or one plus spells mishap (spell goes wild, <i>Earthsea </i>style).</div><div><br /></div><div>A natural 20 means the spell was particularly powerful.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, I like this version even better!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Clerics </b>get half as many spells (starting on level 2). Is this too much of a nerf? Consider they have more HP to cast spells, more levels (per XP), and a potentially lots of healing powers with this one. Probably deserves further reflection.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4fQVephG1eJsPFxN9sO7oCRRzt-ObMaHvW11bj2ba39R-16CQs_UTUIe6RQ_qoVMOU-HiAwY3Zl3wDG2YOFTuIYJ2GOceVdg_cGQOhiTCqcteVpbB1QaEtZqasfnyiTEKTMcRlUswUbiJXhstI4pwqWHB65zmZQZJT9aKBCbf0HR-af1rNsCev6FWuO-/s383/wizard.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4fQVephG1eJsPFxN9sO7oCRRzt-ObMaHvW11bj2ba39R-16CQs_UTUIe6RQ_qoVMOU-HiAwY3Zl3wDG2YOFTuIYJ2GOceVdg_cGQOhiTCqcteVpbB1QaEtZqasfnyiTEKTMcRlUswUbiJXhstI4pwqWHB65zmZQZJT9aKBCbf0HR-af1rNsCev6FWuO-/s16000/wizard.png" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-38307320574142006682024-03-07T08:10:00.000-08:002024-03-11T08:56:38.273-07:00Update on the wilderness encounter book<div>I spent most of last weekend working on my wilderness encounter book for B/X.</div><div><br />The first part is a simplification of the <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-painful-procedure-of-random.html">random encounter procedure</a>. I like how that turned out; I'll publish most of it in this post blog soon.</div><div><br />The third part describes 366 days in the wilderness. Basically, weather, encounters and a few details for variety.</div><div><br />These parts are mostly finished by now.</div><div><br />The second part is the hardest. It describes, very succinctly, ONE THOUSAND random encounters, with most necessary rolls (number appearing, surprise, reaction). This is how it looks right now:</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcXgMm6w-W1Y_uchg6cc3rYBZcGuVu60AAZvJWJGYurSPjTqs3_YSxmiJXZijpTOqwmCzH30MbSN_CLsvmIygOM8Jh9CZLL_FspE2CB5pI_UmFZooXgur5DbuBDHD-K_LHB7XfJE1D5Oh-kz5k9uhTYLrkTnEQO1LXBPtsWe8mEKLqsr-A_v6yCIHaep8o" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="726" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcXgMm6w-W1Y_uchg6cc3rYBZcGuVu60AAZvJWJGYurSPjTqs3_YSxmiJXZijpTOqwmCzH30MbSN_CLsvmIygOM8Jh9CZLL_FspE2CB5pI_UmFZooXgur5DbuBDHD-K_LHB7XfJE1D5Oh-kz5k9uhTYLrkTnEQO1LXBPtsWe8mEKLqsr-A_v6yCIHaep8o=w400-h177" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br />This was a bit harder than I thought. Rolling dice thousands of times was easy with the help of apps and AI. Same for adding names to NPCs. </div><div><br /></div><div>The hardest part right now is "<a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/11/confused-wolves.html">confused wolves</a>". </div><div><br /></div><div>I had a hard time thinking of hundreds of variations for what's the monsters are doing. </div><div><br /></div><div>I could certainly take some inspiration from <a href="https://blog.d4caltrops.com/2021/07/monster-miens-by-type.html">this amazing blog d4 caltrops</a>, but I still feel it will get somewhat repetitive anyway. Most aggressive animals and beasts are just hungry or territorial - I can think of a few alternatives, but not hundreds of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>At least intelligent NPCs, dragons, etc. are looking pretty good IMO.</div><div><br /></div><div>B/X descriptions are very terse, so I have to add a few details from other sources.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, it's lots of work, but maybe it is worth it if other people find the book useful. </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, at least I've been using it in my own sandbox campaign.</div><div><br /></div><div>And I've been learning a lot about B/X monsters and encounter tables (mountains are VERY dangerous, and troglodytes are SCARY - 5d8 appearing, 2HD, camouflaged, attack everyone).<br /><br />So for now what I ask you to do, is let me know if that looks interesting/useful, or if you'd change anything.<br /><br />If this looks interesting and you and want to provide even more feedback, <a href="https://discord.com/invite/ANn9XQVg7A">consider joining my discord channel</a> to discuss it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The book will take a couple of moths or more to complete, but at this point I am pretty confident that it WILL be completed.</div><div><br /></div><div>BTW: let me know if you have any reservations about the use of apps and AI for dice rolls, random names, etc.</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-12383444638180931342024-03-01T05:15:00.000-08:002024-03-05T10:19:35.775-08:00GMs day sale (2024) - OSR, classic D&D and others<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/rpg_gmsday.php?filters=0_0_0_0_0_31817#selectpub?affiliate_id=403100">GMs day sale</a> has arrived, so here are my picks (same as last years with some additions).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Notice that the usual discount this year is <b>40%, which is even better than last year IIRC...</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">First, let me remind you that <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/12430/Chaos-Factory-Books"><b>all of my books are included in the sale</b></a>! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If your tastes are similar to mine, take a look! They are mostly compatible with OSR games (except for a couple of 5e books - "Manual of Arms").</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/featured.php?promotion_id=GMSDay_PDFRoll20_24&src=GMSDay_DTRPG_24?affiliate_id=403100">There are some big discounts if you use VTT</a>, which I don't. <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/458930/Dragonbane-Core-Set--Roll20-VTT--PDF-BUNDLE?affiliate_id=403100">Dragonbane</a> looks good so... maybe?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>New stuff I'm getting this year</b>: </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- I've been curious about <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/381205/HYPERBOREA-Players-Manual?affiliate_id=403100">AS&SH</a> for a while, and might finally check it out.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- I've been running some classic modules and I might get <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17087/Night-Below-An-Underdark-Campaign-2e?affiliate_id=403100">Night Below</a> and others (recommend some in the comments!).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/307320/The-Halls-of-Arden-Vul-Complete?affiliate_id=403100">The Halls of Arden Vul Complete</a> is also 40% off - or <b>$45.00 off</b>. Soudns reasonable for 1.100 pages (!) although it is probably too much material for me to digest.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, let's see the old favorites...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1AdoqGZlKfTgBh-fQzKcllPSzYmYRgc1mNrlNlVymIGHU4_fPiMzn9Hkx64U1kK1Bwa7vCcj2-lVjAHelUCuGql0oHJJ5zIxT3B8yhz2G2d9NlEdFS2UScM1172is9jybcePpTXCO54xIufvY_sXjw1ohFMJDISEX5E976PjXzNAjMsF5fLWGW_36oa0b" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="88" data-original-width="415" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1AdoqGZlKfTgBh-fQzKcllPSzYmYRgc1mNrlNlVymIGHU4_fPiMzn9Hkx64U1kK1Bwa7vCcj2-lVjAHelUCuGql0oHJJ5zIxT3B8yhz2G2d9NlEdFS2UScM1172is9jybcePpTXCO54xIufvY_sXjw1ohFMJDISEX5E976PjXzNAjMsF5fLWGW_36oa0b=s16000" /></a></div></div><br /></div></div><div><b>Big discounts!</b></div><div>These products seem to be about <b>40% off</b> and I find each of them interesting. The first two are my own. Some are also mentioned (and further explained) below:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>OSR</b></div><div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/317448/Teratogenicon?src=hottest_filtered">Teratogenicon</a>, my monster maker (check the previews!).</div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/229046/Dark-Fantasy-Basic--Players-Guide?src=hottest_filtered">Dark Fantasy Basic</a>, my B/X neoclone.</div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/265388/Low-Fantasy-Gaming-Deluxe-Edition?affiliate_id=403100">Low Fantasy Gaming Deluxe Edition</a> (<a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2016/11/review-low-fantasy-gaming.html">review</a> of the original version);</div></div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210754/Monkey-Business-Digital-Edition?affiliate_id=403100">Monkey Business</a>.</div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/101050/Dungeon-Crawl-Classics-RPG-DCC-RPG?affiliate_id=403100">Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG (DCC RPG)</a>;</div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/182608/How-to-Write-Adventure-Modules-That-Dont-Suck?affiliate_id=403100">How to Write Adventure Modules That Don't Suck</a>; </div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/151109/The-Monster-Alphabet?affiliate_id=403100">The Monster Alphabet</a>; </div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/279183/OldSchool-Essentials-Classic-Fantasy-Rules-Tome?affiliate_id=403100">Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy: Rules Tome</a>; </div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145769/Silent-Legions?affiliate_id=403100">Silent Legions</a>; </div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/226085/The-Nameless-Grimoire?affiliate_id=403100">The Nameless Grimoire</a>.</div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/259831/Into-the-Unknown--Book-1-Characters?affiliate_id=403100">Into the Unknown</a> (<a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2021/12/table-tools-booklets-and-into-unknown.html">my impressions</a>).</div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/99123/Adventurer-Conqueror-King-System?affiliate_id=403100">Adventurer Conqueror King System</a>.</div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/198163/Sharp-Swords--Sinister-Spells?affiliate_id=403100">Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Classic D&D</b></div><div>This are some of my favorites, also 40% off. Explanation <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2022/03/gms-day-sale-2022-ii-classic-d.html">here</a>.</div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/110274/DD-Basic-Set-Rulebook-B-X-ed-Basic?affiliate_id=403100">D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)</a>.</div><div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17171/DD-Rules-Cyclopedia-Basic?affiliate_id=403100">D&D Rules Cyclopedia (Basic)</a></div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17004/Dungeon-Masters-Guide-1e?affiliate_id=403100">Dungeon Master's Guide (1e)</a></div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/16865/Monstrous-Manual-2e?affiliate_id=403100">Monstrous Manual (2e)</a> - the current price is RIDICULOUSLY LOW for such a a great book.</div><div>* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17169/Dark-Sun-Boxed-Set-2e?affiliate_id=403100">Dark Sun</a> boxed set.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Goodman Games</b></div><div>In addition to the amazing <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/101050/Dungeon-Crawl-Classics-RPG-DCC-RPG?affiliate_id=403100">Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG (DCC RPG)</a>, I really like <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/78409/The-Dungeon-Alphabet?affiliate_id=403100">The Dungeon Alphabet</a>, <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/151109/The-Monster-Alphabet?affiliate_id=403100">The Monster Alphabet</a> and <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/284193/The-Cthulhu-Alphabet?affiliate_id=403100">The Cthulhu Alphabet</a>. They are near system-less and full of awesome stuff to inspire your games. I still haven't read <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/182608/How-to-Write-Adventure-Modules-That-Dont-Suck?affiliate_id=403100">How to Write Adventure Modules That Don't Suck</a> but it is also on sale. All of them 40% off.</div><div><br /></div><div>They also publish awesome adventures; alas, few are on sale, but fortunately <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/129075/Dungeon-Crawl-Classics-665-Doom-of-the-Savage-King?affiliate_id=403100">Doom of the Savage King</a>, the one I am currently running, is 40% off! <b>Recommended</b>! Same for <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/104220/Dungeon-Crawl-Classics-70-Jewels-of-the-Carnifex?affiliate_id=403100">Jewels of the Carnifex</a>, which I reviewed <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2021/07/dcc-70-jewels-of-carnifex-osr-adventure.html">here</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Necrotic Gnome</b></div><div>Several <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/5606/Necrotic-Gnome/subcategory/26251_32434/OldSchool-Essentials?affiliate_id=403100">Old School Essentials</a> titles are also on sale in addition to <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/279183/OldSchool-Essentials-Classic-Fantasy-Rules-Tome?affiliate_id=403100">Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy: Rules Tome</a>.<i> </i>I really like Old-School Essentials. It is basically a concise, well-organized version of my favorite D&D (B/X). The <a href="https://oldschoolessentials.necroticgnome.com/srd/index.php/Main_Page">SRD</a> is great. the version that interests me the most is the <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/336584/OldSchool-Essentials-Advanced-Fantasy-Players-Tome?affiliate_id=403100">advanced version</a> - it is NOT an AD&D clone, but B/X with many new options taken from AD&D, dragon magazine, etc. For <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/336584/OldSchool-Essentials-Advanced-Fantasy-Players-Tome?affiliate_id=403100">players</a> and <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/336584/OldSchool-Essentials-Advanced-Fantasy-Players-Tome?affiliate_id=403100">DMs</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sine Nomine Publishing</b></div><div><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348791/Worlds-Without-Number?affiliate_id=403100">Worlds Without Number</a> is probably the hottest "new" (released in April/2021) OSR title on sale with 40% off. I have only read the free version briefly, but seems very good overall, and I've appreciated many other titles form the same author, including <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/127180/Scarlet-Heroes?affiliate_id=403100">Scarlet Heroes</a> and <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145769/Silent-Legions?affiliate_id=403100">Silent Legions</a> (maybe my favorite OSR take on horror and Lovecraft).</div><div><br /></div><div>I think that's it for now. If you know any other books on sale that you'd recommend (especially if it is 40% off), let me know in the comments and I'll add it to my list. Feel free to promote your own products!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>These are all Affiliate links - by using them, you're helping to support this blog!</b></div></div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-47640163348203878682024-02-28T09:27:00.000-08:002024-02-28T14:28:17.122-08:00Vanilla Overdose, Random Insanity, and Fortress of the Iron Duke<div style="text-align: left;">I have recently ran Fortress of the Iron Duke, a free <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/12/in-praise-of-basic-fantasy-bfrpg.html">BFRPG</a> adventure that is part of BF2 Fortress, Tomb, and Tower: The Glain Campaign (<a href="https://www.basicfantasy.org/downloads.html">get it here</a>).</div><div><br /></div><div>I chose this adventure because it fits my own setting very well. In addition, has an interesting premise and site, a few moral dilemmas, and great opportunities for world-building and role-lay once the adventure is over. And <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/12/in-praise-of-basic-fantasy-bfrpg.html">I love BFRPG and its modules</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>While I have not ran the other two adventures in this collection, they seem to be a bit more interesting than this one.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall, I can say I had fun with this adventure, and the ending last night was memorable; I'm glad I chose it (but I did require lots of tweaking to adapt to the level and needs of my group).</div><div><br /></div><div>Fortress of the Iron Duke seems to be a homage to Palace of the Silver Princess, which I haven't played. This might explain some of my two (big) reservations with the module, that I've seem repeated on many popular modules, and which I'll call Vanilla Overdose and Random Insanity.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, <b>this isn't a review exactly, but an opportunity to discuss these two aspects, so I hope I'm not being too harsh to a free module that provided me with plenty of fun.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Vanilla Overdose</b> is the constant repetition of fantasy tropes: you have orcs, goblins, kobolds, skeletons, hobgoblins, oozes, zombies, giant rats... barely a single interesting monster to be found. I think the term is more or less self-explanatory. you can have goblins in your adventure, sure, but if ALL your NPCs/foes/challenges are predictable tropes, I simply cannot take the boredom after a while.</div><div><br /></div><div>The other problem - that seems closely related to the first, for some reason is <b>Random Insanity</b> - the feeling that you are facing a place that was created by rolling multiple times on a random table (for example, as suggested in the DMG).</div><div><br /></div><div>Take the goblins, kobolds, skeletons, and giant rats, for example. How are they living side by side? This adventure at least has an explanation for the humanoids and rats - they are attracted/affected by a magical gem. But the undead seem to come from out of nowhere*. Why not make them connected to the gem somehow? Sure, the GM can make these inferences, but it should be part of the adventure.</div><div><br /></div><div>(* Quite literally - there are 10 skeletons in a closet for no reason. Only today I realized it was an obvious joke - "the duke has skeletons in his closet". Fine, you got me.).</div><div><br /></div><div>Come to think of it, if the Fortress had been raided by multiple goblin clans - maybe with different weapons and even traits - it would be less tiresome than goblins + kobolds + orcs. </div><div><br /></div><div>Having only goblins as enemies could be boring for some people, but for me it is the contrary; each element that is added without some novelty makes me like the whole thing a bit less. </div><div><br /></div><div>Both <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-god-that-crawls-actual-play-review.html">The God That Crawls</a> and <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/03/doom-of-savage-kings-dcc-665-actual.html">Doom of the Savage Kings</a> (and most DCC adventures I've played) are good examples of having a limited number of creature types, but valuing each creature as something unique. I tried to create something along these lines with my <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/314393/The-Wretched-Hive">Wretched Hive</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The module also has living statues and an ordinary fountain that is hidden for some reason - and hidden in a strange manner:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXvKZUtLYyNRResN91PJS_d1FD-XjGViYmaQLL6dcBujdRj4MtcI1390nS8_grtbjguti2YE1EHmWl9e_mOZQwhPCnKp-8NK1IL5icCoeU7on1skGFHwPztZyjNjlbIGJUTC1Ly4MozCC4c4xDwA_lhM56AS0CbBNdbHJS69AkvFeO2r2FGtwgh7PFWfr/s266/12.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="266" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXvKZUtLYyNRResN91PJS_d1FD-XjGViYmaQLL6dcBujdRj4MtcI1390nS8_grtbjguti2YE1EHmWl9e_mOZQwhPCnKp-8NK1IL5icCoeU7on1skGFHwPztZyjNjlbIGJUTC1Ly4MozCC4c4xDwA_lhM56AS0CbBNdbHJS69AkvFeO2r2FGtwgh7PFWfr/s1600/12.png" width="266" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The whole lower floor has a strange architecture that doesn't resemble an actual castle or cave. Look at this corridor; it is almost impossible that there wouldn't be a better way to build this:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Cq08qwG1umNr3YRKbXpECELP3LhJX7x0Mv2EKl5EMG_JKtgC218YGM5ql0P2vA2tkfDWSLdna-sVLXjlw5hBEP88yM7I8Gmunep3yzL_rYHre_O060jW5zmSZY7gLZ1rUfVPgptPEssh_nO6xyU4L5f2_mCtDSCxEXXOX6LyRHIuS0uJRKIGkxdVhLgf/s493/lower.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Cq08qwG1umNr3YRKbXpECELP3LhJX7x0Mv2EKl5EMG_JKtgC218YGM5ql0P2vA2tkfDWSLdna-sVLXjlw5hBEP88yM7I8Gmunep3yzL_rYHre_O060jW5zmSZY7gLZ1rUfVPgptPEssh_nO6xyU4L5f2_mCtDSCxEXXOX6LyRHIuS0uJRKIGkxdVhLgf/s16000/lower.png" /></a></div><br /><div>Curiously enough, <b>the upper level is completely different, and much better</b> - we get something that resembles and actual building and even some new creatures (narcotic giant roses).</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, it was a fun adventure, but for my personally it would be awesome without these two aspects. </div><div><br /></div><div>Classic fantasy is cool, but vanilla can become boring (or maybe I'm just tired of orcs).</div><div><br /></div><div>Weird is cool, but random is tiresome.</div><div><br /></div><div>In any case, I'm still interested in trying the other adventure from this book and the entire collection. I've already ran <b>The Blackapple Brugh,</b> <b>Castle by the Sea</b>, and some others. Many were enjoyable. Blackapple is probably my current favorite due to having both internal consistency and some novelty (and no orcs!).</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyone can check these adventures, since they are free and all, but maybe sharing my own experiences is useful if you're looking for your next module.</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-89715920598049281772024-02-26T17:47:00.000-08:002024-02-27T07:30:22.632-08:00Minimalist roll-to-cast<div style="text-align: left;">Not entirely my idea, I read it somewhere and added a little twist.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here it goes: the MU gets one spell per level.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To cast, roll 1d20 equal/under Intelligence.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Failure means one of the following (PC's choice):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- The spell fails.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- You lose 1 HP per spell level.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- You cannot cast the same spell until tomorrow.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Failure also means you must make a spell saving throw - a new failure means that the GM randomly chooses a second consequence from the list (alternatively, he may create a spell fumble if you're exhausted enough that losing HP means death. This is because otherwise no one would ever want to learn magic).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A natural 20 could mean all three things happen, but a natural 1 means your next casting gets a bonus.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Clerics: maybe they need to roll under wisdom and only get half as many spells. "Cure" spells are always a problem with HP-based spells, so that might need some consideration.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUICY3SwX8_XW3j1hEkYuhkrNxcRVUQ2rA9JLMbxYOypyljiVy45oRvga2lGwuGL0-j3zvUWDceBxroSvVko0le8rUJnZH3lYns1sYNaRrO_UeER1kkTkYxhxGeTwTN69r_EwCpBypxJ227zlDPp8zjN_PaqBmD3-SyVXe6skdufgUfFYi7_NWj3RfxfG/s624/image.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUICY3SwX8_XW3j1hEkYuhkrNxcRVUQ2rA9JLMbxYOypyljiVy45oRvga2lGwuGL0-j3zvUWDceBxroSvVko0le8rUJnZH3lYns1sYNaRrO_UeER1kkTkYxhxGeTwTN69r_EwCpBypxJ227zlDPp8zjN_PaqBmD3-SyVXe6skdufgUfFYi7_NWj3RfxfG/s16000/image.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Consequences:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- The system is a bit harsh, especially at lower levels, if you're using 3d6 in order*.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Clerics are somewhat safer casters because of their HP and better saves. Good.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Level is taken into account through HP and saves.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Low-level MUs can cast high-level spells but they risk their lives or a magical mishap. Neat!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Other classes can cast spells, maybe with a penalty?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Spells in combat become more dynamic, with failure and even death being possible consequences.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">* Come to think of it, maybe memorized spells are rolled with "advantage" or whatever - provided you're rolling 3d6 in order for PCs. If using AD&D methods, this is probably unnecessary (give a penalty to non-memorized spells instead).</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-86113055741327615912024-02-24T09:45:00.000-08:002024-02-24T09:45:26.224-08:00The Fallible Fiend (book review)<div style="text-align: left;">(Part of <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-appendix-n-project.html">the appendix N project</a>).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Fallible Fiend is a novel by L. Sprague de Camp recommended in the Appendix N, which is why I bought it in the first place.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I had never read anything from the author (who wrote over 100 books, wrote and edited Conan stories, invented the term "E.T.", among other things), and I was pleasantly surprised.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The Fallible Fiend tells the story of the demon Zdim, bound to work for one year in the (earth-like) "Prime Plane". During that time, he gets constantly confused trying to understand human customs, subtleties, and contradictions. Amusingly enough, the demon is often more moral and reasonable than most humans he meets. After being summoned by a wizard, he is eventually sold to other masters, gets to see the wider fantasy world, and embarks on an epic (if still funny) quest to save a big city from being destroyed.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The first few chapters are very funny, and I thought the book would follow a series of vignettes as Zdim gets handed from master to master, but by the middle of the book the demon gets embroiled in much larger matters. This second part is equally good if maybe not as funny - it could be the basis of an heroic D&D adventure by its own right.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XPornq2iQnxd-KnHwOscnJ0D4JBhFbfxvqBwHFT8GIyRZB5t_fBCAl-jEYECwu4s9MO8emO1kM-Zoq38TLTIG6pRvqMBlXwNCS7J8QKAG1ZxgSq1kDPqcJyZFh_FFrt3VBBRKPlqcDwZ2U4Zmz4fn7W0kwyALkywyrOwtVaW4iPhApWp-txiZ7yHJGdW/s412/The_Fallible_Fiend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XPornq2iQnxd-KnHwOscnJ0D4JBhFbfxvqBwHFT8GIyRZB5t_fBCAl-jEYECwu4s9MO8emO1kM-Zoq38TLTIG6pRvqMBlXwNCS7J8QKAG1ZxgSq1kDPqcJyZFh_FFrt3VBBRKPlqcDwZ2U4Zmz4fn7W0kwyALkywyrOwtVaW4iPhApWp-txiZ7yHJGdW/s16000/The_Fallible_Fiend.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The setting described in this book is very D&Dish, and you can see how Gygax might have been influenced - maybe this was one of the sources of <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/06/ad-dmg-cover-to-cover-part-iv-pages-37.html">DMG shamans</a>. We've got underground cities, kangaroo riders, giant reptiles, mazes, and various wizards.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Each country visited by Zdim has its own customs, religions and forms of government. The author uses this an opportunity to mock some idiosyncrasies of human societies, somewhat like Gulliver's Travels. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It is also comparable to authors such as Vance, Lieber and Clark Ashton Smith, both in theme and style.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The book is reasonably short and the pacing is great, never making me tired or bored. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Overall, a great read, and I will definitely look for other books by the same author - probably starting with THE CARNELIAN CUBE.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Recommended!</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-41527906762821723212024-02-22T15:57:00.000-08:002024-02-22T15:57:57.546-08:00Minimus Ludus<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/471690/Minimus-Ludus?affiliate_id=403100">MINIMUS LUDUS</a>* is a new minimalist game by my friends Mark van Vlack with Jens Durke (<a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2024/02/introducing-minimus-ludus-to-world-also.html">the disoriented ranger</a>).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2024/02/introducing-minimus-ludus-to-world-also.html">This post</a> has additional information.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">All I can add is that I've read it and really enjoyed the idea.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As you know, I love minimalist systems, and this one fits is a couple of pages. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It is also very freeform and flexible, usable in any setting or genre - the book contains 8 micro-settings to begin with, and it seems very easy to create your own.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The layout is simple and good looking - check the previews.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you like games such as Risus, you might enjoy this one. I'd definitely be interested in playing or maybe even running it, as both things seem very easy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD6Mm2NrIREPL1TlImNLBDOfdXgYZNOGXngD8Vgz74nQQXG1PSo4buz2uXacc9SCi78rjPhKaTEBj4PmiJDTBHg4ukbZIHUlY6Qwe-N8ujT3ttDFXYuzKRdrFeqMCrzrJZMSy30H_smbSOdlj_ORwODUKTpaYCWzmgO9067Xpk1MDWYrr8cMqHru_N_ayB/s680/GG84I-PbcAATtB1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="479" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD6Mm2NrIREPL1TlImNLBDOfdXgYZNOGXngD8Vgz74nQQXG1PSo4buz2uXacc9SCi78rjPhKaTEBj4PmiJDTBHg4ukbZIHUlY6Qwe-N8ujT3ttDFXYuzKRdrFeqMCrzrJZMSy30H_smbSOdlj_ORwODUKTpaYCWzmgO9067Xpk1MDWYrr8cMqHru_N_ayB/w450-h640/GG84I-PbcAATtB1.jpg" width="450" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/471690/Minimus-Ludus?affiliate_id=403100">Check it out on DTRPG</a>!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><i>Affiliate links - by using this, you're helping to support this blog!</i></div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-52357975766839826272024-02-20T08:04:00.000-08:002024-02-20T11:39:52.623-08:00Minimalist sword & sorcery I - The concept<div style="text-align: left;">I've been thinking about this idea for a while. I started writing a <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/search?q=minimalist">minimalist</a> D&D but I got stuck, maybe my hearth is not in elves and orcs anymore. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But what about a minimalist sword and sorcery game? That sounds cool. There are a few good ones out there (I really like <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2016/11/review-low-fantasy-gaming.html">LFG</a> for example, but it is a bit crunchy for my tastes), but maybe I can add something of my own.<br /><br />Here is how I would (will?) do it:<br /><br /><u><b>S&S Tropes</b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- Tough protagonists - Starting at level 3 is recommended, everyone has many talents: a fighter can climb and hide, a sorcerer can use swords and some armor, etc.<br />- Dark, Dangerous Sorcery - Must recreate the entire spell system.<br />- Perilous world - well, we already expect that from D&D. But add easy rules for starvation, dehydration, etc.<br />- Decadent civilization - even resting in town is a challenge.<br />- Some <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2018/04/whats-so-dark-about-dark-fantasy-d.html">dark fantasy tropes</a> apply here: nonhumans are mysterious, alignment is complex, etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjp8Zv56mDie8BX4KJdXmQ57-sy9I_0u_6bzfH0bA8DujTgEfxiryZYAmCFVO_R2hIWcOldQJEuS6axCk5_yJACbdhClup7YYbPC5Y5kkzdw3255a1YskZGLtHNkEIXu2ovmJw1Eplw_82BnUYC8nXvIFR0ekOij565S_zeowy-NPheYtvRD9Uy8jvfEWsN" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjp8Zv56mDie8BX4KJdXmQ57-sy9I_0u_6bzfH0bA8DujTgEfxiryZYAmCFVO_R2hIWcOldQJEuS6axCk5_yJACbdhClup7YYbPC5Y5kkzdw3255a1YskZGLtHNkEIXu2ovmJw1Eplw_82BnUYC8nXvIFR0ekOij565S_zeowy-NPheYtvRD9Uy8jvfEWsN=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><u>The system<br /></u></b><br />- The basis: <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/12/in-praise-of-basic-fantasy-bfrpg.html">BFRPG</a> because it is an awesome game with CC license.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Convert everything to a <a href="http://www.oedgames.com/target20/">Target20</a>-like system.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Take some hints from AD&D.<br /><br /><b><u>Player Characters<br /></u></b><br />- Ability scores: 3d6 in order or maybe something a bit stronger.<br />- Classes: Fighter, Sorcerer, Expert. Optional feats and skills to differentiate them.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Races: none, but you can add some cultures or backgrounds (barbarian, civilized, decadent, etc.).<br /><br /><b><u>Adventure and combat<br /></u></b><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- As usual, with my own tweaks, including cleave and other power-ups for the fighters.<br />- Most challenges are simply Target20 or similar.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Lots of optional rules for weapons and armor because I like them.<br /><br /><b><u>Magic</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b>- I have to rewrite it completely to make it more dark and dangerous.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Sorcery probably requires bounding spirits to your will, but also includes some alchemy, mesmerism and summoning.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Add some rituals, corruption and blood magic from Alternate Magic.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Magic items are not as common and not as useful.<br /><br /><b><u>Monsters</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b>- Probably just curate the list a bit, giving more emphasis to S&S foes.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Also emphasize unique monsters and monster variations (using Teratogenicon as inspiration).<br /><br /><u><b>Treasure</b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b>- Must be significantly reduced (see <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/06/my-problems-with-old-school-treasure.html">this post</a>).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Minimalism</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b>- Single save, single XP table, single mechanic for skills, etc.<br />- Lots of optional rules left to appendices.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Sounds interesting?</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-51004710534720954482024-02-17T12:31:00.000-08:002024-02-17T12:31:22.779-08:00Hitting armor in D&D + glancing blows<div style="text-align: left;">Here's another idea on weapon versus armor. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Assume ascending AC: 10 if unarmored, 12 for leather, etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />If you roll less than 10 (or a natural 1), you miss. But if you roll a number higher than 9 an lower than AC, you hit armor.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />This part is intuitive. <b>Maybe you already use something similar when narrating combat</b>: "17? You hit him, but your sword is deflected by his armor", etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Now give each type of weapon an Armor Piercing (AP) rating. Maybe a maximum of 50% (heavy mace) and a minimum of 10% (natural weapons). Unarmed attacks get AP 0.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When you hit armor, you deal a fraction of your full damage round down.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />And that's it! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A +1 bonus due to magic or dexterity bonuses can save you on a roll of 11, for example (no damage).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXXF-GEKqOGg3oVZO_AOYENSTB2cprU9AiqWs4QCAgwIww6hwFIyEKnq3qCyaOyum23R7XXJiaxfEktfuffcIfnlXOn4PMJcg4OSc7Edz6L-ATFlUneyUCR6B6Ye5RCsUOrN2gji7XVX1CTR5R754b2c8Nb3OMNTOwiFajjl4_MjzSk18Q7vY_QsOZAwX/s912/arm.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXXF-GEKqOGg3oVZO_AOYENSTB2cprU9AiqWs4QCAgwIww6hwFIyEKnq3qCyaOyum23R7XXJiaxfEktfuffcIfnlXOn4PMJcg4OSc7Edz6L-ATFlUneyUCR6B6Ye5RCsUOrN2gji7XVX1CTR5R754b2c8Nb3OMNTOwiFajjl4_MjzSk18Q7vY_QsOZAwX/s16000/arm.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Easy right?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Most (not all) side effects are positive for me:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />* When a giant hits you - even in plate armor - you'll get hurt. Dexterity might be more useful here...</div><div style="text-align: left;">* Everything becomes more dangerous, so many give a few additional HP. </div><div style="text-align: left;">* Armor is a bit less useful so this requires some balancing (make it lighter or raise all ACs).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The downside is adding more crunch.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We could go one step further and do the same with <i>speed</i>... From 10% to 90% chance of getting an extra attack, roll once for all combatants. Or roll to see if you can interrupt a spell before it is cast, etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But that is another matter...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Glancing blows</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is an easier/lighter alternative.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">An exact hit (e.g., rolling 17 against AC 17) is a "glancing blow", dealing a fraction of damage (or -x damage, depending on the weapon). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Against very high AC, glancing blows will happen very often (e.g., once for every four hits), but against low AC there will be little difference in damage per round.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The effect is similar: some weapons are better against armor. However, the impact of this rule is much smaller.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(What is more, maybe a glancing blow gives you a chance of getting a free attack - so that quick weapons are more useful against unarmored targets!)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This might just be easy enough to actually try to implement in my B/X games...</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-52206159856358191722024-02-15T04:00:00.000-08:002024-02-17T12:29:03.138-08:00Wargames, storygames and RPGs<div style="text-align: left;">We have been through this before, but I might as well make try to make it clearer.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div><b>Role-playing games are neither wargames nor storygames.</b></div><div><br />The main difference is probably how you play the PCs (and the setting; see below).</div><div><br />In RPGs, <b>you play them in as if they were real people</b>, with their own needs and interests. This stance is very <b>unique </b>to RPGs.</div><div><br />In wargames, you play them as <b>pawns </b>in a "board" or table: they are easily discarded for the benefit of the faction/army or whatever, and player choice is determined by meta-analysis of the game or the grand scheme of things (e.g., I can lose this PC to save the unit, and then quickly create a new PC with 10% of his XP, maybe I can beat this trap with ONE of my PCs if the other dies, etc.).</div><div><br />In storygames, PCs are <b>protagonists </b>in a story. Player choice is determined meta-analysis of the plot. A player could choose the death/defeat of the PC because it is appropriate to the plot or story.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let me repeat this: in RPG, you RP characters as if they were REAL within the bounds of the fictional setting.</div><div><br /></div><div>In other words, RPG characters <b>have value in themselves</b>, regardless or side or plot. This is so unique to RPGs that it often generates anecdotes about players creating dozens of characters for fun, which, while a bit absurd in itself, would be almost unthinkable in a wargame or storygame.</div><div><br />One important thing to remember is that saying wargames and storygames are not RPGs is not an offense to ANY of these games!</div><div><br />They are just different. </div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Sometimes the boundaries are so fuzzy that they allow some intermingling. Old school role-players sometimes fall back to wargame rules and methods, while modern D&D often contains lots of storygaming in actual play.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The <b>chronological </b>order for D&D is <b>wargame - RPG - storygame</b>. But that does not mean any of them is more genuine or obsolete. Checkers is not a better or worse game than chess or poker.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8HnRtTVz5vameeuJiQu-I3cE8KUkSujTm0zsiVEHX_6pY_cpQjSx1UZUadStLCefkrXPgrY32MG8crMvgzqEA1PA0tYKnxsrUF6KWkUTL_kKpSNrWXy3GXvr9n6qnhpF7Xt__U3PIhNQHKivT5mg7o8xNzyD_-SbwMtCe6RZeRUaKFHizpPoXDmgtm2B-" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8HnRtTVz5vameeuJiQu-I3cE8KUkSujTm0zsiVEHX_6pY_cpQjSx1UZUadStLCefkrXPgrY32MG8crMvgzqEA1PA0tYKnxsrUF6KWkUTL_kKpSNrWXy3GXvr9n6qnhpF7Xt__U3PIhNQHKivT5mg7o8xNzyD_-SbwMtCe6RZeRUaKFHizpPoXDmgtm2B-=s16000" /></a></div><br /><b><u>The role of the GM<br /></u></b><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The GM, in RPs, plays the world as if the setting was REAL. <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2020/03/rpg-and-design-iii-crunch-is-fluff.html">Fluff is crunch</a>. Likewise for NPCs, with their own interest and needs, often regardless of "faction"/side or plot.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In wargames, the GM is a neutral arbiter, but his impartiality usually comes from the need to be fair to both SIDES of a quarrel.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In RPGs he should also be impartial, but in favor of the reality of the setting.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In storygames, there is not always a GM, but if present he is foten responsible to move the "plot" forward, create climaxes, antagonists, etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Wargames and storygames can easily be played without a GM.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">RPGs, on the other hand, need the GM <i>role</i>; in a "solo RPG", the player takes this role, sometimes even more often than the role of player (e.g., in Mythic GM Emulator). Another possibility is having a game so full of detailed random tables that the <i>book </i>provides the GM role.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Metagaming</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In RPGs, the precedence of the fiction over the mechanics (remember, this is a "real" world, or at least treated as such) makes too much metagaming (i.e., thinking as a player SEPARATED from the PC) an undesirable occurrence.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>In wargaming and storygaming, metagaming is the norm</b>, because the PCs are viewed from a "third person" perspective.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is one reason I avoid miniatures; on the other hand, I see how they can be useful to ensure the player see the whole picture the PCs are seeing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Another example: "describe how you killed the troll". While this could look like a third-person perspective (if you describe the troll's reaction to the killing blow, for example), you're encouraging the player to see through the eyes of the PC.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Again, the "play like you were the character", "play like the setting was real", part is very unique to RPGs. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A wargame or first-person shooter can align the player with the PCs motivations if they are very simple (i.e., just survive the battle), but the "the PC can do anything like a real person" and "a world with no invisible walls" of RPGs is hard to replicate in any other media.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u style="font-weight: 700;">Unclear boundaries</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The definitions above are clear enough, but in practice things get fuzzy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The original D&D was partly a wargame (Chainmail). Alignments were "sides" of a battle (later, they became intrinsic to characters and creatures; HOW they see the world since you're going to see the world from their eyes).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Things like 1:1 time (in all its forms) and the idea that "you must end the session in town" are typical meta-game concerns. The players are asking themselves if they can play next week or if they have to finish in a couple of hours, instead of how many torches the PCs have.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[What about "how many HPs the PCs have"? This is not exactly a meta-game concern as it has a translation WITHIN the fiction: how wounded the heroes are. But that is a looong discussion.]</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And modern RPGs (often called "narrativist RPGs") get deep into storygame territory. But even in regular D&D, story concepts are popular. For example, "fudging" dice because the "plot" demands it, or because the "main antagonist" got defeated too soon, etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, I think <b>"fudging" in D&D is the result of a misconception</b>, since the role of the GM is not to protect the plot or the pacing of the story. Likewise for changing a monster's HP mid-fight; this is not the role of the GM in RPGs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On the other hand, metagame challenges are often <i>fun </i>to include in RPGs (for example, <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2022/04/real-time-dungeon-exploration.html">using a stopwatch for random encounters</a>), <b>especially when they help the players to get into the PC's mind</b>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The reason is that it is not always easy to stay "within" the mind of PCs for a long time, especially when the PC is hurried and scared and the players are seating cozily and taking minutes to decide what the PCs are doing in the next second.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is an hypothesis: RPGs must balance two different urges: playing your PC as a <b>pawn </b>or playing him as a <b>protagonist</b>. A real person is <b>neither</b>, but since pawns and protagonists are opposed, so one perspective/urge can sometimes <b>balance</b> the other.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In other words, while I think these non-RPG perspectives should be avoided as a general rule, they can sometimes be useful if they enhance the alignment between players and PCs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Everyone is the hero of their own story...</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Another problem to consider is that the players, as the PCs, can rightly think of them as the heroes of their own story - this is how most real people see themselves anyway.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">On the other hand, the GM, with a wider view of the setting and keeping it true and coherent, while ,controlling lots of NPCs, must sometimes see the PCs as mere pawns in the grand scheme of things.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, maybe, there will always be a tension between these two sides, and we will never find RPG in its "pure" form. But searching for this balance is of the essence of our hobby.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>UPDATE/ADDENDUM (17/02/2024)</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>It has been brought to my attention that the term "wargame" is much broader and can includes all types of games and many RPG-like elements - even before the creation of D&D. The history of wargames and RPGs is much more nuanced - to elarn more about this, the books by Jon Peterson have been recommended to me.</div><div><br /></div><div>For this post, I'm using "wargame" and "RPG" basically as defined by wikipedia. Same for "storygame":</div><div><br /></div><div><i>A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command <b>opposing armed forces</b> in a simulation of some military operation.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>A role-playing game [...] (RPG) is a game in which players assume the <b>roles of characters in a fictional setting</b>. </i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>A storytelling game is a game where multiple players <b>collaborate on telling a spontaneous story</b>. Usually, each player takes care of one or more characters in the developing story.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>As mentioned above, the lines are sometimes blurry - is Braunstein wargame or proto-RPG? Is <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-minimalist-beauty-of-d-dragon-quest.html">Dragon quest</a> a quasi-RPG or simply a boardgame like Heroquest? Are boardgames scuh as Risk or Battleship also wargames? Etc.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, these definitions are good enough because they come from a famous source (Wikipedia) and include three descriptions that are essential to define each kind of game: <b>opposing armed forces, characters in a fictional setting, and telling a story</b>. </div><div><br /></div><div>These three perspectives are useful to differentiate these three games.</div></div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-81388631394415038172024-02-13T05:54:00.000-08:002024-02-13T17:58:50.962-08:00The Gods of Mars (book review)<div style="text-align: left;">After finishing (and thoroughly enjoying) <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/01/a-princess-of-mars.html">A Princess of Mars</a>, I started the sequel almost immediately (if you haven't read APoM, read that review first).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Despite being quite similar to the first one, this book gave me mixed feelings.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />This will be a short review - if you enjoyed the first (a must read!), this book is well worth checking out. If you didn't, you will probably not like this one either. Overall, I'm glad I've read it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LzYxGwSUIuUbA65gfphFvv6vlhhfWeOveGKO9xS9XOfz0BQKTA6guLTkmHOuHxeX6wMMm36_lODAyUXWIqRDdnhfd18GXq_2oFIg3gAup5CRT9gSmTPOoZQnl12lJbGlC8Je_We-QlyUi2rR1PxPZMBAoHcDWYk0tTOegT734i71-6R-C5ixDSthcG0z/s990/Gods_of_Mars-1918.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="648" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LzYxGwSUIuUbA65gfphFvv6vlhhfWeOveGKO9xS9XOfz0BQKTA6guLTkmHOuHxeX6wMMm36_lODAyUXWIqRDdnhfd18GXq_2oFIg3gAup5CRT9gSmTPOoZQnl12lJbGlC8Je_We-QlyUi2rR1PxPZMBAoHcDWYk0tTOegT734i71-6R-C5ixDSthcG0z/w419-h640/Gods_of_Mars-1918.jpg" width="419" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This book has all the trappings of the first one: the pulp action, cloak-and-dagger intrigue, fast pacing and, my favorite part, the awesome world building.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />New types of Martians are introduced. Maybe they are not as imaginative as Green Martians, but still very interesting. New monsters too; the plant people are fun if a bit too weird.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The influence on D&D is less obvious here, but it's still very likely this book was an inspiration (even if indirectly) to the Drow, for example. The Drow are said to come from Margaret St. Clair (which I am yet to review, but has some interesting ideas), but they might as well have been lifted directly from this book. Barsoom's "first born" have ebony skin, beautiful bare-naked bodies, and a war-like society that worships some kind of she-demon.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first half of the book is top notch. The sinister plot behind Barsoom's religion is a great twist, and the "dungeons" are ready to be used in your D&D games. We already had ships, swords, psionics and ray guns in the first book, and now the author adds pirates, cannibals, labyrinths and exquisite traps to the mix. What is not to like?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Well, everything is in this book cute feels bigger in the scope than the first one. There are chaotic battles with multiple sides and multiple sites (with fires, floods and traps). There is more intrigue and secret plans. Instead of one princess, we have three - and they all fall madly in love with John Carter, of course.<br /> <br />As you can see, everything that was a bit exaggerated in the first book becomes more so in this one. The sheer number of “deus ex machina” instances become almost unbearable, as an incredible number of unlikely coincidences keeps happening to our hero for no apparent reason other than making the plot more interesting and exciting.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />By the end of the book, the stakes are incredibly high, but it is difficult to believe any danger the heroes find will be enough to pierce through their plot armor.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In short, is a fun book, not as awesome as the first, but it still gave me plenty of inspiration.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I am not particularly eager to continue the series (but I might read the third book just to finish the original trilogy), although it keeps introducing cool elements: cloning, mind-transferring, walking heads, and more princesses.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[Maybe I'm being too harsh to Carter; Conan has had his share of queens and princesses, and often in a less platonic manner].</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In spite of my reservations about the writing, the series will probably continue to serve as inspiration for my D&D settings for a long time.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can get the book for free <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/edgar-rice-burroughs/the-gods-of-mars">here</a> and <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64">here</a>.</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-24995460026531982602024-02-10T04:52:00.000-08:002024-02-14T09:17:26.095-08:00Diluting the dichotomy<div>Another random thought about races/species (such as elves, dwarves, etc.). Continued from <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/02/how-many-racesspecies.html">my last post</a> (see also "additional reading"). </div><div><br /></div><div>(I might get a bit repetitive, sorry.)</div><div><br />I have a feeling that having innumerable races (elves + hobbits +tabaxi + tieflings) just <b>dilutes </b>the whole concept on "demi-humans".</div><div><br />All demi-humans are created in comparison (and opposition) to humans.</div><div><br />Human/faerie is a strong dichotomy (e.g., in The Broken Sword).</div><div><br />A trichotomy becomes weaker, and again with each new element.</div><div><br />Of course, in TBS there is also an elf/troll dichotomy, but both are contrasted to humans as "aliens". They are, in a way, equidistant to humans, but closer to one another.<br /><br />Notice that TBS is about characters that are right in the middle of this human/faerie dichotomy.</div><div><br />Likewise, in A Princess of Mars, the dichotomy is between the red and green Martians. The red are unmistakably more human, but in the end, our (human) protagonist is caught between the two.</div><div><br />[In the subsequent books, we get humans of different colors: white, black, yellow, but each with a different culture (cannibalistic, pirates, domed cities, primitive, etc.). This is an interesting distinction, but cultural differences do not a different species make. We also get a few additional interesting humanoids, but I don’t find them as interesting as green Martians. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barsoom#Races_and_culture">You can check them here</a>].</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-RrNK2pQMgcvgUVdsjFyGN0tlIZAfsAbEuw2oEzJG68w9oEGivelUTJJVJ-G4E_OY4G1u9gMw8_Elb92ku7DhOnAUMjAc8uC3md3u07_mw0pnJvRlL9tk1AngZEcbQsvrvPNQOdpz7LgcQhaUIkR9x0NuoFpUr6EP3N2OCG_rCuBZxOXTee6BvqKLquS/s570/Talislanta.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-RrNK2pQMgcvgUVdsjFyGN0tlIZAfsAbEuw2oEzJG68w9oEGivelUTJJVJ-G4E_OY4G1u9gMw8_Elb92ku7DhOnAUMjAc8uC3md3u07_mw0pnJvRlL9tk1AngZEcbQsvrvPNQOdpz7LgcQhaUIkR9x0NuoFpUr6EP3N2OCG_rCuBZxOXTee6BvqKLquS/s16000/Talislanta.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>What about Tolkien? He was able to create great stories with humans, hobbits, elves, orcs, dwarves, ents... Still, there is an obvious dichotomy here too: good and evil. Humans can align with both, but most orcs align with Sauron, and Elves against him.</div><div><br />In Moorcock's Elric, the dichotomy is between Law and Chaos, and Elric gets caught up in the middle. The "races" are not as important here, except for the fact that Melniboneans are traditionally aligned to Chaos.</div><div><br /></div><div>[<a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2015/03/on-alignment-part-i-alignment-origins.html">This Law/Chaos dichotomy would separate the many species of original D&D</a> in a strong dichotomy, but it is worth noticing that Moorcock contains some additional nuance, as mentioned in the link; Law/Chaos are not exactly Good/Evil].</div><div><br />In The Witcher books, there are humans and "Elder Races" (dwarves, elves, etc.). Geralt is a human turned mutant, and he often finds himself in the middle of this dichotomy.</div><div><br />In addition to this dichotomy idea, the fact that other species are interesting in comparison to humans makes them more interesting if they are <b>rare</b>. </div><div><br />A Green Martian is a strange sight for John Carter, but wouldn't stand out walking in Ravnica between the elephant-people, minotaurs, blue elves and goblins with jetpacks.</div><div><br />In Ravnica, these "demihumans" aren't strange. Instead, the world is strange.</div><div><br />Another (counter) example is the D&D Honor Among Thieves movie. Simon is a half-elf. What difference does it make? None. Doric is a tiefling, and this explain some of her motivations (she was shunned by humans and accepted by elves). She was shunned because of her “demonic heritage”. But that heritage does nothing. She has no business with demons or demonic powers and traits, and the only difference in her appearance are small horns. She might as well have been rejected for being a red-head or left-handed.</div><div><br />How does Star Wars movies manage to get a few non-humans to work? First, they are individuals. The “wookie” race is an afterthought for Chewbacca. Second, they are non-human every time they appear. Chewbacca and R2-D2 do not utter one word the audience can understand. C-3PO’s reminds us every minute he is an android with his actions, tone, etc.</div><div><br /></div><div>Too create "my own Barsoom", I still have to decide:</div><div><br /></div><div>- Can different peoples create viable offspring? Or at least have diverse communities?</div><div>- If positive, how are they different?</div><div>- Does your species affect your stats? Or customs?</div><div>- Is it common for different peoples to adventure together?</div><div>- How does appearance affect reaction rolls?</div><div>- Can the PCs discover "secret communities", like Carter often does, if they are part of the same people?</div><div><br />Once again, I have no solutions for now, just random thoughts.</div><div><br /></div><div>Additional reading:</div><div><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/02/how-many-racesspecies.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/02/how-many-racesspecies.html</a></div><div><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2019/01/too-many-races-my-carcosa.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2019/01/too-many-races-my-carcosa.html</a></div><div><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/01/a-princess-of-mars.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/01/a-princess-of-mars.html</a></div><div><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/05/all-elves-are-half-elves.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/05/all-elves-are-half-elves.html</a></div><div><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2015/03/on-alignment-part-i-alignment-origins.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2015/03/on-alignment-part-i-alignment-origins.html</a></div><div><a href="https://rpg.charliecapp.com/2020/07/24/carcosa-2020/#">https://rpg.charliecapp.com/2020/07/24/carcosa-2020/#</a></div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-69045577253544209722024-02-08T08:06:00.000-08:002024-02-09T11:49:17.348-08:00How many races/species?<div style="text-align: left;">I've been obsessing over <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/01/a-princess-of-mars.html">Barsoom</a> and thinking of <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2019/01/too-many-races-my-carcosa.html">"my own Carcosa"</a> setting again...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I dislike there are so many colors of men with so little detail about each one - they are "suspicious" of each other for no apparent reason. Well, maybe that is the point - similarly to John Carter, the PCs are destined to unify different people under a single banner.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/01/clans-of-amarod.html">I recently wrote a post about some "clans"</a>, which I might use as inspiration to distinguish different communities.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But how many races should I have in my own setting? I'm certainly tired of elves, dwarves, orcs and hobbits, but maybe we can replace them...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Let's try to get at least <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2015/12/granularity-ideal-level-of-detail.html">seven</a> different concepts.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">First, we have:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Humans.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Superior/magical/advanced humans (e.g., Atlantes, X-men, Witchers, John Carter in Barsoom, some Elves, etc.)<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Strong/big humans (e.g., dwarves or goliaths)</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Small/weak humans (e.g., hobbits).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, humans, elves, dwarves, basically. We could add "evil" axis: orcs are strong and evil, goblins are short and evil, etc. But I don't think inherently evil creatures to be suited for PCs. And, if they aren't inherently evil, the difference is usually only cultural/aesthetic.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Superior humans" are a problem for games where the PCs should be balanced. OD&D solves this by requiring elves more XP to level up, etc. Likewise, "inferior humans" (e.g., gully dwarves, kobolds) can be a problem for the same reason.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh05m4ixM97h6VSDxztIf7uO81YdmMze1gvv2yxI7LcQpEluUZ2R-fhYdijduevGuCMPENGjNBcVpkQQ4FJlCpuYbv-tge4iRPk9jtFkhqC6P2oPRsuCtnMTsEkirrN1gOlopXY4oNtB0XsoGy9_tIK87k1XEv14hJ9ARBpRBnOi8xl-mrBzu6fv_LeKr8a/s607/barsoom.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh05m4ixM97h6VSDxztIf7uO81YdmMze1gvv2yxI7LcQpEluUZ2R-fhYdijduevGuCMPENGjNBcVpkQQ4FJlCpuYbv-tge4iRPk9jtFkhqC6P2oPRsuCtnMTsEkirrN1gOlopXY4oNtB0XsoGy9_tIK87k1XEv14hJ9ARBpRBnOi8xl-mrBzu6fv_LeKr8a/s16000/barsoom.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">These four basic groups represent most common PC races. But there are also:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Hybrids (including human-beast hybrids).</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Aliens.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Artificial humans.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I wrote about hybrids <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/05/all-elves-are-half-elves.html">here</a>. One problem is that they are either so common as to feel human, or so uncommon to make role-playing harder. Usually, they behave like humans, or as "divided" people looking for their place.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Of course, for this "divided" angle to work, there must be a clear distinction between the two "halves".</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Human-beast hybrids (e.g., Tabaxi) make me a bit uneasy in world that have actual beasts. Is a tiger-man a cross between a tiger and a human, or something else entirely? What are their relation to tigers? The more feline characteristics you add, the stranger it becomes. Which is why I might prefer blue tiger-people and wingless bird-people (e.g., kenku).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Alien PCs are doable. We often fall on the hybrid problem, but at least their physiology can be different enough to provide some role-playing challenges. For example, being unable to speak or use human weapons/armor.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Likewise for artificial humans (including robots, golems, clones, etc.). Like hybrids, they might have an interesting "find myself" quest, to prove they have souls and maybe can find a way to reproduce. Or just display some challenging non-human characteristics (e.g., no sense of self-preservation).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, there are <b>near humans</b>: red martians, zabrak, etc. Except for the visuals, it is hard to make them interesting. Some cultural differences might help, but even non-"medieval european" customs feel unmistakably human (e.g., Spartan or Aztec cultures).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I wonder if there are ever only <b>three races</b>: human-like, half-human, and mostly alien. In Barsoom, most humanoids races are indistinguishable from humans, and John Carter <b>repeatedly disguises as one of them</b>. The exception are the four-armed Green Martians. The only "inhuman" beings are apes, plant people, and similar creatures of lesser intelligence.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In "The Witcher", there are humans, elves (dwarves are of the same origin IIRC), Witchers and monsters. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In Fallout, humans, mutants and androids. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Broken Sword has humans on one side, and elves/trolls in "fairyland". Howard and Lieber barely mention non-human humanoids (even Cimmerians are rare in Howard's stories).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In Star Wars, again, characters are mostly human, while different species are portrayed by single individuals (e.g., Chewbacca, Yoda, Darth Maul). There are no distinct "races".</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Tolkien might be the only one who was able to create actual distinct "peoples" that are not human, and I am not sure this works in other settings (but it might - I am enticed by Ravnica, for example, although - again - most important characters are human).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Anyway, just a few random thoughts for now, will continue working on it.</div></div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-31626584042169036482024-02-05T06:05:00.000-08:002024-02-06T04:37:57.397-08:00Feats and the OSR - "Mother, May I?"<div style="text-align: left;">The idea of "character feats" is perfectly compatible with old school games/OSR games.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As examples of cool OSR games that contain feats, I can mention LFG, ACKS, B&T and WWN (other than my own games).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2022/08/first-reflections-on-old-school-feats.html">I defended this idea here</a>, addressing the most common concerns: slow character creation, complex games, power creep.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Feats do not cause ANY of these things, necessarily, but you should take measures to avoid that.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But I missed one very popular objection: "Mother, May I?" feats.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I.e., the idea that the existence of a feat stops characters that don't have it to attempting an action.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For example, let's say you have a "disarm" feat, but the fighter chooses another feat. Does that mean that he can never disarm people now?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This sounds like a problem... but <b>it is not real</b>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And, even if the problem exists, it has nothing to do with feats.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For example: considering that thieves have a talents such as backstab, hear noise, find traps, etc., <b>can other PCs attempt similar actions</b>?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The answer is either yes (and a similar response would apply to feats) or no (and the problem would exist even if feats didn't).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpYmJodpoeW9Du_8-RFoqQRr9Jxl-M9olD_D79y28PaUGWPZLiVmEkWRIxrAg1sVGJprZSp01ku2feBLO34Q8aF0P-Supr7nF2NZgzyOosEKqGoEpSm-UhKmPPK_q4E70nKXfAS8F3aeqqcjuKF8QBU7IS_IYqQ17Hp1ncGgQYlPCOavFyw3dffwVE6_U/s805/Two-handed-sword-disarming-technique-performed-with-the-left-hand-It-was-coded-as-fine.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="805" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvpYmJodpoeW9Du_8-RFoqQRr9Jxl-M9olD_D79y28PaUGWPZLiVmEkWRIxrAg1sVGJprZSp01ku2feBLO34Q8aF0P-Supr7nF2NZgzyOosEKqGoEpSm-UhKmPPK_q4E70nKXfAS8F3aeqqcjuKF8QBU7IS_IYqQ17Hp1ncGgQYlPCOavFyw3dffwVE6_U/w400-h336/Two-handed-sword-disarming-technique-performed-with-the-left-hand-It-was-coded-as-fine.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Once you think of it, there are only TWO kinds of feats that apply to most cases (some feats might include aspects of both, but the distinction is clear enough). The examples are from my <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/407233/Old-School-Feats-OSR?src=newest">Old School Feats</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- <b>Quantitative feats</b> give you a bonus that applies to an action (or save, HP, AC, damage, hirelings, number of languages, etc.).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><blockquote>Example: "<i><b>Willpower</b>. You get a +4 bonus to saves against spells that do not cause damage or death, in addition to any Wisdom bonus."</i></blockquote><i></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- <b>Qualitative feats</b> give you a special power that other PCs simply do not get.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">Example: <i>"<b>Aura of fear</b>. You can turn humanoids and ordinary animals in addition to undead. You cannot destroy them, however. Humanoids can choose to flee or stay, but cannot approach or attack </i><i>you."</i></div></blockquote><div><i></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">These are the "mother may I" feats - if you don't have them, well, you cannot generate an aura of fear!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">That sounds obvious - this is how the game <i>already </i>works! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you are a fighter, or even a mage that hasn't learned a "fireball" spell, you simply cannot attempt it! If your 3rd level AD&D fighter has no extra attacks, he only attacks once per round.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But what about disarming?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Just look at 3e - the first edition to include feats in the core:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b></b><blockquote><b>Improved Disarm</b> - [...] You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when you attempt to disarm an opponent, nor does the opponent have a chance to disarm you. You also gain a +4 bonus on the opposed attack roll you make to disarm your opponent. [...]</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: left;">This contains both qualitative and quantitative aspects, but it is completely obvious that it doesn't preclude other PCs from disarming.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Let's take a harder example: 5e has a feat that lets you get a -5 penalty to attack in order to get a +10 bonus to damage. But what if you don't have his feat, and want to do something similar (say, "aim for the head")? </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It is up to the GM. Maybe he allows you to get -5/+5 (and notice that, in this case, the feat indicates HOW to make a ruling), or maybe he says it is impossible. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Either way, this is not caused by the existence of the feat, but by the absence of a rule/ruling for that specific situation.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Could there be a game where <b>only people with special powers can do ordinary things such as disarming</b>? </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Sure. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In D&D 4e, for example, there is no explicit disarming except for a fighter encounter power. This is not a FEAT problem - it isn't even a feat - it is a 4e problem.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[In 5e, curiously, disarm is both a feature of the battlemaster AND an optional rule that anyone can use, but the methods are completely different IIRC].</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The only way a feat can forbid someone to try something is <b>if it contradicts a previous rule/ruling that allowed it</b>. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For example, in the RC, backstab doesn't work with bows. In B/X, there is no explicit rule either way. If the GM decided that this is allowed, adding a feat specifically allowing that indicates that it is now impossible for other thieves. It is up to the GM to allow this feat or not - but that applies to everything.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In short, feats are usually not there to indicate IF the PCs can try something - this is either already in the rules or it is up to the GM. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Feats are there to indicate HOW you can do something that is not already included in your character. How can a magic-user use swords? How can a cleric get better at hunting and foraging? How can you learn multiple languages even with low Intelligence? Etc.</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-50266938340854997192024-02-02T09:36:00.000-08:002024-02-02T09:36:03.238-08:00The People of the Pit, by A. Merritt<div>When I wrote my most recent post (about <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-appendix-n-project.html">The APPENDIX N PROJECT</a>), I've mentioned that I didn't include Abraham Merritt in my top 10 authors because I've tried his books and didn't like them as much as others in my list - despite the fact he made "top six/seven" for Gygax influences.<br /><br />I read half of The Metal Monster before giving up, as I found it too slow for my taste at the time. A similar thing happened when I tried The Moon Pool.<br /><br />Anyway, after writing that, a couple of people, here (thanks Tamás) and elsewhere - suggested I gave Merritt another chance. So, I did.<br /><br />And they might have been right.<br /><br />I decided to start with something shorter: so I've got The People of the Pit, which has not only <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/61385/The-People-of-the-Pit?affiliate_id=403100">one</a> but <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/102637/Dungeon-Crawl-Classics-68-People-of-the-Pit?affiliate_id=403100">two</a> adaptations as OSR modules, and BOTH look interesting (I haven't read them).</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I've read it and I was pleasantly surprised.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE8GSLBMzLOlegbHIH1I3ifaK0KLkiUJ3GKSr0pIm-JUBhyphenhyphenWRvVI2bztPzc7PDrcusPzyWdqWy3PY9LTlQM5TIYzQ_m3Gjf6Uw99ZTvRUpw4NaO9QEoTtzaFR7YZC3wnjLrsDoCV4HsGaC1awI61lukCEOJ7-ID-EO_aZvDzx1Ca-eNxfu9Fr-rxtgrn7n/s1444/image-11.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1444" data-original-width="997" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE8GSLBMzLOlegbHIH1I3ifaK0KLkiUJ3GKSr0pIm-JUBhyphenhyphenWRvVI2bztPzc7PDrcusPzyWdqWy3PY9LTlQM5TIYzQ_m3Gjf6Uw99ZTvRUpw4NaO9QEoTtzaFR7YZC3wnjLrsDoCV4HsGaC1awI61lukCEOJ7-ID-EO_aZvDzx1Ca-eNxfu9Fr-rxtgrn7n/w276-h400/image-11.png" width="276" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div>The story is about two prospectors in Alaska looking for a peculiar group of mountains. When they get closer, they see a strange blue light in the sky, and eventually fight a wounded, nearly insane man crawling out of an abyss and telling stories about the creatures he found there.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you've read lots of Lovecraft like me, the tone will be instantly recognizable; it contains hints of cosmic horror and wouldn't be out of place in a collection of Lovecraft stories.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, this books was published in 1918 - it is not only one of Merritt's earliest works, but also predates most Lovecraft stories. In fact, Lovecraft mentions being an admirer at his work since 1919 (<a href="https://skullsinthestars.com/2009/02/22/a-merritts-dwellers-in-the-mirage/">source</a>).</div><div><br /></div><div>In fact, this story compares favorably to some of Lovecraft's stories in at least a few ways.</div><div><br /></div><div>First, it reaches a good balance between showing monsters and leaving something to the imagination. Some mysteries are left unsolved, but the monsters are described and not simply "unnamable". The story literally more "colorful", in a literal manner - blue, red, yellow and white, not dark, gray, prismatic or unknown shades.</div><div><br /></div><div>Second, it has plenty of places, beings, and situations ready to be used in your D&D games, which is not always the case with HPL. And the physical nature of some challenges are closer to D&D than the risk of going insane that is more common in Lovecraft's stories (but also happens here).</div><div><br /></div><div>TBH, this really feels like a D&D adventure waiting for a few maps and stats.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, I'm comparing Merritt's to Lovecraft's only because more people read the latter, and it might be a reference that is easy to grasp; I'm not saying which one is better or worse, which would be silly (even if I had read as much of Merritt as I have of HPL, which is not the case).</div><div><br /></div><div>The reason I'm writing this post is both to share a cool short story <a href="https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0601991h.html">that you can get for free</a> and will inspire you D&D games, and to say that Merritt does indeed deserve a chance if you have any interest in Lovecraft or the Appendix N. There might be more Merritt reviews soon...</div><div><br /></div><div>---</div><div><div><i style="background-color: white; color: #151515; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Contains </i><i style="background-color: white; color: #151515; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">affiliate links. </i><i style="background-color: white; color: #151515; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">By purchasing stuff through affiliate links you're helping to support this blog.</i></div></div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-25434716793519489742024-01-31T09:33:00.000-08:002024-02-24T09:49:39.961-08:00The APPENDIX N PROJECT<div style="text-align: left;">As you probably know, the appendix N is a list of "inspiration and educational reading" contained in the AD&D DMG. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Reading the books listed will help you to get a glimpse into Gygax's mind and understand the origins of D&D and its settings</b>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I've been delving into a few of those books, and reviewing them in this blog. Some are great, some are weak. There are a few obvious omissions. Some people say this is simply a list of books Gygax had on his shelf, or his favorites, while others say the list is extremely curated and important.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />This post organizes my reading of Appendix N stuff and will provide you a guide to delve into it if that is what you're looking for.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The entire text of the <b>Appendix N is reproduced in the end of this post, with links to my reviews.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglsM5O61i309rn78yKrW0zxkR80DuA8AN0GySRHiQCd-ilMpchbSF9U1vKuZgPDnYXFTqY8WEgOiWIY0M8hf5e6kWTrXL61ZUyZO5PdWrgQz9-VssV_dxmpNBOTxGcMc3KtT_NtgO8dmuzJyU9-r0A2KtCHGRL1wMYhCMM5jF_cNONLDn-Phf4TOIubfib" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1355" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglsM5O61i309rn78yKrW0zxkR80DuA8AN0GySRHiQCd-ilMpchbSF9U1vKuZgPDnYXFTqY8WEgOiWIY0M8hf5e6kWTrXL61ZUyZO5PdWrgQz9-VssV_dxmpNBOTxGcMc3KtT_NtgO8dmuzJyU9-r0A2KtCHGRL1wMYhCMM5jF_cNONLDn-Phf4TOIubfib=w483-h640" width="483" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 17px; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;">Valerie Valusek</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><u>The Basic D&D list</u></b></h3></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b>Tom Moldvay's <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-glance-at-basic-d-bx-and-some-clones.html">Basic D&D</a> has also an "Inspirational Source Material" list on B62. <a href="https://thesilverkey.blogspot.com/2020/12/tom-moldvaybasic-d-inspirational-source.html">Here</a> is a good analysis. </div><blockquote><p style="text-align: left;">There is significant overlap between the two lists. Appendix N includes a few authors not listed in Moldvay including Frederic Brown, August Derleth, Margaret St. Clair, and Stanley Weinbaum. [...]</p><p>Where Moldvay’s list eclipses Appendix N is in its completeness and attention to detail. [...] Gygax states that in some cases he meant to cite specific works, but when no works were listed he simply recommends all of a given author’s writings. [...] Moldvay appends “et. al” to at least as many authors as does Gygax, but always lists at least one, if not multiple, actual book titles for the reader.</p><p>Moldvay’s list is more comprehensive, while still managing to be confined to a single page in the basic rulebook. Some big names I’m very fond of jump out at me immediately: Moldvay lists Karl Edward Wagner (Bloodstone, Death Angel’s Shadow, and Dark Crusade), E.R. Eddison’s The Worm Ouroboros, Lloyd Alexander (The Book of Three, The Black Cauldon, the Castle of Llyr), Talbot Mundy’s Tros of Samothrace, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment, and T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. None of these appear on Appendix N. Perhaps most noteworthy, Moldvay also lists Clark Ashton Smith (Xiccarph, Lost Worlds, Genius Loci). Many have pondered why Gygax did not include the third of the Weird Tales holy trinity along with REH and Lovecraft, as Smith’s lush, ornate prose recalls something of Gygax’s writing style, and his dark necromancers and evil spellcasters seem like they could easily have stepped out of The Vault of the Drow.</p></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://osrgrimoire.blogspot.com/2022/01/inspirational-source-material.html">Here</a> is the entire list, with links to Wikipedia.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I will not delve too into Moldvay's list here, but will keep this is mind when the Appendix N lists an author but no books.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><h3><b><u>The 1976 list</u></b></h3></div><div><b><u><br /></u></b>Apparently, there was <a href="https://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2014/08/gygaxs-list-1976-version.html">an earlier (1976) version of the Appendix N</a> in "The Dragon". The most notable difference is the inclusion of Algernon Blackwoods. I don't see a huge influence in D&D, but he is an author I very much enjoy and recommend (try <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-wendigo.html">The Wendigo</a>).</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgajIJHHAzB2O75T27W1YHzqqJo_vBKtIjkOmJ7jkJP1WpPwH3efk4fY9Lc9a3U9FX0r-FZ7Xb-gEK46Nv6x0B_77jzfwRG_AYshoShgv2SGmLNV6tU6OSQz3Owb3yIzkO8fTzxX-Tf_VUHSiKSr67xpqHtjyBETQ1vIGjR5a-HzJSgJlLhmoFJyOk7OnNB" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1239" data-original-width="736" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgajIJHHAzB2O75T27W1YHzqqJo_vBKtIjkOmJ7jkJP1WpPwH3efk4fY9Lc9a3U9FX0r-FZ7Xb-gEK46Nv6x0B_77jzfwRG_AYshoShgv2SGmLNV6tU6OSQz3Owb3yIzkO8fTzxX-Tf_VUHSiKSr67xpqHtjyBETQ1vIGjR5a-HzJSgJlLhmoFJyOk7OnNB=w238-h400" width="238" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Where to start? My TOP TEN</u></b></h3><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div><div>If you want to explore the Appendix N, you could start with <b>Gygax's favorites</b>: </div><blockquote><div>de Camp & Pratt, R. E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, H. P. Lovecraft, and A. Merritt.</div><div></div></blockquote><div>My own favorites would be a different list, of course. I didn't include:</div><div><br /></div><div>- de Camp & Pratt, as I haven't read it.</div><div>- A. Merritt, as I haven't enjoyed it as much as the others in my list (but <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-people-of-pit-by-merritt.html">read this</a>).</div><div><br /></div><div>Here is my <b>current top ten</b>; I will update it as I go. This is in no particular order. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some authors are better known for short stories that you can read in any order - I just selected a few of my favorites, but pick any collection of short stories you like, preferably containing these.</div><blockquote><blockquote>- Moorcock, Michael. Elric of Melniboné.</blockquote><blockquote>- Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring.</blockquote><blockquote>- Vance, Jack: The Eyes of the Overworld. </blockquote><blockquote>- Anderson, Poul. The Broken Sword.</blockquote><blockquote>- Burroughs, Edgar Rice. A Princess of Mars.</blockquote><blockquote>- Leiber, Fritz. Favorites: “Ill-Met in Lankhmar”, “Lean Times in Lankhmar”, “Bazaar of the Bizarre”.</blockquote><blockquote>- Dunsany, Lord. Start with The Book of Wonder, especially "The Hoard of the Gibbelins", "How Nuth Would Have Practised His Art upon the Gnoles"; I am re-reading Dunsany's work to give more specific advice.</blockquote><blockquote>- Lovecraft, H. P. Favorites: The Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness, The Colour out of Space, The Shadow over Innsmouth, The Dunwich Horror, In the Walls of Eryx.</blockquote><blockquote>- Howard, R. E. Favorites: Red Nails, The Tower of the Elephant, Queen of the Black Coast, The People of the Black Circle, Worms of the Earth. </blockquote></blockquote><p>And two authors that are not in the appendix N (see <i>About Clark Ashton Smith and Ursula LeGuin, </i>below).</p><div></div><blockquote><div>- Smith, C. A.. Favorites: The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis, The Beast of Averoigne, The Tale of Satampra Zeiros, The Empire of the Necromancers, The Isle of the Torturers, The Abominations of Yondo.</div><div><br /></div><div>- Le Guin, Ursula K. - <i>A Wizard of Earthsea</i>.</div></blockquote><div></div><div>Well, "top eleven" I guess...</div><div><br /></div><div>Most books in my list are reasonably <b>easy to find</b>. Some of these books are in the <b>public domain</b>; you can find them for free online. Some short stories are also available online.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOlr-H5lKHPF8DlevJuXMfc4Qm-a3WlzelQMLAXqbF3EoIP3E8xww9PY30u_umRF6i7hhTFfiEyKNuX7C0UXS2Do0-pD1l1fErHMysPsfOZU7svsGmBvVjwoQfj_pQ4_VmySY2wUYOVD_U4C4bUIaEy8pvmfp3VEwKApXZX5jKoy4S_a5FFKP3GTU0ALSk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="719" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOlr-H5lKHPF8DlevJuXMfc4Qm-a3WlzelQMLAXqbF3EoIP3E8xww9PY30u_umRF6i7hhTFfiEyKNuX7C0UXS2Do0-pD1l1fErHMysPsfOZU7svsGmBvVjwoQfj_pQ4_VmySY2wUYOVD_U4C4bUIaEy8pvmfp3VEwKApXZX5jKoy4S_a5FFKP3GTU0ALSk=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><u>About "series"</u></b></h3></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div><div>The appendix N suggests a few series, e.g., "Mars series". Obviously, you do not need to read the whole series; start with the first book or a few short stories (as suggested above) and continue if you like the writing.</div><div><br /></div><div>I did the same for my own reviews, writing my impression of the first/best stories rather than judging the series as a whole.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><u>About Clark Ashton Smith and Ursula LeGuin</u></b></h3><div><br /></div><div><div>As I've mentioned elsewhere, the Appendix N has a few obvious omissions, the most notable being <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2017/03/mistery-of-month-why-cas-is-not-on.html">Clark Ashton Smith</a>. Despite not being included, he is a favorite of mine and influenced many appendix N authors, and probably Gygax too.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>Ursula LeGuin, on the other hand, is just a favorite of mine. <i>The Wizard of Earthsea</i> was one of my first fantasy books and it held up on a second reading decades later. Maybe not hugely influential to D&D, but I find the quality above average.</div><div><br /></div><div>Both authors are included in the "Basic D&D list".</div><div><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Inspiration versus literature</u></b></h3><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Some books in the list are good literature. Others are just fun. Some are not particularly fun or well-written, when compared to the best, but might still be worth checking out because they provide pieces of inspiration for Gygax or for your own game: monsters, settings, etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In my list of favorites, I tried to balance these three factors - which are mostly subjective - with the most obvious "these were the books I've enjoyed the most".</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3><b><u>Which are YOUR favorites?</u></b></h3><div><br /></div><div>Let me know in the comments!</div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJETX4UNm6ULQDz4BMS_mDpYO8wiUw2UbOktFsFnpWtfpEc-exmTyPhGUXABc0yWipDVn4g0YlCqaK4Up4YyNqX2X9_hRO-B6XViblS7WNDx0l_fcEph46M35Sr6yuJWD6SAJcOtznTv9TMij47Dr_Wf7lLzOpCIbpzTgGlAbSec1_g2IMlhLSt6i88EK/s300/DungeonMasterGuide4Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="218" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJETX4UNm6ULQDz4BMS_mDpYO8wiUw2UbOktFsFnpWtfpEc-exmTyPhGUXABc0yWipDVn4g0YlCqaK4Up4YyNqX2X9_hRO-B6XViblS7WNDx0l_fcEph46M35Sr6yuJWD6SAJcOtznTv9TMij47Dr_Wf7lLzOpCIbpzTgGlAbSec1_g2IMlhLSt6i88EK/s1600/DungeonMasterGuide4Cover.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><u>The original APPENDIX N...</u></b></h3><p style="text-align: left;">...is reproduced below, with links to my impressions/reviews.</p><div style="padding-left: 60px; text-align: left;">APPENDIX N: INSPIRATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL READING<br /><span class="s1">“Inspiration
for all the fantasy work I have done stems directly from the love my
father showed when I was a tad, for he spent many hours telling me
stories he made up as he went along, tales of cloaked old men who could
grant wishes, of magic rings and enchanted swords, or wicked sorcerors [</span><span class="s2"><i>sic</i></span><span class="s1">] and dauntless swordsmen.<br /></span><span class="s1">Then too,
countless hundreds of comic books went down, and the long-gone EC ones
certainly had their effect. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies
were a big influence. In fact, all of us tend to get ample helpings of
fantasy when we are very young from fairy tales such as those written by
the Brothers Grimm and Andrew Lang. This often leads to reading books
of mythology, paging through bestiaries, and consultation of
compilations of the myths of various lands and peoples.<br /></span><span class="s1">Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950.<br /></span><span class="s1">The following
authors were of particular inspiration to me. In some cases I cite
specific works, in others, I simply recommend all of their fantasy
writing to you. From such sources, as well as any other imaginative
writing or screenplay, you will be able to pluck kernels from which will
grow the fruits of exciting campaigns. Good reading!<br /></span><span class="s1">Anderson, Poul: <strong><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2022/11/three-hearts-and-three-lions.html">THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS</a>; THE HIGH CRUSADE; <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-broken-sword-one-of-best.html">THE BROKEN SWORD</a><br /></strong></span><span class="s1">Bellairs, John: <strong>THE FACE IN THE FROST<br /></strong></span><span class="s1">Brackett, Leigh<br /></span><span class="s1">Brown, Frederic<br /></span><span class="s1">Burroughs, Edgar Rice: “Pellucidar” series; <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/01/a-princess-of-mars.html">Mars series</a>; Venus series<br /></span><span class="s1">Carter, Lin: “World’s End” series<br /></span><span class="s1">de Camp, L. Sprague: <strong>LEST DARKNESS FALL</strong>; <strong><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-fallible-fiend-book-review.html">THE FALLIBLE FIEND</a></strong>; et al<br /></span><span class="s1">de Camp & Pratt: “Harold Shea” series; <strong>THE CARNELIAN CUBE<br /></strong></span><span class="s1">Derleth, August<br /></span><span class="s1">Dunsany, Lord<br /></span><span class="s1">Farmer, P. J.: “The World of the Tiers” series; et al<br /></span><span class="s1">Fox, Gardner: “Kothar” series; “Kyrik” series; et al<br /></span><span class="s1">Howard, R. E.: “Conan” series<br /></span><span class="s1">Lanier, Sterling: <strong>HIERO’S JOURNEY<br /></strong></span><span class="s1">Leiber, Fritz: “Fafhrd & Gray Mouser” series; et al<br /></span><span class="s1">Lovecraft, H. P.<br /></span><span class="s1"><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-people-of-pit-by-merritt.html">Merritt, A.</a>: <strong>CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE</strong>; et al<br /></span><span class="s1">Moorcock, Michael: <strong>STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS</strong>; “Hawkmoon” series (esp. the first three books)<br /></span><span class="s1">Norton, Andre<br /></span><span class="s1">Offutt, Andrew J.: editor of <strong>SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III<br /></strong></span><span class="s1">Pratt, Fletcher: <strong>BLUE STAR</strong>; et al<br /></span><span class="s1">Saberhagen, Fred: <strong>CHANGELING EARTH</strong>; et al<br /></span><span class="s1">St. Clair, Margaret: <strong>THE SHADOW PEOPLE</strong>; <strong>SIGN OF THE LABRYS.<br /></strong></span><span class="s1">Tolkien, J. R. R.: <strong>THE HOBBIT</strong>; “Ring trilogy”<br /></span><span class="s1">Vance, Jack: <strong><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2018/02/book-of-month-ii-eyes-of-overworld-by.html">THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD</a></strong>; <strong>THE DYING EARTH</strong>; et al<br /></span><span class="s1">Weinbaum, Stanley<br /></span><span class="s1">Wellman, Manley Wade<br /></span><span class="s1">Williamson, Jack<br /></span><span class="s1">Zelazny, Roger: <strong>JACK OF SHADOWS</strong>; “Amber” series; et al<br /></span><span class="s1">The most immediate influences upon <strong>AD&D</strong>
were probably de Camp & Pratt, R. E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack
Vance, H. P. Lovecraft, and A. Merritt; but all of the above authors, as
well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the
game. For this reason, and for the hours of reading enjoyment, I
heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you.”<br /></span><span class="s1">– E. Gary Gygax, 1979, <strong>AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide</strong>, p. 224</span></div><p>
</p>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-53559448992170362202024-01-28T07:40:00.000-08:002024-01-28T07:59:08.658-08:00Wilderness level tables<div style="text-align: left;">Just a quick update <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/01/wilderness-levels.html">to the last post</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Another method of achieving a similar result, if you prefer using a table to adding dice, etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Roll 1d20, add the number of hexes away from civilization (maximum 10), and check the table below to see how many monsters appear. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">E.g., if you roll a total of 12 and the "number appearing" is usually 1d6, then 3 monsters appear.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Special cases:</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Rolling 25 or more: There is a chance that you've found a monster lair (25% or whatever the GM deems appropriate).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Lairs: if you find a lair, roll number appearing as usual (for example, a lair of orcs containing 5d6x10 orcs - just roll 5d6x50 regardless of the initial result, or keep the initial result as a minimum - see the examples below).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">0 monsters appearing: either the encounter doesn't happen, or the monster is of a smaller/weaker variant (whatever the GM deems appropriate).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Natural 20: if you roll a natural 20, roll again and add 10.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Natural 1: roll again and subtract 10.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhm35EgtoIWGy6Cb5p6tceF9-nWk_vUGaDH9g5DGplFdUihZpNGVXleP92sVyQ6pehxK_Lilr5oQuGdSISOMTObQvc-RN5LwAC8kjcnMWtLQGBp2U6o8IccKZ8d_gAX-kZs_POkAq7NtowHGyoFkNrsB8vhScr4TsohRrFEsnqgcvYv88zw5zSIugI4wQQO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhm35EgtoIWGy6Cb5p6tceF9-nWk_vUGaDH9g5DGplFdUihZpNGVXleP92sVyQ6pehxK_Lilr5oQuGdSISOMTObQvc-RN5LwAC8kjcnMWtLQGBp2U6o8IccKZ8d_gAX-kZs_POkAq7NtowHGyoFkNrsB8vhScr4TsohRrFEsnqgcvYv88zw5zSIugI4wQQO=s16000" /></a></div><br /><b><u>Examples:</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- You find some ogres (number appearing: 2d6), 8 hexes away from civilization. You roll 1d20+8, and get a 21. This means 5 ogres were found for each d6, for a total of 10.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- You find some orcs (NA: 1d6x10), 5 hexes away from civilization. You roll 1d20+5, but you get a natural 20. Then you roll again with a +10 bonus, getting a total of 31. This means you found at least 70 orcs, but there is a chance you have found their lair. The DM decides this is a viable place for an orc fortress and roll 5d6x10, getting 150 orcs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- You encounter dragons (NA: 1d4), 2 hexes away from civilization, but you roll low and the table indicates 0 dragons. The GM decides wether this encounters doesn't happen (e.g., you see a dragon flying far away in the distance, you find dragon tracks, etc.) or if you find a smaller dragon, drake, etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Variations:</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You could use 2d10 to make the outcomes more predictable.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can use the table below if you want fractions; this is useful in multiple situations (e.g., when you find 2d6 ogres or 1d6x10 orcs, using fractions gives you more nuance).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Yes, my version of excel uses commas instead of decimal points.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Round to the nearest integer.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjte1mrXWDV3GvsrVj-gtEjzaCU3Voo5eIupQJeb6Lj0BenE2km4vTS9DO0FHGT5cbPG56ga-177w3ZR3HAb9TUPVkKEBXu7iWrCtqExWnCsQd1AWUYwlWcYcHSSfCb_dPDbQ0pSUcmgEDXTy6Pn4grcdi4NKnuPL-8zN-5uWlOpDMmLhoajqoiFOaqQs_q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjte1mrXWDV3GvsrVj-gtEjzaCU3Voo5eIupQJeb6Lj0BenE2km4vTS9DO0FHGT5cbPG56ga-177w3ZR3HAb9TUPVkKEBXu7iWrCtqExWnCsQd1AWUYwlWcYcHSSfCb_dPDbQ0pSUcmgEDXTy6Pn4grcdi4NKnuPL-8zN-5uWlOpDMmLhoajqoiFOaqQs_q=s16000" /></a></div></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>The formula:</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The formula I used is: D*R/25.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">D = Dice size (4 for a d4, 6 for a d6, etc.).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">R = Result of d20+hexes.</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-65966072316965862842024-01-24T14:25:00.000-08:002024-01-25T07:32:54.685-08:00Wilderness levels<div style="text-align: left;">This is an idea I have mentioned <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/11/good-generic-wilderness-encounter.html">before</a>. I've been thinking about it for a while.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Despite my <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/12/encounter-balance-why-i-avoid-using-it.html">dislike of "encounter balance"</a> as it is commonly understood (i.e., in relation to the PCs), I appreciate the need of letting the PCs know - and, ultimately, <i>choose </i>- what kind of encounters they are willing to face (of course, their place we will often go awry).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Traditionally, "encounter balance" in old school D&D is not calculated in relation to the PCs, but in relation to <b>dungeon levels</b>. So, the third level in a dungeon has harder encounters than the second, and so on.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I have several issues with this (e.g., each dungeon should have its own tables, how do dragons live so deep if there are no apparent big entrances), but that is another subject. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />My main concern right now is encounter balance in the wilderness, <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/11/bx-wilderness-encounters-are-bonkers.html">something I also already analyzed here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Basically, B/X has TWO "encounter balance" tools for the wilderness. First, do not go unless you're level 4. Second, some terrains are more dangerous than others (although there is an good chance of finding 1d4 dragons even in settled lands...).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />This is not satisfactory because it lacks the nuance of "dungeon levels" - and also because it stops levels 1-3 PCs from traveling around to get a "taste" of what to come.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNpqi7ClLeuJ5GU_0dKmeyoTnVMoD54HZhhAj_RkCirrFgdtyjx0wDoU6UWwaMIGIdw221areDX4OLqdSc_10E_nYcr0PDba4yrO8SH8hvAQIEeaqBJyUGupuFtjnfJMh2LOvtV6dbGJ2bPlGTx18Ff36WFu9AlhVbbaCQ_d7iRkKvyQUNKq1pgy4etpa0/s618/forest.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="618" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNpqi7ClLeuJ5GU_0dKmeyoTnVMoD54HZhhAj_RkCirrFgdtyjx0wDoU6UWwaMIGIdw221areDX4OLqdSc_10E_nYcr0PDba4yrO8SH8hvAQIEeaqBJyUGupuFtjnfJMh2LOvtV6dbGJ2bPlGTx18Ff36WFu9AlhVbbaCQ_d7iRkKvyQUNKq1pgy4etpa0/w400-h397/forest.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The obvious solutions is analogous to dungeon levels - the farther you are from civilization, the greater the wilderness level (you are "deep" in the forest, etc.).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To avoid creating entirely new tables (something that 5e almost manages to pull off with XGtE and ToA, to some extent), we could adapt exiting tables for these idea.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>For example</b>: roll 1d20 for each hex to the nearest the nearest civilization/ safe outpost (maximum 10). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is a percentage of "number appearing". 100% means the maximum number appears, but that will be rare. When you get "1d4 dragons" it is more likely a single dragon unless you're a few days from civilization. Smaller numbers (e.g., 10%) usually indicate a single monster (but see <i>"what if number appearing is one"</i>, below, for alternatives).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To add some spice, 20s explode; roll again and add 10, "ad infinitum". If the FIRST dice rolled is a natural 1-2, the rule is simply ignored - roll 1d4 to find how many dragons. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Even in the safest areas there is a chance of fighting a group of powerful monsters, but it is small (also, they might be there for a reason...).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[Alternatively, if you don't want to throw that many dice, just count some of the d20s as 10 without rolling. For example, for six hexes roll 3d20+30].</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What if the result is over 100%? </b>It is up to the GM. Rolling 130% might indicate a 30% of having found an actual lair (with up to five times more monsters), or just finding <b>five </b>dragons instead of 1d4.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What if "number appearing" is "one" (e.g., hydra)? </b>In this case, the percentage indicates a chance of the encounter happening at all. An hydra next to a city? Unlikely to happen. Other alternatives would include changing the number of heads or even HD for some creatures (a dragon found right next to town was undetected for being too small, ).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What about humans?</b> Humans and maybe some humanoids, of course, are exempt from this system; they are <b>likely </b>to be encountered near civilization. Elves, etc., will be more or less common according to setting.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[EDIT: as suggested in the comments, maybe <b>changing die size</b> could serve a similar function. So, 1d4 dragons become 1d2 near civilization, 1d3 a bit further away, then 1d4 and even 1d6. Come to think of it, this looks like a more elegant solution. Maybe results that are greater than the usual maximum - e.g., rolling 6 for dragons - indicate a chance of lair].</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Building a castle or keep</b> is automatically useful, as it makes travelling less dangerous. Roads could provide a similar result (especially if patrolled), although traveling <i>faster </i>is useful enough.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Add modifiers to taste: greater chance of encounter near the darkest dungeons/castles, smaller chance if travelling light with a small group, more giants in the giant territory, etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A more nuanced version would be creating "danger zones", each adjusting number appearing. Ideally, each area would have its own danger "level" and encounters, so that we are not "balancing encounters" but "balancing encounter <i>tables</i>".</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Not all encounters in the same table are equal, of course. Instead, as suggested in AD&D 2e, some creatures are RARER than others regardless of HD. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It is about a fictional world - not about a game of HDs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Of course, if you're using the tables in Xanathar's (they are decent), this is even easier: maybe 1d8+hexes, with 1-4 meaning tier 1, 5-10 tier 2 and so on.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[Notice that in 5e, similarly to B/X, Pcs of level 1 and 2 might have a hard time anyway, although the difference is smaller].</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Another thing to consider, maybe in future post</b>: cities and outpost, despite being static, might have occasional random encounters of their own (or should this be part of a "disaster check" table?). that small village encountered 4 dragons when the PCs were elsewhere? It might be toast by now...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Additional reading:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/12/encounter-balance-why-i-avoid-using-it.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/12/encounter-balance-why-i-avoid-using-it.html</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/11/how-d-5e-xgte-encounters-succeed-and.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/11/how-d-5e-xgte-encounters-succeed-and.html</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/11/good-generic-wilderness-encounter.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/11/good-generic-wilderness-encounter.html</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/11/bx-wilderness-encounters-are-bonkers.html">https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/11/bx-wilderness-encounters-are-bonkers.html</a></div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-77947519606045337442024-01-22T05:57:00.000-08:002024-01-22T07:51:01.840-08:00Clans of Amarod<div style="text-align: left;">These area few clans for my current hexcrawl. If my players read this: there are dozens of clans, you might encounter these ones or not. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Otherwise, feel free to use them in your own settings! Some entries might be specific to my setting, adapt as needed.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One thing that occurs to me is that I should have decided this beforehand - <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2019/01/too-many-races-my-carcosa.html">see this</a>. I think I'm doing this for every setting from now own, as I cannot stand orcs anymore (I unfortunately already introduced dwarves and kobolds from published modules - dwarves are useful, as goblins IMO, but kobolds scream "we are in D&Dland" for me).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I think you should try it too - even if you like orcs, it is nice to have distinct clans, some more aggressive than others. And having FEWER creatures gives a setting a stronger theme and feel.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The last part is from <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/288289/Dark-Fantasy-Places">Dark Fantasy Places</a> (which you can get for free/PWYW), and not particular to this setting. I pasted here for convenience.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyHgDk58XuPX9oXbJq7NEAtErIx6hn6IIDJ-UAqRmlnXZaEcQYxx49gK4849LaUs4nCny9ZfLB7RiQxVBDV4H1beqNMaSmtkqbigyhzoxBNQFS2PbS3TsTSBVhf10Pm-OTScpX61GQsi3dT1ZVk95_rUfRU4oFvbwjC9zajKwFWv-O9YGrzTWPuAs9ZNOM/s583/gob.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="583" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyHgDk58XuPX9oXbJq7NEAtErIx6hn6IIDJ-UAqRmlnXZaEcQYxx49gK4849LaUs4nCny9ZfLB7RiQxVBDV4H1beqNMaSmtkqbigyhzoxBNQFS2PbS3TsTSBVhf10Pm-OTScpX61GQsi3dT1ZVk95_rUfRU4oFvbwjC9zajKwFWv-O9YGrzTWPuAs9ZNOM/s16000/gob.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Uzumaki (goblin cannibals)<br /></b>One of the most hated groups. Easily recognizable for their sharp teeth and spiral-shaped ritual scars. Hide in the woods, attack on sight, and laugh as they fight to death. Probably insane. When fighting other goblins, they prefer capturing to destroying, and will buy/ "rescue" goblin slaves if they are available.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Moonchildren (tabaxi mystics)</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Curious students of the occult. Wear silver amulets, usually moon and starts. Like spellcasters, enjoy wine and singing. Collect books and memorize songs, exchange information. Usually nocturnal.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Ironfolk (silent dwarves)</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">They do not speak much Common, but do not look for trouble either. Found in mines and forests. Use body paint, usually white, with red and black details. Not much armor (bare chested), but carry heavy iron weapons. Their caves are decorated with stone statues - rectangular cuboid carved to resemble dwarves.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><b>Skullfolk (human skeletons)</b></div><div>These thin folks use white and black paint to resemble skeletons when they are in battle (or raiding, invading, stealing, etc.). They are pale and have no body hair at all. A few of them cut their own noses. Their weapons are poisoned and they are extremely hostile when in paint (50% chance).</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Dragon claw (wild elves)</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">These tattooed, scantly clad elves have a deep respect for dragons, although they recognize not all dragons are good. They are distrustful of anyone wearing heavy armor, as these are more common in the invaders. Discreet body paint, long braided hair, curved blades. Nomadic, claim no lands as their own.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Glowtoads (shy frogfolk)</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">They live in the marshes and avoid getting close to civilization. Sometimes they use special paint (usually curves and dots) that make them glow at night. Will use as a diversion tactic when needed. Otherwise, they are usually friendly to humans but hate mantisfolk.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><b>Warp folk (human mutants)</b></div><div>These misshapen humanoids worship a green rock which has a strange glow. A few generations of natural selection made them a bit more resilient to negative mutations, but they still look ugly (scaly skin, asymmetrical features). Feared and despised by most, but not actually as aggressive as other clans.</div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Sky terrors (cupendiepe hunters)</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Nocturnal, blood-drinking, winged humanoids that fight with moon-shaped axes. Very aggressive. Live in caverns near mountains tops, steal treasure for no apparent reason.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Firestarters (human/goblin pyromaniacs)</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The worshippers of the Lord of Fire cover their bodies in ashes and burn their enemies to commemorate victories. Fight with oil flasks and fire traps. Occasionally worship at the crater of an extinct (?) volcano, but the location is secret to everyone except their shamans, who have been "touched by fire" (burn scars).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Greenscales (powerful lizardfolk)</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The greenscales are the most powerful lizardfolk clan in the land. They take a nuanced view of the invaders; they know they are feared, but can make powerful allies. They might engaged peacefully with smaller groups. They were enslaved under some of the ruined empires and they hate magic and the cult of Apopep with its corrupted sorcerers.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhFtnaE9OV1Ybb754WnvdvJcb4EDSPfKzjNDKh0yKNry-0-2Tvplgp_WXREGiccREUjTrZsUhnGXjSRODq-CO3Oeuf12uUCkdw7e2fzx2No_KLeZ6OoSPgDmNJvPfyEhTNRYxN0MOgCLYoYnO9J5o_5b_LXcYWooA1SEqn3T2C_1qA8o1Uf3jjfwMahXO/s349/mant.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhFtnaE9OV1Ybb754WnvdvJcb4EDSPfKzjNDKh0yKNry-0-2Tvplgp_WXREGiccREUjTrZsUhnGXjSRODq-CO3Oeuf12uUCkdw7e2fzx2No_KLeZ6OoSPgDmNJvPfyEhTNRYxN0MOgCLYoYnO9J5o_5b_LXcYWooA1SEqn3T2C_1qA8o1Uf3jjfwMahXO/s16000/mant.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Random clans</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Type (1d20)</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>1. Tabaxi</div><div>2. Lizadfolk</div><div>3. Goblin</div><div>4. Cupendiepe</div><div>5. Dwarves</div><div>6. Elves</div><div>7. Mantisfolk</div><div>8. Frogfolk</div><div>9. Kobold</div><div>10+. Humans</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div><b>Looks (1d20)</b></div><div></div></div><div><div>1. Naked</div><div>2. Tattoos</div><div>3. Body paint</div><div>4. Skulls</div><div>5. Sharp teeth (in mouth or necklace)</div><div>6. Demon mask</div><div>7. Colorful silk</div><div>8. Spikes</div><div>9. Ritual scars</div><div>10. Reptile hide </div></div><div>11. Camouflage</div><div>12. Feathers</div><div>13. Wood armor</div><div>14. Jewelry</div><div>15. Snake motifs</div><div>16. Jaguar skin/motifs</div><div>17. Shell necklace</div><div>18. Light robes</div><div>19. Colorful hair/ beads</div><div>20. Braids</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Like/dislike (1d20) - [or: respect, fear, worship, etc.]</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>1. Heavy armor</div><div>2. Strangers</div><div>3. Cannibalism</div><div>4. Spellcasters</div><div>5. Nearby tribe</div><div>6. Dragons</div><div>7. Castles</div><div>8. Undead</div><div>9. The Water Lord (main Lawful deity)</div><div>10. Alcohol</div></div><div style="text-align: left;">11. Commerce</div><div style="text-align: left;">12. The Ruined Empire (Apiaka, etc.)</div><div style="text-align: left;">13. Lord Belarte (or other nearby leader)</div><div style="text-align: left;">14. Monsters (like: 50% chance of pets/mounts)</div><div style="text-align: left;">15. Hallucinogenic plants/fungi</div><div style="text-align: left;">16. Other species (like: 30% chance of mixed clan)</div><div style="text-align: left;">17. Mercenaries / dungeon delvers (like: can be hired)</div><div style="text-align: left;">18. Agriculture</div><div style="text-align: left;">19. "The Natural Order"</div><div style="text-align: left;">20. Slavery/slavers</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><div><u><b>Some additions and variations</b></u></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Tabaxi</b>. Cat, cougar, red, blueish. A rare lionfolk might be found in the North. Many tell legends of ruined Muru, the circular city that stands in ruins - but ascended, "in spirit", to higher planes.</div><div><b>Lizadfolk</b>. Red, mustard, blue, dwarf, horned, rarely white, black, chameleon. Most distrust magic, but a few are loyal to Apopep and the serpent-people that enslaved them in the past.</div><div><b>Goblin</b>. Alchemists, tree-jumpers, burrowers (gray and earthy).</div><div><b>Dwarves</b>. Albino, explorer, slaver, merchant.</div><div><b>Elves</b>. Types vary, but mostly the typical "wood elves", closer to nature, or "underground elves" that enjoy tricks and illusions. Both are familiar with fey, dryads, etc.</div><div><b>Mantisfolk</b>. Dark, mustard, red, green. A few clans are psionically held to a "hive mother" like bees and incapable of independent thought while near. Some gain individuality to perform outside jobs, and some gain it permanently due to genetics, accidents or death of a hive mother.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuYo47lkEu-BAC_n5JjZ8sZqW0A8NXTFuKvhCyMQtNKLDlfzEU_cRcZrZ0xTNZG4c8mrhcbas8drBe_iCDB6eDq09OA8-GcRaXuzSMHXsSwrPnXsMriCWAmhGCbOCIFM-GQauTHxT34pAwwxU40eMQiGKl6DnzBHWGnQPju3zBOdWGG2D8UUgUOrgYuYDi" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="407" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuYo47lkEu-BAC_n5JjZ8sZqW0A8NXTFuKvhCyMQtNKLDlfzEU_cRcZrZ0xTNZG4c8mrhcbas8drBe_iCDB6eDq09OA8-GcRaXuzSMHXsSwrPnXsMriCWAmhGCbOCIFM-GQauTHxT34pAwwxU40eMQiGKl6DnzBHWGnQPju3zBOdWGG2D8UUgUOrgYuYDi=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morlocks.</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>Other clans</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Orcs </b>- None. Replace by <b>lizardfolk</b>.</div><div><b>Hobgoblins </b>- None. Replace by <b>morlocks</b>, pictured above. As <a href="https://oldschoolessentials.necroticgnome.com/srd/index.php/Hobgoblin">hobgoblins</a>, "dwell underground, but commonly seek prey above ground."</div><div><b>Aaracroka </b>- None. Replace by <b>cupendiepe</b>, a more aggressive species of bat-people.</div><div><br /></div><div>Etc.</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Villages & Cities</u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">From <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/288289/Dark-Fantasy-Places">Dark Fantasy Places</a>. Unlikely to be used until the PCs decide to interact with one of the clans.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><b>d20<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Appearance</b></div><div>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Intertwined with trees</div><div>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Buried</div><div>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Lifted from the ground</div><div>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Made of moving tents</div><div>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Camouflaged</div><div>6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Suspended over water</div><div>7.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Built amidst ancient ruins</div><div>8.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Huge and mostly empty</div><div>9.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Dug up in rocks</div><div>10.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A single building</div><div>11.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>On a mountain top</div><div>12.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Brightful colors</div><div>13.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Tall buildings</div><div>14.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Misty</div><div>15.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Narrow streets</div><div>16.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Inside a crater</div><div>17.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Constantly flooded</div><div>18.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Poor and ruined</div><div>19.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Beautiful and frail</div><div>20.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Heavily fortified</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>d20<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Society</b></div><div>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Property is communal</div><div>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>No concept of privacy</div><div>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Identity is defined by masks</div><div>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Rigid protocol for every conversation</div><div>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Universal vow of silence</div><div>6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Adults are cast out</div><div>7.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Appropriate clothing is mandatory</div><div>8.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Visitors have no rights</div><div>9.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>All burials must be in pairs</div><div>10.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Children are raised by all</div><div>11.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A proper season for each action</div><div>12.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Travelers welcome for a single day</div><div>13.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Weapons are forbidden</div><div>14.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Couples” are always three</div><div>15.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Those who can’t fight must serve</div><div>16.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>No activities during daytime</div><div>17.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Violence is never the answer</div><div>18.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Everything is permitted</div><div>19.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Might makes right</div><div>20.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Casual cannibalism</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>d20<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Problems</b></div><div>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Besieged by monsters</div><div>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ruled by tyrants</div><div>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Plagued by poverty</div><div>4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Infected by disease</div><div>5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Fiercely territorial</div><div>6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Infiltrated by demons</div><div>7.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Filled with criminals</div><div>8.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Resentful of outsiders</div><div>9.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ongoing power struggle</div><div>10.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Cursed with madness</div><div>11.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Violently expansionist</div><div>12.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Falsely utopian</div><div>13.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Mutated by Corruption</div><div>14.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Malignant religion</div><div>15.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Screwed morals</div><div>16.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Widespread panic</div><div>17.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Hopelessly defeated</div><div>18.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Hiding dark secrets</div><div>19.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Inhabitants cannot leave</div><div>20.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Periodic human sacrifice</div></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-89606020633490219242024-01-14T05:35:00.000-08:002024-01-14T05:35:55.071-08:00Black God's Kiss - brief review<div style="text-align: left;">"Black God's Kiss" (1934), by C.L. Moore, is a short story about Jirel of Joiry, an (apparently) French female warrior, who finds herself defeated in her own kingdom and imprisoned by an evil enemy that is eager to humiliate her. Full of hatred, she decides to go into the hellish Abyss beneath the castle to find a useful weapon against her rival...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilNh7BDufnNUgv01wdSxJW0dBY0xFTFtPVtLSm2isiNADvg7zxbg4ScB8kzQNuz1nRqYHujM-TpiHrqa9rdvCfZ77nYVQ-QQhJov7Y4mWmVoY7dZLK7AkhgJuZjsL3FByBan2k_tnBp44bmletq1E_s9ZpcYyHQYlKDgzVMicKZ6ZSSLtuGwSZqzq2TcGw/s429/black-gods-kiss-cover-2-e1490194896990.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilNh7BDufnNUgv01wdSxJW0dBY0xFTFtPVtLSm2isiNADvg7zxbg4ScB8kzQNuz1nRqYHujM-TpiHrqa9rdvCfZ77nYVQ-QQhJov7Y4mWmVoY7dZLK7AkhgJuZjsL3FByBan2k_tnBp44bmletq1E_s9ZpcYyHQYlKDgzVMicKZ6ZSSLtuGwSZqzq2TcGw/s16000/black-gods-kiss-cover-2-e1490194896990.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The plot is reminiscent of Worms of the Earth by Robert E. Howard. The writing is also similar to Howard in tone, mixing action with weirdness and cosmic horror. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Jirel is not quite a "female Conan" (nor the stereotypical princess, damsel, or amazon); she is strong and ferocious, but has enough distinguishing characteristics to be interesting. For example, she is a Christian, and fully knows that she is not risking only her life but also her soul - even if she succeeds on her quest. Also, apparently the first notable S&S female protagonist (probably some of the best female S&S author I've read, too).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />As far as REH-inspired works go, this one is pretty good. The ending was a bit vague (probably explained in the next story), but other than than it could be a strong entry to any REHish collection. The pacing is very fast, the setting is interesting - and could certainly serve as inspiration for your D&D games.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />For some reason, I thought this was part of the Appendix N, but, surprisingly, it isn't. It would be a good addition for lots of reasons: time of publishing, theme, quality. It is better than average when compared to the other books on the list. I can only assumed Gygax hadn't read it or liked it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />It is a short book, so there is no point in writing a long review. Maybe I'll do that after I've read the other books in the series.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />For now, I'll just recommend you check it out!</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-42723142362730667152024-01-11T10:30:00.000-08:002024-01-11T16:11:48.647-08:00Single attack/damage roll<div style="text-align: left;">Last year, I've read a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/187xuaa/oneroll_damage_idea_for_bx_and_osr_games_with/">Reddit</a> user (Kubular) talking about a single attack/damage roll, and ever since I cannot stop thinking about this.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Just roll 1d20, add your attack bonus, a "<b>weapon rating</b>" (WR) and subtract AC: this is the total damage (minimum 0). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />(I'm assuming ascending AC here; if you're using THAC0, add AC and subtract THAC0, etc.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Example: if you roll 15, your attack bonus is +4, and your WR is +3, your total is 21. Against AC 17, this means 4 points of damage. But against AC 10, you deal 11 damage!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This has innumerable <b><u>benefits</u></b>. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- One fewer roll, for starters. <b>Faster combat</b>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- It <b>prevents the disappointment</b> of "I rolled a 19 in my attack - perfect! Roll damage... 1 point... sigh...".</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- <b>Armor</b> becomes immediately vital. When unarmored, being hit by a dagger (held by a capable fighter) is DEADLY even at mid-levels.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- At the same time, <b>weapon </b>choice becomes more important against armored foes, beyond a simple +1 damage.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- Bigger weapons are better, but even MORE relevant against armored targets - going back to <b>CHAINMAIL </b>days.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- <b>Fighters become more deadly</b> as they progress WITHOUT the need of multi-attacks. Conan can now kill an unarmored sorcerer with a chair, or with a single blow of his sword.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Lines up perfectly to the <b>AD&D advice</b> (IIRC) that excess bonuses after you "always hit" go to damage (e.g., if you had +15 to hit against AC 11, you immediately add +4 to damage).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- It is also <b>perfect for B/X</b>, where a fighter will rarely have an attack bonus much greater than +10, so things never get out of hand.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- This lines up well with the idea that <b>monster damage raises on average one point per HD</b>, something Gygax suggested and I have discussed in this blog before. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- It can also<b> reduce monster stats</b>; their damage is derived from their attack bonus/HD, no need to list damage for most monster attacks (and two attacks could just get -2 each, thus reducing to-hit AND damage and sometimes creating an interesting choice - attack more often if your opponent has weak armor, etc.).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Now t<b>he bonus to attack/damage is a single number</b>. Str gives you +1 to attack/damage, and a magic weapon might give you an additional +2 attack/damage. B/X already does this; now, weapon damage follows the same pattern.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- There is <b>always </b>a small chance of near failure. Even a lowly goblin can survive a blow from a +5 sword if the attacker rolls badly.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6AkZNVfOM5_LTXgcgGchyX74vGnbd5XsO-hbIxpfja9ZjX1qV5gNMPyrRSWFpTdkC3BE5usoMT_jb2aa6BiOh7q0Q0xpAZLrIEWl_NgsJ7cOiCm6ZpmRRdkFaTzj7XQB8rPCOthGwIv-2AqDo8NPVkqLMLlFmX9PNaNPRtLPHc3PwIZKdM8U49-7K3yk-/s940/comics-stupid-circus-d&d-5773943.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="940" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6AkZNVfOM5_LTXgcgGchyX74vGnbd5XsO-hbIxpfja9ZjX1qV5gNMPyrRSWFpTdkC3BE5usoMT_jb2aa6BiOh7q0Q0xpAZLrIEWl_NgsJ7cOiCm6ZpmRRdkFaTzj7XQB8rPCOthGwIv-2AqDo8NPVkqLMLlFmX9PNaNPRtLPHc3PwIZKdM8U49-7K3yk-/w400-h400/comics-stupid-circus-d&d-5773943.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: stupidcircus on Facebook.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Calculating damage</u> is a bit tricky. </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Basically, if you hit on a 11+, you have 50% chance to hit, and your average damage when you do is 4.5 (the average of all possibilities, from 0 damage on a natural 11 to 9 on a natural 20) - so average DPR is 2.25 (see table below).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you ALWAYS hit, average damage AND DPR is 9.5. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you need a nat 20 to hit, since the difference is ZERO, you can cause no damage - of course, you could rule that the MINIMUM damage is 1, so the DPR would be 0.02.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As you can see, <b>average damage is nothing absurd</b> - even if maximum damage varies wildly. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">DPR is lowered against heavy armor, and augmented against unarmored foes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For example, a d4 dagger usually has a DPR of 1.25 if you need to roll 11+, but if you use this system and consider the dagger a +1 weapon, the DPR goes to 2.75 (since you hit on a 10+).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 3.5pt 0cm 3.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 0px;">
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Roll needed<o:p></o:p></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Dmg<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">DPR<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><i><b><u style="background-color: #fcff01;">9.5</u></b></i><o:p></o:p></p>
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<tr style="height: 15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 89pt;" valign="bottom" width="119"></td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64"></td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64"></td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64"></td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64"></td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64"></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 89pt;" valign="bottom" width="119"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Roll </b><b>needed<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><b>11<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><b>12<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><b>13<o:p></o:p></b></p>
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<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><b>14<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><b>15<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
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<tr style="height: 15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 89pt;" valign="bottom" width="119">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Dmg<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">4.5<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">4<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">3.5<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">3<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">2.5<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
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<tr style="height: 15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 89pt;" valign="bottom" width="119">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">DPR<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><i><u><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">2.25<o:p></o:p></b></u></i></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">1.8<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">1.4<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">1.05<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">0.75<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 89pt;" valign="bottom" width="119"></td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64"></td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64"></td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64"></td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64"></td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64"></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 89pt;" valign="bottom" width="119"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Roll </b><b>needed<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><b>16<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><b>17<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><b>18<o:p></o:p></b></p>
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<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><b>19<o:p></o:p></b></p>
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<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><b>20<o:p></o:p></b></p>
</td>
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<tr style="height: 15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 89pt;" valign="bottom" width="119">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Dmg<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">2<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">1.5<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">1<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
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<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">0.5<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">0<o:p></o:p></p>
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<tr style="height: 15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 89pt;" valign="bottom" width="119">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">DPR<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">0.5<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">0.3<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">0.15<o:p></o:p></p>
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<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">0.05<o:p></o:p></p>
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<td nowrap="" style="height: 15pt; padding: 0cm 3.5pt; width: 48pt;" valign="bottom" width="64">
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;"><i><u><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">0</b><o:p></o:p></u></i></p>
</td>
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</tbody></table><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />There are also potential <b>shortcomings</b>. <br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Punches could become <b>too deadly</b>, even if you rate them as -4.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Likewise, <b>unarmored targets are very frail</b>. Barbarians, monks, or maybe EVERYONE might need a small AC boost at higher levels.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And some ways to <b>spice/fix things up</b>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Maybe weapons are +1/+2/+3/+4, with swords giving you +1 damage and maces giving you +1 attack and -2 damage (so they are better against armor), etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Maybe there is a soft limit to damage (e.g., 5/10/15/20), so strong fighters benefit more from bigger weapons.</div><div style="text-align: left;">- Instead of assigning bonuses to weapons, just roll a d4/d6/d8 etc. So, <b>d20+d4+attack bonus</b> for a dagger, and so on, making things even more swingy and deadly. Maybe use unarmored AC 12 to balance things out.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><b><u>Would I use this in my B/X games?</u></b> I'm not sure. </div><div><br /></div><div>I think it would be a great fit for a "Song of Ice and Fire" type of campaign, or maybe some gritty Sword & Sorcery. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not sure my players would buy the idea for traditional D&D games - they are just too used to rolling damage.</div></div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-31115810763886260582024-01-07T20:55:00.000-08:002024-02-14T04:03:42.745-08:00A Princess of Mars<div style="text-align: left;"> "A Princess of Mars" is a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs (the creator of Tarzan among other things). It is a classic in a " foundational" way, since it has influenced innumerable other authors (Vance, Clarke, Heinlein, Wells, Bradbury), movies (Star Wars, Avatar), comic books (including Superman), RPGs (it is not only in the appendix N, but also has monsters included in the original D&D, and inspired Dark Sun, Tékumel and Carcosa, among others), etc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The book tells the story of a Confederate veteran, Jonh Carter, that gets transported to Mars (which natives call Barsoom) in a mysterious way while being chased by Apaches.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Carter soon finds out that the conditions of Mars (e.g., lower gravity) give him superhuman strength and other amazing powers. In this planet, he first faces the Green Martians, tall, four-armed creatures that are warlike and primitive, but still occasionally noble and courageous (the typical “noble savages”). Carter soon earns their respect due to his fighting prowess, and gets welcomed in their ranks. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Later on, he will meet and fall in love with a captured princess from the Red Martians – a people that is closer to humanity and more technologically advanced, but also have their own violent feuds.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPiaqjXJIdgV1uzbNJouVghf1_7L0t3A-jtgNcfg6wWM_8xOM4caKjVOPyhyphenhyphenKFqhvb65tw08NfVM65cxepsVzMgUDKFxFKYSqAftFMcInCaM67WsEVtv3ERVseJ-vVgbnY9mRUHNJGUOkgwg3TljGiNtoZ48Akfdg4Mn-K8Nx6Cn46pibISoTGa3Ihl7L_/s602/princess.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPiaqjXJIdgV1uzbNJouVghf1_7L0t3A-jtgNcfg6wWM_8xOM4caKjVOPyhyphenhyphenKFqhvb65tw08NfVM65cxepsVzMgUDKFxFKYSqAftFMcInCaM67WsEVtv3ERVseJ-vVgbnY9mRUHNJGUOkgwg3TljGiNtoZ48Akfdg4Mn-K8Nx6Cn46pibISoTGa3Ihl7L_/s16000/princess.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As you can guess, we are in the " science fantasy" genre, mixing sword and sorcery, western, and scientific speculation (about the Martian environment). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Even though there might be some obvious parallels between Carter's fight with the Apache and the martians, or Arizona and Mars, the author doesn't dwell on it. For the most part, this is a two-fisted tale about a man thrown into a strange world, and forced to solve most of his problems with a fist to the jaw. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The book grows progressively more violent until civilizations clash in open war, with Carter willing to kill unwary enemy soldiers who gets on his way.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />While the plot feels formulaic at times (the foreign hero who unites the disordered people to save the princess, etc.), the narrative is fast and full of action, and the world-building is simply superb. The ending feels a bit rushed and unexplained, but this doesn't detract much from the rest of the book.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Fortunately, there are several sequels – the series has a total of eleven books. The first few books in the series including this one are in the public domain in most places - you can get it for free <a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/62">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Overall, I found it a great read, not only because of its huge influence on D&D and pop culture, but also because it's a fun adventure book, with an awesome setting and good action.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Recommended!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(<a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-gods-of-mars-book-review.html">You can find my review of the sequel, The Gods of Mars, here</a>).</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-23342024413455260582024-01-03T18:18:00.000-08:002024-01-03T18:18:17.177-08:00Happy 2024! (+recap and projects)<div style="text-align: left;">Happy New Year my friends!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />In a brief recap, 2023 was a very active here for this blog - 91 posts is a record for me!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I started using X (<a href="https://twitter.com/EricDiaz_RPG">follow me here</a>), which inspired my last two posts of 2023.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I've been running a sandbox trough 2023, which I plan to continue for 2024. I'll probably try a few classic modules and write some actual play reviews here.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />My first book, <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/229046/Dark-Fantasy-Basic--Players-Guide">Dark Fantasy Basic</a>, finally got Platinum in 2023! I've been meaning to write a post about that, and my plans to update it. I'm still a bit unsure about which way to go. I started messing with the Labyrinth Lord document, but then the OGL debacle happened and I'm considering using <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/12/in-praise-of-basic-fantasy-bfrpg.html">BFRPG</a> – which is under Creative Commons. This might happen in 2024 too, if I'm inspired...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLU4bsHiY4p5lXBS3jz7gP0GnXyyoAqpq9Snivb2_rtTfT8zG3pEDaKEmwa7S5tC8yHynoim8bwUu-pkbm_dmkUMa9yA43NO2H_5K_hx_FSDPgskbFPj3tRFFLFQROLIUrf2ZnM5o-TBt07X5X574MU8O8bSrVbsX3oGzqw52bLrggICfsVMpOIGvtyOP/s584/24.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="584" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLU4bsHiY4p5lXBS3jz7gP0GnXyyoAqpq9Snivb2_rtTfT8zG3pEDaKEmwa7S5tC8yHynoim8bwUu-pkbm_dmkUMa9yA43NO2H_5K_hx_FSDPgskbFPj3tRFFLFQROLIUrf2ZnM5o-TBt07X5X574MU8O8bSrVbsX3oGzqw52bLrggICfsVMpOIGvtyOP/w400-h348/24.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/06/dmg-1e-cover-to-cover-index.html">I wrote a lot about the DMG</a>, a series that is nearly finished (and will certainly be finished in 2024)! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I have written a bit about Wilderness encounters, which is something I'll tackle soon; probably with a few quotes and even a PDF revisiting the entire procedure of B/X Random Encounters.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Other than that, I have been reading a few appendix N books that I plan to review soon – starting with A Princess of Mars and then The Shadow People.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />2024 in this blog will be similar to 2023: lots of B/X, more AD&D, endless house rules, minimalist, discussing and changing existing mechanics, dark fantasy (in and out of the appendix N), and so on.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />For now… I hope you all have a great 2024!</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209855737812016509.post-64013425241955608292023-12-29T14:24:00.000-08:002024-01-03T18:19:22.060-08:00Encounter balance - how I avoid using it<div style="text-align: left;">As I have mentioned in the last post, I've been talking about "balanced encounters" on X/Twitter.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I half-jokingly mentioned that<b> if "encounter balance" was real, the monsters would win half the battles</b> [I heard this one from @rbalbi, who credits Carlinhos Malvadeza].</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Ended up having a great conversation with balbi, my friend @JensD29 and @optionalrule, which you can check <a href="https://twitter.com/EricDiaz_RPG/status/1738277634247737444">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Balbi and Jens had a great back and forth, but I didn't feel X was a good medium for that, so I decided to write this blog post instead of elaborating there.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[<a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2023/12/revisiting-balance-in-game-design-in.html">Here is Jens' take</a>, BTW; we disagreed].</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />First, Jens and optionalrule defended that a "balanced encounter" does not mean <b>fair </b>- it is only<b> a way to measure how challenging an encounter is (usually, when compared to the existing party)</b>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />They are right. Most people use the expression to indicate how much effort or resources the PCs need to apply to win the fight (not usually to evaluate IF they can win the fight, or the odds of a TPK).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />But<b> if "balance" means the PCs always have the upper hand, it should be called "unfair advantage" or "plot immunity"</b>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />This is my main problem with "balanced encounters", IMO: it is a <b>misnomer</b>. “Challenge rating”, from 5e D&D, is a better term.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Balanced <i>sounds </i>like it means fair; a 10th-level warrior against a goblin does not sound balanced, but if you call it "very easy"it might make sense,</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[While we're at it, a <b>hard </b>encounter should necessarily mean decent changes of <b>defeat</b>. If you do not have the stomach for this, you should call it a "<b>costly</b>" encounter becasue it costs you a spell slot or lots of HP. Anyway.].</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrfwO9FLaKA_8ybC9JEgfGVz3baZUxuiE2yR9IkjLBzfpG8e6lNqrmWmvdR1ClSIGflfBl9-hE3wdcGQLdFq_9h4QdyVQkosuY32NsAbY5UEIYStxxHaqxavEUFR-PrVrK9GeFZH4017hi_CgJ_RDlgJTZqNlO42KhKF_om0ZpJcuuhj2DzEY6b3vZAKym" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="489" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrfwO9FLaKA_8ybC9JEgfGVz3baZUxuiE2yR9IkjLBzfpG8e6lNqrmWmvdR1ClSIGflfBl9-hE3wdcGQLdFq_9h4QdyVQkosuY32NsAbY5UEIYStxxHaqxavEUFR-PrVrK9GeFZH4017hi_CgJ_RDlgJTZqNlO42KhKF_om0ZpJcuuhj2DzEY6b3vZAKym=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Balance" sounds like two sides are (or should) be similar in power.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Worse, the idea that <b>the monsters the PCs meet should be previously measured against the PC’s capabilities</b> also often carries a lot of (unspoken) assumptions I do not like, such as:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- <b>The world revolves around the PCs</b>. For me, this ruins the feeling of "immersion", or the idea that the setting is a real place and not a playground with clear limits (and height requirements).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- <b>The PCs can solve anything with a fight</b> - since all creatures they encounter is level-appropriate. This may also lead to the belief that every encounter is a fight, which impoverishes the game as it discourages other creative approaches, such as negotiation, planning, sneaking, finding allies or even escaping.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- <b>Every fight is winnable</b>. If the PCs ever see a dragon attacking a city, they know they CAN win. They lose the sense of progress that they would get by encountering a foe that's just too strong for them at first... But that they can defeat later, after they get more XP and magic items.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- <b>The GM picks the fights for the PCs</b>. This is an implication that ties balanced encounters to railroading: why would the GM need to ensure balance if it was up to the PCs to decide if they'll fight a goblin or a dragon next?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Now, I'm not 100% against balanced encounters, as they are useful in a number of ways – for example, writing “for 4-6 characters of levels 5-8” in the cover of an adventure module, or to give you an idea of how many orcs were needed to destroy the kobold city the PCs have just entered.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />By the way, I think saying a module is “unbalanced” is fair criticism IF the module indicates the PCs have to fight impossible odds to win (if there are ways AROUND those challenges, the module should disclose that to the GM).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />But <b>my games did become a lot better after I stopped worrying about “crafting balanced encounters”</b> for the PCs. Instead, I scatter challenges around, and <b>let the players choose where to go</b>. If they choose violence, well, I have no kobold on this fight - now it is up to the dice.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />However, I think that balanced encounters are a (sometimes misguided) solution to a real problem: <b>nobody wants the PCs to be thrown into a fight that they have no chance of winning against their will</b>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />If feels unfair and unfun. It robs the players of choice and even of their own PCs through no fault of their own, and can end a campaign for no good reason.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I think we can avoid this issue without having to worry about how “balanced” the encounters are. <br />Here are a few suggestions:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />- <b>Information </b>– To avoid entering unwinnable fights, the PCs must have some ways to gain <b>access </b>to information about the capabilities of their foes. There are innumerable ways to do that. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Some are obvious (they expect giants to be stronger than goblins), some are more indirect (charred reamins of several people are found near the cave entrance), and part of the information is in the players' memories (from previous adventures, experiences and even pop culture - "did you say Tomb of Horrors?"). <b>Foreshadowing </b>is a popular tecnique. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><b>Consistency </b>is important – if the PCs fought a giant, they know what to expect when they face his biger cousin. Monster stats do not vary that much under most circumstances (which is one of the reasons I disliked 4e minion rules).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The easiest way to balance fights to the PC's capabilities is probably using something similar to <b>dungeon levels</b> (i.e., the deeper you are in the dungeon, the more dangerous the monsters become). In this case, it is up to the players - not the GM - to decide how far they are willing to go ("wilderness levels" is a subject I am tackling soon...) <br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- <b>Options </b>– Once the PCs have information, it will become obvious that they have options (conversely, if they have NO way to acquire information, their choices about where to go or which door to open are meaningless).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />But the players do not simply pick their encounters - they must know they have options even <b>after </b>they encounter a creature. They can <b>avoid, parlay, escape</b>, etc.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">-<b> Freedom and responsibility</b>. Now that the PCs have all the tools (and freedom) to make informed choices, encounter balance becomes their responsibility. It takes this load from the GM's back while empowering the players at the same time. <br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Of course, adding unpredictability to this mix can <b>occasionally </b>be lots of fun. Even with the best information, the PCs can fail. <br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For example, I was recently playing in another GM's campaign and a critical hit almost caused a TPK in a hard, but otherwise ordinary, encounter (that the PCs were "supposed" to win without heavy losses). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The GM apologized, but I insisted this is part of the game - and, TBH, it was quite fun. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />But this is another matter, for another post... maybe in 2024!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Happy new year!</div>Eric Diazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09196219031821755216noreply@blogger.com7