It can be more than just survival and experience points!
The original three Little Brown Books in the White Box are written as guidelines and give suggestions and hints at how players might want to organize their game. It provided a number of tools that seemed puzzling at first, but eventually made sense, and has continued to unlock and grow in my mind over the years. One aspect not lost on me even during my initial experience reading the volumes is that the original game provides an end-game goal - the stronghold.
Upon reaching name level, "Lord" for fighting men who may build a castle, "Patriarch" for clerics who may fund a temple, and "Wizard" for magic users who may build a tower or other seclusive retreat in which to conduct their magical studies, provided they have accumulated enough gold pieces to pay for construction costs.
According to the rules, "name level" characters can build a stronghold and attract followers. This comes at the end of the character's career of adventuring. My group generally "retired" our characters upon achieving name level - although we would occasionally bring them out of retirement for a special high level adventure. The group I played with were experienced wargamers, but we didn't extend our RPG campaign into tabletop wargaming of large land or sea battles or politics of baronies, temples and towers as was certainly possible given the implied end-game scenario.
Having an end-game or ultimate character goal is an important aspect in role-playing. Characters are easier to play if they are motivated by something more than violence and looting. Scenarios may involve specific mission goals such as defeat the monster threat or rescue the hostage, but at the end of the day, what keeps them risking their hit points? The advent of "backstories" provides today's gamers with many more options for establishing a personal end-game goal for their paper heroes.
For example, I have played the character "Khalid" in many campaigns over the years. His backstory remains fairly consistent across them all - namely he is the son of a failed revolutionary who carries a piece of his father's flag. One day he hopes to return home and overthrow the tyrant who defeated his father. So far it hasn't happened, but it gives Khalid a reason to travel, to improve his abilities and accumulate friends, reputation and wealth. Most importantly, it helps me role-play a character's personality separate from my own and gives a referee fuel for adventure, should they choose to use it.
Friday, March 20, 2020
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Most Influential RPGs
My Personal Journey of Discovery
The first role-playing game I encountered was the original three Little Brown Books in a White Box published by TSR in 1974. It puzzled me and excited me. As I unpacked it all and eventually discovered how I could play it, I absolutely fell in love with White Box D&D. It's combination of brevity and customization potential compares well to all later games and it remains my favorite RPG to this day.
White Box introduced adventure gaming and with it several new concepts in gaming. The player's character as a single alter ego representation of your participation in the game setting is as far as I know original to the adventure game later referred to as role-playing. Leveraging the fantastic fiction that I greatly enjoy, the adventure game draws on genre archetypes for character inspiration and allows players to game the stories that until RPGs one could only passively read about. The RPG puts you into the fictional setting and allows you to make decisions and imagine yourself as that hero/heroine who accomplishes great deeds. White Box establishes the underworld, or dungeon as a place of adventure and while not directly described in previous literature the idea draws inspiration from many scenes borrowed from several sources, perhaps mythology being foremost among them. It is after all, the hero's journey that is being played out at the RPG table.
Ken St. Andre says he wrote Tunnels & Trolls in reaction to having read the White Box rules and found them wanting in areas. Tunnels & Trolls is perhaps the second RPG I played and from it I first discovered that the fun I was having with a character adventuring in a fantastic setting of make believe could be had solo. I soon discovered that I didn't need a "solo adventure" specifically aimed at solo play to enjoy the hobby without a group. There are ways to play any system and any published adventure as a solo game. While group play remains my preferred way to enjoy the RPG hobby, I have spent many hours alone creating my own fun with RPGs.
The Fantasy Trip written by Steve Jackson and first published by Microgaming combines the role-playing experience with tactical hex-based combat strategy. Early D&D is a "theater of the mind" type of game where the action is imagined with few if any physical representations used. Subsequent editions including 3e, 4e and Pathfinder have utilized miniature figures and detailed combat grid maps to assist players in pursuing a more tactical combat mechanic.
Call of Cthulhu was my introduction to investigative gaming and real role playing of a character. Until Sandy Petersen and Chaosium released Call of Cthulhu, I approached adventure gaming from mostly a wargame perspective. My games were about combat with some exploration and puzzle solving, but very little character development and dialogue. With CoC I started to think of the character as something more than my "playing piece" - something rather close to a character in a novel who has personality, beliefs, goals, quirks and aspirations distinct from my own. I also came to appreciate the appeal of horror in the tabletop RPG through playing CoC, which incidentally got me reading the works of H.P. Lovecraft. One of the positive side effects of the hobby is that it helps introduce many of us to literature that we might otherwise not come into contact with.
RuneQuest and its excellent supplement on religion Cults of Prax both also published by Chaosium broadened my concept of what is possible in the world of the RPG. Up until Cults of Prax while playing White Box and the Advanced Game I had "hand waved" religion in my games. Having little interest in TSR's treatment of the subject and finding religion mostly portrayed as practiced by evil cultists in the fantasy stories I read, I generally ignored the portrayal of deities and worship. RuneQuest is not your basic dungeon crawler game, however and encourages characters who interact within the fictional society of the setting - RQ's default setting is Glorantha a mythical place where the deities are active and cults membership is the primary source of magic and skill progression. RuneQuest took my imagination to new places outside the standard medieval European flavor of prior RPGs and taught me the potential of world building - namely that setting can define the game.
My brief story now jumps ahead several decades as I come to Basic Fantasy and the old school renaissance (OSR). Basic Fantasy by Chris Gonnerman has been my introduction to the OSR community and helped me discover that there are a whole lot of gamers who continue to play and design for the older style games that I played in the 1970s and '80s and which I still love. Basic Fantasy is written using the Open Game License (WotC), but adapts that d20 system to give us a game that plays much like the older B/X game, albeit with some modern updated mechanics. The OSR has been a source of great enjoyment for me these past few years.
The OSR is teaching me many new things about a hobby I have participated in for decades. Lamentations of the Flame Princess is an OSR RPG that has had a profound effect on how I view and play all systems. LotFP treats each of its four classes as being specialized in one thing and focuses progression on improving that one best thing. In other words, Fighters fight and are the only class which gets better at fighting as they level up. Clerics and Magic Users acquire spells and Specialists improve their specialized skills such as thieving or forestry. None of the races has infravision or can see in the dark. The dark is scary and to be without a light source greatly hampers the adventurer. Alignment makes sense in LotFP and is useful. I like alignment, not as a personality straight-jacket, but as an eternal struggle between order and disorder. Clerics in LotFP are agents of Law and Magic Users are aligned with Chaos - if you think about it, that makes sense. Other character classes are neutral. LotFP does not include a list of monsters or magic items as the author, James Edward Raggi IV believes both should be unique to each setting and should have history and lore attached to them. The mantra that "less is more" is one of my take-a-ways from LotFP.
As a result of broadening my hobby exposure I am also exploring the smaller press independent games and have found many good ideas among those products. From Luke Crane's The Burning Wheel I am learning the advantage of scaling mechanics. There are at least three ways to adjudicate a fight in Burning Wheel depending on how how much time and effort you would like to devote to that encounter. One is less detailed and dramatic and a good way to decide the outcome of an unimportant, but violent encounter. A second involves more detail and skill use, but is less involved than the third which is aimed at producing a tactical exchange that heightens drama and tension and is more likely to produce that memorable heroic event that can help define a campaign. Burning Wheel also introduced me to the concept of "let it ride", in other words economize on the dice rolling. A die roll results in Burning Wheel stands until there is a significant change in circumstances. In other words if the character succeeds at a sneak roll, there is no need to call for another until something changes. Social conflicts in Burning Wheel are given similar weight to combat encounters in terms of having detailed mechanics for the use of argument strategies and changing an opponent's mind or winning a debate.
There are many games I enjoy which are not on this list and finding the time to play them all is much harder than finding one that I like and look forward to playing.
The first role-playing game I encountered was the original three Little Brown Books in a White Box published by TSR in 1974. It puzzled me and excited me. As I unpacked it all and eventually discovered how I could play it, I absolutely fell in love with White Box D&D. It's combination of brevity and customization potential compares well to all later games and it remains my favorite RPG to this day.
White Box introduced adventure gaming and with it several new concepts in gaming. The player's character as a single alter ego representation of your participation in the game setting is as far as I know original to the adventure game later referred to as role-playing. Leveraging the fantastic fiction that I greatly enjoy, the adventure game draws on genre archetypes for character inspiration and allows players to game the stories that until RPGs one could only passively read about. The RPG puts you into the fictional setting and allows you to make decisions and imagine yourself as that hero/heroine who accomplishes great deeds. White Box establishes the underworld, or dungeon as a place of adventure and while not directly described in previous literature the idea draws inspiration from many scenes borrowed from several sources, perhaps mythology being foremost among them. It is after all, the hero's journey that is being played out at the RPG table.
Ken St. Andre says he wrote Tunnels & Trolls in reaction to having read the White Box rules and found them wanting in areas. Tunnels & Trolls is perhaps the second RPG I played and from it I first discovered that the fun I was having with a character adventuring in a fantastic setting of make believe could be had solo. I soon discovered that I didn't need a "solo adventure" specifically aimed at solo play to enjoy the hobby without a group. There are ways to play any system and any published adventure as a solo game. While group play remains my preferred way to enjoy the RPG hobby, I have spent many hours alone creating my own fun with RPGs.
The Fantasy Trip written by Steve Jackson and first published by Microgaming combines the role-playing experience with tactical hex-based combat strategy. Early D&D is a "theater of the mind" type of game where the action is imagined with few if any physical representations used. Subsequent editions including 3e, 4e and Pathfinder have utilized miniature figures and detailed combat grid maps to assist players in pursuing a more tactical combat mechanic.
Call of Cthulhu was my introduction to investigative gaming and real role playing of a character. Until Sandy Petersen and Chaosium released Call of Cthulhu, I approached adventure gaming from mostly a wargame perspective. My games were about combat with some exploration and puzzle solving, but very little character development and dialogue. With CoC I started to think of the character as something more than my "playing piece" - something rather close to a character in a novel who has personality, beliefs, goals, quirks and aspirations distinct from my own. I also came to appreciate the appeal of horror in the tabletop RPG through playing CoC, which incidentally got me reading the works of H.P. Lovecraft. One of the positive side effects of the hobby is that it helps introduce many of us to literature that we might otherwise not come into contact with.
RuneQuest and its excellent supplement on religion Cults of Prax both also published by Chaosium broadened my concept of what is possible in the world of the RPG. Up until Cults of Prax while playing White Box and the Advanced Game I had "hand waved" religion in my games. Having little interest in TSR's treatment of the subject and finding religion mostly portrayed as practiced by evil cultists in the fantasy stories I read, I generally ignored the portrayal of deities and worship. RuneQuest is not your basic dungeon crawler game, however and encourages characters who interact within the fictional society of the setting - RQ's default setting is Glorantha a mythical place where the deities are active and cults membership is the primary source of magic and skill progression. RuneQuest took my imagination to new places outside the standard medieval European flavor of prior RPGs and taught me the potential of world building - namely that setting can define the game.
My brief story now jumps ahead several decades as I come to Basic Fantasy and the old school renaissance (OSR). Basic Fantasy by Chris Gonnerman has been my introduction to the OSR community and helped me discover that there are a whole lot of gamers who continue to play and design for the older style games that I played in the 1970s and '80s and which I still love. Basic Fantasy is written using the Open Game License (WotC), but adapts that d20 system to give us a game that plays much like the older B/X game, albeit with some modern updated mechanics. The OSR has been a source of great enjoyment for me these past few years.
The OSR is teaching me many new things about a hobby I have participated in for decades. Lamentations of the Flame Princess is an OSR RPG that has had a profound effect on how I view and play all systems. LotFP treats each of its four classes as being specialized in one thing and focuses progression on improving that one best thing. In other words, Fighters fight and are the only class which gets better at fighting as they level up. Clerics and Magic Users acquire spells and Specialists improve their specialized skills such as thieving or forestry. None of the races has infravision or can see in the dark. The dark is scary and to be without a light source greatly hampers the adventurer. Alignment makes sense in LotFP and is useful. I like alignment, not as a personality straight-jacket, but as an eternal struggle between order and disorder. Clerics in LotFP are agents of Law and Magic Users are aligned with Chaos - if you think about it, that makes sense. Other character classes are neutral. LotFP does not include a list of monsters or magic items as the author, James Edward Raggi IV believes both should be unique to each setting and should have history and lore attached to them. The mantra that "less is more" is one of my take-a-ways from LotFP.
As a result of broadening my hobby exposure I am also exploring the smaller press independent games and have found many good ideas among those products. From Luke Crane's The Burning Wheel I am learning the advantage of scaling mechanics. There are at least three ways to adjudicate a fight in Burning Wheel depending on how how much time and effort you would like to devote to that encounter. One is less detailed and dramatic and a good way to decide the outcome of an unimportant, but violent encounter. A second involves more detail and skill use, but is less involved than the third which is aimed at producing a tactical exchange that heightens drama and tension and is more likely to produce that memorable heroic event that can help define a campaign. Burning Wheel also introduced me to the concept of "let it ride", in other words economize on the dice rolling. A die roll results in Burning Wheel stands until there is a significant change in circumstances. In other words if the character succeeds at a sneak roll, there is no need to call for another until something changes. Social conflicts in Burning Wheel are given similar weight to combat encounters in terms of having detailed mechanics for the use of argument strategies and changing an opponent's mind or winning a debate.
There are many games I enjoy which are not on this list and finding the time to play them all is much harder than finding one that I like and look forward to playing.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Keeping It Fresh
A Passion for Running the Game
Referee enthusiasm transfers to player enthusiasm. A referee who does not look forward to playing will doom a campaign quicker than most other things. So how, as referee, do we maintain our excitement for running game sessions, especially over the long haul?
My first goal is to run a setting I really like. I am particularly fond of my own homebrew setting, but there are also several published settings that I also enjoy. Each player in the game has one or more characters. The setting serves a similar purpose for the referee and is effectively their "character(s)".
The "monster manual" is full of creatures, some will appeal to you more than others. As referee you can, and probably should, run the monsters you like. Include favorite monsters in your random encounter tables and set encounters. Think about how the monsters will behave and what motivates them. Decide on a few favorite tactical methods for those creatures and give them "personality". Don't be afraid to "role-play" your monsters.
Design challenging situations for the player characters that will entertain you as referee. It's fun to watch how the players approach different challenges and as we all know, players will frequently think of things we referees never imagined. Go with it! That is part of the fun for all. Let the players surprise you and try to not paint yourself (an them) into corners by devising a challenge with only one solution.
Fill your sessions with interesting non-player characters. The NPCs are often what defines the world setting. Give the NPC a name whenever possible and keep notes. That way the campaign stays real and the burden to remember is lessened. A few words describing key features, mannerisms, beliefs or motivations can help you bring the NPC to life. Have fun with them, and again, follow the players lead. That takes some of the creative burden off you as referee and the empowerment players will feel will add to their enthusiasm and yours.
Encourage your players to bring their characters to life through role-play. The mechanics of characters can become boring, so ask them to focus on developing "character", i.e. personality. Have a discussion with your players about what motivates their characters, what challenges and rewards your players are interested in seeing in the game and work to make that a part of your campaign. Over the years of refereeing various systems I have learned to appreciate including character Passions (from Mythras and RuneQuest), Beliefs (Burning Wheel) and Vows (Ironsworn) into games like Pathfinder, White Box D&D and others. A good idea is a good idea and worth borrowing for your game.
Monster stats alone rarely make interesting encounters. Combat can become routine and boring if there is little role-play taking place as part of those encounters. The hobby has come to be called role-playing for a good reason. Role-play brings all aspects of the game to life and provides most of the "entertainment". By facilitating role-play at most every opportunity the referee and players are more likely to enjoy the campaign and want it to continue - continue to play to find out what happens.
Referee enthusiasm transfers to player enthusiasm. A referee who does not look forward to playing will doom a campaign quicker than most other things. So how, as referee, do we maintain our excitement for running game sessions, especially over the long haul?
My first goal is to run a setting I really like. I am particularly fond of my own homebrew setting, but there are also several published settings that I also enjoy. Each player in the game has one or more characters. The setting serves a similar purpose for the referee and is effectively their "character(s)".
The "monster manual" is full of creatures, some will appeal to you more than others. As referee you can, and probably should, run the monsters you like. Include favorite monsters in your random encounter tables and set encounters. Think about how the monsters will behave and what motivates them. Decide on a few favorite tactical methods for those creatures and give them "personality". Don't be afraid to "role-play" your monsters.
Design challenging situations for the player characters that will entertain you as referee. It's fun to watch how the players approach different challenges and as we all know, players will frequently think of things we referees never imagined. Go with it! That is part of the fun for all. Let the players surprise you and try to not paint yourself (an them) into corners by devising a challenge with only one solution.
Fill your sessions with interesting non-player characters. The NPCs are often what defines the world setting. Give the NPC a name whenever possible and keep notes. That way the campaign stays real and the burden to remember is lessened. A few words describing key features, mannerisms, beliefs or motivations can help you bring the NPC to life. Have fun with them, and again, follow the players lead. That takes some of the creative burden off you as referee and the empowerment players will feel will add to their enthusiasm and yours.
Encourage your players to bring their characters to life through role-play. The mechanics of characters can become boring, so ask them to focus on developing "character", i.e. personality. Have a discussion with your players about what motivates their characters, what challenges and rewards your players are interested in seeing in the game and work to make that a part of your campaign. Over the years of refereeing various systems I have learned to appreciate including character Passions (from Mythras and RuneQuest), Beliefs (Burning Wheel) and Vows (Ironsworn) into games like Pathfinder, White Box D&D and others. A good idea is a good idea and worth borrowing for your game.
Monster stats alone rarely make interesting encounters. Combat can become routine and boring if there is little role-play taking place as part of those encounters. The hobby has come to be called role-playing for a good reason. Role-play brings all aspects of the game to life and provides most of the "entertainment". By facilitating role-play at most every opportunity the referee and players are more likely to enjoy the campaign and want it to continue - continue to play to find out what happens.
Friday, March 13, 2020
The "Adjustment" Die
Rolling for Narrative Inspiration
The world's most popular game first published by TSR in 1974 uses a binary "succeed or fail" die roll mechanic. As an extension of wargames where the "succeed or fail" dichotomy was standard, the White Box mechanic set the standard for the new adventure game (role-playing) hobby games. But today there are other options. Two recent FRPG acquisitions have got me thinking about at least occasionally adding a die to determine something like degree of success, momentum or to introduce additional narrative elements such as boons and complications to our dice outcomes.
The Blackest of Deaths published last year by Bloat Games uses an additional d6 rolled with your to hit die (or alongside any d20 roll to succeed/fail) which is used to add narrative by the referee in the form of a possible benefit or hindrance. it's a simple mechanic where there is a 1-in-6 chance of something of benefit occurring as a result of the character action regardless of actual success or failure of the attempt. On the other hand, there is also a 1-in-6 chance of something that may hinder the character(s) occurring.
Chivalry and Sorcery 5e delivered this year by Britannia Game Designs following their successful Kickstarter uses an additional d10 to determine degree of succeess. The "crit die" is rolled along with percentile (d100) dice and depending on whether the outcome is a success or a failure the "crit die" gives a value of 1-10 with a "10" being a critical. (Critical failure is akin to a fumble.) A success with a "crit die" score of "2" is less dramatic than with a "crit die" score of "3" or higher. It's a simple mechanic that can add to damage in a combat system or be used to add narrative in other situations.
The additional d6 or an additional d10 roll can be used with almost any binary outcome system to add an extra dimension to the random outcome. It seems a nice tool to add to any referee's toolbox. Coming up with a benefit or a hindrance on-the-fly can take some getting used to for the referee, but I find that by encouraging my players to make suggestions for what they might like to see, we can usually come up with something satisfying.
The world's most popular game first published by TSR in 1974 uses a binary "succeed or fail" die roll mechanic. As an extension of wargames where the "succeed or fail" dichotomy was standard, the White Box mechanic set the standard for the new adventure game (role-playing) hobby games. But today there are other options. Two recent FRPG acquisitions have got me thinking about at least occasionally adding a die to determine something like degree of success, momentum or to introduce additional narrative elements such as boons and complications to our dice outcomes.
The additional d6 or an additional d10 roll can be used with almost any binary outcome system to add an extra dimension to the random outcome. It seems a nice tool to add to any referee's toolbox. Coming up with a benefit or a hindrance on-the-fly can take some getting used to for the referee, but I find that by encouraging my players to make suggestions for what they might like to see, we can usually come up with something satisfying.
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Verisimilitude, Death & Dying
To be engaged with your tabletop role-playing game means different things to different people. For me personally, I value believably. This is why I generally prefer a low fantasy setting, low magic and a "gritty" style game. Systems and settings that give me this feel just seem more real, more believable, more immersive, and therefore are more fun.
Death and dying is one aspect of a gritty game. Character death is more common in old school games and is one of the things which can set them apart from many modern games. How healing and character death are handled can greatly affect the feel of the game and how much, or little, players enjoy the system.
It often comes down to expectations. As a player do you expect your character to bounce back after being knocked down to zero hit points? Or would you prefer to roll up a new character? It's often not as simple as that, but hit points, damage or wounds and healing are some of the most controversial and often house ruled elements in role-playing.
A new 25 page "supplement" by Runehammer Games titled 5e Hardcore Mode seems directed at players who want a bit more deadly game challenge. In Hardcore Mode characters get one save against death, not three.
Other aspects of Hardcore Mode is aimed at streamlining rules and speeding up play so that more adventure, more action can occur at the expense of checking character sheets and tracking details. Less bookkeeping, more fun stuff. By shrinking all the numbers, character levels are compressed so that everyone tops out at level 10. All die roll situational and ability modifications are reduced to having advantage or disadvantage. Nothing to memorize, look-up or calculate. Fast, simple, fun!
There's more in 5e Hardcore Mode and I could continue, but by now your interest is piqued or it isn't. If you want the challenge of rolling 3d6 in order, playing what luck gives you and living a character life of grit and danger, maybe Hardcore Mode will be your compromise between the OSR and 5e.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Random Enounters
I really enjoy the "play to find out what happens" nature of an old school RPG session and campaign. Much of the "sandbox', open world concept must come as a result of the decisions players make during the game. Referee planning is not missing from this style of play, however. The referee needs to spend preparation time thinking about various aspects of the setting, including what random encounters may occur. Rolling for a random result on various tables in order to react to player decisions, or to fill in a map area, or to see what appears on the path ahead, can be great fun for the prepared referee and in turn, for their players.
Thinking ahead, random tables need to be prepared in advance and they need to be campaign specific. Customizing the random events and wandering monster tables is, to my mind, an absolute must. The only way to be prepared as a referee and to ensure that the setting works off a consistent theme and will reasonably hang together as a believable world, is to tailor each entry on every random table specifically to that setting. Include only things that make sense and promise fun play. By choosing each entry, and giving some thought as to how rolling that result might play out at the table, the referee is actually preparing for the session without scripting or "railroading" a plot. When the random result comes up, the referee won't be caught at a loss for how to blend the encounter or event into the developing story (at least most of the time they won't).
Don't forget about the non-player characters. Adding a few tables for encountering interesting NPCs can really bring the campaign to life. Reaction tables will help determine the initial disposition of the encountered creature, but this is often just the beginning and role-play then ensues. When viewed as an opportunity for role-playing, the random encounter takes on a life of its own and may end up as one of the most memorable and talked about aspects of the entire session.
Open world play can be very rewarding for players and referee alike, but referee improvising does not mean zero preparation. There are elements of any session that must be improvised, but running the whole thing "on the fly" can mean lots of stressful work for the referee and detract from the verisimilitude for players, especially if they realize their referee is "making it all up as they go". Rolling on encounter tables and interpreting the result adds an element of chance and unpredictability, and can be done in a manageable and rewarding way. Preparation and forethought are required.
Taking random developments into consideration, and combining them with comments and known inclinations/preferences of the players, a diligent referee can adjust then their setting during campaign play so that the game becomes a living, evolving thing, both specific to the player characters and surprisingly random. Players will likely become more invested and engaged and eager to find out what comes next, and the the referee will be entertained. It's a recipe for successful fun.
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Withdraw from Combat
The Better Part of Valor
Just when it's smarter to run away may depend on the way the game rules handle disengaging. The original three Little Brown Books do not address running away. There is no disengage action, no attack of opportunity, there is not even morale for monsters, although the rules do hint at using combat mechanics and morale rules from Chainmail, the decision is left up to the referee running the game. Which is exactly how I prefer it to be.
The White Box is intentionally aimed at providing the players, including the person acting as referee/judge/GM, with tools necessary to make critical judgments about survival during combat. Hit points represent a pool of resources that will slowly drop as one takes damage - usually in increments of 1-6 points. This allows the players to have a feel for whether sticking around to finish the fight might be a good idea or a bad one. Experience is awarded for killing monsters, but more importantly for grabbing treasure and getting home with it. Survival and building a stronghold for retirement is the goal of the campaign game.
Adding morale for monsters seems realistic to me. Having started out as a wargamer and student of Napoleon who stated, "In war, the moral is to the physical as ten to one.", I cannot remember not using morale for my monsters. They mostly care about survival and will flee from a losing battle once they figure out they are losing. Characters should be just as smart. And the rules should allow this to occur.
In some later systems, disengaging from melee is tantamount to suicide. Turning one's back to the enemy invites a free attack and this often proves fatal to an already damaged character. The result too often is a feeling of being "stuck-in" during melee where "to withdraw" is not a good option. Of course any discussion on the matter often devolves into questions regarding "what is realistic".
The mechanics of White Box, and by extension we can include later editions, is designed to allow players a chance to manage a set of limited resources and to adjust in-game decisions based on a risk-reward paradigm. The decision to risk failure for the prospect of reward is part of the excitement of the game. It is rarely an "all or nothing" proposition that then hangs on the outcome of a single die - why? Because that limits the fun.
Sometimes the monster turns out to be tougher than the players expected. Sometimes the tactics don't work. Sometimes luck goes against the adventurers. Being able to control exposure to risk and better one's odds is challenging and ultimately should reward smart play. So let the character's run away. The monsters should be happy they won the fight and get to keep their loot and evil lives (for now).
Just when it's smarter to run away may depend on the way the game rules handle disengaging. The original three Little Brown Books do not address running away. There is no disengage action, no attack of opportunity, there is not even morale for monsters, although the rules do hint at using combat mechanics and morale rules from Chainmail, the decision is left up to the referee running the game. Which is exactly how I prefer it to be.
The White Box is intentionally aimed at providing the players, including the person acting as referee/judge/GM, with tools necessary to make critical judgments about survival during combat. Hit points represent a pool of resources that will slowly drop as one takes damage - usually in increments of 1-6 points. This allows the players to have a feel for whether sticking around to finish the fight might be a good idea or a bad one. Experience is awarded for killing monsters, but more importantly for grabbing treasure and getting home with it. Survival and building a stronghold for retirement is the goal of the campaign game.
Adding morale for monsters seems realistic to me. Having started out as a wargamer and student of Napoleon who stated, "In war, the moral is to the physical as ten to one.", I cannot remember not using morale for my monsters. They mostly care about survival and will flee from a losing battle once they figure out they are losing. Characters should be just as smart. And the rules should allow this to occur.
In some later systems, disengaging from melee is tantamount to suicide. Turning one's back to the enemy invites a free attack and this often proves fatal to an already damaged character. The result too often is a feeling of being "stuck-in" during melee where "to withdraw" is not a good option. Of course any discussion on the matter often devolves into questions regarding "what is realistic".
The mechanics of White Box, and by extension we can include later editions, is designed to allow players a chance to manage a set of limited resources and to adjust in-game decisions based on a risk-reward paradigm. The decision to risk failure for the prospect of reward is part of the excitement of the game. It is rarely an "all or nothing" proposition that then hangs on the outcome of a single die - why? Because that limits the fun.
Sometimes the monster turns out to be tougher than the players expected. Sometimes the tactics don't work. Sometimes luck goes against the adventurers. Being able to control exposure to risk and better one's odds is challenging and ultimately should reward smart play. So let the character's run away. The monsters should be happy they won the fight and get to keep their loot and evil lives (for now).
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Crafting the Essentials
The Rules We Need.
There is much discussion among us gamers about "rules". There always has been. The earliest days of the hobby (circa 1975) witnessed many rules related discussions carried out mainly through newsletters (like Alarums & Excursions) and various amateur publications - discussions which gave rise to rule adaptations and eventually whole new games. As a participant who joined the discussion around 1978, I still enjoy talking about rules. What rules do we prefer? What rules are essential to the game we would like to play and what rules seem unnecessary or even undesirable?
Looking at my favorite system, the original three Little Brown Books published in 1974 (which I fondly refer to White Box - my 5th printing came in a white box), I have an abbreviated list of the bare essentials for running my type of game. Obviously a game built for dungeon delving needs a combat mechanic. The original edition refers the reader to a previous wargame called Chainmail, but it also includes the now standard d20 roll high "alternative combat system". Rolling a d20 against a target number (AC) can fill this requirement. Personally, I don't think it matters whether one uses ascending or descending AC or even THAC0 - they are essentially the same.
The core of any role-playing experience is the character(s). Rules for character generation and abilities seem a necessity, but there are many ways to do this. I prefer the simple roll 3d6 in order for the classic six abilities, but any of a number of alternative methods will suffice. I also like to use classes, but those are hardly essential, hence the many classless systems. The original three classes work for me, but that can be easily trimmed to two (fighter, wizard) or expanded with additional "custom" classes designed to perfectly fit a particular setting.
The basic statistics of the class system in the original edition include experience points and level, hit points, and fighting capability for each class. I like saving throws and consider their use essential to my game because they are so useful for determining whether the character is adversely effected by various hazards. A skill system could potentially eliminate the need for saves, however. Some retro-clones have simplified the original saving throw table to a single saving throw number which varies somewhat by character class and level. Essentially, this serves the same purpose, but I rather enjoy using the original five saving throws matrix - death ray or poison, wands including polymorph or paralyzation, stone, dragon breath, and staves & spells. (They just seem to have a bit more nostalgic appeal for me.)
Magic is a defining feature of most fantasy settings. Players enjoy the incorporation of magic spells, magic items and magical creatures. For magic using types the essential rules need to include the basics of how magic will work - not the philosophy of magic, just the game rules. There are less "structured" magic systems and more than that used in the original RPG game, but I am partial to its so-called "Vancian" magic system which combines a simple mechanic with a power limiting factor. Whether one uses the "Vancian" system from D&D or some other rules for magic, this is an essential component of our fantasy rules. Using the "Vancian" system involves a spell level and memorization matrix and a list of spells with brief descriptions. Once you have cast your allotted spells for the day, you have no more until daily renewal.
Monsters and treasure are a part of the game, but as common as fantasy tropes are in today's popular culture, there doesn't need to be extensive lists of these. Everyone who is familiar with FRPGs can generate their own monsters and treasures and these self created, individualized creations are the best and most rewarding to play with anyway. Movement rates are relatively unimportant when using "theater of the mind' play and can be glossed over if desired. Lastly, guidelines for awarding experience should be established. Earning experience is often what motivates player behavior.
In summary, the essential rules for a White Box style game include a combat system that gives us the rules for how to hit and damage enemies in a fight. Character generation rules seem necessary for creating our player characters - two classes, fighting types and casting types, will suffice. Also required is a magic system - which may involve the largest portion of the rules as written in a fantasy genre. Magic is often what flavors a setting and crafting the magic system carefully will pay dividends in play. A method for awarding experience and leveling up characters is central to the classic RPG and players may expect it, but the game can be enjoyed for some time using only characters as they are initially rolled up. After all, it's the fun of "finding out through play", exploring, discovering, solving, surviving and acquiring that keeps us coming back to the table for more.
There is much discussion among us gamers about "rules". There always has been. The earliest days of the hobby (circa 1975) witnessed many rules related discussions carried out mainly through newsletters (like Alarums & Excursions) and various amateur publications - discussions which gave rise to rule adaptations and eventually whole new games. As a participant who joined the discussion around 1978, I still enjoy talking about rules. What rules do we prefer? What rules are essential to the game we would like to play and what rules seem unnecessary or even undesirable?
Looking at my favorite system, the original three Little Brown Books published in 1974 (which I fondly refer to White Box - my 5th printing came in a white box), I have an abbreviated list of the bare essentials for running my type of game. Obviously a game built for dungeon delving needs a combat mechanic. The original edition refers the reader to a previous wargame called Chainmail, but it also includes the now standard d20 roll high "alternative combat system". Rolling a d20 against a target number (AC) can fill this requirement. Personally, I don't think it matters whether one uses ascending or descending AC or even THAC0 - they are essentially the same.
The core of any role-playing experience is the character(s). Rules for character generation and abilities seem a necessity, but there are many ways to do this. I prefer the simple roll 3d6 in order for the classic six abilities, but any of a number of alternative methods will suffice. I also like to use classes, but those are hardly essential, hence the many classless systems. The original three classes work for me, but that can be easily trimmed to two (fighter, wizard) or expanded with additional "custom" classes designed to perfectly fit a particular setting.
The basic statistics of the class system in the original edition include experience points and level, hit points, and fighting capability for each class. I like saving throws and consider their use essential to my game because they are so useful for determining whether the character is adversely effected by various hazards. A skill system could potentially eliminate the need for saves, however. Some retro-clones have simplified the original saving throw table to a single saving throw number which varies somewhat by character class and level. Essentially, this serves the same purpose, but I rather enjoy using the original five saving throws matrix - death ray or poison, wands including polymorph or paralyzation, stone, dragon breath, and staves & spells. (They just seem to have a bit more nostalgic appeal for me.)
Magic is a defining feature of most fantasy settings. Players enjoy the incorporation of magic spells, magic items and magical creatures. For magic using types the essential rules need to include the basics of how magic will work - not the philosophy of magic, just the game rules. There are less "structured" magic systems and more than that used in the original RPG game, but I am partial to its so-called "Vancian" magic system which combines a simple mechanic with a power limiting factor. Whether one uses the "Vancian" system from D&D or some other rules for magic, this is an essential component of our fantasy rules. Using the "Vancian" system involves a spell level and memorization matrix and a list of spells with brief descriptions. Once you have cast your allotted spells for the day, you have no more until daily renewal.
Monsters and treasure are a part of the game, but as common as fantasy tropes are in today's popular culture, there doesn't need to be extensive lists of these. Everyone who is familiar with FRPGs can generate their own monsters and treasures and these self created, individualized creations are the best and most rewarding to play with anyway. Movement rates are relatively unimportant when using "theater of the mind' play and can be glossed over if desired. Lastly, guidelines for awarding experience should be established. Earning experience is often what motivates player behavior.
In summary, the essential rules for a White Box style game include a combat system that gives us the rules for how to hit and damage enemies in a fight. Character generation rules seem necessary for creating our player characters - two classes, fighting types and casting types, will suffice. Also required is a magic system - which may involve the largest portion of the rules as written in a fantasy genre. Magic is often what flavors a setting and crafting the magic system carefully will pay dividends in play. A method for awarding experience and leveling up characters is central to the classic RPG and players may expect it, but the game can be enjoyed for some time using only characters as they are initially rolled up. After all, it's the fun of "finding out through play", exploring, discovering, solving, surviving and acquiring that keeps us coming back to the table for more.
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