Bump in the Night

Old School Thoughts on Darkness, Delving and DM-ing.
Classic, White Box D&D can be described as a treasure hunter's game due to its mechanical emphasis on combat and the accumulation of treasure. The game has its roots in the tabletop wargame where simulated combat is the focus of play, but adds additional elements which make it more of a character driven story-like experience. The players learn of a potential treasure, perhaps guarded by a monster or lost in some ruined underground caverns and set out on an adventure to reclaim this legendary treasure. (I am thinking of Jason and the Argonauts and other Greek myths.)
The dungeon is often associated with early D&D and this is obviously not surprising given that its creators, Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax both ran their early campaigns centered on exploration of an underground dungeon of many layers (levels in game terminology). Dark underground halls where danger awaits and exciting rewards can be found offered many hours of play. The game encourages repeat visits to the underground as the accumulation of treasure and experience points leads to the characters leveling-up therefore enabling the now more powerful characters to delve into deeper dungeon levels where even greater monsters and treasures await.
In the original game rules, characters, even dwarves and elves, have normal human-like vision and are therefore reliant upon a source of light in order to see what is in front of them. Monsters who inhabit the underground possess a kind of "darkvision" giving them an advantage in their unlit environment.
The underground is a magical otherworldly place where strange things are common. This is part of the appeal - to enter an alien unknown world where dangerous and wonderful adventures take place, and to survive and return to the relative safety of the surface world where things are more normal. (It much resembles the classical journey of the mythical hero.)
It is the referee's job to describe this imaginary underworld and its monstrous inhabitants. Drawing on imagination and using spoken words and sometimes pictures and even miniatures, the referee must bring this fantasy setting to life for their players. In some ways this is easier if the referee leaves aside the visual aids and describes what other senses perceive. An odor, a change in temperature, a sound, a breeze, a light touch, even a sixth sense awareness of something watching you...these can help set the mood and build suspense.
The flickering, shadowy light of a candle placed on the game table can add to the "scary" mood if the modern electric lights are turned down a bit. Maybe drop the thermostat a few degrees to create a bit of a chill in the room. Arrange for a timely sound, or some low ambient "mood" music in the background and you have set the table for some "creepy" monsters to go bump in the night. Perhaps there is a good reason so many D&D sessions were played in one's basement back in the day!

In the Dark

Making the Most of Darkness
December 22nd was the winter equinox or shortest daylight of 2019. Winter in the northern hemisphere here on earth is related to the tilt of the earth and there being shorter days and less light from the sun.

Over the holiday I was reading the Basic Fantasy core rules book by Chris Gonnerman and was taken in by the game master information on city, town and village encounters. Mr. Gonnerman supplies two columns labeled Day Encounter, Night Encounter on the Basic Fantasy urban encounter table and points out that:

During the day, most towns will have people on the streets more or less all the time; the absence of people on the streets is often an indication of something interesting. By night, much of the town will be dark and quiet, and encounters will be mostly Thieves or other unsavory types; but near popular eating (or drinking) establishments, people of all sorts are still likely to be encountered.

The absence of light can significantly alter the nature of an encounter. This is true whether the encounter occurs in an urban setting or in the wilderness or underground. For those of us who do not possess an ability to see well in darkness, the challenge of dealing with a threat significantly increases in the absence of adequate light.

Darkness sets a mood. We are all accustomed to the very human experience of being unable to rely on our vision and for most of us vision enabled persons this can be disorienting and even frightening. As referee/ game master we can use this. A dark alley carries a distinct mental image (and emotional atmosphere), one which differs significantly from a sunlit open plaza.
In systems based on the world's most popular fantasy role-playing game, Light (and its inverse, Darkness) is a common magic spell - and for good reason. Casting light can turn a hopeless situation into one that is manageable. It can help the adventurers find their way and give them hope of success during an encounter. Likewise being in total darkness can blind and hinder leading to despair. (Light can even be an attack spell if successfully cast on the eyes of a monster.)
Artificial sources of light, such as magic, torches, lanterns and candles are a significant part of the resource management element of old school games. The ability to see in darkness is perhaps the single most defining feature of the dwarf and elf player characters - abilities which give them significant advantages in comparison with human characters. It is the nature of light, especially when originating from sources such as torch light, that it can be seen from a much greater distance than the area it illuminates, thus allowing observers hidden in the darkness to watch the coming and going of the torch-bearer. In a game where surprise is an aspect of the encounter mechanic this can be suspenseful.
If you find the idea of groping your way down dark corridors wondering what lurks beyond the limits of your vision unappealing this thought may hold no interest, but for me it is exactly the sort of horror story that I most enjoy. The monster once seen in the light of day loses much of its mystery for it is the as yet unknown on which our imagination works its most frightening magic.

Character Class

What Dragon Warriors has to teach us about building character.
Dragon Warriors is a fantasy role-playing game originally released in 1985-86 in six paperback books and reprinted in 2009 in a collected hardcover. The original Book 1, titled simply "Dragon Warriors", included the rules of the game and two character classes, the knight and the barbarian. Neither used magic, which was introduced in Book 2, "The Way of Wizardry". Familiarity with Book 1, which contains the combat and adventuring rules, is necessary in order to use the material related to "magic" user classes found in Book 2. By starting with the non-magic using classes of knights and barbarians, Dragon Warriors eases the new players and referee into the basics before adding the additional complexity of the magic rules, thereby establishing a progressive learning method for mastering the Dragon Warriors character classes.
I am of the opinion that the active player characters in a role-play campaign or adventure act in a manner similar to the protagonists in a play or novel. It is they who determine (through the decisions and dice rolls of the players) what will happen and when during play and just how the whole thing will turn out in the end. By establishing what character classes are available for play, the referee exercises some narrative control over the type of story which is likely to develop during that play-through of the setting material.
Knights and barbarians represent two archetypal warrior groups. The knight is chivalrous, civilized and can be expected to follow a certain established code of behavior. The barbarian by contrast is relatively uncivilized (by definition), but often follows customs and a rough code of honor. Both can be expected to demonstrate competency with their cultural weapons and to frequently resort to violence when confronted with conflict. The two classes do differ in significant ways, however, and these cultural differences can become significant if the players so desire. This may actually be a goal of the referee's setting, such as I have found to be the case in the published material of the Dragon Warrior's default lands of "Legend".
A group of player character knights can be expected to serve a feudal lord, undertake quests in order to right wrongs and bring glory to their names and to the court they serve. By contrast, a group of barbarian player characters might seek treasure for the sake of adventure or wealth and power so as to improve their station within the tribe, clan or barbarian kingdom. Knights are agents of the status quo, while barbarians can be a disruptive element. A player group which contains both knightly and barbaric warrior types may be in for a degree of internal conflict should certain situations present themselves during play. Situations which pits the chivalrous nature of the knight at odds with the barbarous tendencies of the barbarian.
By encouraging players to choose characters who have a religious or magical focus, not to mention the roguish assassin class, and the referee may influence the potential for an adventure of a much different flavor. I believe this can all be quite intentional on the part of the referee who designs and pitches the idea for the campaign, thereby the group is likely to be exploring ,many different aspects of the setting and all the while making the whole imaginary world seem that much more believable.

Play to Find Out

What makes this an exceptional game?
When we say that we play to find out, what do we mean? Find out what?
How many levels we can advance?
How much treasure and power we can accumulate for our imaginary heroes?
What lies at the bottom of the dungeon?
How our character will die?
It is perhaps this last question which Eric Bloat has on his mind while designing The Blackest of Deaths.

For me, The Blackest of Deaths title is a warning statement, not a goal of play. This is not a game about heroic player characters who show off their wondrous abilities while smashing their opponents in a manner suggestive of the Batman TV series of the 1960s. The Blackest of Deaths isn't Conan the Barbarian either. The Blackest of Deaths means this is a dangerous (in the sense of character death) game, so don't worry if your precious paper hero runs out of hit points.
The default setting of The Blackest of Deaths is populated with changeling, half-medusa, kobold, goblin, and serpent-men characters as well as the more common, dwarf, elf and human folk. Character classes include some familiar tropes, barbarian, warlock/witch and assassin, some less often seen such as beast master, gladiator and necromancer and a few original takes on the subject such as fortune hunter, monster slayer and street rat. There are no levels in The Blackest of Deaths - your character doesn't advance along a path to greater power. And that is the simple beauty (and greatest appeal) of The Blackest of Deaths.
So why play this game about "you do this thing and discover that thing, and eventually you will end up with a dead character"? We play to find out! - about all the stories that come about through play, that's why.
Without chasing the next level, we players are left to engage with the setting, explore what lies over the next ridge and investigate that mystery we herd about in the last village. We play to survive and to tell the tale of our adventures. With a new goal in mind, we experience the game in a new way.
There are a lot of new games being published these days. Few seem as revolutionary or have excited me as much as The Blackest of Deaths.

If Advanced Chainmail Existed

What? No d20?
Spellcraft & Swordplay is what author Jason Vey calls a "nostalgia" game because Spellcraft & Swordplay (S&S) does not seek to emulate an older edition of the world's most popular role-playing game, but rather to envision how the game might look today had its development followed a different path, that of the two d6 added together (2-12) mechanic rather than the d20 system.

Gary Gygax began to explore fantasy tabletop gaming with his Fantasy supplement to the Chainmail rules for medieval miniatures. Chainmail uses a number of d6 based mechanics and includes warriors, magic using wizards and mythical monsters - thus begins fantasy gaming in 1971. Spellcraft & Swordplay also uses the six sided dice and carries forward some of the better aspects of Chainmail.
Rolling two six-sided dice and adding them together results in the number 7 being the most rolled result in terms of probabilities, with the numbers 2 and 12 being less probable results. If not a true "bell curve", the random number distribution is at least triangular. Rolling two d6 seems less "swingy" and more "normal" to me and I am increasingly drawn to this mechanic as an alternative to rolling a d20 or percentile dice (d100), both associated with the flat distribution of outcomes.
Other aspects of S&S that I particularly favor, also drawn from Mr. Gygax's Fantasy supplement include rolling for magic and the general empowerment of the referee or gamemaster. Mr. Vey refers to his "Golden Rule" which states, "The Referee is the final word on any interpretation of the rules in the game." He goes on to emphasize, "It is up to the Referee how (or indeed, if) these rules are applied in game, altered, or ignored entirely." He goes a step further explaining that, "The rules in Spellcraft & Swordplay are deliberately minimalist, allowing a lot of room for development, interpretation and customization."
Spellcraft & Swordplay uses a spell casting system that combines elements of Chainmail and D&D. Memorization of spells is a thing in S&S, but so is rolling to execute the magic. Spell casters must roll 2d6 when attempting to cast a magic spell. The difficulty increases as the spells become more complex. Depending on the result of the dice, the spell may go off during the current turn, be delayed until the following turn, or fail and be lost from memory. It is a simple system that involves a lot of variability and I enjoy that.
The spell lists in S&S are tailored to each class and elite path with necromancers having a different list than wizards and druids a different list from priests, thus providing a nice distinction for each spell casting class. I find the descriptions of several spells to contain interesting new takes on traditional tropes. For example: Detect Evil allows the caster to sense the presence of supernatural evil, such as undead, but not evil characters of less than 8th level. Evil is one of three alignments in S&S and together with Good and Neutral (choose unaligned or balance) comprises the S&S alignment system. The author states that most folks are Neutral (unaligned) and mostly act in ways that are self serving, even when exhibiting so-called good behavior.
Like the world's first fantasy role-playing game designed and released in 1974 by Gary Gygax and David Arneson, Spellcraft & Swordplay uses the character class concept. Elite paths (Paladin and Ranger for Warriors) allow characters with exceptional abilities to be mechanically different from the standard class while retaining the basic four fantasy archetypes - Warrior, Wizard, Priest, and Thief. Character races in S&S seem more traditional (i.e. Tolkienesque) and include humans, dwarves, elves and halflings - only dwarves can see in total darkness. This is all just as I prefer my fantasy milieu, but if you prefer, the author invites you, as Referee, to invent additional character races and other content. The design philosophy of each referee making this game their own comes through loud and clear in Spellcraft & Swordplay.

The Flame Princess and Me

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Reading Lamentations of the Flame Princess for the first time was a shock. This was several years and two editions ago. The author's voice - and preferences - comes through loud and clear and I suppose one either likes it or one doesn't. Yes, James Edward Raggi IV is a somewhat controversial figure in our hobby. His game, Lamentations of the Flame Princess (LotFP), remains one of my favorite interpretations of the D&D system and his play philosophy has frankly influenced my entire approach to how best to play the game. So what is it about ...the Flame Princess that appeals to me so?
It's not the art. To be fair, the illustrations are quite good in quality in all the LotFP editions, but I would describe it as "edgy". The cover sports an 18+ Explicit Content warning. Enough said.
What I consider the good points are related to the game's emphasis on individualizing the setting with unique monsters and magic, keeping the magic "magical" and creating a "horror" experience.
LotFP is often described as being a house-ruled version of the B/X or Basic and Expert D&D game. It is a lot more than that however. It is perhaps B/X as seen through the personal lens of Mr. Raggi who describes his game as "Weird Fantasy". Mechanically LotFP resembles the Basic/Expert game - roll a d20 to hit, saving throws, basic character classes and so on. It is the philosophical differences that I find so appealing and which sets LotFP apart from the other old school games.
There are seven LotFP character classes: fighter, cleric, magic-user and specialist for human characters, and the classes of dwarf, elf and halfling. Only fighters progress in their ability to better  hit monsters. Clerics get their spells and turning and improve in these abilities as they advance. Magic-users progress in the number and level of magic spells they can know and cast. Specialists improve in their specialized skills such as bushcraft, sleight of hand and tinker. All skills are tested by rolling one d6. I really like the restrained, but traditional approach to the character classes that I find in LotFP. Each class is focused around the defining class ability. The fighter class fights well, etc. I like that.
Character hit points increase but stay relatively low (compared to other iterations of D&D), even at higher levels, which together with non-fighter characters never improving their to-hit ability at all means that even low level monsters remain challenging even as the characters advance to higher levels.
Monsters - there is no bestiary in LotFP. Mr. Raggi believes each referee should create their own unique monsters and therefore leaves this task up to us. Unique monsters and unique magic items are heavily encouraged with each having its own backstory. Discovery is a big part of every play experience of a LotFP campaign.
The list of magic spells has been modified and grognards will find a noticeable absence of the more flashy fireball and lightning bolt type of spells. This is not to say the magic-user can not research and develop such a spell, but it isn't to be found on the standard spell list. This results in a more subtle approach to magic and helps keep magic "magical". Divine casters will not find raise dead on their list either. In LotFP dead is dead. Hello to fear!
Oh, yes, and darkness is blinding because none of the characters (even dwarves) can see in the dark without a light source. Being in the dark can be scary again! (I like this idea so much that I have imported this into many of my games as a "houserule" because I believe in dungeon horror.)
I am on record as a fan of alignment in my games as I find that its inclusion adds a "right verses wrong" conflict and is one of the things which sets D&D apart from many other fantasy RPGs. In LotFP there are just the three original edition alignments, Lawful, Chaotic and Neutral. The rules state that most characters will be of neutral (self interest) alignment. Cleric characters in LotFP are by nature Lawful. Magic-users are chaotic because magic changes the natural order of things.
As a rules-as-written system, LotFP covers a lot of topics in its brief (168 pages) and to-the-point format. It does so while introducing some nice take-away concepts that are also useful for the home-brew fan. The specialist class is brilliant in that it allows for the player to focus their character build on a number of possible skilled archetypes including the classic woodsman/ranger or scout/thief while maintaining mechanical simplicity. The 1d6 specialist skill system replaces the often criticized percentile thief abilities table from older TSR editions and feels more "natural".
A clever and simple system for encumbrance eliminates the tediousness of keeping track of weight carried while allowing a degree of accountability in a genre where resource management is part of the game's challenge.
The current Player Core Book: Magic & Rules, pictured above, has been out since 2013. There is so much in playing the game of LotFP that I really like, but it isn't my go-to system. Due to some of the artistic content I find it an awkward book to hand to someone while saying, "Here look this over because I would like to play it."