Immersion - Just Not Into It?

This may come as a Surprise!

As an RPG player I strive to immerse myself in the setting, putting myself into my character's mindset is part of the challenge, so it comes as a bit of a surprise for me to learn (or remember) that not everyone approaches the game from this same perspective. The fact that I have almost forgotten how to enjoy the game's mechanics as a "game" and not as an immersive tool to "experience adventure" is an insight that I will use to adjust my future approach to the game - at least from a referee's point of view.

Once upon a time, back when I was first learning this new type of game which has come to be commonly known as "role-playing", I saw it as just a new "game". Roll some dice, make some moves, win some gold or "die" and roll up a new playing piece/character. The mechanics were the game. Strategy involved "playing" the game for its own sake. And I loved it!

Then I discovered "role-playing" and imagining that I was actually in the fiction, imagining that I was  "inhabiting" my character's make-believe body (my alter-ego). I strove to answer the question, "What would I do?" Essentially I was projecting or immersing myself into the fiction - and what a fun activity that became!. This new "adventure" appealed to me because it was an experience very similar to how I enjoy reading and engaging with a book written in first person, or when watching certain movies directed in a manner so as to engage the audience on a personal level - emotional responses included. This is the "you are there" experience to borrow a phrase. 

Not everyone experiences an RPG (or movie or novel) in the same way, however. You may be saying, "Duh!" at this point, but I had mostly forgotten this fact until a recently revealing "ah-ha! moment", The player, audience, or reader can enjoy the respective game, movie, or book experience while coming from any one of a number of different interests and expectations. For example, a movie critic may look at the technical aspects of the movie-making art rather than suspending disbelief and immersing themselves in the unfolding story. What we are looking for will vary according to the individual.

For many, experienced and novice alike, the joy of playing a popular RPG may be gained from clever play using the rules to their advantage. For players taking this approach, predictable well established rules are essential. Options and combinations are their friend. At the table "Rulings", which may appear arbitrary to such players, can definitely spoil their fun. I can respect that! This is part of the appeal that I personally enjoy while playing my favorite "rules heavy" games.

I guess the reveal for me as a referee is to be reminded of the old adage, "Know thy players!" Not everyone approaches the game with the same expectations of fun. Some folks just play the "game" and that's okay. A good referee should try to provide each player an opportunity to enjoy the game on their own level.

Your Middle-earth Will Vary

...and that is okay!

Yesterday I posted a somewhat satirical comment on the non-relationship between J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth and the World's First Published Role-Playing Game. Today I will explain how I use my D&D to play a version of Middle-earth as seen through my eyes. 

Middle-earth, or Arda, is the name Professor Tolkien gives to the setting for The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and other unfinished tales and histories completed by his heirs. The good professor left us so much material (some of it conflicting) about his fantasy creation that a student of his work may become quite knowledgeable about the fictional history, geography and inhabitants of Middle-earth. So much is written about Middle-earth that a body of generally accepted canon now exists. Other fictional worlds may approach this volume of documentation, but few equal it. The fact that so much is known about Middle-earth makes it particularly appealing as a topic for study, discussion and gaming. It can also present a daunting challenge for anyone attempting to interpret or add to the subject either through gaming or in cinema, illustration or music.

All phenomena is seen through a combination of the time and place, and our own prior experience. Personally, I enjoy taking a few liberties with fictional "facts" (smile!) and riffing off the published material to create something slightly different and hopefully surprising and entertaining for others. "Literary license" is a term often applied to writers of historical fiction when they invent details and put words into the mouths of characters drawn from history. Anyone who makes use of Aragorn or Gandalf as a non-player character in a role-playing situation is doing the same in my opinion.

What is Radagast doing during the events depicted in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings? Where are the "Blue Wizards"? Are the fictional novels written by J.R.R. Tolkien written from the point of view of a couple of humble hobbits and subject to their "limited perspective" or are they "holy scripture" not to be tampered with? I suppose each of us will answer that question according to our own counsel.

Players taking a seat at my table frequently find much of the setting familiar because it reminds them of the now quite well known Middle-earth of Professor Tolkien. They will also find a few changes and surprises because I use a setting that is both borrowed and original. Almost every fantasy role-playing game I have ever refereed has been influenced by my understanding of Middle-earth. Halflings are hobbits in my mind. Dwarves are very much like those featured in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Dragons are Smaug with a name change. 

I also change things. Either through ignorance or a preference for my own ideas, I will freely alter various aspects of "canon" during play resulting in my players frequently remarking that they are surprised by something. Part of my enjoyment in our hobby is from using my own ideas. I have found that my little changes are easier for my players if they have been told the game's setting is called "the middle realm" or "Dreadmor", or anything else. Most of the time I have not called the setting "Tolkien's Middle-earth", even if in my mind that is what it is. Freedom from canon is refreshing and by not using the familiar names I usually avoid conflicts.

To borrow a phrase attributed to the late Greg Stafford, founder of the Chaosium publishing company, and creator of many notable games including White Bear and Red Moon, King Arthur Pendragon and RuneQuest, "Your Glorantha will vary." Obviously my Middle-earth varies as well.

This is not Tolkien

Said with a Smile (and maybe a Wink!)

In 1974 Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson published the first roleplaying game and created a new hobby - role-playing games. Their game was subtitled - Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames Campaigns...  because "wargaming" was a thing in 1974 even if "role-playing" wasn't. In their original edition, reference is made to a previously published set of "medieval wargames rules" called Chainmail, which serves as the basis of the new game's default combat mechanic. The published works of J.R.R. Tolkien are mentioned nowhere in those three little brown books (although certain other authors are: Burroughs, Howard, Leiber and de Camp & Pratt are specifically referenced in the author's Foreword). 

Chainmail famously includes a "Fantasy Supplement" penned by D&D author Gary Gygax. In his Fantasy Supplement Mr. Gygax lists a number of fantastic creatures that are given stats for play in tabletop miniatures wargames using Chainmail. Among the creatures listed are hobbits (later on referred to as halflings), (tr)ents, orcs and elves: all creatures that populate the good professor's popular fiction set in Middle-earth. But Chainmail's "Fantasy Supplement" is not directly aimed at playing tabletop battles just in Middle-earth. In fact, it is equally useful for battles set during the reign of King Arthur or any number of other fantastic settings.

The first five printings of the original three little brown books making up the Dungeons & Dragons boxed rules set refers to a number of fantasy creatures, "hobbits", "ents" and "balrogs" - specific creature names that are later changed to "halfling", "treant", and "balor/demon type VI", etc. Why? Because D&D is not based on the works of Professor Tolkien. That would be a violation of copyright because the publisher, TSR, does not hold any rights or license to use those specific intellectual properties.

Starting with the release of the Monster Manual in 1977, Gary Gygax and Tactical Studies Rules (better known today as TSR) began a second era of the World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game with the added moniker "Advanced..." preceding the by then familiar "Dungeons & Dragons" name. In the Monster Manual author Gary Gygax states that halflings may belong to subgroup called the "Tallfellows" or another called the "Stouts". Where might such names be borrowed from?

Elven subgroups listed in the Monster Manual include "High Elves", "Grey Elves", and "Wood Elves" - terms which can be found associated with the folk of Middle-earth known as "Noldor", "Sindar", and "Silvan" respectively. The Advanced game also includes Half Elves and Half Orcs - now playable character types. Elves and orcs are creatures that can be found among various sources that may have influenced or inspired the authors of D&D, but there are relatively few sources for "half elf" or half orc" - both of these terms do conveniently appear in the work of our good professor, however. But D&D is not a game based on Middle-earth!

Part of the genius of the Original Edition of the World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game is that it draws from so many varied sources for inspiration. The authors were both widely read and shared an interest in history, in mythology, in fantastic fiction and in cinema. They brought all their personal loves into their shared game creation and gave the world a tool for exploring virtually any world the imagination can devise through the medium of tabletop gaming (later adapted to play on personal computers). Is the World's First (and still) Most Popular Role-Playing Game about Middle-earth? It is definitely much more than just that as can be seen by the fantastic number of settings published for the game. Can D&D be used to play in a personal version of Middle-earth? Well, I have been doing just that for over forty years now. (Smile and a wink!)

The Role of Narration

What to encourage and what to avoid.

It is no secret that I adore, and prefer to run, the original three little brown book version of the World's Most Popular Role-Playing game. The reasons for my devotion to this version are many and over the course of posting on this blog I have enumerated several of them. Today I will add yet another to the list of praises I have for my beloved White Box.

The original game intentionally leaves much to interpretation, I believe. The system encourages the free use of both individual and group imaginings and for frequent dialogue between the players and referee - and I am not referring to "role-playing" one's character, although that is certainly not discouraged. The dialogue to which I refer is one in which the referee narrates, the player then questions and makes statements regarding the intent of their character, and the referee then applies the rules and makes any judgement calls narrating the outcome of those character actions. In this manner play proceeds...and occasionally the dice are consulted. 

By describing what the characters shall sense and perceive, the referee sets the stage for subsequent character action. Through an exchange of dialogue the players are frequently asked to, "Tell me what you would like your character to do." This is then followed by a shift in focus to the player, who describes, often in detail, what they imagine their character might be doing in response to what has been described in the fictional game setting. The referee may again prompt the player to tell just how the character goes about the desired activity - for example, where shall they search and how. The response might be given in the first person, "I get down on my knees and look under the bed, holding my torch low, so as to shed some light, but being careful to not set the bed on fire." - meaning the character does this. After a careful narration of intent by the player, the referee will usually describe what happens next - often doing so without resorting to the unpredictable result that can occur by having called for a die roll. 

It is my contention that dice are frequently overused in too many game situations where logic and dialogue alone can determine probable outcome. The characters are "adventurers" and deserve the benefit of the doubt! By listing a number of skills on the character sheet, players are in fact encouraged to ask the referee if they can roll to accomplish an action even when the outcome should not be left to chance. This is one of my objections to skill based systems.

What seems particularly non-productive is when players try to describe the outcome of a die roll before it is made. A dramatic narrative failure can result when in the course of combat a player announces, "I swing my sword and cut off his head!" Then when the dice are rolled and it turns out to be a character "miss". The imagined action then comes to an abrupt halt! 

I have found that in most cases combat die rolls need no interpretation and neither player nor referee should narrate the action, but rather by leaving it to each individual in turn to imagine the action, the game is generally enhanced to everyone's enjoyment. An occasional "colorful" narrative description of a "swing and a miss" or a "solid blow" may set the example. It is not necessary to overdo this and in fact over-narration leads to boredom.

Generic RPGs

...and why I like them!

I enjoy customizing the game that I referee. I enjoy world building. I enjoy all the creative aspects of our role-playing hobby, both during preparation and through impromptu rulings and content creation during the game. This is a thinking person's hobby and that is a big reason that I have enjoyed it for nearly half a century!

My introduction to FRP gaming was of course the 1974 edition of the world's most popular role-playing game. The three little brown books require the referee to make several decisions about the game, both before and during play at the table. That appealed to me in the 1970s and continues to do so up to the moment I write this. I would not have it any other way. Even RPG systems that require almost no input from the referee/game-master ae subject to my "tweaking" tendencies. I much prefer to adjust system mechanics and setting details to reflect my own sense of logic and to suit my personal preferences. This is part of the joy I get from running a game.

I started with the little brown books in a white box, soon adding content taken from the then emerging Advanced line of products, but after a few years exploring the limits of that system, I found myself seeking a system that felt more "realistic" in certain areas - especially combat. RuneQuest is the game I settled upon. RuneQuest is a very specific game designed for a specific setting - Glorantha. I struggled with this aspect despite my fondness for other qualities. Fortunately the folks at Chaosium saw the potential of the basic rule system built for RuneQuest went far beyond Glorantha and soon Basic Role-Playing was released as a slim stand alone rule system - one which eventually came to form the engine of many RPGs released by Chaosium, including the very popular Call of Cthulhu game.

Basic Role-Playing (BRP) in its earliest iteration is one of the first generic rule systems for roleplaying. Using a percentile mechanic it is both intuitive and scalable - being easy to add to by simply converting the chance of something in the game occurring into the d100 role-under basic mechanic. There are no classes to define characters in BRP, rather each player generates their character through a combination of ability score dice rolls and percentile based skills. The world building referee is encouraged to modify the BRP game by altering the ability score dice and the selection of available skills to reflect their vision for character species as well as setting technology and the availability of magic.

Steve Jackson Games' Generic Universal Role Playing System, better known by the acronym GURPS, is another early entry into the "generic" system field. Aimed from its inception at being a system that could be used to play in any genre, any setting and across all conceivable  technologies past and future, GURPS has generated perhaps the broadest spectrum of setting support of any so-called generic RPG. Like BRP, GURPS characters are built on attribute scores and skill lists. Unlike BRP, GURPS is a point-buy character generation system allowing the player great freedom in building the character they wish to play - within limits set by the referee/GM. The latter is an important feature of all RPGs and especially so in a generic system where by necessity options are abundant and not all options are appropriate for the game being envisioned. 

Savage Worlds is a more recent entry into the generic RPG offering and utilizes a dice ladder mechanic where the set of polyhedron dice is advanced through as skills and attributes increase. The roll for success is a score of a four or better. The default die is the d4, with a d6, d8, etc. advancing the character's chance of success as appropriate for more powerful or skilled characters. Like other generic systems, Savage Worlds is designed with the intention that the system be easily used to play in any setting, any genre and any technology level with or without fantastical elements including magic. I personally came to Savage Worlds following an interest in a number of very appealing published settings that utilize the SW system.

The published generic systems (and there are many of them) all facilitate the kind of design-your-own game approach that I prefer in role-playing. Having started my journey in role-playing with the little brown books, I have taken to heart the advice of co-author Gary Gygax who while explaining why some additional decisions regarding the game will  need to be made by the referee expressed the following sentiments in his Afterword to the 1974 edition of D&D:

We have attempted to furnish an ample framework, and building should be both easy and fun. 

(A)nd the best way is to imagine how you would like it to be, and then make it just that way! 

(W)e are not loath to answer your questions, but why have us do any more of your imagining for you? 

 

Referee Rolls

Dice and the DM

Rulings not rules is almost a mantra in the traditional FRP community. The concept is one which differs significantly from most tabletop boardgame approaches in that the written rules purposefully do not cover every possible situation in the game, thereby leaving intentional room for the referee to make at-the-table rulings in those cases. Making fair and consistent rulings based on personal judgement and in the spirit of fun is an aspect of the game I particularly enjoy. Hence the appeal of such game systems.

The dice in a role-playing game represent chance and the unknown. Rolling dice introduces suspense - or I think it should. If dice rolls are predictable and routine, they cease to excite and the game can suffer. It is my preference that the dice in an RPG be held in some degree of awe and respect. They are our in-game oracle - often determining the future of our characters. Success or failure can hang on the outcome of a die roll and that is exciting to me.

I roll dice in the open as a measure of shared trust with my fellow players. Trivial matters are not rolled for. If a character is almost certain to succeed, I just say that is the case - no roll necessary. (Rolling for trivial things trivializes the dice!) Having discussed with the players the possible consequences of a failed die roll, the risk is known and it has buy-in and consent. As a referee, I generally offer alternative actions that the players can take that will avoid rolling the die. Once the die is cast, however, the outcome is in the hands of the dice gods. Suspense is the result of this practice as all players "hold their breath" awaiting the judgement of the die!

Given the manner in which dice are treated in such a game, each roll is taken a bit more seriously and acquires special meaning to the players. Reaching for the dice means something important is about to happen in the game. The fact that it is indeed "a game" should not be lost. That is why we use the tools of a game - dice and sometimes playing cards. The role-playing game is a special kind of game and efforts should be made to present its mechanics as such. That is one of the reasons I like to have some flexibility with regard to rules. 

The referee can enhance (or conceivably detract from) the fun and excitement of a game session by managing the game play with regard to when certain rules are applied and how. The ability to introduce a "special" die roll at a dramatic point during the game will grab everyone's attention as at that point we are doing something different/unusual and most likely important to the developing game narrative. Novelty can be engaging and when trust has been established between players (the referee is also a player), the use of a new technique or exploring a new way to involve the characters with the setting through use of a novel die mechanic can enhance the special nature of the moment; all while making the outcome that much more exciting. 

Ye Olde Magic Shoppe

Buying and selling magic items.

How much, or how little magic exists in the fantasy world is a decision that each referee will need to address in their campaign. Consumables, including spell components and certain mundane items associated with magic such as spell books, special inks and parchments, seem like obvious items that a magic shop might specialize in. Other actual "magic items" such as scrolls containing ready-to-cast spells and ready-to-use potions may be available for sale in a specialty shop, but would also require the skills of an actual magic user or cleric (or both) to prepare. The rules for creating these items and other magic items of a more permanent nature will vary from campaign to campaign as they should since they greatly affect the amount of magic available to characters. 

My first experience with the hobby of tabletop fantasy role-playing involved a referee whose campaigns were ones that seemed to regulate the available magic items to those found while out adventuring - they were in effect "treasure". Magic was rare and special and highly desirable, so acquiring it was an obvious motivation for adventuring. Many a journey into danger started with a rumor of a lost magic item guarded by some monster.

At some future point I am sure that I encountered a magic shop that sold various healing potions, protection scrolls, or something similar. I don't recall, however, finding a +1 magic sword for sale as such "permanent" magic items were essentially so rare as to be impossibly valuable. In the instance that we found ourselves with an extra magic item, we would hand the surplus item down to a character of lower level, or stash it in our backpack for safe keeping, but there wasn't a market for selling these magical items. After all, what non-adventurer would possess enough coin to afford one?

Then came my experiences with computer FRP games - the wonderful Gold Box Pool of Radiance (based on AD&D) for example. Along with these electronic games came the skills of managing one's inventory of items. There was a limit to how much the party could carry around. In Pool of Radiance surplus magic items can be sold - exchanged for coin which can be spent for leveling up and for other useful advances including buying spells. Logic suggests that under these circumstances there will be magic items available for sale too. Ones that might have been sold by other adventurers and therefore can also be bought by our characters. The magical version of the pawn shop was born. 

Subsequent editions of the world's most popular role-playing game have often made the acquisition of level appropriate magic items a part of the assumed advancement of every character. Under these requirements, the full-blown magic-for-sale shop has become a commonly held necessity.

I have a decided preference for "found magic" as opposed to purchased magic. I am also inclined to play older edition games and those recent systems which promote a traditional approach in their style of play. I often remark that my early experience with the three little brown books has had a significant influence on every FRP that I have played since - and that when acting as a referee, I seldom offer my players the convenience of shopping at the local magic item shop. I will, however, suggest certain rumors pertaining to the possible where-a-bouts of a given magic item that is expressly sought by a character. Adventure awaits!