Or is This the Future?

First Entry in a New Era in FRP Gaming.
Tales of the Valiant - Preview is not a complete game. It's a teaser and hopefully a promise of (good) things to come. One of the effects of poor management in an open market is an opportunity then exists for new producers to offer something better and the consumer ultimately benefits. (At least that is what I learned in college economics.) The summer heat has begun here in North America, and with it we have the first release in a crop of new FRP titles that have come about in response to, well, lets just move along to my thoughts on "Valiant".

Tales of the Valiant began life as a Kobold Press response to the OGL mess announcement of their "Project Blackflag". Kobold Press has previously partnered with other publishers and I have purchased several of their products written for various systems that all contain the iconic image of a reptilian caster, the "kobold" trademark. As far as independent publishers go, I rank Kobold Press among the top tier. The quality of their writing, their artwork and the originality of their creative ideas all impress me. And I generally enjoy the theme, tone and feeling of their setting materials. So Project Blackflag had my attention from the start.

At some point, Kobold Press dubbed their new core FRP system "Tales of the Valiant". What has been recently released as a free 63 page digital document contains the results of the "playtest" releases and is I believe beyond the rough draft stage, but it is not a finished or complete product. (The full release is being crowdfunded at the time of my writing this post.)

Tales of the Valiant is being built upon the back of a very popular SRD, so it is not entirely reinventing the proverbial wheel. But perhaps Kolbold Press will round off enough of the rough edges to make "Tales..." feel like an improvement and fun (mostly) new system.

What we get in the Preview document are the character creation materials to generate the four classic PC classes, Cleric, Fighter, Rogue and Wizard - all the classes are familiar to a large degree, but the "Valiant" Fighter looks to be a much needed improvement over the SRD version. For starters, our new Fighter has "Martial Action" at 1st level which allows for some round-by-round choice among decent combat abilities including the use of the bonus action to "Aim" your next missile shot, or raise your "Guard" while wielding a shield, and several other options. It's always nice to have tactical decisions to make as a player and I have found that the Fighter class has been a bit lackluster in recent years.

In addition to the four standard classes in the Preview we get a selection of lineages, dwarf, elf, human and the new "beastkin". If you fancy a PC with wings, horns or a tail, the beastkin covers all such features found in the animal kingdom under one PC lineage. Heritage is also included as a separate, but complementary, aspect of character creation along with lineage. For example, the cloud heritage goes nicely with the avian version of the beastkin lineage, but it can also be combined with the elf or human or dwarf lineage. You can choose.

Add Background, Talent and Luck and you round out your character in preparation for some tabletop heroics. Following recent trends in the hobby, Tales of the Valiant PCs begin play already feeling much like a "Valiant" hero. The Preview gives us enough information to generate the PC and also contains a handful of spell descriptions and a smattering of monsters, just enough in total to give us a taste for what the future shall bring when we have a full core rule book and monster book.

The Preview contains no combat mechanics and honestly they aren't essential if we just want to see how the new character classes work. Based on what Tales of the Valiant - Preview does contain, I feel it's a safe assumption the inclusion of the usual list of character statistics, proficiency bonus and the familiar list of spells are suggestive of the author(s) intent to stick fairly close to the source. If it remains consistent through to the final version, there may not even be much need for spelling out the system mechanics in the finished core product. We can always just use Tales of the Valiant as a variant of the familiar system and reference the Standard Reference Document for everything else.

So what do I think of Tales of the Valiant?

The intent is to craft a fresh take on the modern version of the game we all love, this is evident when I read the first few paragraphs wherein the author's "philosophy" of design, their expectations regarding the style of play and the role of the GM are all described. It looks like a natural evolution of a now familiar system that improves on some aspects (Fighter class), introduces some new concepts (spell circles) and yet remains familiar enough to not be off-putting to those who would like to keep playing the game they now love (without all the corporate messiness).

Is This the Future of My Hobby?

The Game I Want to Play.

One of the positive things on my horizon this year is my hope to be bringing the revised Swords & Wizardry rules to my game table. I have a familiarity with previous versions of S&W as a version of an older system and of course also with the original version of the rules upon which S&W has been based. The author, Matthew J. Finch, has been a great contributor to my enjoyment of our hobby in recent years. A quick list of Mr. Finch's work in the hobby includes OSRIC, S&W, Tome of Adventure Design and A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming. 

Mr. Finch has been a leader in promoting and supporting the hobby, and especially a classic style of play, for decades and has recently revised his most popular rule system, Swords & Wizardry. This revision came as a response to certain recent licensing issues and has involved a successful crowdfunding campaign. As a backer, I received a digital version of the new edition rules and I am quite impressed with the changes. 

A principal reason for my enthusiasm for using the new edition of S&W with a gaming group is some specific wording which I find reflects my comfort level with the game's underlying assumptions about how to approach the S&W game and the general use of its rules. This attitude can be summarized by looking at a statement I find at the beginning of its referee section.

As the Referee of a game of Swords & Wizardry, you do not have a character; instead, you are the player who is in charge of the game. You create the adventure, you run the monsters, and you are the one who decides the results of all the decisions made by the players for their characters. You don’t get to tell the players what the characters do — that is their part of the game — but you referee the results according to the rules, and you interpret what the rules mean.

This statement definitely sounds familiar (and comfortable) to me because it is the way I have always approached tabletop adventure (roleplaying) games and it is the way I would like to play them going forward. I am finding that this assumption is not universally acceptable and that not everyone that describes themselves as "FRP gamers" (or "roleplayers") are open to a referee with this approach to running the game.

Things evolve and I consider myself an advocate of progressive change. I wish to be on the record as fully supporting the variety of gaming styles and preferences that make up our tabletop gaming hobby today. Not every game is going to be a favorite for everyone and that is okay - it's actually more than okay, it's as it should be in my opinion.

My advice is for each of us to "play the game that you want to play, and play with people who are agreeable to that choice". And let's all try to be a littler nicer to each other. This is a fun hobby.

Stumbling in the Dark

Bring a Light!

As my infrequent attention to this blog can attest, I recently have found my interest in our tabletop gaming hobby at a nadir of sorts. In all probability this is a personal transition thing peculiar to myself alone, but with the possibility that others may be feeling the same malaise that I do, I will pursue sharing of my thoughts on the present somewhat troubling matter of our collective hobby future.

From where I sit and ponder, it appears that the TTRPG hobby in America has become divided against itself. The debate between fans of the Most Popular FRP game and the so-called "old school" players (some of whom enjoy the current version of said game) are an obvious example, but even among the divisions there are divisions. Old school gamers (such as myself) don't always agree on what constitutes an "old school" game! If I ask ten gamers what they think roleplaying is, I will likely get at least ten different answers. And if we dare discuss what the game SHOULD be, the discussion is likely to become heated.

One need not look far afield on the internet to see evidence of this trend. Venture into the friendly local game store and I am likely to encounter something less than friendly as the division plays out in real time. The art of "getting along with others" seems to be in steep decline.

Division within the tabletop gaming hobby is not a completely new phenomenon. I can recall during the early days of our hobby when the then new "fantasy games" started to invade gaming spaces previously devoted exclusively to historical themes. And yes, there were heated opinions expressed about that. It made for some unpleasantness at times and the fantasy folk were sometimes rudely treated, but believe it or not, those were more polite times and the rancor had its limits. I am starting to think that we may be returning to the days when gamers were a rare breed and we were on the look-out for anyone who might share our interests. 

I am also starting to wonder if the halcyon days of my little hobby interest being a part of the wider popular culture may be over. It is increasingly difficult finding like-minded gamers who readily embrace the games I would like to play and I am increasingly uninterested in playing the most popular game. The idea of returning to the Underground as part of a niche hobby is something I find ever more appealing.

All is not darkness, however.

Regardless of your FRP preference, there is light on the horizon. The corporate giant is marketing (and miss-stepping) in anticipation of the next big version of their IP/Brand/Lifestyle product dropping from the digital either sometime next year. The current popularity of the hobby and the proliferation of its points of entry made possible through a combination of  the easy accessibility of desktop publishing and the marketplace provided by various digital vendors and independent game producers has all meant there is no shortage of great "alternative" products from which to choose if "popularity" is not your idea of everything. 

I particularly look forward to what our hobby may soon produce including the revised versions of several favorite games scheduled to release later this year. Pathfinder 2, Swords & Wizardry, and Basic Fantasy are all undergoing revisions in light of the threat to the OGL and together with new FRP products like Shadowdark, I remain excited for our dungeon delving future. 

The onus is really on us as gamers to get along. We all need to step up our personal friendliness game and become the change we want to see. Maybe that means trying a little harder to tolerate our differences. Maybe it means agreeing to disagree, and much like the historical gamers and the fantasy gamers of the 1970s, we go our separate ways to our mutual satisfaction. A shared space is not always the right answer. Fences can make good neighbors.

I am starting to think that perhaps I am fine going back to a time when I am constantly vigilant for signs that I may be speaking to someone with whom I have a shared interest, and who may possibly be a like-minded (future) gamer. Sometimes we appreciate the things that require a little more effort.

2023

To be, or not to be. That is the question.

The current year has started with a bit of controversy in the TTRPG hobby. The corporate giant, exercising their considerable muscle and throwing their weight about, has somewhat carelessly stumbled, "apologized", stepped on sensitive toes, "made excuses", covered their electronic ears, "apologized" again and released something that was already in the public domain as a token of "good faith". All while not making any promise to "not do it all again". 

Concerning another popular IP tabletop game brand, also controlled by the same corporate giant, who accidentally shipped new product before its time and then sent "agents" to retrieve THEIR property - property that was legally purchased by and in possession of a private citizen and customer, the mess continues. All the while the corporate executives have been asking us to "get on board" with their 2024 release of their new and improved popular TTRPG.

Well, that is how I see the year to date. (Please accept my apologies for the cynicism and realize that I am no expert on anything, these are my opinions and that obviously others will see things differently.)

So you may ask, where is this rambling and generally negative post heading? Where is it heading and what does it all mean for me? That is precisely the question which I have struggled with for several weeks now and has prompted my recent silence. (Well that and my reluctance to join in on the current trend to "take sides" on virtually every issue, but here I am taking sides.)

To get to the point, vis-a-vis the tabletop gaming hobby - I find myself at a crossroads, if I may borrow the often overused travel metaphor. Putting aside the Corporate Giant's Tabletop Gaming issues, I confess that the World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game has not interested me in some time. Furthermore, the games that do interest me seem to be of little interest to the gaming groups that in recent months I have been a part of, and I wonder if I shouldn't "broaden my field" a bit. Or perhaps just find a new hobby.

Reading of both fiction and history has been a large part of my interests and forms the basis of the attraction I have had to the tabletop gaming hobby since the beginning. I generally enjoy reading - reading about games, about settings, about the history connected with the games and about gaming as a hobby. Simply put, I enjoy reading on a number of various topics, discussing those topics with others, and occasionally writing about some of my thoughts on same. 

Reading novels, history and game materials has recently filled much of the time I would have previously spent gaming at the table with friends. The drawbacks to reading is that it is largely a solitary activity, and is a mostly passive experience. In other words it is poorly suited for meeting my very human desire for socialization and for creative expression. 

I write this post today as an exercise in organizing my thoughts and putting them into a coherent statement with a hope that doing so will help me see my way forward. Also, I share these thoughts in some hope that by reading it, another person may find some benefit in knowing about the struggles I have, my attempts to deal with the current events and may find some relief in knowing that should they find themselves feeling something similar, they are not alone. 

Finally I suggest that Life can be viewed as a journey, and we don't always know what lies ahead. Finding out where our chosen road will lead is part of the fun.

Happy trails!

PanzerBlitz

Tabletop Board Wargame

An intense interest in history and a love of games in general combined to produce my enthusiasm for wargames starting at an early age. As I recall, a lot of the games from my youth included a statement such as "for ages 12 and up" and that is about the age I was when I managed to acquire my first board wargame. It was titled Waterloo and featured a blue monochrome image of Napoleon on horseback which seems cribbed from a painting by Ernest Meissonier. I no longer have that game, but I have purchased many other map and cardboard chit wargames in the years following.

The game PanzerBlitz was published by the Avalon Hill Game Company in 1970 as one of their new Bookcase Games. It was widely available in department and toy stores and hobby shops and it ranks today as one of the best selling wargames of all time. Finding a second hand copy is therefore not a difficult task. 

I came to PanzerBlitz (PB) rather later than many, years after its release in fact. My first recollection of playing PB is at a high-school friend's house in the late 1970s. As I recall now, I thought it compared poorly to the wargames we had been playing with miniature tanks. (Today, I would say I was missing the point of PB back then.) 

It would be another decade plus before I purchased a copy of PB for my collection and I started to really look at the game in a serious way. Designed by James F. Dunnigan (publisher of Strategy & Tactics Magazine and founder of SPI) to be a tactical game on the platoon and company level, PB is not meant to feel like "tank on tank" as many wargames using miniatures do. 

As the years have progressed and I have revisited PB numerous times, the game has taken on some additional charm for me. Nostalgia doubtlessly plays its part in my appreciation of PB, but the game design itself seems much more sophisticated today than I originally thought. Although it includes a combat results table (odds based CRT) and units can be eliminated during play, PanzerBlitz is primarily a game of maneuver. It also includes a level of abstraction that probably annoyed the teenage me, but which plays well with me at my present age.

PanzerBlitz was an innovative design for its day and introduced the hobby to a number of concepts we see in many later games. The tank silhouettes used on the playing pieces is I believe the first time I saw that done. The game includes three geomorphic map boards that may be arranged in a variety of ways to produce a number of different battlefield maps. The game is setup and played using the map boards and unit pieces according to a situation card. There are twelve situations included in the game and many additional ones have been published in various sources including General Magazine (published by AH). Replay potential is practically endless as one varies the pieces used, the victory conditions and various map configurations.

PanzerBlitz is quick to learn and quick to play. Many of the situation cards have one side (German or Russian) attacking a basically static defender making the game friendly to solitaire as well as one-on-one play. The situations include a variety of missions, and today I see the game as having value as a tool for learning mobile war(game) tactics. Attacking a prepared position, conducting a delaying or blocking defense, and planning and executing a raid behind enemy lines are among the several challenges that the various situation cards present. Each situation is unique, has levels of victory, and encourages trying different strategies through multiple play-throughs.

The game includes a campaign guide featuring vehicle data and silhouettes (as a teenager I loved this feature and memorized much of the data), unit organizations and designer notes and when combined with the variety of game pieces suggests many design it yourself possibilities to expand play. Although I have enjoyed many board wargames bearing the descriptor, "tactical", I find PB remains a particular favorite with its own niche. While other games offer more detailed combat crunch or chrome (hit location, gun penetration values, etc.) none that I have encountered quite equal PB for its mission based approach. The scope of PB allows me to see the situation from a tactical mission perspective, to picture and plan my methods with an eye toward achieving victory (in game terms!), and to accomplish the given mission (or perhaps to learn why mine was a "bad" plan) better than any other game I have found to date.  

The Basics of becoming an Expert DM

Blue Box Expert Advice

Yes, this title is a bit of a play on words. In my opinion the best "Beginner" version of The World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game is Basic/Expert edited by Frank Mentzer and released circa 1983. Frequently referred to as BECMI, the acronym for Basic, Expert, Companion, Master and Immortal box sets, this version builds upon the original 1974 edition authored by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (often called ODD or White Box), and the previous "Basic" versions of J. Eric Holmes, and Tom Moldvay, David "Zeb" Cook and Steve Marsh (B/X). BECMI seems to be the most novice friendly and complete edition while retaining much of the spirit of free innovation and creativity that characterized the early days of the hobby. Using clear language accessible to everyone, in his Basic and Expert sets Mr. Mentzer describes how to roll the unusual dice, record important game data on your character sheet, map your first dungeon as a DM and create your own setting including home town and wilderness. 

In the Red Box BECMI basic set, the author describes how to begin play as a character (using a solo game) and how to draw and populate a beginner dungeon to run for your friends/family. Like the previous versions of Basic, this set covers play for character levels one to three and encourages the gamer to pursue higher levels by purchasing the next product.

Turning to the next in the series, the Blue Box Expert Set, we find a concise explanation of the process for designing a setting and suggestions for running a successful FRP campaign. In two short pages (pp. 28 & 37) of Expert, the essentials of "mastering the game" are presented in an organized and easy to follow manner. 

A careful reading of these two pages will reveal that taking the time for "thinking it through" is more important than anything you may put on paper. The setting "lives" in your head more than it exists in the maps, notes and boxed text you put on paper. By imagining a character "living" in your fictional world and making a mental note of their point-of-view, what they know, what they likely see, etc., we start to develop the "facts" regarding our fictional world. 

Mr. Mentzer suggests we start with what we know about the "real world" borrowing from things like gravity, weather, and technology (15th Century Europe is the game's default assumption, but it need not be yours) before we add in some fantasy "magic". This assumption of reality forms the basis for improvisation as we continue to imagine how the characters interact with their fictional world, especially during play when the unexpected is sure to happen. We simply cannot pre-plan for everything. Preparation for the campaign is primarily getting yourself into the mindset of our fictional setting.

Blue Box Expert suggests one start the process of actually putting things on paper by designing the home town. In Basic we learned that the dungeon is the "basic" setting for the game. Expert adds a wider context, the world in which our characters spend their days and will find the dungeon. In this way the game shifts from a series of episodic delving sessions to campaign play and continuity takes on meaning. 

In designing our fictional world, the guiding principal is to start local and to keep it relevant to play. One need not create all the heavens and earth prior to our first session. A small area will suffice. Place the home town/starting place from which the characters will venture out seeking fame and fortune at the center. Place the dungeon nearby so the party can easily go back and forth. Give some thought (from a characters' perspective) as to what lies just beyond the local area. Expert suggests giving some thought to the area under human control, the area under non-human control, and how power is exercised. (A rumor or two may be a nice incentive for exploration.)

Home Town is a place where services are available, NPCs abound, and rumors can be heard. It is wise to make Home Town a safe place (at least in the beginning of the campaign) as the dungeon and wilderness will offer enough danger and excitement. (If we think about it, a place of safety is probably why the town was built to begin with.) The PCs may be seen as "intruders" by the locals or themselves be natives to Home Town. Home Town will connect by road or river to other sources of trade and will offer a local market place for goods. It will thus likely attract the attention of thieves or bandits at some point. 

When thinking about the setting, it is important to keep some objective perspective. The PCs are the most important drivers of play, but they are a relatively small part of the world in which they live. By portraying the NPCs as having their own business to go about you will add to the richness of your setting.

Expert doesn't do your work for you, however. The maps, descriptions, encounter tables, and adventure ideas presented in this section of Expert are merely examples meant to inspire your own creations rather than being "ready made" adventures. Setting down in type something for you to run simply by reading to your players was Basic, Expert teaches the art of running the game by first showing you (the DM) how to design our own version of a setting. To "master" the game is to go beyond merely applying the rules. To become a master is to become a "creator". 

Thus we have Expert step-by-step advice on designing your own setting and running a successful campaign all on less than two pages of text. 

Flavors of D&D

...and A Game About Nothing.

Almost a half century ago Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created The Original Fantasy Role-Playing Game and with its publication, started a new hobby - adventure gaming. As authors of  The World's First RPG, they forged ahead into uncharted territory while drawing upon their past experiences with another game genre, notably their shared interest in tabletop wargaming with miniature figures. It is perhaps no coincidence that Mr. Arneson looked to his Napoleonic wargames for inspiration, and Mr. Gygax relied  heavily for the new game's combat mechanic upon his previously published medieval miniatures wargame rules, Chainmail. What we the consumer got in their product, White Box D&D, is a somewhat incomplete guide "for running fantastic medieval wargames campaigns playable with paper pencil and miniature figures".

Over the decades since its publication, the original game has been altered, added to, and advanced so that we hobby gamers currently have multiple versions of the World's Most Popular RPG to choose from today, including several official editions and many other less official flavors which are not published by the current IP holder. Each version of the game seems different enough, while all remain somewhat the same, so that I tend to think of them collectively as "the various flavors of the D&D hobby". A summary of the menu includes the following "official edition" entrées:

Do it yourself - The Original Edition heavily based on tabletop miniatures wargaming, seems aimed at a wargame audience. Typical of miniature wargames rules of the day, it requires a referee to run the game and one who is willing to add to the rules as written and customize play at their table. It relies on the referee having access to the previously published Chainmail rules (especially its Fantasy Supplement) and a popular boardgame (Outdoor Survival) in order to make full use of this product.

  

Tournament style - The Advanced Game delivered in a new hardcover format is the author's personalized vision of how the game should be. Written in full Gygaxian style and tone, the author's stated intent is to standardize the game so that tournament play is reasonably attainable. Advanced establishes the game as a distinct brand and will define "fantasy" for an entire generation.

Accessible for everyone - Basic, especially in its Red Box version, places emphasis on being user friendly and inviting. It teaches the uninitiated how to play and DM using a programmed introduction and solo play to ease one into the game. Far from being an inferior version of the rules that are just aimed at beginners, the Basic Game retains much of the original philosophy and appeal of the original version for veterans such as myself.

The Open License - 3/3.5 is a fresh vision of a new publisher for just how to play the game. This version seems to envision the IP as everything for everyone and it combines various subsystems borrowed from various other games under the familiar IP branding. This edition makes use of miniatures as the standard for play and its many tomes demonstrates that a desire to be all things to all gamers can result in too much of a good thing.

Going almost digital  - A continued desire on the part of the IP holder for the game to be the all-purpose solution for all your gaming needs, 4e is an acquired taste. While it has its loyal fans, it remains the least popular version of our game. Its lack of universal appeal leads to products such as those published by Paizo and the OSR - all using the famous game's OGL. Did I mention that the Open Game License is a really good thing for the hobby in general.

Finally, the Next version - It is an 800 pound gorilla in the game room and has outstripped all others in popularity. The IP holder has again borrowed ideas from a number of independent press RPG products (many using the OGL) in an initial attempt to win back the fanbase, but coincidentally also stumbles upon a large number of new consumers thanks to certain internet influencers. Capitalizing on the popularity of online streaming and televised shows that include dramatic interpretations of tabletop play or nostalgic scenes featuring classic versions of the game, the current edition outstrips all previous versions in popularity despite being frequently derided for having abandoned its roots. Criticism aside, record sales for nearly every official 5e release is virtually assured as the game has become a pop culture lifestyle brand. 5e is seemingly poised to be the one game to rule them all. 

We've come a long way from being just a bunch of nerdy hobbyists with a shared love for games and fantasy stories.