Tacos

"Going out for tacos" : action: When players decide to go completely off the rails from a plot hook in order to do their own thing.

Of Course!

So years ago I was in a game that our group tracked down this evil lord across the planes and we finally cornered him at his castle. This was our arch nemesis. We had been commissioned by the great god of nature and magic "Joe-bob" to defeat him. We had stopped his army before and now he was in his home consolidating power. He was going to take over the world.

  We grouped up in the village outside the castle and I remember the DM asking us "Alright so how are you getting into the castle?"

Get into the castle? So soon? Why would we do that? There is a whole village here to explore and get information about!  My character, the alchemist, and his party actually all donned disguises and opened up a small shop selling trinkets. We called it "A-mage-ing stuff'n'things".  

So while the DM had prepared for the big invasion that night, ready to end the whole year long campaign that night or the night after: we squeezed out over a month more of plot by finding a balance between running our little shot and slowly undermining and spying on our enemy.

I told one of my friends in college about this and he said something that immediately stuck within my gaming group: "Oh, they went for tacos."

"Went for tacos? What do you mean?"

¡Yo Quiero Taco Bell!

"My players did something like that. I was prepared to get them to do something, they were already seemingly on board and then I said 'Okay guys, lets do this" and one of my players just said "Nope, forget that, instead we are going to Taco bell! Yep we are going to just relax and order some tacos and maybe a few chalupas! And you know what you are going to do, you are going to have ninjas drop down from the ceiling while we are trying to eat. Cause there is no way we should be able to get away with that."

And thus the term "going for tacos" was born. From his group to mine and now to yours!

Some last things to keep in mind

As a DM: Your players will on occasion go out for tacos. This is one of the reasons why I mentioned that you shouldn't over commit your time on specifics for the game. If you want to shy players away from going out for tacos, there is one little trick I found that keeps the players focused: a time limit. Make sure they realize that yes, they are allowed to explore other places, but the clock is ticking. as soon as players feel like they have an actually limited time frame to work in, they can get focused really quickly.

With that said, not shy away from it all the time. As soon as your players roll up their characters, the rp world is not yours alone. If they show interest in something you originally didn't think they would, try your best to roll with it.

As a PC: Use tacos sparingly. At best they can be used to explore and expand the game worlds, in new and exciting ways that not even the DM foresaw. To use them this way, latch onto a minor detail that the DM threw to you as flavor, and investigate it further (as our group did with that village).

But just like their name-sake, tacos every time gets old very fast. They are a sometimes food. Your DM does do work to plan things out so make sure to make sure that his preparations are not completely wasted.

Until next time Facedowners! May you enjoy the delicious taste of tacos while fighting off ninja.

"You'll take my crunchy tacos over my dead body!"
But seriously, NPH is awesome.

Inside the Mind of a PC

Since I am currently playing in two games currently, one as the DM and one as a PC, I thought I would switch gears a bit and talk about my experiences on the other side of the table. While the "Inside the Mind of a DM" will probably be more informative overall, since I think less people see that side of the game, I think it is easy for DMs to forget what it is like for players sometimes. Also there are certain traps that players can fall into that can cause conflict.

Below is a list of thoughts that I believe should be running through every player's head.

1: "My character makes a difference in the world around him." 

"In roleplaying games in general, the DM will create a world around the players, while the players will interact with said world." This means both sides need to have some responsibilities here. The PCs are the main characters in a story. If the world is so static that nothing the player could do would ever change it in the slightest... why is there a story about this person? On the flip side, as a player, I need to make sure my character is going to go out and try to make a difference. It is one thing to be a reluctant hero that needs to be pushed into it, it is another to constantly be doing nothing. Again, the question should be "why is there a story about this person?"

2: "My character has his own goals and motivations."

The character I play on Saturdays has two simple motivations: protect those weaker then him, and prove his superiority. Because of the interaction of those two simple motivations, he goes out of his way to protect the rest of the party, but he also tends to get on their nerves a bit as well (when having a character with charisma as a dump stat, play it up a bit.) He isn't motivated by money or not even really fame. He believes he is better than the "mind-blinds" for being psionic. That doesn't mean he doesn't like them, and he has already grown a bit as he is forced to see them pulling off things that he couldn't do (150 points of damage from a volley of arrows.)

3: "My character will respect the goals and motivations of the rest of the party."

He might have his own reasons for doing so. Maybe he is going along because he agrees with them or maybe it is just to be helpful. Maybe he is doing it because he wants the other characters to owe him later. Maybe he is just being paid for his time. What ever the alignment, motives, or background of your character, make sure you can justify staying a member of the party and working with them. This does not mean your paladin should be alright with them selling the souls of the innocent for fun and profit, of course. What it does mean is that your paladin will not try smiting them if he catches one of them pickpocketing from a crooked politician.

4: "I want to be able to do my character's trick."
When most characters are made, the player making them will have something in mind that they want that character to be good at.  Maybe he is a damage dealing machine, or maybe he can take more damage then the rest of your mind-blind party members put together. Even if your character doesn't have one specific trick and is more jack-of-all-trades useful guess what: that is her trick! DMs shouldn't have to know every little thing that the PC can do (that is the players job to be informed of that) but should have a good knowledge of what each character's trick is. If that player is really good at social situations make sure there is a chance once in awhile for social situations or that player is going to feel useless. Don't baby them and give them everything they want, but still they should at least have a chance to shine once in a while (see thought #1)

5: "NPCs are friends not food."

Or maybe call him "Nemo"...

If you treat npcs like throwaway chunks of XP, then that is all they will be... to you. It is far more rewarding to have your character treat them like they were actual people. This is especially true to those no-named NPCs that the DM may or may not have made any actual plans for. These are the times that the player gets to do a little world building for the DM. That no named guard? Ask him if his name is Sven and if he was a member of the old sell swords guild, since he looks familiar. The DM says yes: then your character reunites with an old long loss friend... or the guy who borrowed 20 gold and never paid you back. In short, if  you want a more rich and rewarding world for your character to play in: treat it as such.


Stay tuned Facedown-fans. Next time, we're going for tacos!

What Makes a Great Game: Immersion

In this series I hope to share with you the aspects that make a great game. Each article will be about a trait that I find highly important in game design and game playing.

Immersion

Like many other forms of entertainment, games can be considered an art form (this is debatable but we will work with that assumption for now). They can tell a story. Unlike most other forms of entertainment, the story can largely be dependent on the player/viewer. While movies and TV shows  will occasionally leave events open to interpretation,  games are actually made and thrive on the interaction with the player. The point of view is not from the character in the show, and not from the director or writer; but instead the point of view is from the player herself. Chances are if you played a game, and it felt like you were just going through the motions of what the game creator made... it wasn't a good game. What makes a game art is immersion; how easy is it to forget that you are playing a game and instead are acting the role in the game itself?

To my fellow book readers out there, it should come as no surprise that immersion is a trait that I value so highly. One does not read through A Song of Ice and Fire  series without enjoying the feeling of being part of a rich and complex world. You slowly forget that you are laying in bed and reading a book series. Instead you are living vicariously through your favorite characters: celebrating their triumphs, feeling the pain of their defeat, and hoping that they make it until the end. 

Even happy endings feel a little
depressing, because it is over.

No other words in the English language have metaphorically ripped the heart out from a reader. When we read those words, the illusion is over. The immersion is gone and we are back in our own little lives. It is a "dropping" feeling. Time catches up to you and you realize what you thought was maybe an hour was really six. Immersion always seems strongest while reading. Maybe it is how much time we invest in them, or how personal of an experience it is; but immersion always seems strongest while reading.

Immersion, however, is not unique to reading; which brings us back to why immersion is great for games. If we can get to the point that we partially forget that we are playing a game, and instead feel like we are a pirate sailing the 7 seas for treasure, building a rail-road, or even running an electric company ; the game has succeeded on a very fundamental level.

Losing yourself in the game is the bread and butter of roleplaying games, which the players take the role of a particular hero (often a term used very loosely) in a different world. Just like reading, the player can really connect to the world and feel invested in it. 

Immersion has to come naturally out of a game: it isn't something you can really force. There are several things that can take a player "out" of feeling immersed. Most of these are things good games try to do anyways.

1. Don't have overly complicated rules: Nothing takes people out of a game more than having to stop and double check the rule book again, or worse: online for an FAQ. Having robust rules that allow for different strategies is good, but remember there is such thing as "too much game."
2. Have a clear role for the players: The game should be clear on what role it has the players in and keep with it. If the game has them being a hero going against the forces of darkness, it is a little disjointed having them do things as the forces of darkness. 
3. Make the role for the players entertaining: Alright so very few of us have probably thought that we wanted to be the president of an electrical company when we grow up, but if that is going to be the focus of your game, make sure that the game is also fun. If you make a game that makes people really feel like they are on a crowed train, waiting for the ride to be over, then I suppose you technically succeed in making it immersive... just not sure if you succeeded in making a game.

Artwork, theme, mechanics all have to come together for a game to be truly immersive. It can not be forced. If it is done correctly, the players probably won't even be able to say why they like the game, they will just say that they do. It is one of the most subtle and overlooked attributes on what makes a great game.

Inside the Mind of a DM: Redux

My friends after a long sabbatical it is time I start putting pen to paper again and share with you all what goes on in my mind while I'm DMing. I can of course only speak from my own experience but I hope that my self-discoveries and observations will give you an idea of how to run your game, or why DMs do what they do. While this does focus on gaming obviously I hope there will be tidbits in here that my non-gamer friends (I have a few...) can pick up and enjoy.

1: Never Over-Plan.

I've learned this one the hardway, and this is the rule that allows me to keep being a DM when my life is being pulled in several different directions. Plan as a DM will work great, up until the point you sit down at the table to play. Forcing the players into a direction will come off as forced. They will frequently go in directions that you don't expect. Of course you should have an idea of what your players will probably do (we'll cover this later,) but don't depend on being right.

Last time we played my players discovered an NPC they had met was actually an old enemy in disguise. Not knowing who the real enemy is that attacked them, they started getting ready to go off and fight him. Cut to last night where they remembered there was strong evidance to support a different foe. had I spent all my time preparing for that fight I would have wasted a LOT of time. I simply got some generalizations down was ready to make up the rest on the spot. Since it didn't happen I didn't lose much time and was able to "role" with the punches that much easier.

2: Know your Players.

In an about face to my previous observation, you have to know about what motivates your players. Why do they game? Most of mine are really into exploring the world I set before them as a whole, some of them are really looking to advance their own characters identities, some are trying to beat the challenges I put out. Knowing what they are after will give you a better idea how they will react and what twists they might throw at you... and what twists you should throw right back. If your player is suspicious in nature (and most of them are) give them some things to be suspicious about. 

3:The DM is not the only one creating a story.

If they start investigating areas that you didn't think of, don't just tell them "no, nothing is to be found there" see if you can work it in. See what is important to them and reward them for thinking of it. It won't always work out and you should maintain some level of order and reason ("No you can not use mildly reflective rocks as an impromptu mirror maze... at least not effectively")

Our dear valet Mr. Barker, a PC who was the highest non-noble in the Beryl household, discovered some information that there were traitors in his employment  I was expecting him to interrogate them and find out where their alleys were meeting . I did NOT expect him to start looking for a common reference on how they got the jobs. I thought it made sense so BOOM, new NPC created. he went even further and started looking into any more people that NPC referenced. While I could have created a whole preexisting web of traitors and red herrings before hand,  that would have taken much more time and effort than just seeing what he used to search for them, decide how effective it would be, and reward the player for doing that.

4: The Players are not the only ones with characters.

Just as you know your players, you should know your NPCs. Do not think of them as tools to create the plot you want, and instead think of them as characters with their own goals and motives. If they are smart don't make them stupid just so players can solve their problems. If they are calm don't make them angry just to make them fight your players. Treat each one with the effort you treat your own PC. Make sure they are not influenced by things they wouldn't realistically know (don't metagame them... DMs need to avoid that too) This is really meant for important and major NPCs, but if you are able to whip out tidbits of personalty and depth in all of your NPCs, it might surprise you which ones the players bond with.

2013 Game Preview

"Are the preparations almost ready? Her birthday is less than a week away," Terrance asked as he sat down in the chair. The tall slender man with the pleasant smile put an apron over him and applied warm cream to his face.
"My Lord Regent, every single request you have made in regards to Brianna's birthday has been carried out, checked and triple checked. Each of her uncles and their families will be attending to see her crowned.
"ALL of her uncles, Barker? Terrance raises an eye at his valet  who only chuckled as he reached for an onyx box.
"Oh I certainly hope not, my Lord. Forgive me I have misspoke. Cigam will not be attending, of course."
Terrance sighed; it had only been four years since his adoptive mother and father had disappeared. If his uncles or the old general, Gorien, knew where they were; they have never shared. Still they made sure that the throne was ready for them. Negus had stopped it's quest for power when his father took over the throne, ending hundreds of years of war. A few years later Gorien had found Terrance, just a young boy in the woods, and the still new king and queen adopted him. Even after his sister was born, he was never treated as anything less than their own son.
Still when it came time to announce an heir, Terrance's younger sister was selected. There was no end to the questioning that caused. Some people said it was because only a true-blooded beryl should rule... others simply stated that the crown had typically passed from Mother to Daughter, Drakin and his four brothers being the first male Beryls born in hundreds of years. Still others simply think that the young princess was more loved by her father.
When Barker opened the small onyx box, Terrance's mind stopped wandering. Barker was his father's last gift to him. A talented servant, a fierce protector, with a dreadful secret. The pale thin fingers of Barker reached into the dark onyx box, and took out a simple looking razor out from it. Terrance's eyes focused on the blade as it was opened.
"Since this is such an important event, " Barker started, "and you have to look your best, do you want..."
"No Barker, no just YOUR talents will do." Terrance cut him off tilting back his head.
Barker just nodded and smiled as he brought the razor up to the Lord Regent's neck. "Very good, sir."

Rob's Forum Game: Final ROUND!

This is the final round of questions (better late than never.) I will be setting up the forum this week and if we get these responces quickly then we can start soon! This has the potential to turn into one of the larger projects I've done so I have to thank everyone who has either pitched in already or just joins.
I have a nasty habit of starting projects and not finishing them. There have been exceptions to the rule, but I actually hope this is going to not only be that. I want this to be the point where the rule changes. I have several goals for this game. and I'm looking forward to making this a journey that we all make together (sappy but true.)

The main reason for this last set of questions is to find out where the countries stand in terms of religion. I've talked some things over with the members who voted that their country be religious and there are probably going to be two major religions in the world.

The Old Ways: There are many holy figures each one commonly represented by an animal. They are commonly worshiped together by the public, with particular sects focusing on individual ones. A person can focus his prayers on just one of the figures, but will be respectful towards all of them. Each country was said to have been founded by one of them, but that is mostly thrown out as commoner supersticion.

The Lord of Light: The main religion founded in Novogal. The Lord of Light is the central figure of the religion. Unlike the followers of the old ways Lord of Light is much more organized and formal. Great cathedrals are built, one for each the sanctified war hero who brought "light to the world"

As a third option, people can skip worshiping gods and instead directly pray towards their honored ancestors, figures of their past who have risened to legendary status for their deeds.

Of course some people will just take any help they can get, and isn't too picky on who hears their prayers as long as they are answered.

Rob's New Forum Game: RESULTS 2 & 3

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, with out any further delay lets look over the answers and see what they mean for our game.

1: Xenotia vs Novogal

People were all over with this one, but it looks like they main way Novogal is going to have peace with Xenotia is by giving them offerings. Considering the 2nd most popular vote was all out conflict between them... this might not be going as well as they would hope.

2: Towarno's Bread and butter

An even tie between selling weapons and telling any bronze work besides weapons. As a result Towarno will export any and all bronze work, but the sale of weapons are heavily regulated by the government. Only certain vendors / smiths are allowed to sell to outsiders.

3: Hoinland's bling

The People have spoken! 3 out of 4 people wanted Hoinland to set up a large open market so it just became the main trade hub in the mainland.

4: Chaelor's state

2-3-3-4 Holy crap this was one was close. As it is, the two provinces are openly hostile towards each other, and none can agree upon who's fault it really is.

5:

This rather speaks for itself... not only will Chaelor be the main target for Grey Sea Sailors, but also Novogal and Xenotia will be the least visited by the islands.

6: Sandbox Vs Railroad

Average: 3 More or less what I expected, but there were more people who wanted to lean towards railroad over sandbox. We'll try to keep things well balanced.

7: Scope: Wide or Narrow

People wanted a wider based story by 2-1, characters will not be restricted to any one location.

8: Conflict resolution

By those players, no rules, just storytelling...those players need to put on their big boy/girl undies and solve it.		3	33%
By the player who has the more relevant skills should determine the outcome.		1	11%
By the DM acting as judge and deciding based on both roleplay and skills.		3	33%
By a die roll, relevant abilities give some bonus (most like a tabletop game)		1	11%
Other		1	11%

Makes sense, if people have a disagreement with what is going on, (and this really might only come up in physical combat) they will first sort it amongst themselves, if they are unable to come up with a solution ("I hit him" "No I dodged" "No you didn't!") a mod will act as tiebreaker. No surprise there but I wanted to put the options up.

9: Dat Cap

Now, if they didn't help with this part it is too late.		0	0%
20ish Players should be enough		2	22%
40ish Players should be enough		1	11%
We should not cap it, the more the merrier.		6	67%

Twice as many people thought we shouldn't have a cap then should so we'll go with that for now, if myself and my mods start to feel overwhelmed we'll look for other options before setting a cap.

The next, AND FINAL set of questions will be out tonight or tomorrow. Time to ask, "do you have a little faith?"

Rob's Forum Game 3

I think we will have almost enough information for our background... there will be updates later to fill in any holes we have. I know people are excited about starting so I'm going to start releasing these questions every day or two without closing the previous. We have a good idea of the setting but how does everyone want the game to be run?

[Poll has closed]

Rob's New Forum Game: 2

So we know the countries now, but how do they get along? Answer any you like, skip ones you want to.

[Poll has closed]

Rob's New Forum Game: 1 RESULTS!

The results are in!

Based on the collective responses (and in the case of poor region 5 the lack there of) we now have a map and brief description of each of the regions. The islands were by far the most popular of the regions, accounting for over a third of the total votes.

People were fairly split on the amount of resources their country has, but the clear winner of what resource was "life" with wheat lumber and Herd Animals all taking the top. Due to the near lack of iron, this is going to be more about bronze age technology for the most part. Given where that iron is... it might turn into something a bit more...interesting.

You'll probably notice that few countries got "hard working." Well there is a reason for that...

Almost everyone picked it! I'm a firm believer in if something describes everyone it describes no one. I only gave it to a few that picked it, and only it, or otherwise needed an extra trait.

We are off to a great start thus far and later this week I'll be posting the next volley of questions. Also just because you helped make a region is not going to mean your character must be from there. If another region is shaping into something that looks more interesting, go ahead and jump ship!

For ease of notification, please subscribe to my blog so you know first when there is an update.

Now without further delay: the Results!

Towarno

Most Plentiful Resource:
Copper

Common Traits:
Disciplined
Cutthroat

Info:
The people of Towarno do what is necessary to survive their harsh homeland and have little time for what they consider weakness. Crime is harshly punished. The saying goes “There are not prisons in Towarno.” Criminals who are fit are sentence as time as slaves, serving hard labor for what often ends up being the rest of their life. The unfit ones are quickly put to the ax.

Towarno is also known for their bronze smiting. Everything from artistic plates and statues to brutally effective spear tips and arrow heads are made there.

The land itself is dry, mostly barren desert, most of the people live right at the base of the mountains, where the only fresh water source of any note is located.

Hoinland

Most Plentiful Resource
Lumber
Herd Animals
Wheat

Common Traits:
Hard Working
Civilized
Curious

Hoinland is a vast land filled with lush green fields. Their vegetation grows so well it is rumored that Hoinland water contains magical properties, and such is sought after by superstitious (and gullible) people from around the land. Consisting mostly of farmers and herders, they are ruled over by a senate of elected officials. Their infrastructural is the most advance in the land. Public roads, libraries and schools dot the land. They were the first to invent paper, not surprising considering their rich forests and intense industrious nature.

Politics in Hoinland are an intense, but usually bloodless affair. The tangled web of bureaucracy leaves people from other countries with migraines if they ever try to follow it. Still it is said that any farmer with a good enough vision and loud enough voice can rise in the political circle. Most land owners frequent town meetings at the least.

Novogal

Capital: Novogal

Most Plentiful Resources:
Wheat
Heard Animals

Common Traits
Arrogant
Religious
Greedy
Curious

Info:
Novogal is a smallish nation centered around the capital city of the same name. Novogal's fortune comes from it's trade on the river and the nearby furtile farmland. Most of the rest of the world follow Novogal's religious teachings, giving them a great amount of respect and political power in the world. They have, at least in their neighbor's opinion, a tendency to laud over the fact that they are the “blessed people.” Still when this trait can be overlooked (wither the person actually has it or not) they tend to make friends easily. The capital city is full of cathedrals built on ruins from an ancient empire. Most of the old ways are forgotten, but there has been whispers as of late that herald a return to the “old ways.”

Xenotia

Captial: Tovera

Most Plentiful Resources:
Wheat
Lumber

Common Traits
Warlike
Disciplined
Civilized

Info:
The Xenotians are like a year-round sleeping bear. They have the most well trained, disciplined army, but they never seem to do anything with it-- at least from the outside looking in. They seem more interested in farming rather than fighting, but no one wants to risk finding out if that statement is exactly true or not. Internally, they stand as sentinels against those who would take their fertile land. Externally, not many would consider them 'friends', but they universally respected for their discipline.

When a child turns eight, he or she is trained intensely in the art of combat and warfare. Even if a child lacks physical prowess they learn military strategies and how to perform other duties that would benefit an army. Upon their completion of their grueling four year training period, they are given their “Onima,” a name for their new self, their warrior self. They use their original name in their day to day life, but in battle they only refer to themselves as this. They are trained to consider their Onima to be a separate entity from themselves, oftentimes resulting in it becoming a completely separated personality.

Chaelor [KAY-lor]

Capital: Oreskus

Most Plentiful Resources:
Wheat
Lumber
Silver

Common Traits:
Civilized
Religious
Greedy

Info
The Bay of Chaelor sports the most prosperous seaports in the whole peninsula. It is a center for trade, learning, and spirituality. The first temple to the great sea god Pressus was built in Chaelor's capitol, Oreskus, on the bay's northern tip.

Chaelor is divided into four provinces, divided by the main rivers. To the south, the province of Jechuse [je-KOO-say], known mainly for its rich soil, excellent for farming. In the center is the province of Oreska, home to Chaelor's capitol city. Oreska province's verdant forests helped it become the industrious shipbuilding empire it is today. To the east lies the province of Trescho [tres-ko]. Trescho's northern half , nestled between the northern and eastern rivers, is a verdant rainforest, giving way to rolling plains and sandy beaches to the south.

To the north is the province of Rilliam. While until recently it is known as just simple farmland, there has been residual silver deposits discovered. Since then there has been a boom effect on the towns along the great river that divides the country and along the mountain while the silver slows from. The capital was quick to raise the taxes in Rilliam, leading many of it's people to cry out for independence.

The Grey Sea Achipelago

Capital: Runia

Most Plentiful Resources (rumored)
Emeralds
Sapphires
Diamonds
Gold
Lumber

Common Traits
Arrogant
Cutthroat
Disciplined

Info
The islands south of the mainland are filled with rumors and legend. The northern most island, Runia is the only one that is commonly believed to be inhabited. Traders can often find the best merchandise around. Completely outside of Runia's control however are the pirates the raid those merchant ships. The Runia government is of course very sorry for those victims and does everything it can to protect it's sea... but as the saying goes “there are no refunds on Runia Island.
Local legend is that on the island of Youkali to the south, there are seductive sirens who will bed ship captains for a fortnight and fill their hulls with gold. The legends are however very unclear as to which island that is suppose to be in the long chain... as the others are said to be inhabited by everything from ugly fish people to cannibalistic tribes. The souls of those murdered and eaten haunt the islands and will sink them if they approach the wrong one..

The southern most island, Khom-Ma is a black and jagged eyesore that juts out of the water like an ugly mole on porcelain skin. When questioned by visitors from the mainland, the Archipelago people claim that Khon-Ma was cursed by the gods eons ago. Legend tells of an advanced and decadent culture that defiled the land and spoiled the oceans around the harbor of Dmar-Mo. The earth and ocean cried out to the gods for vengeance. A terrible plague spread throughout the island, killing every man, woman, and child on Khon-Ma. Runia take criminals convicted of capital offenses to the shallow waters near Dmar-Mo and strand them on the cursed island. It is unknown if these convicts are killed by the plague or if some manner of crude civilization has sprung up in the ruins; either way, nobody sentenced to Khon-Ma has been known to escape the island.

Rob's New Forum Game: 1

Thank you for expressing interest in our upcoming forum game. Our upcoming forum game, not just mine. This is going to be something we build together starting right now!

Before we can even make characters, we need to make the world they are from. Attached was a picture of the basic world map we will be using, divided into rough ideas of which nation will be where.

First things first, decide where your character is from, and what that place is like.

[First round of posting is closed]

Inside the Mind of a DM: Part I

Just last night I got to put my DMing cap back on and start my players on a fresh new campaign. I probably have the most experience "Dungeon Mastering" in my group, and I have a lot of pride in creating good memorable campaigns. I was originally planning on writing a short bit of fiction about the party as I have done previously, but I left my notes with the characters names on it at home. So instead I thought I would right down my thoughts about what goes on in the mind of a DM, at least this DM.
What motivates me to take the role requires the most prep work, actually study the rules like one would a high school text book before a quiz, and just over all requires more work? By my nature I am a pretty lazy person, which the frequency that I remember to update my blog will attest to. DMing is one of the things that snaps me out of that really bad habit. I genuinely love crafting a story that I can see people enjoy. It is the joys of writing mixed with instant gratification. At least more instant in compared to trying to write a book. Seeing them enjoying what I make is really uplifting.
I started planning this campaign a few months ago. I had a few goals in mind for this run.
1: Something different.
- With this group I have primarily run the same campaign for five years. It was very political for a DnD game. There was combat less then half of the sessions. Until much later in it gods and religion in general did not have any influence in the world, much less my story. There was relatively little magic. I wanted something different and fresh this time around. I had a wonderful cast of NPCs that were interesting, entertaining, and great; but the PCs have been interacting with the same set of them for 4 plus years.
I felt that it was time for a change. My current game is, as I have planned it, going to have completely different focuses. Less political maneuvering and rubbing elbows with royalty, more mystery and horror.
2: Have a strong mix between railroad plots and open sandbox.

- Time for a little side trip into DMing 101. This seems to be one of the hardest things to balance in role playing games. Games that have a specific plot where the DM refuses to let anyone change is referred to as a "railroad." They get on one track and do not allow changes in direction. This is effectively the DM telling a story with the characters have no meaningful input. On the opposite end of the spectrum there is the open environment, a "sandbox" to play in.. Where the characters do what ever they want in a world that is only superficially guided by a DM, no direction, no real purpose. Personally I feel that straying to far in either direction is a mistake. Both are removing the best part of role playing games, the interaction.
The DM is more than a story teller (each and every player in fact, is a story teller), he is a director. He should control each and every part of the story, and instead guide the story in a way to make sure everyone is having fun. Things getting boring? Time for a some action! Player feeling left out? Put in something that their character would be particularly good at solving. Things getting too predictable? Add some twist or new plot element. Players stuck with indecision? Either drop them a hint or force them to make a quick decision with some new danger. Everyone having a good time working out whats in front of them? Sit back and do not interfer!
I know what I want in general to happen in my game, and will take steps to guide the players there naturally.
ehem.... back on track now...
3: Take advantage of having a co-DM
-This will be the first time I will have a co DM, she does have her own character, who is built more like a glorified NPC than an actual character. She knows what is going on with the plot and any time a player has to go into the other room to talk about things that the rest of the party shouldn't know, one of us can do that, while the other continues the current action.
4: Controlling the tone
-This has to do with what I touched upon into my brief trip into DMing 101: The DM is the director. I want a certain tone for this game. Dark without being grim: more along the lines of "creepy." The characters should often feel unsettled about whats going on around them. Not a constant state of fear, nor avoiding any humor. The "template" I wanted to follow was Full Metal Alchemist. The tone was dark over all, but allowed for moments of humor and hope. It was a very good mix in my opinion that kept the show interesting and dramatic.
5: A set, contained story.
-After playing one game on and off for several years, this time I want to tell one specific story that will have a beginning, middle and end.
6: Don't plan the end, but plan the part right before.
-I would say I have very little of the plot preplanned. Just a chunk near the end. It is my goal to get the players there. It is very open ended and won't take too much work to, and doesn't plan for their actual reaction to what I have planned (if I did, then they don't really get a choice in what happens and thus: rail road.) Having this near end game in mind right at the beginning, I can lay down the ground work early.
7: Start them right in the story.
- Screw starting them in a tavern, they started off being introduced to the last member of the party to join the team, and being told what their mission was? How did they meet up and start adventuring together (especially since one of them is playing a potato farmer?) Maybe there will be a flashback to cover that.

That is enough rambling for now, later on I'll go into specifics during the game itself.

Is it worth it: Fright Night?

In a small in isolated town out side of Las Vegas, former nerd Charley Brewster is starting to...

"Vampire"

...er there have been several unexplained...

"It's a vampire, traditional rules of stakes, sunlight, garlic and crosses apply. Let's hurry up."

Ummm well there is a detailed mystery of who this dark stranger...

"New neighbor, 'Jerry.' Stop stalling."

Fine... "Fright Night" is a fast paced, no apologies vampire movie. It doesn't waste any time setting up the plot or introducing the characters. It quickly establishes that the usual vampire rules are in effect. It doesn't attempt to justify or explain them. BAM you are in a vampire movie, adapt to that or die painfully.

Their method of doing this was actually quite simple, they picked up the movie a quarter of the way in. Before the movie started, local geek and the movies first Cassandra, Ed has already suspected, track and started hunting vampire Jerry. As he is played by Mclovin' Christopher Mintz-Plasse, he very well could have been the main character of the movie, if he wasn't made to be part of a Jerry's well balanced diet within the first 10 minutes of the movie.

No, the protagonist of the movie (although I'd argue against calling him the star) is actually Charley Brewster, played by Anton Yelchin. If their name isn't familiar to you then it was the guy who played the new Chekov in the Star Trek reboot and Kyle Reese in Terminator: Salvation, so fantasy/scifi should feel pretty comfortable to him. The premise of the character is that he is a former geek who is ashamed of his nerdy ways because now he is hanging out with the cool kids and has a super hot girlfriend. Anton does a great job in this roll, playing a character who is flawed but likable. He proves himself to be just the right amount of "resourceful survivor" and "kid way out of his league", that makes for an interesting hero in a horror flick.

Toni Collerre and Imogen Poots are the hero's mother and girlfriend respectively. I don't want to give away too much about what happens to them later on in the movie but early on it follows as you'd expect. The characters are not very fleshed out, but they are not completely two dimensional either. They have enough character to leave make the audience care about their well being, but don't take so much screen time that it bogs down the story. Enough of them however... time for the starts of the show.

David the Tenth Doctor Tennant. Not playing some brilliant time lord here. No, here he is playing a fowl mouthed famous stage magician with professed knowledge of the occult. He is the go to guy for vampire lore, a person who seems every bit as dangerous as the vampire the hero is facing, a collector of holy artifacts and weapons, and he wears leather pants. Tight... tight leather pants. Despite his... distracting wardrobe, he manages to play an interesting and mysterious character, arguably the one with the most dimension.

Colin Farrell plays a fantastic vampire. As McLovin' says, he is not some doey eyed love struck heart throb, he is a killing machine. He is Jaws. He kills people brutally, drinks their blood, then goes and watches some TV. He is old, powerful, and smart. He is everything a vampire villain should be.

So... the acting is great, how about the rest of it? As I mentioned the stories pacing was very fast paced, but it never felt rushed. It hits the ground running, and gives us just enough pauses so we can catch our breath before we start running for our lives again. I saw the movie in stunning wonderful 2D, because well, I'm not a huge fan of 3D and tend to avoid it when I can. There are some VERY obvious scenes that are meant to exploit the 3D. It actually looked good but I could see it being distracting for some. Also noticeable are the product placements. Man Century 21 must have spent some serious coin on this movie. Now that said, they actually did a great job making the placements not only make sense, but actually become important to the plot in a few cases.

The story is what makes or breaks a movie for me, like most people I would think...or at least hope. Fright Night delivers this well. It manages to be both traditional and fresh when it comes to a monster movie. The movie seems predictable for the most part, but it does manage to keep you on your toes or even surprise you. There is no "big twist," so the surprises are natural and flow well with the rest of the story. Again I don't want to spoil the ending, but let me assure you, it doesn't disappoint.

So is Fright Night worth it? As someone who has never seen the original, yes. I knew of the original movie but never have actually seen it. This movie now makes me want to. It is well done on multiple levels, has a great mix of horror and really funny moments. Fright Night, it starts off strong, and stays that way.

Is it worth it: Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan?

Stealth... misdirection... cunning... cats...

These are the tools at the disposal of the ninja. AEG's new strategy game of hidden movement. Created by Fréderic Moyersoen, this game is for one to four players. The action takes place in a Lion stronghold, one player playing the diligent and numerous guards of the Lion clan, the other a pair of ninja trying to carry out their secret objectives.

I must start this off with the precursor, I am a fan of Legend of the Five rings and, when I played the CCG, I played the Scorpion clan primarily, and the Lion clan as my "back up." Needless to say, when I first learned about this game, I was pretty excited. While I have removed myself from the CCG lifestyle (which will probably be a focus of an upcoming "Is it worth it") I am still a large supporter of AEGs creation.

For those of you who do not know, the Legend of the Five Rings is a collection of games that share a rich, detailed story in the world of Rokugan. Originally a collectible card game, it has also spawned a now defunct miniatures war game, as well as a role playing game which is currently on its forth edition. As the newest addition to the L5R family, Ninja has a lot to live up to.

Having the chance to play a few games on both sides, I'll try to answer the question that any potential buyer must ask himself, "is it worth it?" I am going to try to be as objective about this as I can be, but remember, my name "facedown ninja" came from somewhere...

The game play revolves around each player having a paper copy of the game board. The Scorpion player uses this paper to track down where he actually is on the board, and where he places things like secret passages and ropes to scale walls. The Lion player uses the board to mark down where all the different possible mission objectives are, two out of the six the Scorpion player actually will actually care about, as well as hidden guards and "traps."

As the Scorpion player does actions that raise suspicions; the alert level increases and the Lion player gets to draw more cards and thus take more actions. The guards have a fairly short term memory however, and as long as the Scorpion player lays low for a while, the alert will decrease. Time is on the Lion's side: the Scorpion has only twenty turns to complete both objectives and escape. Not only that but the Scorpion is limited to the cards he starts with, and can not draw any more.

As a quick run down

Lion Advantages:

-Card Draw

-Number of units

-Unlimited Resources

-Knowledge of where the objectives are

-Time Limit

Scorpion Advantages

-Invisible movement

-Faster Units (3 spaces vs 4)

-Stronger Abilities

-Knowledge of secret passage

-Tougher (3 hits to kill vs 1)

The board looks great. The pieces are all great. I especially love that the traitor's cat is actually on the pawn. They give you plenty of maps to use, plus you can go online here to download the pdf to print out more copies. There is easily the potential for making new maps to try a different layout, although the given one seems like it has enough room and diversity to not get old any time soon.

For all that is good about the game, there are some note worthy penalties. Some of the spaces are not quite clearly defined on the map, the walls are not highlighted and are a similar color as the stone pathways, leading to some confusion. This is not too big of an issue however as the paper maps have everything clearly labeled. Still a better border around the walls would have helped. There also seems to be a misprint in one of the sample pictures in the rule book. The Lion player can put some sleeping guards in specifically marked spaces that he can wake up later. In a sample picture it shows the donation of a sleeping guard (an S) on a space without the mark. Maybe I misread it or maybe an earlier version of the game had a mark there.

Then there is an issue with listening. The mechanic itself works great. The further a ninja moves, the more spaces away he can be heard. So if he moves two squares then any guard two spaces away from where he ended up can hear him. The guard can then move two spaces if he did hear him. Walls and moats do not affect hearing, only actual number of spaces away. All of this is clearly explained on the card. What is NOT explained is that after the guard hears him to raise the alert by one. Granted the card does say to check the complete rules for listening and even lists the page number... but... why?

This was the only other part of the listening rule... and it is very important, but it is not mentioned on the card. This is the main way Lion is able to make sure they have card draw. There seemed to be room on the card to put that in, especially if you take out the message that says effectively "to read the part of the card that we didn't want to put on here, go to page 8." I am harping on this because I made this mistake the first game I played, and I had a really bad time that game. I was playing Lion and it only lead to frustration. I figured that the guards had no real chance against the ninja, that the game isn't balanced at all, and the game itself failed to be fun (for the lion anyways, my opponent had a smile on her face as she completed her missions without a guard so much as noticing that Akodo Sven hasn't come back from the bathroom yet .)

As it turns out, the game is well balanced. After that mistake was corrected every game I had sense then was reasonably close, with both players either drawing, or could have drawn if I didn't get greedy.

The box says it takes 45 minutes to play, after my first game I was ready to call AEG a filthy filthy liar, but after several goes... yeah I can very well picture it taking that long. A better guess would be an hour from what I've seen, but I suppose once you really get used to it, you'll be able to go much faster.

The game is really designed for two players, and it shows. Adding more players just splits up the existing pieces and actions between more players. I have not had the chance to try it with four people yet, but I think it'll work... although it is obviously ideal for two. There are some optional rules in the back to add some replayability. It is quick to set up as well as quick to clean up. The box holds everything quite nicely.

At about $50 I would say that yes, this game is worth it. It isn't a "must have" by any stretch of the definition, but it offers a lot for the price. You do not need to be a previous L5R player to enjoy the feel of sneaking around an enemy castle and opening up a can a Tenchu on some poor "honored house guest." The art work is stunning, the game play is solid, and the theme is very immersive. Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan, coming to a shadow near you.

Click here to read Sara's take on the game (with actual pictures!)

Character Profile: Xander

Xander
Race: Drow
Class: Warlock (Dark Pact)/ Multiclassed into Paladin
Alignment: Neutral Evil

Xander heard whispers early on in his life. Promises of power from unknown forces. Growing up in the brutal world of the Underdark, he needed any help he could get. Thus he began tapping into the arcane powers of the creatures of shadow. The female priestesses of Lolth thought VERY poorly of him. It was not his place to have power that wasn't granted by their goddess, and thus he was a threat that had to be eliminated. They chained him and tortured him, hoping to break him before his death. Imagine his surprise when, a young female paladin slaughter his jailers. For reasons he still does not understand, she freed him and the two escaped together.

Joining up with other adventures, Xander proved himself to be useful, if double edged, companion. Willing to drain the life energies of his allies, his magic carves devastating effects into his enemies. Often the paladin took the brunt of this damage, with a smile. Xander proved to be sadistic, twisted and most surprising of all... loyal. When ever the paladin was in danger he put himself in harms way to protect her, and unleashed the full fury of his might to protect her. While the rest of the party always felt uneasy by he presence, something Xander himself delighted in, the paladin always said she felt safer when he was around. He might never admit it, but he cared for her deeply. Already he had taken some of her teachings to heart... although it remains to be seen if it will be enough to turn him from the dark path he walks upon.



Author's Note
Xander was a short lived character of mine. Made in conjunction with Mary's paladin character, I was able to make an "evil aligned" character that was more then just the Black mage/Richard/ Belkar. He had a strong reason for being in the party and the chance for real character growth. Sadly the campaign he was in only lasted about 3-4 sessions, but I was able to do subtle but powerful bits of growth with him. The time that Mary's paladin was knocked down (which happened a lot to that character if I remember correctly...) He really did flip out and protected her relentlessly.

The other thing I enjoyed was I don't usually play the damage dealer... and Xander was a hell of a damage dealer. His build allowed for incredible amounts of damage for a low level character. It was fun to see an enemy and just say "no, you should not live" and make that come true in one standard action.

Also, naming him after a Buffy character was fun. If I remember correctly, some of the other party members did the same.