Special Thanks

     I wanted to say thanks this season I figured this would be a wonderful place to do this. While there are so many more people and places I would want to thank, I'm going to limit myself. 3 local game stores, 3 people, 3 sources of inspiration, and 3 podcasts.

Some amazing FLGS's in the Baltimore area:

• Gamer's Corp in Ellicott City
• Omnihedrial in Savage Mill
• Games n Stuff in Glen Burnie

People:

• Matt Colville
  • Others may have gotten me started on D&D, but Colville's running the game videos cemented ttrpg's as a passion.
• Ben Milton for Knave
  • This was such an wonderful way to gain exposure to the OSR scene. While it might not be the system I am currently using, without it, I would probably still be stressed running 5e.
• To my DM, Kevin @paintedsquid
  • For so much - from ttrpg's, to mini painting, to all the rest

Inspiration:

• Elder Oak
  • A wonderful small adventure that I will absolutely be doing a reaction roll for soon.
• Mausritter
  • The enter game system is amazing, especially the way spells are recharged and their combat system. I still have yet to receive a good answer as to what "to hit" rolls add to other game systems. Also spells recharging through a quest like ritual makes the spells feel so much more magical.
• Paths Peculiar on Twitter
• Amazing and evocative maps! 

Podcasts

• Errant 
• Fear of a Black Dragon 
• Zone of Hot Truth
  • I know I'm shouting out my own podcast, but really the attention and praise should go to my cohosts.

Thank you for reading - hopefully I will continue to put out some interesting content!

ER

On Dying

 

Bless me Gygax for I have sinned. I kinda dislike dying at 0. Or dying at -10. And death saving throws. Good lord death savings throws are the worst.

These options are missing 2 key elements:

1) Drama:

    In a game style (DCC) where characters are supposed to go through a funnel-death at 0 is a perfect mechanic to match the fiction. In other tones, even the pithy ratcatcher style games, I don't think death at 0 adds drama or tension. There is some - as a player hits 1-3 hp and everyone knows that the next hit is the last. But that tension is fleeting and immediately "resolved" once death occurs. Also most characters in those style games only have 5-10hp to begin with - which means they are always on deaths door.

    But the main drama it fails to capture is a well loved trope - "fly you fools.gif".

    The heroic sacrifice. Death at 0 does not really allow a player to turn to their friends and make a Gandalf style proclamation. Whether that often is "allowed" to play out at tables is another conversation (see Matt Colville's video on Surrender) - but it is a fantasy that should be engageable with. Players don't like running away - but they hate leaving someone behind even more. Plus that requires consensus which is even more unlikely in that situation. But if someone is going to die - no way to prevent it - then they are able to do a heroic sacrifice without other players attempting to aid their character.

2) Player Engagement:

    This is more of a knock against death saves (ala 5e) - which is the player is in a state of "not playing." I think being knocked out is valuable, and should increase tension - but if turn lengths are anything longer than a few minutes - than tension begins to dwindle.

    This is very much not to say that turn skip mechanics should not exist - they should - but they should create proportionally more tension or drama. I'd also argue that player engagement gets in a weird space when a character dies early in a session. Even if character gen is simple, engagement can drop unless there is an obvious party recruitment method planned or baked into the current adventure. That can also place stress on the DM (getting the player back in the action).

Solution:

    Lol. If I had the perfect solution to death, I'd be writing a game system built around it. I've tried a lot of solutions and so far none have captured what I'm looking for. I think something would require a lingering injury table, but then not taking them out of the fight. I also like the idea that once a character dies - they continue through the fight. But survival is not an option once combat ceases. Similarly, something to where the player hitting 0 receives a mortal wound and will not leave the dungeon alive allows some fun exploration of those tropes. I'm not sure how to graft that onto a ttrpg mechanic though.

    Maybe a system as seen in the board game Eldritch Horror where no character "dies." But once at 0 hp or sanity they retire because their injuries are just too great to attempt to fight the horrors of the world. I like where Knave 2.0 is going - where any spill over from your hp is taken as injuries which begin to fill up inventory slots. At 0 inventory slots - death occurs. In abstract this really isn't very different - but it does feel different.

    If anyone has any suggestions especially ones that have an attempted solution to enable heroic sacrifices please share!

Random Table: Who is the Antagonist?

 Approaching a small roadside town? Here is a random table to use to see who the party's interests run against:

1: Tavern Owner

• Could be a cultist, hiding their shrine in the wine cellar
• Could also be sheltering cultists who live in their wine cellar - held hostage. Goes against the tropes when the Owner brings the party poisoned food, but blinks a code "do not eat the food."

2: Monsters Coming at Night

• An Oni - kidnapping those out past dusk and making camp not too far away.
• Something with wings. Having a conversation with someone on a walk home from the tavern only to have them disappear with only the loud sound of powerful wings in the darkness. What about a Chimera - created by a nearby Wizard or Sorcerer that is out of their league in controlling it.

3: Monsters Coming from Below

• Think tunnels. Rats. Lots of Rats. Then add a few more just to be sure.
• A bullet. Or a flock of bullets. Draw inspiration from tremors. [FN1]

4: Bandits

• Bog standard holding the town at ransom. Maybe they are occupying the town hall and things are tense in town.
• Robin Hood situation where the party is robbed in their tavern rooms [so they don't have their weapons, foci, etc). The party is potentially hoarding a ton of wealth - hard to be too upset when the towns they pass through have received the proceeds from the robbers.

 

 
5: Mind flayers. It has to be mind flayers.

• The whole town as intellect devourer husks?
• Maybe just a single MF — looming; or locked in a pantry ala Signs

6: Dragon

• Someone is a dragon.Doesn't matter who-just drop rumors that someone in town is a dragon and wait for the most dramatic moment to make your selection!  Check out the book "Witchhunter" for inspiration.
• Could also be a young dragon and the town is the villain, exploiting the dragon for some resource.

FN1. Is a group of bullets a flock? Feels like a flock. A swarm? A pack? A host? 

The Return of the Table

Working on blogging more, and I recently listened to the Lazy D&D Talk Show by Mike Shea (SlyFlourish) [link here] where he touched on an interesting topic: Is running a game online easier than in person? He brought it up in the context of physical accessories and how assembling, painting, and procuring (etc etc) takes sooo much time whereas he can just drop a map in a VTT program and some tokens and bam good to go in under 10 minutes.

He is right. If you are running a published WOTC adventure it is easy to just drag and drop maps. It is also easier to just slide into a computer chair compared to getting in a car and driving somewhere. The barrier of entry is just less - no question.

However, the table has something else to me that makes it less "draining." It is the ritual. The social connection that looking at people behind a screen just doesn't have. It feels like more of a chore to drag and drop maps on a VTT. I also feel way more pressured to have more presentation in a VTT because I have to compete with all the other distractions players face. Multiple monitors, multiple tabs, other people in the area, pets - all are things that compete with a DM.  One of my groups folded because the table dynamic of being online just was not conducive to good D&D.  

I also feel that DM'ing online prevents coalition building. Only 1 person (generally speaking) can talk at a time. Because of this, each player who has an opinion on a course of action must wait to vocalize this. In person games allow for side conversations. Thus if there are 4 players, 2 can be interacting with the DM, while the other 2 are coming up with the plan. The planners, then have an idea that they can pitch to the other two. Online this "preplanning" cannot occur which slows down decision making. 

I'm not sure exactly what my overall point is here other than to say I think DM'ing online is a chore for me. It burns me out way faster and this is coming from someone who almost exclusively ran/played online for a majority of my ttrpg experiences. The last thing I'll mention is that DM'ing in person has an element of magic that a screen just cannot capture. Seeing a table erupt with excitement or watch as a d20 clatters around the table only to land on a 20 [or a 1!] simply cannot be replicated online.  

 If anyone has strategies to increase enjoyment of DM'ing online I would love to hear them!

Next up, I'm working on a small random table of antagonists!