Spes Magna Games

One of my current projects is Scyld Heim, a campaign book that hopes to emulate a pseudo Viking/Dark Ages setting. In such a setting, a character’s ancestry is an important part of who he is and what he can accomplish. To reflect this importance of a character’s ancestry, I’m working on rules for lineage. The following is an excerpt of the current draft of these rules.

New Ability Score: Lineage

Lineage represents the heroic accomplishments of a player character’s ancestors. These deeds reverberate across time, affecting a character’s fortune. Of course, this assumes the character has a positive Lineage modifier. Characters with a +0 Lineage modifier have no significant ancestral achievements, while characters with a negative Lineage modifier labor under the burden of a blighted family tree.

Effects of Positive Lineage

Lineage potentially affects a single attack roll, combat maneuver check, saving throw, skill check, or ability check. Before making any of the aforementioned rolls, a player may decide to add his Lineage modifier to the d20 roll.

Each time a player decides to add his Lineage modifier to a die roll, his character’s Lineage modifier temporarily reduces by one point (minimum +0).

Effects of Negative Lineage

A character with a negative Lineage modifier is affected differently. Before an attack roll, combat maneuver check, saving throw, skill check, or ability check, the DM may decide to apply a character’s negative Lineage modifier to that single d20 roll.

Each time the DM applies a character’s negative Lineage modifier to a die roll, that character’s Lineage modifier temporarily increases by one point (maximum +0).

Recovering Lineage Modifier

A character’s Lineage modifier resets to its original value after a 10-Minute Rest Period, but only for the cost of one honor point. Otherwise, a character’s Lineage modifier resets once per day.

From Game Geek 5 by yours truly:

Nerdrage for sandbox campaigns seems to be at an all-time high. Pop around the Internet for a bit, and you’ll find blogs, forum threads, and products singing sandbox praises and offering advice ranging from sage to silly. I’m a pretty level-headed gamer, and even I’ve gone a bit ga-ga over this “new” trend in RPGing.

Of course, sandbox games aren’t a new thing. The revered Keep on the Borderlands from way back in 1979 was rather sandboxy. As is often the case, everything old becomes new again. In part, I think the resurgence of the sandbox owes at least a little to the dominance of adventure path style campaigns, where the heroes embark on some epic 20-level quest with a more-than-less linear plot structure. I’ve played my share of adventure paths, and they can be great fun.

But they often seem to lack a certain flexibility. The path might not be quite so rigid as A before B before C, but few of them permit the players to scramble up the alphabet in whatever order to their hearts’ content. What’s more, after a while, the path to adventure can turn into something more like a rut to the next sub-MacGuffin needed to reach the Ultimate Prize.

The Old School Revival (OSR) may also have something to do with the sandbox’s new popularity. I’ve not done anything approaching a scientific study, but I get the impression that the OSR has reached a fevered pitch in response to 4E’s presumptive hegemony over fantasy RPGs. Rather than new and shiny, many gamers voice a preference for old and shiny combined with fond memories of the supposed lack of railroad plot-tracks in modules from 20-30 years ago.

By positioning the sandbox against adventure paths, the sandbox’s advocates often emphasize the lack of linear plot, player freedom to set and achieve goals, and the more realism inherent in a world that doesn’t scale up in level with the PCs. Of course, this is a simplification, and adventure pathers can be quick to point out defects, such as that sandbox campaigns suffer from directionlessness leading to boredom by placing too much emphasis on player-directed action.

As is most often the case, the truth lies between the two extremes on the via media. Let’s put aside the pros and cons of sandboxing, and instead look at a concrete example of how to set up a beginning campaign using real-world history as a starting point.

Real-world history offers certain advantages. First, it establishes a geography and overarching timeline for things that happen regardless of PC actions. Second, the people within the historical narrative are a rich resource for NPCs, power groups, and adversaries. Finally, the historical event gives the players something they can sink their teeth into. The event presents familiar terrain for the imagination to get lost in.

Thus, we reach our first step: picking a historical incident to form our starting point. Fortunately, I’ve got an example ready to use. Click over to this blog post and read about how La Salle became one of the most famous Europeans murdered in the New World by other Europeans. I’ll wait for you to get back.

Hello again! Let’s break La Salle’s story down into something usable for a sandbox campaign by pulling out the elements we’ll need for our players and their PCs. La Salle’s departure from Europe in July 1684 looks like a good starting point.

Geography

La Salle’s voyage hit three points worth noting: the starting port-of-call, Petit Goave in Haiti, and Matagorda Bay in Texas. Any suitable fantasy port city serves for the starting point. This is where the PCs enter the story. Plot hooks lure them aboard one of La Salle’s ships. Google is your friend for the other two locations. Maps of Haiti and the Matagorda Bay area are easy to find. Select a couple that fit your needs, save them as graphics files, and do a little editing. For simple changes, no special programs or skills are needed. MS Paint and/or IrfanView work just fine.

Once you’ve got your maps, place specific encounter areas, sites of interest, and so forth. Don’t go overboard on the details (unless that’s your thing). All you really need at first is an overview and enough options to get your players to pick up the adventure ball and start running with it.

Even though it’s technically not geography, don’t forget to get your hands on some deckplans for ships. If you’ve got the gumption, draw them out on posterboard and cut them out to create ready-to-use floorplans for shipboard action.

Allies & Enemies

After reading the essay, I identified a few key figures to use as NPCs. Obviously, we need La Salle. The voyages needs a chaplain, so why not recruit La Salle’s brother Jean? Crevel de Moranget, La Salle’s hot-headed nephew, rounds out our list of allies.

The voyage starts with Etienne Liotot, ship’s surgeon, and the Duhaut brothers already present. These three need not begin the campaign as bad guys. They turn against La Salle after several weeks of enduring La Salle’s incompetence. More risible fellows include the pirate Hiems and the other rabble taken aboard in Petit Goave. Generic bad guys include hostile Karankawas and Spanish pirates. Generic good guys? The various crew members and travelers aboard the ships.

Avoid making good-guy NPCs more competent than the PCs, especially in La Salle’s case. NPC classes are most suitable for nearly all of them. Keep in mind that one need not pile on the levels to make an NPC capable in his job. In the fantasy d20 System, a 5th-level expert is likely near the top of his field.

Hazards

La Salle’s voyage to the New World suffered several setbacks. Here’s the short list: damage to a ship requiring repairs before sailing could continue, gales and other bad weather, disease, pirates, deserters, lack of food and clean water, and hostile natives.

Each of these can be summarized in a paragraph or two, perhaps printed on handy index cards or some other organizational tool. Toss in a few “random” encounters, and you end up with several events to liven up the trip. Take care to customize these to highlight the PCs’ competencies, foibles, and interests. After all, the story is about them, not La Salle and the other NPCs.

For example, just because Spanish pirates captured the real Saint-Francois doesn’t mean your campaign must follow suit. If the PCs manage to defeat the pirates, so much the better.

Meta-Events

Toss in two or three events that happen no matter what. For example, if you want the campaign to include getting shipwrecked, then ships have got to wreck. The PCs aren’t omni-competent. When the time is right, declare that bad weather has run a ship aground.

Remember that throughout you’re not prepping plots. You’re setting up situations into which the PCs can interject themselves in order to shape the course of events. How do the PCs react to La Salle’s incompetence? Do they take over the expedition, offer their services as advisors, or just ignore things and hope it all works out? Do they take part in a murder plot against La Salle? When Hiems and his disreputable cohorts come aboard in Petit Goave, what do the PCs do? When attacked by hostile natives, do the PCs wage war or act as diplomats? Et cetera, et cetera.

Dive into the sandbox with appropriate preparation, and the possibilities are nearly endless.

Tags: Game Geek, Sandbox Campaigns

An article I wrote for Game Geek 4:

I attended a couple of gaming conventions at the beginning of this year. Despite Houston, Texas, being a rather large city, we’re sort of a gaming convention desert. Driven by two motivations, I ventured out into this wasteland for the first time in years.

My son Christopher turned 13 at the end of December. For one of his birthday presents, he was officially made a Probationary Junior Man and invited to game as a member of Man Day Adventures, my twice-monthly gaming group. Christopher, a.k.a. Giant Boy (owing to his 75 inches of height), had participated here and there in a few one-shot games when not all Man Day Adventurers were available for our regular campaign.

His enthusiasm is refreshing, but it can be a bit overwhelming at times. A 200-pound 13-year-old inspires mild trepidation when he gets overstimulated and starts trying to do too much at once: talk, laugh, roll dice, figure out which curse words he can get away with, move miniatures (including those he shouldn’t move), et cetera. When ConJour 2010 and OwlCon 2010 rolled around, I decided that Christopher needed to go. I figured he’d have fun, it’d be a chance for us do some father-son bonding, and so forth.

My motives weren’t entirely focused on my son, however. I also needed to playtest some Spes Magna Games material, and the conventions seemed like a great place to experiment. So, I signed up to run events at both conventions.

ConJour turned out to be sort of a bust, but we did get some card game playing done. OwlCon proved more active in terms of gaming. Christopher and I played a Truth & Justice session together. I ran my event with him as one of the players. The next day’s schedule presented a challenge. I had my event to run, and Christopher couldn’t play in it again. So, while I ran my game, he set out on his own to play in a Draw! event. Before I placed by firstborn in the hands of total strangers in a different part of the convention from where I’d be, I sat Christopher down and went over some of the rules of the road for convention gaming.

Rule 1: Be On Time

If an event starts at 3:00 p.m., be there by 2:50 p.m. This applies whether you’re a player or the GM.

Players: Your GM is almost certainly an unpaid volunteer who’s taken time out of his or her busy life to provide some entertainment for tables of strangers in four-hour blocks. Be considerate. If you signed up for the event, get there on time.

GMs: Your players have almost certainly paid hard-earned money in addition to taking time out of their busy schedules to be entertained at table full of strangers in four-hour blocks. If you volunteered to run an event, be on-time and run the event. Barring illness or an emergency, it’s the least anyone could do. If for some reason, you can’t make your event, let the convention staff know as soon as you can. If the staff is on top of things, they might be able to make other arrangements.

For example, several years ago, I attended a convention at one of Houston’s airports. I got to meet Gary Gygax in the hotel bar. I had a hoot of a time playing an elven rogue in one event. The second part of the event, however, got cancelled. Fortunately, the GM let the convention staff know. This gave me time to volunteer to run the event and do a quick read through the adventure. Sure, I didn’t get to reprise my role as that elven rogue, but at least everyone still got to play.

Rule 2: Use Prep Time Wisely

One of the advantages of everyone being on-time is you get time to prep before the game officially starts. Most convention games provide characters, background handouts, et cetera. Use your time wisely and study these. If things don’t make sense, ask questions and accept the answers. During a convention event is not the time to get into a power struggle over rules interpretations. Highlight or underline important stats, abilities, and information. Look up details about class features, powers, spells, and feats before the game starts. Also, make notes. Write down a catch phrase or two. Preplan how your character is going to act if such-and-such happens.

For example, Christopher had never played Draw! or any other Wild West RPG before. He also lacks my breadth of experience with the works of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. To help him get into character, I jotted down some Wild West-isms for him: vittles instead of food, varmints and critters to refer to animals, slapping leather instead of pulling a pistol. Simple things like “Let’s ride!” and “Smile when you say that!” can go a long way toward creating the right mood for the right sort of game.

The preceding paragraphs are aimed mainly at the players, but GMs aren’t exempt from prepping. If you’re GMing a convention event, you should show up ready to run. A four-hour event shouldn’t require more than 30 minutes of at-table prep time, and most of that should involve making sure your players are good to go.

Rule 3: Don’t Hog the Ball

You’re not the only person at the table. Roleplaying is a collaborative affair, and you don’t get to monopolize the action or the GM’s attention. This is great advice for a thirteen-year old lad who’s relatively new to RPGs. It’s also something that some older, more experienced gamers have yet to learn. Here’s where basic good manners come in handy. These are the sorts of things you find posted on classroom walls in elementary schools. Don’t interrupt. Wait your turn. Stay on task.

The great thing about these basic good manners rules is that they apply to everyone at the table, including the GM. Be proactive with them. Cue people when it’s their turn. If you’re not sure whose turn it is, defer to the other person. It’s like sitting at a four-way stop. Sure, you might have right-of-way, but if the other drivers are confused, the result could be a fender bender. The give-and-take of spotlight time during a game session works much the same way, but instead of bent fenders, you can end up with hurt feelings and ill will.

This one can be sort of tough for Christopher. He’s a talker, especially when he gets excited about what he’s doing. Those three short rules two paragraphs up did wonders for helping him succeed at the game table.

Rule 4: Don’t Be a Wallflower

You’re a person at the table. Roleplaying is a collaborative affair, and you don’t get to just sit there, doing and saying the bare minimum when your turn comes around. If you’re not sure what your character can do, ask. Prepare your turn by paying attention to the action, and then seize the day when you get the chance. The other players and the GM at your table should help you get into the game by being the opposite of a ball hog. When someone tosses you the opportunity to do something, do something. Often, anything is better than nothing at all.

This can also be tough for Christopher. His comfort level in social situations, especially around strangers, can run rather low. This is where using his time wisely came in handy. He got to familiarize himself with his characters, ask questions, and make notes. During the Truth & Justice game, I sat close by his elbow so that I could whisper advice or pass notes to him with ideas he could use or reject as he saw fit while roleplaying the Scarlet Spider.

Rule 5: Roleplay First; Roll Dice Second

“I hit AC 18 for 9 points of damage.”

Dull, huh? Where’s the roleplaying? Where’s the narration? Everyone at the gaming table needs to lift some of the event’s narrative weight. One of the best ways to do this is to describe what your character wants to do, toss in some in-character banter, and then roll the dice. Succeed or fail, you should then briefly react as appropriate.

“Grondo grips his greatsword tightly and whirls it in a deadly arc at the orc. ‘Die, pig-nosed scumdog!'” Dice clatter on the table. “I hit AC 18 for 9 points of damage.”

See the difference? It seems such a simple thing, but it can be difficult to do consistently unless you’ve already developed the habit. During the Truth & Justice game, I frequently reminded Christopher to picture what his character wanted to do and then describe that action to everyone at the table. If the GM had any questions or comments, he listened to them. Then, and only then, did he roll the dice and do the math. The result was a more enjoyable game session for everyone at the table

Christopher took these rules with him when he went to play Draw! without familiar adult supervision. The rules paid off. For a few hours my giant son got to be a bounty hunter on the trail of desperados, and he had fun doing it.

And, ultimately, that’s what gaming is all about: having fun with fellow gamers, whether they be family, friends, or strangers at a convention gaming table.

Tags: Convention Gaming, Game Geek

First, some news intended to make me a little bit of money. Ars Metamagica is available at DriveThruRPG for $1.50 US. Here’s my brief sales pitch:

Underwhelmed by metamagic feats? Wish your casters had more flexibility when modifying their spells? Then get Ars Metamagica today.

This 13-page, printer-friendly PDF describes an alternate metamagic system that replaces metamagic feats with a metamagic check mechanic. Spellcasters daily select a palette of metamagic arts with which to modify their spells. Whether a prepared caster or a spontaneous caster, the spell-slinger makes a metamagic check at casting time to successfully reshape the magical energies. Success means greater customization of spells, but failure risks magical feedback. Also included are these:

* Specific recommendations about modifying class features, spells, and other rules impacted by Ars Metamagica.
* Five new feats that let casters dig deeper into the metamagic arts.
* Two new traits for casters with an affinity for the metamagic arts.
* A new type of metamagic rod that works with rather than replaces the metamagic system.

On the homefront, a year of underemployment and unemployment came to end on 9 August. I’ve been hired as the library coordinator and part-time physical education teacher at Aristoi Classical Academy. This isn’t quite the job I was wanting. I’m much better teaching history or literature. Still, there are benefits that cannot be ignored. The princpal, who I’ve worked for before, is top notch. I’ve not met anyone who understands classical education for children better than Mr. Johnson. Also, my kids are enrolled now, which got them out of the achievement-challenged public school we suffered through last year. Lastly, I have a job. Employment beats unemployment.

Yesterday, the family and I trundled over to the dollar theater. (It’s really a buck-fifty theater, but why quibble?) We watched the homage to the original Karate Kid. Surprisingly more affecting than I anticipated, but I ought not have been caught flat-footed. I’ve maintained for years that Jackie Chan is a fine dramatic actor, albeit finding examples of these talents is harder since he overwhelmingly favors action-comedies. Best of all, it wasn’t a remake of the original so much as a re-imagining. Also DVRed Shane and High Plains Drifter for the family to watch. Two very different but excellent westerns riffing the theme of the mysterious drifter facing injustice.

But back to writing.

I’ve done some more writing for Game Geek. The most recent issue includes me opining about the virtues of in media res as a storytelling device in adventure design. My thoughts about how only substandard DMs nerf character abilities in order to make situations more challenging are likely to show up in October’s issue.

Worked a bit on Quid Novi? XVII. I’m off-schedule with Quid Novi? due to adjusting to the new job, but issue 17 will hit subscriber in-boxes this coming Sunday, 12 September. The upcoming issue will include a Chance Encounter, a Five-Room One-Shot (probably inspired by a favorite Jonny Quest episode, and some more Recommended Reading.

Well, that’s it for now. Good gaming!