Spes Magna Games

Okay, so here’s the scenario. The adventurers are in the middle of a 40-foot-square chamber. Other than a bit of debris here and there, the room is empty and devoid of cover for the adventurers to, well, take cover behind. Suddenly, an up-until-then invisible sorcerer appears, lobbing a fireball at the adventurers. The wizard and the cleric fail their Reflex saves and take full damage. The fighter makes his and takes half damage. The rogue also makes his saving throw and, thanks to his evasion class feature, takes no damage at all.

Why does the fighter take half damage? Why does the rogue take none?

Well, we could say that the fighter hunkered down behind his shield, avoiding a lot of the direct heat. That is, if the fighter has a shield. The rogue, however, evaded the entire attack. Without moving. When the flames clear, he’s still in the exact same square, unharmed.

Again, why?

It seems as if making a Reflex save implies some sort of movement. Some sort of reflex action. But, as noted, when all is said and done, no one’s positions on the battlefield actually change due to a Reflex save. This bugs me. It didn’t bug me back in 1E or 2E days because there were no Reflex saves. Instead, you saved versus spells, or death magic, or rods and staves and wands, et cetera. These categories really didn’t have much in the way of descriptive power. They really don’t even imply anything about how the character resisted whatever it was he just resisted. Fortitude, Reflex, and Will, however, are descriptive. How did you resist the poison? Through Fortitude! Why didn’t that vampire dominate you? Because of my Will! Wow, that fireball barely hurt you! How come? My Reflex! But you didn’t move. Uh….

So here’s my quick thought before I head off to bed after a long week of molding young minds: Whenever a character makes a Reflex save, he gets an immediate move action.

That’s it. It’s not a big idea. It might not even be a good idea, but I’d be willing to give a try. Who knows? Could make the game more fun, and, if it did, that’d make it a winner idea in my book.

Tags: A to Z, fireball, fun, game play

I read many threads on Paizo’s Pathfinder messageboards. I don’t respond to most of what I read, in large part because I simply cannot relate to the topics. Chief among these topics are the threads about the lack of rule clarity (usually accompanied by demands that one of Paizo’s developers respond with an official ruling), complaints about changes to the rules (often accompanied by demands that Paizo rescind the change), and complaints that certain rules ought to be changed (some even accompanied by demands that official changes be made).

As I said, I just can’t relate to these sorts of topics. Almost always, my response would be, “Quit whining and play the game.” Since that sort of response isn’t terribly helpful and isn’t likely to be well received, I leave the thread without the questionable benefit of my wisdom, feeling for a time somewhat sad that it seems as if so many RPGers spend so much time arguing about these sorts of issues instead of playing the game.

What I especially cannot relate to are the widespread demands that the game’s developers take time out of their days to personally respond with Official Rulings. Now, to be sure, this attitude isn’t new. Way back in the day, before there was an Internet or messageboards, Dragon magazine, for example, regularly featured “Sage Advice”, a Q&A column wherein AD&D‘s experts answered questions from readers about the rules. Then, a few issues later, other writers would complain in the letters column about those answers. So, it was sort of like Paizo’s messageboards, only a lot slower and with better grammar and spelling.

Also, to be fair, there is one segment of the Paizo on-line “community” that gets riled about these sorts of issues, and with cause, these folks being those involved in organized play. These sorts of game require a uniform understanding of the rules to help ensure that characters are indeed portable from one GM to the next without those characters’ abilities, spells, magic items, et cetera, changing due to varying GM interpretations.

So, organized play players, I’m not talking about or to you. Instead I’m talking to/about all the other gamers who are more like me, playing in nonorganized play games in someone’s home on a more or less regular schedule with more or less the same people each time.

Let’s say your situation is like mine. You play with the same GM most of the time in the same campaign. One of your players runs a Zen archer monk, and he’s read about the recent clarifications from Paizo about the monk’s flurry of blows ability. He expresses concern about how this rule change will affect his character, especially after reading all the posts about how Zen archer monks are now unplayable and that the change definitively “nerfs” the archetype’s primary ability. What’s the GM’s best response?

“I don’t care what Paizo changed. Keep running your Zen archer monk just like before,” the GM responds bestly.

This same principle applies to questions about vague rules, rules that should be changed, et cetera. The players of the game in that particular campaign get together and come up with a solution that works for that group. That solution then becomes the only official ruling that particular gaming group needs.

I’m sure the Paizo staff are nice people. I’ve corresponded with a few of them here and there, and I’ve always found them professional and personable via email. But regardless of how nice, professional, and personable Vic Wertz, Liz Courts, James Jacobs, and other Paizoans are, they don’t run my game. Instead, I run their game, and my players and I change what they’ve published to better suit our preferences.

Tags: A to Z, fun, Pathfinder RPG

It’s time for your weekly game. You’re ready to sit down and roleplay for the next six to eight hours. You’re in character. Your fellow players are in character. The scenario is interesting, engaging, and then combat starts. Three hours later, you’re on round six, and there’s no end in sight. You start to consider having your character commit suicide.

Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with a long, complicated combat unless that combat gets boring. The problem isn’t the combat’s length per se, but instead comes when every round is the same thing: waiting for five to ten minutes for each other player to get finished with his turn so you can have yours, and that’s not counting the minutes that drag by while the GM figures out what the various enemies are going to do.

It’s also not just combats that can cause the game to grind. Don’t you just enjoy those long, meta-gamey discussions about the absolute best tactics to use prior to a fight? Yeah, me neither. And how about those lengthy in-character discussions between the GM and one or two other players while the rest of you sit and twiddle your thumbs? I’ve never found that particularly enjoyable either.

What’s even more frustrating is that these bouts of boredom can happen even in the best prepared games with the most experienced, dedicated players.

Do Something! Chips

At the start of each game session, give every player, including the GM, a do something! chip. This chip can be any suitable item, such as a poker chip, a game token, or a shiny penny. When a particular scene starts to get dull, toss your do something! chip onto the table (or into a special container, such as a boredom bowl). Clever, considerate players will note your displeasure and maybe take steps to ameliorate the situation. If other players are bored as well, they can toss in their do something! chips.

Boredom’s Critical Mass

If during any scene more than one-half of group’s do something! chips are tossed onto the table, then that scene has reached boredom’s critical mass. What happens next? Well, it’s time for some shared narrative control.

After all, surely you’ve not just been sitting their being bored. Surely you’ve been thinking of some way to make the scene more exciting. The player whose do something! chip triggers critical mass has the responsibility to offer a suggestion as to what could happen next in order to make the game more exciting. The entire group can then take a quick five minute break while the GM figures out how to best implement the suggestion as quickly as possible.

An Example

Wes, Christopher, Eric, Terry, and Mark, the GM, are playing Pathfinder. The PCs are trying to solve a puzzle that will open a magically locked portal leading deeper into the dungeon. Unfortunately, the players’ puzzle-solving skills are lacking this particular day, and the group has grown bored. Wes tosses his do something! chip, setting off a chain reaction. Eric and Terry toss their do something! chips also. Boredom’s critical mass is reached, and it’s up to Terry to offer a suggestion.

“Um, how about this? Uh, previously undiscovered secret doors linked to magical timers slide open, reacting to how long we’ve been in the puzzle room. Undead monsters attack. The undead monsters were the puzzle room’s original designers, sealed in the chamber to forever hide the puzzle’s solution. If we win, a grateful spirit can reveal the puzzle’s solution as a way of thanking us for releasing him from his horrid unlife.”

Players nod and grin. The GM fires up the search engine at d20pfsrd.com. A few minutes later, the PCs face down a gang of undead terrors.

Tags: fun, game play