Spes Magna Games

Well, so much for my plan to post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The middle of the week arrived, and I got some stuff done, but obviously none of that was typing up and posting more Wednesday Lore about the goblin-spider’s lair. So, how about this:

I’ve been running Castles & Crusades for a while now. I have a weekend C&C game, and I have three groups of students in grades 5 through 7 for whom I run C&C, each group getting lunch/recess time on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to assemble in my classroom for heroic fantasy adventures. This summer, I’ll be running two one-week long C&C game camps as well.

The more I play C&C, the more I like it. I’ve pulled several of my AD&D books from the shelves to use with C&C. With my students, I’m running a series of old Dungeon adventures. One of my students groups segued from a Dungeon adventure into Day of Al’Akbar. This week, the PCs in that group navigated the checkerboard riddle room, albeit not without suffering some damage from electricity arcs.

In my weekend game, we’ve acquired two new players, the middle-school-age nephews of one of my regulars. With the addition of two new players, we firmly established a second group of six PCs operating out Elmelynn, a small town about a week north-by-northwest of the campaign’s original group of four PCs who operate out Sisak, a frontier farming village. The new group has helped a lost modron escape to a friendlier reality. In the process, the new group learned that a modron army has invaded their campaign world in order to “restore the balance” (as the modron explained). The group’s rogue also learned that their town’s criminal kingpin has demon or devil blood flowing in his veins. (Aside: I really wish C&C called rogues thieves and wizards magic-users.)

Shortly after the modron adventure, the PCs signed on to escort of new tax assessor to Sisak. (Nota Bene: This tax assessor is the replacement of the assessor who was killed by monsters which were defeated by the Sisak group of PCs.) Group two also heard that a special shipment of dwarven ale had gone missing en route from Hol Lodur in the Shadowed Vale to Elmelynn. Since the tax assessor isn’t leaving for a few days, the players decided to track down the missing ale and collect the reward offered for its return.

Group two’s first day on the trail of the ale was eventful. Hol Lodur in the Shadowed Vale is not far from Elmelynn. The PCs tracked the missing shipment to where it had been stolen by a group of humanoids, whose trail led to an abandoned dwarven hold in the wooded highlands of the Vale. Cautious investigation learned that the ale was in the hold, and that there were bugbears and goblins there as well. The PCs withdrew to camp, sending back one of the dwarf NPCs recruited from Hol Lodur, the ale’s point of origin.

Since I’d been using random encounters (something I tend to shy away from), I figured it was sensible to see if this dwarf NPC encountered anything on his way back to Hol Lodur. A few dice rolls later (using the random wilderness encounter tables in the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide) revealed that the paths of the dwarf and a hill giant intersected.

Many hours passed, and the NPC dwarf had not returned. The PCs followed the NPC dwarf’s tracks to where the hill giant attacked and captured the dwarf. The PCs then tracked the hill giant back to its lair. One PC, the fastest on horseback, raced back to Hol Lodur to get reinforcements. The rest of the party faced the hill giant. After a fierce battle in which the PC dwarf’s giant-fighting AC bonus did some heavy lifting, the PCs defeated the hill giant and its mate, rescued the dwarf from being roasted on a spit, and discovered a hoard of treasure. Also, three adolescent hill giants escaped by fleeing into tunnels leading deeper underground from the giants’ cave lair.

By the end of the session, the PCs were trying to figure out what to do with a bit more than a half-ton of coins and other treasure, gradually realizing that a simple find-and-retrieve mission has become quite complicated indeed.

Tags: C&C, game play

Merry Christmas!

The twelve days of Christmas are almost over, which means Santa’s Holiday Bag of PDFs for 5E D&D will be going away soon. If you’ve not gotten your bundle yet, there’s still time. Also, The Lady in the Shoe, a short adventure for 5E D&D, received a four-star rating today. That’s cool. I dig four stars. I’m a bit curious, however, since it’s just a rating, not a review, but still that’s four stars.

In homefront gaming news, our Saturday game, diminished to a mere two players (excluding me as GM) finished our year-long d20 Modern/Call of Cthulhu campaign that featured time travel, mind/body swapping, space stations, the return of the Old Ones, and rocket-building followers of Nyarlathotep working with Nazis in a secret base within an Egyptian pyramid.

Grant and Kelly, the last two active PCs, infiltrated the pyramid. Using a combination of stealth, memory-clouding magic, and disguises, they made their way to the payload module of the rocket. Kelly being a literal rocket scientist modified the rocket’s telemetry so that it would not complete its decades long flight toward the Sun to create the apocalyptic solar event that started the campaign in our somewhat distant future. Grant and Kelly realized they had little chance to sneaking back out of the pyramid without being detected. So, they concealed themselves in the rocket, which blasted off on schedule. Grant and Kelly died by the time the rocket left the Earth’s atmosphere, confident that they had averted the end of the world that they had witnessed from the decks of Space Station Alpha.

Our next Saturday campaign kicks off in a couple of weeks. It looks like we’re turning to Savage Worlds with elements of Broken Earth adapted to what will likely be a sandbox-style campaign. From the Broken Earth Player’s Guide, the main focus will likely be on the equipment and the community building rules. I’ve not read through much of the Broken Earth core rules, so I don’t how much that will come into play, but since I’m not GMing, I guess I don’t need to worry about that too much.

I’ve not abandoned the Cliff of Crypts. I’ve completed maps for each level of the crypts, including ghoul tunnels leading to caves. I’ll likely use the maps for a new adventure, but at the moment I’m up in the air about the adventure’s system. Not sure where I’m going to land, but possibly my feet will alight upon For Gold & Glory.

Nota Bene: The links in the previous three paragraphs are affiliate links. If you clink and buy, I get a few pennies.

Tags: game play, maps, place of power

We jump right into today’s Wastri-centric post!

Wastri is the demigod of amphibians, bigotry, and self-deception. This week’s posts have hit the first two. There’ve been monster frogs, “false human” hunters, and jumping priests. But what about self-deception? What is it, and why would anyone emulate a deity who encourages it? Let’s start with a definition taken from the on-line Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy:

What is self-deception? Traditionally, self-deception has been modeled on interpersonal deception, where A intentionally gets B to believe some proposition p, all the while knowing or believing truly that ~p. Such deception is intentional and requires the deceiver to know or believe that ~p and the deceived to believe that p. One reason for thinking self-deception is analogous to interpersonal deception of this sort is that it helps us to distinguish self-deception from mere error, since the acquisition and maintenance of the false belief is intentional not accidental.

In other words, that aspiring Hopeful of Wastri knows that Wastri’s doctrine about human superiority is not true, but he deliberately chooses to believe and act as if the doctrine is true. In the Hopeful’s mind, we find two conflicting beliefs:

p: Humans are superior to all other humanoids.
~p: Humans are not superior to all other humanoids.

Resolving this contradictory set of beliefs is the function of bigotry. Bigotry helps the Hopeful generalize and specify in ways that explain the contradiction between his beliefs and reality. Euphemisms likely help this process. For example, consider what a simple change in terms accomplishes:

p: Humanity is superior to false humanity.

The first step in Wastri’s doctrine of self-deception must be to redefine terms. “Humans” is too specific. “Humanity” is abstract enough that the term becomes elastic, capable of stretching to reach whichever conclusions are most desired. Changing “all other humanoids” to “false humanity” not only creates a useful euphemism, but it also turns p into a statement that verges on self-evident. By definition, it seems, “false humanity” must be bad. “Humanity” is the opposite of “false humanity”; therefore, since “false humanity” is bad, “humanity” must be good. The Hopeful knows this is really just a semantic trick, but it creates a powerful motive for rationalizing his self-deception.

As the Hopeful progresses in his devotion to Wastri, he becomes more adept at rationalizing away the contradiction between p and ~p. Everything good about “false humanity” becomes a flaw obvious to the properly indoctrinated Hopeful. A dwarf’s ability to see in the dark? That’s not an example of a dwarf being superior to a human. Dwarves can see in the dark because they are creatures of darkness, hiding their wickedness from human eyes out of fear of just judgment. An elf’s centuries-long life span? This enables elves to both inflict their wickedness of the world for a long time and also encourages the vice of sloth. Why accomplish something today when one has decades to spare?

Et cetera.

The Hopeful’s process of rationalization also explains Wastri’s doctrines of self-improvement. The Hopeful sees his personal failures as sins related to not fully embodying humanity’s innate superiority. Thus, the Hopeful must study more, exercise more, work more, sacrifice more. Wastri’s followers who’ve advanced further along the path to personal perfection are there to help. Imagine a caste system of Wastrian self-improvement coaches, croaking out inspiring aphorisms to motivate the faithful and entice the curious.

Which bring us to Wastri’s alignment: lawful neutral (evil). Wastri’s worshipers are either lawful neutral or lawful evil. (See Dragon 71 from March 1983.) Now picture Wastri missionaries, all lawful neutral, establishing schools and gymnasiums, available for humans only, of course. As enrollment at the schools and gymansiums increases, so too does the revenue they generate, which Wastri’s faithful put back into the community, building better homes, improving infrastructure, providing employment, et cetera, but, as always, only for humans.

Years ago, in a 3E D&D campaign, I used Wastri, redefining his alignment to lawful neutral. In 3E’s rules, a cleric’s alignment could be “‘one step’ away from” his deity’s alignment (3E PH 29). So, a cleric of Wastri in that campaign could be lawful neutral, lawful evil, or lawful good. Based on this idea, I introduced into the campaign a lawful good paladin of Wastri, a missionary working hard to establish within the city a zone for humans to live and thrive along side other humans. The so-called “false humans” were not to be persecuted. The paladin encouraged “false humans” to live among their own kinds, to establish their own “racially pure” communities. Of course, the humans would occupy all important positions in the city’s government, and strict rules would be implemented to ensure that “false humans” did not infect the city with their inferior ways of living.

The players had to make a decision about what to do with the paladin. Despite his racist doctrines, he was a paladin. He was a lawful good man genuinely motivated to help the human community. He really believed that his program of racial segregation within a city ruled only by humans would ultimately benefit everyone — human and “false human” alike. The paladin was popular among the city’s humans as well as personally powerful with a small army of faithful at his command. The war waged by the forces of Hextor and his allies (the campaign’s major focus) was drawing closer to the city with each passing week. Compared to the slaughter looming on the horizon, could the PCs afford to not forge an alliance with Wastri’s paladin?

Unfortunately, we never answered that question. Due to player loss, the campaign sort of fizzled out. Among the PCs was another paladin, a human champion of Hieroneous. I had hoped that the clash of ideologies between the paladins would led to a situation in which Wastri’s doctrines of self-deception might have been undone. Maybe our current campaign can feature the return of this conflict? Only time will tell!

Tags: 5E D&D, game play

Die rolls can be tyrants, and sic semper tyrannis.

Let me rant a bit about one thing about players in 5E D&D that makes me grind me teeth, starting with an example:

Player A: I search for secret doors along the north wall of the room.

(A die is rolled.)

GM: You don’t find a secret door.

Player B: I search too!

And, just like that, the game becomes a series of redundant skill checks as everyone at the table piles on, repeatedly assuming that their individuals characters know two things: (1) the last skill check failed and (2) there is a difference between failure and success for the skill check. Unless one enjoys the clatter of dice as several people each attempt to accomplish what someone else just attempted to accomplish, this sort of thing is not fun. (Nota Bene: Elsewhere, I’ve written about the pitfalls of clue hunting in a game. This isn’t a repeat of that. Well, at least not mostly.)

The GM’s Prerogative

Among the most important things a GM can do (and among the easiest thing for me as a GM to forget) is this simple rule:

No one gets to roll a die to determine success for anything unless I ask you to roll a die.

The GM’s job is to adjudicate the game, not merely to announce the results of die rolls made by the players. Dungeon World does a good job of making this explicit. (Nota Bene: That link goes to my Dungeon World products at DriveThruRPG.) Each player’s turn in Dungeon World goes something like this:

GM: Christopher, what does Hideo do?

Christopher: Hideo slides gracefully forward toward the ghoul. He grips his katana in one hand, his wakizashi in another. With his jaw set grimly, he slashes with the katana, steps to the side, and jabs with the wakizashi, trying to destroy the undead monster!

GM: Wonderful. Roll Hack & Slash.

(Dice are rolled. The results are narrated.)

Notice the dynamic. Christopher’s description of what Hideo does determines the nature of the die roll, not the other way around. 5E D&D should work this way as well. When I as GM ask a player what his character does, I really don’t want to hear, “I attack. I hit armor class fifteen.”

The same applies to skill checks. The player doesn’t get to announce, “I’m make a Diplomacy check!” or “I use Stealth!” The player narrates the character’s actions, thoughts, et cetera. Then, based on that description (and perhaps a minimum of out-of-character clarification), the GM decides what, if any, sort of check is required. A skill check may not be necessary, which brings me to my next subheader.

Fewer Die Rolls, Please

5E D&D characters tend to be competent at a minimum. They’re heroic, even at 1st level. Out of six ability scores, four have positive modifiers. One has a negative modifier. A 1st-level PC has a proficiency bonus of +2, which means that even with an 8 Charisma, a PC can still have a +1 bonus to Persuasion (for example).

Let’s take a look at my sorcerer, Evlis Pressed-Leaf, whom I run in our Sunday game. Evlis is 5th level and has an 18 Charisma. When he is Persuasive, he has a +7 bonus. The lowest roll Evlis can get on a Persuasion check is an 8. If he rolls a 3, he’s already succeeded at an Easy task. (See the adjacent table.) With a 10, he’s exceeded the DC for a Medium task difficulty.

5E D&D includes the idea of passive checks. A PC’s passive check total is a score equal to 10 + all of the modifiers that normally apply to the check. Evlis’s passive Persuasion score is 17. If Evlis has advantage for a skill check, his passive score increases by +5. With advantage, his passive Persuasion score is 22. For a lot his daily life, Evlis shouldn’t be making Persuasion checks, so why roll?

The point? If a PC’s passive score is sufficient to succeed, it’s probably a good idea to not bother with a die roll. The player narrates the action (as above), and the GM describes the result.

About Advantage & Disadvantage

As explained here, advantage or disadvantage does not strictly translate to a 5 point modifier to a d20 roll. The task difficulty affects how rolling 2d20 changes the probability of success or failure. Thus, the Advantage column on the Typical Difficulty Classes table. I can’t imagine using that column during regular game play, but it is instructive. For Hard task difficulty, advantage or disadvantage have little impact on the rate of success. For Easy and Medium task difficulties, advantage or disadvantage have a noticeable impact.

One thing to note is that working together (PH 175 and 192) pays off most in the 10-15 range of difficulties. Attacking with advantage against an AC 20 creature helps less than attacking with advantage against an AC 12 creature, which ought to be obvious.

Team Work

In the rules, working together is not the same thing as a group check. Evlis helping Longtum pick a lock is an example of working together. If the GM allows it, the thieves’ tools check is made with advantage. The same thing applies to two characters trying to smash down a door, et cetera. Working together ought to be fairly common, and, when combined with passive scores, goes a long way toward cutting down die rolls.

A group check is a different animal. Group checks are less common, and apply only to situations where the group succeeds or fails as a group. If four characters all search a wall for secret doors, that’s not really a group check. That’s an example of working together. A single success is all that is needed. Three out of four characters failing their checks don’t keep the fourth character from succeeding.

Back to the Beginning

Player A: I search for secret doors along the north wall of the room.

GM: Okay, but first, where is everyone else, and what are they doing?

Player B: I’m guarding the door on the other side of the room, watching the corridor to make sure nothing sneaks up on us.

Players C and D: We’re examining the locked chest.

GM: How?

Player C: I’m using my thieves’ tools to probe for traps.

Player D: Good idea. I’m nearby, sword and shield ready just in case it’s another mimic.

(Player A rolls a die.) Player A: I got a 19!

GM: I didn’t ask you to roll yet. First, describe what your character does.

Player A: Um, he gets close to the wall, pressing his cheek against, looking for irregularities in the surface while he runs his hands along the wall, feeling for the same, moving from the left side of the wall to the right.

GM: Make a Perception check.

Player A: (Rolls a die.) I got a 6.

Player B: I search too!

GM: No, you don’t. Your character doesn’t know what the die roll was, and he’s clear across the room, watching the corridor. (Compares the PC’s passive Perception to the approaching monster’s passive Stealth.) Suddenly, an emaciated humanoid lunges from the shadows, slashing at you with its ragged talons!

Player C: I shoot an arrow at it!

GM: No, you don’t. You’re busy with your thieves’ tools.

Et cetera.

Tags: 5E D&D, game play

First up, two announcements.

For the time in a while, I’ve finished a new Spes Magna product, this time for 5E D&D. The Ways Of… presents seven new monastic traditions, each one available to a different core rules race. The elven monks of the way of the Blade and Bow practice a different art than do the halfling monks of the Way of the Hearth. A dwarven Cave monk fighting back-to-back with a gnomish Prank monk use their ki in very different ways. Other monastic traditions include tieflings, dragonborn, and drow. This is the playtest version of The Ways Of…. Get it today by paying what you want, and create a monk for your favorite non-human race.

I’ve also completed about two-thirds of The Ninth Face of Cro, my fourth Dangerous Place and the first one written for 5E D&D. (The other three Dangerous Places are for Swords & Wizardry.) The Ninth Face introduces beginning characters to the Mortuary Moot, a frontier region recovering from a natural disaster. As part of the recovery efforts, the barons have put out the call for adventurers to seek fame and fortune in the Moot (and thus help drive out the hordes of evil humanoids and other monsters who threaten settlers and merchants). I hope to have The Ninth Face available as early as this Friday (although next week is probably more realistic).

And now for more thoughts about investigative 5E D&D.

I’ve written three blogposts about The GUMSHOE System’s applicability to a more traditional fantasy game, wherein I’ve mused about clue hunting, gothic Victorian D&D, and what an Adventuress background might look like. The focus on these musings has been TSR’s wonderful Masque of the Red Death campaign expansion with a dash of Chaosium’s excellent Cthulhu by Gaslight. In recent days, I’ve started down a different rabbit trail. Two of my other favorite TSR products are Oriental Adventures and the Birthright campaign setting. Both of these products encourage and reward things like courtly intrigue, spying, et cetera. They’re ideal for investigative roleplaying.

Nota Bene: All of the links in that last paragraph are affiliate links. If you click and buy, I get a pittance.

5E D&D already includes a few nods to what was the Oriental Adventures milieu: monks, assassins (read: ninjas), and samurai. Working up a few new races (spirit folk) or subraces (korobokuru) shouldn’t be too hard. Classes such as the yakuza could become subclasses. Thrown out the PH weapons and armor tables and pull in OA weapons and armor, change a few names, and a lot of the work would be done. Also, I’ve printed for closer reading the 5E conversion of Birthright by Marsupialmancer. The conversion looks promising.

Little by little, after our current d20 Modern science-fantasy-horror campaign draws to a close, I’m leaning heavily toward a less gonzo game of political intrigue with a decidedly OA feel. Time will tell whether my ADHD drags me in a different direction before we’re ready for a new campaign in the fall.

Tags: 5E D&D, game play, GUMSHOE, monks