Spes Magna Games

Today I talk about initiative. Yeah, I know. It should be I for Initiative, but I did I for Ichi, and today is J.

Anyhoo, I have a love-hate relationship with initiative checks. Too often, I’ve experienced initiative something like this:

GM: Roll for initiative!

Players: Yeah! Combat! Woo! Excitement!

GM: Okay, here we go! Twenty? Anyone? Anyone? Nineteen? Anyone? Anyone? Eighteen? Bueller? Bueller?

Then, to add to the excitement, I get to further experience players who want to delay and/or specify conditions for when their PCs take their actions. And let’s not forget the monsters. They get to go too. What should be an exciting combat ends up being an intiative roll call where most of the time most of the players sit around watching another person do stuff.

Of course, there are many techniques for speeding up initiative. I know about them (well, probably not all of them). I’ve used several of them. They help. For example, I “chunk” initiative in my current campaign. I roll for the monsters. The players roll for the characters. Any characters who beat the monsters get to act in whatever order the players want. Then the monsters go. Then the rest of the players go. I usually default to letting the players win intiative ties. This speeds things up quite a bit.

Still, most of the time initiative checks up end being almost unnecessary. I mean, unless my monster kills a PC, it usually doesn’t matter if the monster hits the PC before the PC hits the monster. Back in 1E days gaming while stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, we only rolled initiative when a PC or foe was killed or otherwise incapicitated, and then only to determine if the victim would get in a one final whack. From what I remember, it worked like a charm.

One of the neatest initiative check systems I’ve seen is in Dyson Logos’s Geodesic Gnomes. Here’s how it works:

“Then the Game Master announces initiative numbers starting at 4 [N.B. The lowest possible score] and counting upwards. If the initiative count for your character is called and you haven’t acted yet, you must declare your action now. On any initiative count anyone with a higher initiative count than the number called may declare their action. In addition, once an action is declared, anyone with a higher initiative count than that person may declare an action to interrupt them.”

This system has the “I want to interrupt him because I’m faster than he is” option built into it. I’ve not had a chance to test this out at length yet, but I going to run a Geodesic Gnomes session next month for Friday Game Night.

Perhaps most intriguing of all is Dungeon World, which doesn’t have initiative checks. Refresh your memory by looking at me fiddling with the rules. Notice that Dungeon World‘s attack mechanic doesn’t require initiative checks to resolve who goes first between the monsters and the PCs.

Well, that’s it for this one. I’ve got to get back to work on my Villains & Vigilantes adventure for tomorrow evening.

Tags: A to Z 2013, Dungeon World, Dyson Logos, game play, Geodesic Gnomes, initiative

In a couple of previous posts, I talk about giving players narrative control and using defense checks. Since those posts, I’ve acquired and read Dungeon World. It’s a nifty game, and I’m hankering to glom some of it for use in my upcoming Stars Without Number campaign. At the same time, Dungeon World has made me rethink the ideas I’ve had in those aforelinked posts.

How Dungeon World Does Combat

Whenever a character attempts anything in Dungeon World, the player rolls 2d6 and adds whatever ability score modifier applies. The basic outcomes are always these: 10+, you succeed; 7-9, you succeed, “but with complications or trouble”; and 6 or less, the “GM says what happens and you mark XP”.

The most common actions a character are likely to attempt are laid out in basic moves. For example, there is a basic move for melee combat called Hack and Slash. Here’s the text:

“When you attack an enemy in melee, roll+STR *One a 10+, you deal your damage to the enemy and avoid their attack. At your option, you may choose to do +1d6 damage but expose yourself to the enemy’s attack. *On a 7-9, you deal your damage to the enemy and the enemy makes an attack against you.”

Notice, please, that this combines the character’s attack roll, defense roll, and the enemy’s attack roll all in one.

Let the Glomming Begin!

Like Dungeon World, in Stars Without Number attack rolls have a uniform target number for success, namely any modified attack roll that equals or exceeds 20 is a hit. It’s not hard to adapt the former to the latter.

Ignoring ability score modifiers, a Hack and Slash move in Dungeon World has a 16.65% chance of being an outright success (the 10+ result) and a 41.65% chance of being a qualified success (the 7-9 result). The latter range is what I’m concerned with. Let’s round it down to 40% since that’ll fit a d20 better.

What we end with is this for Stars Without Number: A modified melee attack roll of 20+ is a hit, and the character deals damage. A modified melee attack roll in the 13-19 range is also a hit, but the enemy also makes a successful attack against that character.

So far, I’m liking this idea a lot, but it does require some further tweaking. It doesn’t take into account a monster’s attack bonus, but I’m not convinced that’s a problem. It doesn’t take into account the character’s Armor Class, and this is a problem. Dungeon World doesn’t have Armor Class; instead, armor soaks damage. This system also doesn’t account for multiple monster attacks, such as a xenobeast with a claw/claw/bite attack routine. I’m sure these issues can be compensated for with a few simple tweaks.

The same idea of full success on a 20+ and limited success on a 13-19 can be applied to any d20 roll, such as saving throws. Stars Without Number uses 2d6 plus ability score modifier for skill checks, which matches Dungeon World‘s dice conventions perfectly.

But, But!

Lastly, I know what some of you might be thinking: Why don’t I just play Dungeon World? Well, the basic answer is, “Just because.” I’m an admitted inveterate rules-tinkerer. I have been as long as I can remember. It’s worked for the past 30 or so years, and I don’t see why I should stop now.

Tags: A to Z 2013, Dungeon World, game play, Stars Without Number, Tiamat's Throne

One of the things I bought myself for Christmas was Microscope by Ben Robbins. It’s my first foray into the realm of story-based RPGs. My son Christopher and I sat down and played for about an hour and a half, trying to get a handle on the rules and concepts behind the game. It was interesting and entertaining, albeit a bit confusing here and there. Still, I don’t regret the purchase. With more play time, I’m sure it’ll click, which is good since I want to use Microscope to establish character backstories before I start my next Man Day Adventures campaign.

Here’s what Christopher and I came up with:

Matthias lived in a small town with his mother Yandella. The young man loved Julia, the daughter of a money-seeking patriarch. He was also troubled by strange things happening in his vicinity whenever he was emotional. Objects would move. Fires would start. Things like that.

Matthias walked into the kitchen where Yandella was chopping vegetables near the fire for the evening stew. Matthias was upset, teeth clenched, agitated. He had asked Julia’s father for her hand in marriage, and he had been rejected. Not only rejected, but he discovered Barlow had beat him to the punch. Barlow, the son and heir of the town’s wealthiest landowner. Matthias tried to change the father’s mind, but to no avail. Rage overwhelmed Matthias, and arcane power burst forth uncontrolled. Barlow was injured by bolts of lightning.

Yandella could see her son’s agitation, and she noticed the inexplicable movements of several small household items. What she didn’t know was that Julia’s father had summoned the town guard.

“What’s the matter, son?” she asked.

Matthias sat down, trying to calm himself. He told his mother about what had happened, sparing no details. “It’s not fair! She doesn’t love Barlow. She loves me.”

“Maybe it’s not that bad. Maybe, when people have calmed down….” Her voice trailed off. Did Matthias see the fear in her eyes? Did he see how hard she was trying to keep her hands from shaking?

A shadow moving past the kitchen window caught Yandella’s attention. Another shadow, and this time she could see the livery of the town guard. Her grip tightened on the handle of the knife. They’d not take her son. He was all she had left!

The guards burst in through front and back, yelling, barking orders. One of them knocked over a table. Yandella started to move, to protect her son. Matthias leapt from his chair. It flew across the room to smash against the wall.

“No!” he screamed.

White hot flames exploded from the fireplace, enveloping Yandella. Her hair burnt. Her flesh bubbled, curling back from her bones.

“Mother! Gods! Mother!”

All fight left Matthias. He collapsed to his knees, sobbing, horrified eyes locked on Yandella’s smouldering corpse.

There was a trial a few days later. Matthias stood on the platform of the accused before the judges and the jury. Witnesses were called. Barlow’s family used its wealth and influence, demanding the severest punishments possible. Only one person stood to defend Matthias: the young man’s best friend. The confrontation grew heated. Matthias watched, helpless, increasingly angry. Barlow’s family threatened Matthias’s best friend.

“Enough!” Matthias yelled. Arcane power crackled across his body.

“Matthias, don’t!”

But it was too late. The energy had started to flow, and Matthias could not control it. In a flash, lightning raged and thunder crashed. People screamed. Many fled, but one could not flee. Could no longer do anything, for he had caught the brunt of the arcane fury. Matthias’s best friend was dead.

“Seize him! Kill him!”

Matthias recoiled from the second loved one he had killed. And then, the young man vanished. Under cover of invisibility, Matthias fled into self-imposed exile.

Time passed. Matthias had learned to control his arcane powers, and he had even made some friends, several young adventurers eager to use their talents to make the world a less safe place for the forces of evil. Matthias viewed his association with these new friends as a way to atone for the deaths of his mother and his best friend.

When word reached Matthias and company that his town was in the path of a rampaging orc army, the adventurers threw caution to the wind and journeyed there. Julia learned that Matthias was back in town. She snuck out of the house and went to the inn where Matthias was staying. She threw several pebbles at his window. Alerted by the tapping, Matthias opened the shutters and peered outside. There, in the moonlight, was his love.

“Julia,” he said, “you shouldn’t be here.”

“I had to come. I had to. Come with me. Quickly.”

Minutes later, Julia and Matthias stood in shadows by the river’s edge. Julia confessed her love for Matthias. He reciprocated.

“Julia, after my friends and I have defeated the orcs, come with me. Be my wife.”

Julia’s eyes brimmed with tears. Seeing the tears, icy fear touched Matthias’s heart, but then the cold melted into joy.

“Yes, my love!” Julia said. “By the gods, yes!”

What neither of the young lovers knew was that further in the future, their dreams would turn to nightmares, and Matthias would eventually turn his back on life and light to become a lich.

(The picture below is what the “game board” looked like when we quit to watch Iron Chef America.)

Tags: game play, Microscope

For Tiamat’s Throne, I want to accomplish three things:

1. Create an interesting sandbox setting for sci-fi/fantasy gaming.

2. Increase the amount of narrative control the players have over in-game events.

3. Reduce the prevalence of binary action resolution.

I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on number one. The handles for numbers two and three, however, were proving rather slippery. I want something that can be attached to Stars Without Number (SWN) with a minimum of disruption to the core rules.

In other words, the narrative control elements need to be like a prepositional phrase in a sentence. You can remove a prepositional phrase from a sentence and still have a sentence. Whatever I add for narrative control needs to be the sort of thing that can be left out of the game completely without impacting playability. This way, a gaming group that doesn’t like changing the scope of narrative control can still use SWN and Tiamat’s Throne without having to rewrite the rules.

Dungeon World (DW) appears to provide the means by which I can accomplish goals two and three in one fell swoop. Let’s look at how this might work with combat.

Success, but…!

In DW, failure within a certain range below the target number isn’t necessarily a failure. (I’m thinking the range will be within 3 points of the target number for combat rolls.) Let’s call this kind of failure a qualified success. When a qualified success occurs, the player should have a choice between at least two options, one of which grants a some degree of success coupled with a negative consequence. The exact nature of the qualified success depends on the player’s narrative input, and it starts with in-game narration of the desired action. For example:

GM: While you’re in the corner trying to open the door into the abandoned station, you hear a hiss just in time to turn and see a Denebian ripper lunging out of the mist, claws extended and jaw snapping.

Player: Ag! I duck out of the way, trying to get behind the beast while blazing away with my automag.

GM: Sounds good. Roll away. Three defense checks versus 25 and one attack roll versus AC 5.

Player: Three! Yipes! *dice clatter* Defense is 25, 22, and 7. Crap. Attack is a 12, which means I hit AC 8, even with burst fire.

GM: You easily evade the first attack. The other two, not so much. You can get behind the beast, but you’ll get raked by a claw in the process, or you can stay in front of it but avoid the claws entirely.

Player: Let’s get behind it. I don’t want to be pinned into the corner.

GM: Alright. You also get bit. The ripper’s claws and fangs tear through your flesh as you dive around it. *dice clatter* Take 7 points of damage. The beast now has its back to you. The impact and injury spoils your aim, but your attack roll is a qualified success. Thoughts?

Player: How about I still hit, but I slip and end up on my back?

GM: Sounds fair. The bullets thud into the ripper’s hide as your rush by. Unfortunately, you only make it about fifteen feet before you lose your footing on the icy ground.

Considerations

As with DW, this sort of action resolution pretty much removes many considerations related to initiative and tactical movement from the game. The same idea can also be applied to saving throws and skill checks, but the qualified success range for skill checks probably needs to be more narrow since skill checks are based on 2d6 rather than 1d20.

More thoughts on this topic will be forthcoming.

Tags: game play, Stars Without Number, Tiamat's Throne

Several weeks ago, I read a thread on the Paizo messageboards about the scent extraordinary ability. It was started by a poster confused by the assertion that scent isn’t some sort of automatic enemy detection power that operates in a 30-foot radius. The confusion increased when other posters observed that scent is a natural sense, and that natural senses operate according to the Perception skill.

First, let’s take the rules for scent, which are found in at least three different places in the reference document, and consolidate them into one set of rules:

The scent special quality allows a creature to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. Creatures with the scent ability can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights.

Creatures with the scent special quality have a +8 bonus on Perception checks made to detect a scent.

As the Perception skill notes (emphasis added), “Perception covers all five senses, including sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.” The skill’s text further clarifies that “Perception is also used to notice fine details in the environment. The DC to notice such details varies depending upon distance, the environment, and how noticeable the detail is.” Thereafter in the rules follows a table with several guidelines. Let’s take those guidelines, and tweak them where necessary to apply to the scent extraordinary ability.

Table: Scent Perception Guidelines
Detail: Perception DC
Notice the stench of rotting garbage: -10
Detect the smell of smoke: 0
Determine if food is spoiled: 5
Identify a common smell: 10*
Detect a creature: 15
Identify an uncommon smell: 20*

Perception Modifiers: DC Modifier
Distance to the source, object, or creature: +1/10 feet
Through a closed door: +5
Through a wall: +10/foot of thickness
Favorable conditions (note 1): -2
Unfavorable conditions (note 1): +2
Terrible conditions (note 2): +5
Creature making the check is distracted: +5
Creature making the check is asleep: +10
Creature or object is odorless: +20

* This assumes the creature making the check has encountered the scent before. Otherwise, the GM is justified in requiring an appropriate Knowledge check.

Note 1: Favorable or unfavorable conditions include wind direction and the amount of background “noise” from competing odors. For example, if the sensing creature is downwind from the target, the favorable condition modifier would apply. If the sensing creature were in a perfumery, the unfavorable condition modifier might apply.

Note 2: Terrible conditions are like unfavorable conditions, but moreso. For example, an overpowering stench covering the area would apply the terrible conditions modifier.

Perception also notes that “the most common [Perception check] is an opposed check versus an opponent’s Stealth check to notice the opponent and avoid being surprised.” This, however, doesn’t seem appropriate when dealing with scent. Stealth’s description at least heavily implies it is limited to avoiding detection via sight and hearing. This prompts a question: How does a creature actively avoid detection by another creature using the scent extraordinary ability? Two skills seem most applicable: Knowledge and Survival. Let’s start with the latter.

Survival deals with “surviving in the wild”. It seems reasonable that this includes the knowing what needs to be done to avoid detection via scent. In most situations, avoiding scent detection is covered under the “hunting and foraging” application of Survival. A survivalist can be more proactive. Given appropriate equipment and 1 minute, the survivalist can make a Survival check. The result is treated as the base DC for scent-based Perception checks. These preparations fade at a rate of -2 DC per hour under normal conditions, but the survivalist can always reapply his scent countermeasures (making a new Survival check to set a new scent-based Perception check DC).

Knowledge skills can also give a survivalist an advantage in that the survivalist can tailor his scent to be more undetectable to a specific type of creature (such as animals or magical beasts). This requires the survivalist to have at least 1 rank in the applicable Knowledge skill, such as Knowledge (nature) for animals or Knowledge (arcana) for magical beasts. The survivalist must make a DC 15 Knowledge check. If successful, he adds +2 to his Survival check to mask his scent, +1 more for every 5 points over 15 he scores.

Now, let’s put all of this together.

Rob, a ranger, and his wolf animal companion Tejas explore a complex of caves and tunnels. The GM knows Rob and Tejas are nearing a cave in which several troglodytes have recently fought and killed an intruding ogre. The trogs pick over the ogre’s corpse while Rob and Tejas approach.

Tejas has the scent extraordinary quality. In this section of the caves, the trogs are downwind of Rob and Tejas as cooler surface air flows down into the warmer caverns. Downwind sets a scent range of 15 feet, but this is tripled to 45 feet due to the trogs’ stench.

The GM rules the base DC is -10 since the trogs’ stench is at least as noxious as rotting garbage. The air currents are not favorable to Tejas, increasing the DC to -8. At 45 feet, the closest range that Tejas can detect the trogs, a further +4 modifier is applied to the DC, yielding a final DC of -4, which is child’s play for the wolf’s keen nose. At a range of 45 feet, Tejas detects the trogs and growls a warning to Rob. At this time, Tejas only knows the scent is within range. If Tejas takes a move action, he can determine the direction of the scent.

Unfortunately for Rob and Tejas, they are also being stalked. A doppelganger has picked up their trail and follows at a range of about 90 feet. The doppleganger is upwind of Tejas, but it doesn’t have a particularly strong odor. Thus, the doppelganger is out of Tejas’s scent range of 60 feet (30 feet doubled for the target being upwind).

As Rob and Tejas approach the trogs, they slow down to move stealthily. The doppelganger is not immediately aware of this, but by the time it’s within 60 feet of Tejas, the adventurer and his wolf are also fairly close to the trogs.

The base DC to detect a creature is 15. A -2 modifier for favorable conditions applies since the doppelganger is upwind, but a +5 modifier for terrible conditions also applies due to the pervasive trog-stink. A range of 60 feet imposes a further +6 modifier, yielding an initial 24 DC. Tejas can probably make this Perception check. If he doesn’t and the doppelganger waits until Rob and Tejas fight the trogs, a further +5 DC modifier for being distracted might be applicable.

Let’s say the doppelganger has ranks in Knowledge (nature) and Survival. It takes time to mask its scent before tracking Rob and Tejas. It gets a 25 on its Survival check and a 20 on its Knowledge (nature) check. This latter check grants a +3 bonus to the Survival check result. In this scenario, instead of a base scent Perception DC of 15, Tejas confronts a base DC of 28, not including modifiers for conditions, range, et cetera. Suddenly, Tejas’s ability to warn Rob of the doppelganger’s presence doesn’t look so promising.

These rules helps define scent’s limitations while at the same time leaving creatures with the scent extraordinary ability an impressive level of awareness of their environment. Allowing Knowledge and Survival to work as scent countermeasures adds new tactical options that reward investment in these skills not only for PCs but also for NPCs and monsters.

Tags: game play, Pathfinder monsters, Pathfinder RPG, scent