"Noobs" vs. Old School Players (Part 2)

My current group is using the D&D Next play test rules, and is an interesting mix of new and old school gamers.  It has been interesting to see how old school D&D players and new players are responding to the system and its trappings.  Some of us have been out of the hobby for some time (as I had been until the Fourth Edition promotional pod casts).

I hope this is not agist. 

The above picture is a metaphor for old school gamers who are looking for THAC0 on their Fourth Edition and D&D Next character sheets, and wondering what to do with "at wills", "cantrips", and "channel divinity". (Channel divinity powers are now where one finds turn undead, but they can alternately be used to flavor the cleric class with different special abilities).

And this is one...

Why isn't the channel changing?

...is for First and Second Edition players who pick up D&D Next character sheets and say, "Hit Dice. I know what to do with those!"

One of my favorite moments of the character creation session I recently referenced in part 1 of this post was when we could not find a "backpack" or "misc. equipment" section on the character sheet for D&D Next.  Of course, there is a big section for equipped items, such as what are you wearing on your head, and for armor, fighting hand, off-hand, etc.  The player, who is returning to gaming from First Edition said, "But where am I going to write down the various gems, stones, and treasure we find!?"  I kind of chuckled because this is something none of the groups I played in, nor the groups I have DM'd for, have ever done.  She was serious though.  I had played enough Eye of the Beholder to be able to throw out lapis lazuli and peridot as a joke.

These may not be tiger's eye, but they sure are pretty.

The important learning here is that there are indeed individual preferences at the table.  There are players (dare I say "still players") who want the precious materials they find to be detailed for them.  In the past I might have said, "You find 30 gold pieces worth of gems," once every few encounters to break up the monotony.  Now that I know I have a player who is into that, it is incumbent upon me as the DM to cater to her preference.  You better believe I will work to make sure I include a couple of jewels by name and vague description of mass and quality in their loot piles.  I'm gonna make those PCs work to figure out how much each is worth! Hell, it could become a whole adventure for them to have the stones appraised?!?

The same player is looking over her character sheet a few minutes later and says, "So, it's ten copper to a silver, ten silver to a gold, and ten gold to a platinum... and what is electrum worth?"  I might have slightly insensitively rolled my eyes before replying, "If you don't know, we're going to have to look it up."  But guess how many copper and electrum pieces they found after their next encounter.


Do you track these kinds of things in your games?  Do you count arrows or use strict spell component rules?   How do you keep it fun?

"Noobs" v. Old School Players (Part 1)

For experienced players of Dungeons and Dragons there are certain things taken for granted when talking about the game, the rules, and its changes over the years.  When talking to new players, especially in an era where most new players have at least some experience with video game RPGs, it is easy to look past what they may not know.

old school/ old guy

Finishing up character creation with two of my players recently, some interesting things came to light.  I was having trouble understanding what one of the players was not understanding.  The first instance was a discussion about attack and damage modifiers.  I was explaining that you get your stat bonus, let's say Strength, on your attack rolls.  You also get to add the number in the chart for your attack rolls, but that number does not apply to damage.  When you roll damage you only add the Strength modifier.  She was asking where she should write each on the character sheet, and seemed perplexed that they could be different numbers.  I failed to realize that she had not made the connection between the multiple rolls in combat for attack and damage in the few combats we had run previously.  We backed up and sorted out that first you must roll to see if you hit successfully or not and then, if so, you most roll different dice (as determined by your weapon) to see how badly you hurt the thing. Then we were on our way.

this guy is experienced

When this same player calculated her hit points, another more experienced player at the table suggested using a pencil to track them.  I said, well you could just put the total in pen, and then track your current in pencil later.  Again the new player was confused and frustrated because she didn't see why if the number was going to be changing you wouldn't want it in pencil.  I explained in vain that the total would not change for some time, ie going up a level, so having it written permanently is fine.  I could not figure out where my explanation was lacking.  Well, as I heard my table-helper break it down, I realized I needed to explain that by total, I meant maximum.  That you could not go above that number when regaining hit points was something I assumed we were all thinking.  Oops.

So, remember... even though your players may have played Final Fantasy or World of Warcraft that doesn't mean they are going to understand everything you say to them.  Things like the different stats and attributes, as well as how they interact with other areas of the game including attacks, ability checks, skills, hit points, etc., are likely over the heads of a lot of new players.  We need to be specific and lay everything out step by step, from the beginning.  Having a few heads to put together helps as well.  

What concepts have you struggled to explain to new players? Had any funny misunderstandings at the table?  

Til Next Time,

DM Josh

She's Lost That Lovin' Feelin

The world is full of dichotomies.  Dungeons and Dragons is no different.  The perplexing opposition I wish to explore here is:  I am getting good at adapting fiction to make D&D adventures, yet I struggle to infuse my games with the excitement found in adventure novels (of many genres).

Thanks Amazon

I am not here to recommend books (though I am awfully tempted).  The covers presented serve as examples of the feelings of adventure and excitement I would like to invoke at the table.  I have lifted one or two of Leiber's stories for adventure outlines, and they work quite nicely.  However, rarely am I able to sense the players feeling the "aha!"s and the "oh croike!?!"s the characters in those stories experience.

I recently tried to put together a campaign which was centered around the Caves of Chaos (TM).  The first adventure we ran was the recently released Mines of Madness(TM) - part of the D&D Next(TM) play test.  I tried running an adaptation of Dracula I created as an interlude.  It went OK at the beginning, but the feeling of intrigue and mystery were not quite palpable enough.  At some point the players got a little stuck, and I myself was stuck in rigid thinking and failed my improvise check.  Before the pieces were put together and the town made safe from vampires the PCs were heard to remark: "Wait, why do I care about this infected broad?" and "Weren't there nefarious things in the caves causing problems? We could check that out..."

Oh well, apparently it was not the most sensational mystery adventure of the day.

PS - How cool is it that Dracula was billed as a mystery novel?  That is how I thought of it as I was adapting it.


What are some novels and stories you have adapted?  With what levels of success?


See ya soon!


-DM Josh

What "Noobs" Can Learn From My Faults as a DM

Whether you are new to the game of Dungeons and Dragons and role-playing games themselves, or you are a veteran...I expect there are some things you can learn from my faults as a Dungeon Master.

1st Edition AD&D DM screen thanks to a co-worker/player

•  Allowing personal play style to interfere.  Do not do this!  I am something of a 'slayer' player type (perhaps the subject of a future post).  When I am a player character I enjoy fights because I get to feel cool slaying all the monsters and nefarious humanoids we deal with.  I am also something of a fan of tactics and decisions that affect combat.  It takes all my effort not to design my adventures around elaborate combat encounters, and I still wind up allowing my own preferences to steer me sometimes!

• I am not organized or detail oriented, per se.  Organized?  Nope.  Another challenge that I constantly face while planning, but what can one do?  Get a binder, a folder or two, etc.  I was never fully sure what people meant when they said "detail oriented".  Here is my problem when running an adventure:  I forget details.  Surprisingly, this even happens with adventures I write myself.  I get so caught up in the action and listening to the players talking that I will forget to give them a key clue, loot, or an important description.

This recently happened in my group's campaign, when the party of PCs came upon the scouts they had been hunting down. There was a confrontation along a ridge-line that I referenced in the splitting the party? post.  The description I gave for the scouts was similar to a monster in a one-off adventure I had run for a couple of the players.  One said, "Oh just like those ones from the boxes?"  I said, "Yes," just happy that she had remembered.  The fight continued, the cleric cast turn undead, and all ended well for the party. Except not for me.  The baddies were supposed to come off as undead versions of the hunted scouts, but actually be possessed living versions of said scouts.  I lost this subtle detail in the excitement of the sneaking up, fighting, and busting out a cleric special ability!

• Improvisation.  This is hard.  It can't just be me.  I was even all up in the theater program in my high school, including the improvisational variety.  In a vain effort to remember to include all the fun parts and details of my adventures, I often miss equally fun opportunities for unforeseen adventure paths and story lines. I think this just takes practice and experience.

So, how do you make sure to get all your clues in?  What are some organizational methods you use?  

Hope this helps!

-DM Josh

"Noobs" Trying to Talk to Obvious Monsters

You turn the corner into the alley and you come face to face with:

It is growling and breathing heavily.  Some of its errant saliva lands on what little bare skin is exposed by your armor. You feel a slight burning sensation and almost a corrosive feeling on your skin.  The beast rears back and bellows, baring it's rows of teeth and you can smell it's foul, rank breath.  It crouches into an aggressive stance and stares in your direction.  Roll initiative.

Player 1:  I say: "Good evening."

DM:  Huh? 

Player 1:   Does it say anything back?

DM:  It roars loudly again... it sounds hungry.  It strides menacingly toward you.

Player 1:  I say:  "Hello!!! Can you understand me?"

DM:  It does not seem to react to your words.  What was your initiative roll?

Player 2:  I think we have to fight it...

This occurred in one of the first sessions of the campaign in which I was introducing some of my friends' wives and my girlfriend at the time to D&D.  There are some interesting things to take out of this:

• New players do not have the same preconceived notions of experienced players.  They are not familiar with the cues and hints that might suggest how to handle a given situation.  This can be good and challenging at the same time.  I had planned for it to be a fight, but I always applaud outside the box thinking.  The rigid mindset of the experience player (player 2) is not necessarily any better.  Perhaps the party can run, subdue the monster using ropes and acrobatics,  get the town guard for assistance, or trick it into wreaking havoc on the party's enemies.   Those would all be equally (if not more) satisfying outcomes than fighting it.

• Similarly, from the new player's point of view: why shouldn't monsters be able to talk?  Orcs can speak common sometimes, I saw it in Lord of the Rings.  There are elves, dwarves, and humans all communicating in the same tongue, so why should others not be able to as well?  It is not really crazy to suggest that in a land of all of these fantastical elements that a monster would parley with the group.  In fact, there are plenty of seemingly ugly and vicious monsters that can and will.

One of my greatest challenges as a Dungeon Master is to prevent myself from falling into that rigid thinking. Just because it's been a while since there's been action, and the pacing of the adventure would benefit from a fight, doesn't mean that the party should be forced into a combat.  They should be able to think their way through, out of, or around the encounter in other ways too.  Sometimes new players will pleasantly surprise you and come up with solutions that more experienced players (and DMs) would not think of.

What do you do in that situation as DM...as a player?  Love to hear it!  Comment below.

Til Next Time,

-DM Josh

Character Creation for "Noobs"

Creating an RPG/D&D character is a very personal thing, on many levels.  One of the main topics I want to address in this post is: in what order we should tackle the steps of character creation.  If you would like a constructivist literary analysis of RPG character creation, let me know...I am a literature and English teacher, after all.

The numbers?   
Especially for new players, the numbers can be meaningless or feel disconnected without a grounding element of character concept or back story.   It would be like telling you that you have a .00987 micellar index on the Swizzle scale.  Because it is made up, entirely.  However, often extreme ability scores can translate into fun character and role-playing elements.  You may have read about the goggles I made for my steam punk inspired gnome fighter in a friend's campaign.  My 18 strength (or whatever racial maximum for strength is for a gnome in 2E) went a long way toward getting me to think outside the box, and added to the character concept and back story. Correct me if I am wrong, but the old school traditional method to determine attributes is roll 3D6 add 'em up, that's your strength.  Repeat for Dextereity, Constitution, etc, in order.

Class? 
Somewhere relatively early on in my D&D playing days, someone in my group (and the zeitgeist, possibly even the Player's Handbook or DMG) said, "Hey, wouldn't it be better if you could assign your attribute dice rolls to the stats/attributes you want them with?"  We unanimously said, "yes!".  No longer would I have to roll a good number on the fifth roll specifically to play a priest, or the first to play a fighter.  I can choose the class that is the most interesting to me, instead of the one that fits my stats.  This goes doubly for Rangers, Paladins, and classes that had higher (and multiple) prerequisites.   Now that it is feasible to choose what class you want to play before doing anything else, it has become my default starting point and the place I pointed players to when beginning the character creation process.

Race?

Along with point-buy attribute builds, arrays, and other player friendly stat determining methods, it has become common to choose the race that best achieves min/maxing.  This is when you minimize the things you deem unimportant to your character (usually based on combat) and maximize the stuff you want.  If I want to play a rogue, I should be an elf because it gives a +1 to my Dexterity, making me more sneaky and stealthy. This is all well and good, however sometimes it can minimize the role the character's race plays in their connections to the campaign setting and the player's role-playing decisions for the character.  This is partly because it is not made as a story-based choice, but as a mechanics driven choice.  

Background, Back Story, and Personality?
As of late this option is becoming more interesting to me.  Decide what your character is doing in the campaign world.  Describe where he/she comes from, what their desires are, what they are like to be around.  Then figure out what might be a fun class/race combination to play that reflects those choices.  This is probably the most difficult option for new players, especially those new to fantasy and/or RPGs. With an experienced group, I expect it would be a rewarding option.



What did I leave out?  What do you do first?  Comment below!




Til next time,

-DM Josh

Unintended Consequences of "Low-Magic"

     In a previous post, I wrote about a 'low-magic' home-brew campaign I ran a few years ago called Dragon's Eye.  Some of the campaign design decisions led to fun character choices and back stories more-or-less accidentally. The 'low-magic' element and the focus on a dragon deity that was the source for the divine magic as well as the minimal arcane (wizard) magic, effected the spell casting classes the most.


Dragon Priest

    The miniature on the right was partly inspiration for the Dragon Priest.  So was the dragon deity of the campaign.  As was the 'dragoon' from Final Fantasy fame.  The campaign was using 2nd Edition rules, so the combat benefited from a little spicing up, especially for classes like the cleric.  I gave the home-brew cleric a few 'jump' combat abilities that included some movement and an attack.  One was even a delayed attack where the character was in the air, basically off the grid/map, for a turn.  The custom class yielded a couple of fun combat goodies, and it also gave the player playing this class some extra flavor and character background stuff to work with.  Dragon flavored.  Yum.


Gnome Illusionist

 

       This character came about because one of the players wanted very badly to play a magic user.  In this low-magic campaign, we negotiated that he could be an illusionist.  The powerful council that ran the province the characters were from used a circle of illusionists to maintain the appearance of wealth and power.  There were also no demi-humans such as elves, gnomes, or dwarves running around the city. Together, the player and I came up with the idea that he could have a twice per day basic illusion spell.  As a gnome he could use this illusion spell to disguise himself as a human child of perhaps ten years, to blend in with the crowd.   Also, the image is the player's MS paint depiction of his gnome, printed in color, and folded into a little stand-up paper mini.

     I think the lesson here is this:  When you feel comfortable messing with the class abilities, or certain aspects of the rules (of any game), go for it!  My efforts to spice up the campaign yielded even greater fruit than I had anticipated once player input got involved and we thought creatively together.

What have you house-ruled or home-brewed?  Comment below!


Til next time,

-DM Josh

Clichè: Splitting the Party

It has become something of a clichè in D&D wisdom to say, "Never split the party".  This is generally meant as a survival tactic, and is grounded rather well in logic.  The more members of a group there are, the less likely they will be defeated, especially when the classes support one another in important ways.

 Eg.   You head out ahead of the party to check out the orc encampment.  A patrol of 4 orcs might well be able to subdue you and take you prisoner or plain kill you in combat...without even sneaking up on you.  If your buddies were there it would be a snap.

That is really from the player's tactical perspective.  There are other Dungeon Master and story concerns regarding this issue.  Sometimes, using "Don't split the party" as a maxim can interrupt the logic of the session, campaign, or the game world itself.  Here is a dramatization of something that occurred in the first adventure of a campaign I am starting up with some coworkers and friends:

Extended Example
      DM:   You hear sounds that are generally associated with large camps, blades sharpening, conversation, fires.

      Ranger PC:   I am going to scout ahead, and stealthily circumvent the camp and come up behind it.

      DM:  Stealth check please.  And perception check.

      Ranger PC:    6 on the stealth and 12 on perception.

      DM:  Just as you reach the edge of the camp and see a number of orcs sitting around a cook fire, one of many, you snap a large tree branch and two of the orcs look in your direction as they rise from their places around the fire.

      Ranger PC:  I want to use my ability to hide in minimal cover and beat a retreat.

      DM:  OK, roll....

To my mind, all of the PCs decisions were logical and character based.  Did she split the party?  You bet.  However, as a rather stealthy ranger why would she want her half-orc and priest companions mucking up her ability to remain hidden?  As a DM this leads to yet other issues.

One is, now I have other players at the table who literally cannot do anything in the game.  Until the action switches back to their characters- which would leave the Ranger PC observing- or until the Ranger PC's actions and story bring her back to the party, the other players are just watching and waiting.  They get bored.  They take out cell phones, futz on i-pads, get a drink, go to the bathroom, twiddle their thumbs, shoot spitballs, etc.  Not ideal.

Furthermore, I have a delicate choice to make.  Does the orc patrol that spots the ranger consist of the normal 4-6 orcs?  They would mop her level one ranger up in a heartbeat.  But that would fit the logic of the game world.  I wanted to see what would happen if she got subdued/captured after her failed sneak check, but alas that would leave the other players waiting with nothing to do.

My solution at that moment was to have only the two orcs bother to get up to follow.  In retrospect, I think I would have had the other PCs make perception checks to hear things off in the distance and given them one or two rounds before they could enter the combat against a full size orc patrol.  It would have satisfied the need for release of tension after the sneaking around and getting spotted, it would have been a good fight, and everyone would have been involved.

The current play-test/pre-release rules for D&D Next include a fairly robust 'exploration' mechanic, that can be used when players are traveling and/or exploring.  This might help alleviate the problem in this specific case.  So, when the ranger describes scouting out ahead of the party and it feels right, it doesn't have to negatively impact others at the table by 'splitting up'.

The greatest issue here is that sometimes characters split up because it seems cool, or like the right thing to do.  We want to reward players who think in this way and who make decisions based on what their character would do.  It also allows the players to get a little more time in the spotlight and to feel special.  As a DM I say use this technique sparingly as there are so many drawbacks. A DM can easily split the party any time he/she feels like it, but do not over do it.


How have you dealt with this situation at your table?    How do you suggest I deal with it in the future?


I look forward to reading your comments.  Til next time!


-DM Josh  

'Realia' in Dungeons & Dragons

          Realia (vis a vis education) is defined by Wikipedia as: objects from real life used in classroom instruction.  So, my classroom lies outside of 'real life'.  Be that as it may, we shall apply the term to Dungeons and Dragons and see what happens.

First, here are some no-quotation-marks-necessary real life objects that my groups and I have brought to the table to spice up our game sessions:

Jones Soda limited edition Dungeons and Dragons line.  Here is a Wired.com post from when they became available. They key bottle is the red one on the left.  A potion of healing, of course.

Stumbled upon this actual flavored rum in a liquor store while on the way to a session of a campaign I called Dragon's Eye.  It included a powerful dragon deity and characters who had various associations to it.  Only players 21 and over can drink it...no problem for elves.

----->

 This is an ordinary envelope getting a coffee bath.  On the right you see it drying.  Crumpling up paper and letting it soak in the dark liquid gives it the appearance of old parchment or old paper.  But then we are moving into the territory of "real".  Also, you can singe the edges of the paper with a lighter or candle for added effect.

Next, here are some "real" objects I have used:

This is a real toy.  It is an egg that when submerged in water for a while morphs into a slimy toy in some other shape.  It was symbolic of a 'dragon stone' the players found. (I have used this multiple times.)  I colored it to match a campaign detail.  We have never gotten to the submersion/transformation...

These are some terrain tiles, maps, and accessories I have made using various jury-rigged color printing and arts and crafts.

These are goggles I made to use as a character prop one of the last times I played a PC and was not dungeon mastering.  They are made from toy binoculars.  They are wearable, but one cannot see anything through them.

What do you use at your table or bring to your game?


Comment below!


-DM Josh

Low Magic for "Noobs"

         When I first ventured into bringing new players to the gaming table it was partly out of necessity.  I was a player with no DM, and at most a newbie DM with no group.  Once we got the 'pregen' adventure out of the way, I introduced my first attempt at a campaign 'setting' to the players and we commenced character creation.

         A concept that I recently read about in Dave Noonan's blog reminded me of one of the key elements of the campaign.  I decided to have our world be 'low magic', going so far as to limit access to arcane spell casting classes and all non-human races.  Think first season of Game of Thrones (low magic) vs. Return of the King (high fantasy).

I did this for two reasons:

         1.  I wanted the world to feel feasible for new players who may not be well-versed in all of the fantasy tropes and commonalities.

         2.  I didn't want to deal with the planning, improvisation, and easy monster slaying issues that being able to cast fireball presents (this was AD&D aka 2nd Ed. rules).

     In retrospect I might have done things differently.  I don't think I gave my new players enough credit for their imaginations and willingness to take flights of fancy.  I mean after all, they were sitting down to a D&D table.  And I  have to say, there were one or two cool unintended side effects that we can also learn from.  We'll cover those another time.


Do you prefer low-magic,  high-fantasy or some other flavor for your campaign settings?  Comment below!


Thanks for reading.


-DM Josh

Teaching High School vs. DMing

    In honor of 'back to school' week here in Colorado, I will share some of the similarities between teaching and dungeon mastering.


Round One, Fight!

• I am judge, arbiter, and jury.

        This is not one of the aspects of teaching or DMing that I enjoy.  It is painful to post that grade book knowing students earned an F for the semester.  It is also difficult to create tension in a D&D adventure if the players know you are a softie who won't kill their characters.

• Differentiation.   

       In education, this is the idea that students will learn the most if instruction is as individualized as possible. Students all learn differently, have different interests, and about a million other differences that speak to the need to teach them in the way that best suits them.  Well, this may be the most important similarity between the two disciplines.  

       A DM must cater to each of the players at his/her table.  Has Johnny's character been the focus of the last few sessions?  Does Angelica like role play heavy adventures?  A good mix of types of scenes/adventures that appeal to your various players' tastes is important.  So is giving the various players at your table the opportunity for their character to be in the spotlight from time to time.  (more on how this relates to 'player types' in a later post)

• Social risk-taking and the silent period

       As a language teacher I see students who are reluctant to volunteer to answer questions in class.  Sometimes it is because they are afraid they will make a mistake or sound silly in front of their peers.  Some students who are new to a country, culture, and/or language experience what linguists call the "silent period".  The student will literally sit silently in class, perhaps comprehending some of the new language, but basically refusing to produce it for a period of time until they feel more comfortable.

     Who has not seen this with players new to RPGs.  Especially if they are in a group of experienced players.  They may have trepidation about their ideas being silly or their contributions being rebuffed at the table.  They may literally not understand how have their character interact with the game world through the DM.  It is something that I believe is unique to pen-and-paper RPGs, so the inexperienced can be truly baffled by the concept.  Explain it, demonstrate it (model it), rinse and repeat, or send them this link:         

                         http://dmjosh.blogspot.com/2013/08/one-may-ask-what-is-d.html

Round Two...

• Homework.   As a teacher and/or DM, you'll be the only one doing it.

    

•  Minimal financial compensation

       Only people at Wizards of the Coast get paid to DM.  And, I suppose convention DM/GMs.  Most of us are lucky to get pizza bought for us at a gaming session.  Just like teachers, we do it because of our passion for it and the satisfaction derived from helping others (when not killing their characters).

• Improvisation

       One never knows what will happen at his/her table or in their classroom.  One must be ready to think on his/her feet and adapt on the fly.  Going with the flow is key in both areas.

Round Three, Differences:

• Players are not legally mandated to be at your game.

• (Therefore,) Confiscating players' personal electronics is probably frowned upon in most groups.  

What did I leave out?  Comment below!

Location, Location (Where You Do It)

     We could talk about fantastical locations for your campaign including bloodcurdling castles, dank dungeons, and all the rest.  I am going to wax nostalgic and put forth arguments for some fun gaming locations where I have played D&D.

    

• My DM's backyard....well, screened porch.  My high school gaming group and friends had among us one stalwart Dungeon Master.  We played a lot during the summer, so I have fond memories of the trees around, birds chirping and then crickets/secadas in the evenings.  We would sit, snack, and play  at the tables lined up end to end.  We were covered from the elements and well-guarded but able to see all the summer greenery and afternoon storm clouds... not to mention easy access to the kitchen.

• A defunct game store in Lakewood, CO - Lots of game stores have play space and I encourage you to use it at your whim and will as well as to support your "friendly local game store" in any capacity you can.  There is one store in particular that failed despite my D&D group's meager support.  Part of their play area was styled and built out and painted to resemble the facade of a castle over looking a medieval village.  There were stairs up into the castle turret where one found a private room for rent complete with a gaming table and various paraphernalia/equipment/accouterments. 

• My apartment - this brings all the advantages of playing at home, plus some because I get to make the rules!!  As a DM I can dictate when PCs encounter traps and fight hordes of monsters, but as host I can decide how much I am going to drink, how much and where to smoke, I can be a mess, and in general indulge in all the luxuries of home.  Not everyone has the space for a table let alone space for a group to gather round said table, but what a gas if you do!

   

And the winner is...

My Apartment!   

      Congratulations, "My Apartment".  You're the winner because you are the most new player friendly as I can create the perfect environment for the people I am having over.  Are they craft beer enthusiasts?  I will have a growler from a local brewery (that is not a D&D monster).  Do they hate air conditioning? I will have it nice and toasty.  If they want to game into the night, I can stay up with them.  I also have a bit more control over who gets invited and the various distractions.  I keep the TV off, I have no kids or pets, and generally can create the type of environment I feel might be welcoming to the people I am going to play with.  Of course, someone else's house/apt is almost as good depending on who that person is.  

       

       Finally, as much as I love a good FLGS, they are not conducive to introducing new players to the game.  The overly nerdy culture can be off-putting, the noise and other games can be a nuisance or distraction, and a lot of time you can't even bring your own food and beverages. When you have experienced players and you want to move off the grid and play with tape measure on sick War Hammer terrain you can go to the game store.  

Til next time,

DM Josh

Intro Adventures & New Players

          I always enjoyed adventures in the beginning of campaigns where characters from disparate backgrounds find themselves sharing a common goal or up against the same foe.  This requires a bit of role-playing on the part of the players, careful planning on the part of the DM, and just the right touch of paprika for it to be exciting and satisfying at the table.  A great example of this in fiction is the anime pictured here:

                                                   (make sure it's this one and not the one with the red cover)

         A fledgling DM, or one who is introducing new players, might want to stick with the tried and true, "You already know each other. Figure out how together."  Possibly even, "You are an adventuring party based out of [insert town name from adventure], and have been working together for some time."  That being said, there can be something fun and interesting about watching a party come together and having the players showcase how their characters become a party.
        
       I encountered a bit of a snag when I tried this with the "introductory friends' wives group" I have mentioned in previous posts.  After we ran an adventure with pregens, the two males and three females all made their own characters. 

        The opening of the campaign saw two of the PCs venturing to the outskirts of town at night.  As the priest guard and her gnome wizard charge were foraging for a valuable spellcasting component.  Another of my new players was playing a half-elf rogue, thus hiding in a tree.  I had worked it out with her before hand so we could keep it a secret from the other two players, creating a dramatic moment at the table.  The moment never came.

        As I shot sidelong glances at the rogue player, and raised an eye brow, and waited expectantly- the player just continued to observe while the other players foraged all around her tree and up and down the nearby brush.  Later her explanation was that she was outnumbered and didn't want to pick a fight.  Reasonable.  Good logical thinking and role playing, really.


So, the lessons here are:

1.  Be aware of the social situation and social risks being taken by new players when handing them the reigns.

2. Sometimes new players feel overwhelmed by the vast number of possible choices, actions, and outcomes the game presents.

It is OK, to guide them, possibly explaining some options or asking, "What does your character do?"


Well, what do you do?




-DM Josh

Bikini Chainmail (for real this time)

                                                    Most of us that have watched old fantasy movies and read through old D&D books have asked ourselves the same question at some point:   "How can that skimpy bit of chainmail protect this woman in the heat of combat?" 

      In a fantasy world there might even be some viable answers.  However, the question at hand is how this is going to impact your introducing women to Dungeons and Dragons.  This probably comes down to the most basic tenet of DMing, which is that it is all about the player/person in question.  Ideally, you are friends with the people you are asking to join your group or that you are showing the game for the first time. 

     I do think that there is a valid concern about the game and/or genre being perceived as overly-masculine, if not down right misogynistic and sexist. The most important thing to communicate to new players is that this game is both about having fun their way and that the collaborative nature of the game allows the DM and players to work together to create the type of environment in which they all feel comfortable.  There sure are people out there who would love to play in a campaign where women are subjugated and the players go around flirting with bar wenches in every town.
    
     Again, the key here is that everyone is on the same page.  The above example is no more a "wrong" way to play the game than if my group wants to partake of adult beverages or prefers to play at a game store versus someone's home.  That does not mean I condone sexism obviously, and I could make the argument that even people who wished to play in such a campaign are not necessarily sexist themselves - as the game in question is one of fantasy, imagination and role playing.
 
    If prospective female players feel comfortable that the people at your table will be respectful and pleasant, both to them and their character, they are both much more likely to be willing to play and to wind up having fun in your game.  That being said, if you prefer sweaty lascivious dudes to comprise the entirety of your gaming group and/or social circle...do as you please.



Until next time. 
   


 -DM Josh

Priests, Females, and Bikini Chainmail

        My schema for 'priests' is pretty much what you see in the movies and at weddings.  So, when I started learning Dungeons and Dragons and saw that one of the main character classes was a priest, or cleric, I started building a new concept from the ground up in my mind.  A D&D priest draws on divine inspiration or literal divine intervention to cast a variety of spells, including healing spells.  They can worship any number of gods and draw different types of powers from these sources.  I read a lot in the Player's Handbook and in this book back in those days:          

      Fast forward to a few years ago when I was introducing my friends' wives to D&D.  I found some pre-made, ready to go characters, and at game time divvied them up amongst the two guys and three girls at the table.  The standard classes were represented, fighter, wizard, rogue, priest.  Shortly after we began play the group ran into problem solving encounter where a girl was struggling to stay afloat in the river while her mother is on the bank calling for help.  After the party returned the girl safely to her mother on the shore the NPC woman said,  "You have my thanks, but I wish there was some way I could repay you."  The player responds, "If you follow the tenets of my god and attend services regularly, it will be repayment enough."

       Well, I thought that was just awesome.  Here it was, her first role playing game experience and she was knocking it out of the park!  In retrospect, it is clear that she was drawing on her own background and experience as someone who grew up a practicing Catholic.  This informed her notion of the types of behaviors and attitudes a priest would assume.  This connection might seem obvious to some people, but I have played D&D for many years, often playing priests and almost always at a table where someone was playing a priest - and I never saw it played in that way.

     It was a great table moment, and there are two lessons in it for us here: 

1. You want to try to tap into your new players' understandings of the world (both game world and real world), their tendencies, biases, predilections, etc. This will allow them to feel more involved in the game and generally to just be enjoying it more.

2.  With new players be prepared for the unexpected.  This goes for always, but especially with new players.  If they are willing to take the risk of engaging with the game and DM, new players are among the most creative people you can game with - which is in itself rewarding for everyone at the table.

Thanks for reading!  I guess we'll have to cover bikini chainmail next time.

One May Ask, "What is D&D?"

        The book pictured below was my introduction to Dungeons & Dragons a long time ago, though I had played some role playing games before.  Any such book will detail the basics of role playing, but I will clear up some common misconceptions and try to give a brief overview here.  Note: I will write "D&D" for ease, but you could supplant "RPG" in most cases.

        One thing people who have not played D&D before often misunderstand is the very nature of the game.  It is an imaginative collective story-telling game with a set of guidelines.  It is not a competitive game, not even in the way boardgames or table top war games are.

       For D&D the game world is one of high fantasy, think Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Conan the Barbarian, King Arthur.  In every group of people playing D&D there is one leader, storyteller, judge and adjudicator of the game world and the outcomes of the actions of the rest of the players.  This person is called the Dungeon Master (though other games give it a different name).  The players each have a character with both a set of statistics not dissimilar from a video game rpg, mmo, etc.  These statistics and attributes tell the players and DM how your character interacts with the game world through the 'rules'. 
                                    

      For example if you have a high strength attribute, you get bonuses to hit things and lift heavy stuff.  Dice represent elements of chance and difficulty.  The players and Dungeon Master roll dice as prescribed by the rules of the game in order to make the plot of the story less predictable, continuously variable, and suspenseful for all involved.  

         Here is  a brief example of play as one might encounter it at a gaming table:

DM:   As you descend the stone staircase into the darkness, you hear scurrying noises from the bleak stone hallway in front of you.  As your eyes adjust, you can see there is a slight shimmer at the end of a short corridor.  Rats cover the floor in front of you, climbing on top of one another and scurrying about.  (What do you do?)

Player 1:   My character really wants to recover this artifact and isn't scared of a few rats. 

Player 2:  Alright, if you want to go for it,  I got your back.

Player 1:  I light a torch and wave it at the rats.

Player 2:  As he does that my character is going step back onto the stairs, notch and arrow and shoot it at one of the rats.

DM:  Alright, roll your attack to see if you hit the rat.  And I will roll for the rats  to see how they are affected by the fire from the torch. 

(interested parties roll various dice, add various modifiers and bonuses, and the players tell the DM what they rolled.  The DM can choose to keep his/her rolls secret)

DM:  Alright, so one of the rats is skewered on your arrow.   And three run back into a hole you notice now that your torch is lit.  The rest fight over one another to back up from the torch creating a few foot radius around you where there are now no small rodents.  You also see that the shimmer is the lock on a treasure chest at the end of the hallway, which ends in a dead end behind the chest.

Rinse, repeat.

     The other part is the role playing part.  Each player decides for their character what kind of person they are, what kind of adventurer they are, and generally what kind of stuff do they get into.  Are you a Dwarven Fighter using an Axe who has a grudge against the clan that shut down his family's mine?  Are you a young one hundred year old Elven Wizard learning dark secrets that allow you to cast awesome magic spells?  And for any of these characters: How did you come to be involved with the other characters in the group and situation you are in?  In the above example the characters may merely be treasure hunters, but perhaps one is after a powerful artifact they have been hunting down to learn a new spell, or to turn the tide in the ongoing war...

Any questions?

Roll For Initiative!

D20 Lollipop (or 'sucker' if you must)

Thought that would be a good way to start things off.  My name is Josh, affectionately referred to (by myself) as DM Josh when  I am running a group or campaign.  Thus, I have decided to use the same moniker here.

The planned focus of this blog will be discussion, inquiry, and analysis around Dungeons & Dragons on two (and maybe three) fronts:

1.  New and Developing DMs honing our chops (Myself definitely included).

2. Recruiting new players for your group and introducing new players to the game (Girls).

3?.  Looking at how 1. and 2. tie in with the upcoming D&D rule set and the current Play-Test.


If you are wondering who I am and why I am writing this:
      I would classify myself as an Intermediate-Beginner DM.  I am on the path to being an intermediate DM but stuck in the beginner stages.  I hope to explore this at greater length in the future here on this blog.  I played a lot of AD&D Second Edition and some other RPGs in junior high and in high school.  I fell out of the hobby for a long while and got back into it when the guys from www.penny-arcade.com recorded podcasts of them playing Fourth Edition D&D a few years ago.  These are the fourth edition ones.   This is the most up to date D&D podcasts, including Penny Arcade and Scott Kurtz playing with the D&D Next Play Test rules.  If you are interested in these latest soon-to-be rules check out The Official Website, and I also recommend the Live Streamed Wizards (the people who make the game) R&D folks using the new rules to play the classic module, Against the Slave Lords.
     When I did get back into the hobby, I wrangled my girlfriend and two of my old gaming buddies along with their n00b wives to start a group.  We had surprising success getting the girls to play, and I had much more fun than I had had playing with strangers at the game store.  Due to some life changes, such as moving 2000 miles across the country, I have found myself needing new groups a few times.  This is how I really started DM'ing more regularly, in order to actually *have* a group at all.  I have had the opportunity also to introduce a number of people to role playing and D&D throughout this process, with mixed results of course. 

Disclaimer:  I presume anyone reading this will know what role playing games are and how they work, what D&D is, and what DM'ing is.  If you do not, please leave a comment or shoot me a message.  I can respond to you or make the basics the subject of an upcoming post. 


Hope you have managed to swallow the introduction and are looking forward to my first real post!