"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