Agony of the wait

It seems I spend a lot of my life waiting for the rest of my life to happen. That's not to say that I don't do a lot - I lead a pretty active and full life and perhaps that's the reason I notice when I have to wait on things. Often the things I have to wait the longest - not necessarily in actual time - for are the things that seemed like a good or great idea when they got planned just never live up.

So, I got to thinking about making players wait for something - anything - in a game setting. I've decided that's just an asshole thing to do. I've seen people invited to a game and never get to throw a die during the session. I've made players wait for rewards or punishments for their characters, often to pointless or useless effect on the game experience.

Am I condoning instant gratification? HELL NO!!!!! Earning things over the duration is kinda one of the core concepts of gaming. However, I am starting to see the appeal of getting the things you want (not the things you NEED) quickly. Do you need a +5 sword - no, do you need the clues to get you to the next stage of the story - yes.

I'm typing this from my phone as I wait in the CNN Center in Atlanta for my vehicle to return to a drive-able state. So if there are typos and no interesting graphics, sorry.

Rant on the wall of text

Yes, I know this is totally unrelated to gaming, but I've been busy with classwork and moving and taking care of my parents and other more personal stuff - deal.


Part of the aspect of my classes is to respond to online discussion forums.  Not a difficult thing to do and not a difficult thing to format properly, especially for people who are working on a Master's degree.  Or so I thought...


I would guess that at least half of the responses are walls of test, usually 15-20 lines long and 130-150 characters across.  There is usually punctuation and capitalization, but these people do not know how to hit a return key that helps organize their thoughts into coherent groupings.  I've seen and used the term "verbal diarrhea", but I don't think this qualifies, wall of text qualifies, but doesn't exactly convey the concept of so many ideas forced into one response block.


So I'm coining the term "wotwork" - Wall Of Text WithOut Return Key.  I'm not sure if it will catch on, but hey, maybe it will and I'll at least be sorta not famous.

The Mundane Random Encounter

Random encounters, the bane of uncoordinated groups, the pain of unprepared GMs.  Many a time has a randomly rolled encounter resulted in a major deviation from the intended goals/plot of a game - perhaps the discovery of an unknown dungeon or the death of an important PC, maybe the introduction of a future BBEG/GBBEG.  Whatever the reason, I've seen too many games fall apart because all random encounters were combat encounters.  -C over at Hack & Slash does a good job of including mundane random encounters in his games, but his games are very sandbox, so there isn't any loss of continuity.

I've been thinking a lot about how to have meaningful mundane random encounters - meeting a farmer, passing a caravan, walking up on a hunting camp.  Typically, these things can be an avenue for providing the players with information - useful or not. That said, I think it's time to take on a project to generate some useful tables that support this intention.

Any suggestions on what format/software/media would be best? I can see it being a very useful app and a functioning table at the same time.

New Game Desires

I'm getting the urge to run a new game.  I'd like to do some sort of space-based game, similar in style/scope to Firefly/Serenity or Cowboy Bebop.  The only system that I've had much experience with for this type of game would be FUDGE, so if anybody has a recommendation for a good rules set that supports this style of play, please let me know.

On a similar and related note, I've been thinking about developing some sort of bastardized OWoD/Earthdawn system with attribute/ability combos affecting a sliding die scale, but I haven't had time to really figure it all out yet.  I want something that will generate interesting dice roll combinations and give players the ability to be creative in how they go about resolving an issue - when they have to resort to rolling dice, instead of rolling a die and looking at their character sheet to find the relevant number.

Running an incursion/invasion campaign

Several years ago Dragon magazine published a series about how to run a Gith invasion of the Prime Material Plane and some of the best games I've ever run or played in had some sort of invasion meta-plot.  But how does one go about effectively running this type of campaign.  The investment is considerable, the risk is great but the reward can be immeasurable.






First, decide what kind of invasion you want to deal with: land, water, dimensional, time, etc.  Next, you need your invading race, why they are invading and who/where specifically they are invading.  Then think about the duration of the invasion and what it's ultimate goal must be.  An invasion for no good reason just doesn't make sense and eventually, your players will catch on that there isn't a real "end-game".  Also consider what factors might change the success or failure - obviously if your players are the heroes, then stopping the invasion is the end, but what else might affect it?  Then consider the level ranges your players will be and what, if any, special gear/items/magic/abilities will be needed, wanted or overpowering.  By that I mean don't have a fire elemental invasion if your players are immune to fire.

So obviously you don't want to have your players completely dominated by the invasion, but you don't want them to easily stop it either.  You have two easy options.  The first is scaled encounters with mixed monsters and monsters with character levels.  Most everybody is doing this now, so it shouldn't be anything new, especially if you are running a 3.X, Pathfinder or 4.X edition game.  The second option is totally on the players to achieve - the ability and willingness to retreat.  Yes, your players need to be able to recognize when to run away so that they live to fight another day.  I have personally had very mixed results with this option, both as a player and as a DM.  The last party I DM'd for was split on retreating with a couple of party members running away and the rest staying and dying, it created some hard feelings and helped lead to a split in the group.  As a player, I never ran from a fight until I played Hackmaster, then we ran on a regular basis, yes, we lost honor and a little loyalty from our henchmen, but we lived and eventually succeeded.

Now you have your invasion type, your invading race, your target area and residents, the speed of the invasion, the goals of the invasion, the incidentals and hopefully a party willing to take on the risk of stopping an invasion, what's left?  Well executing it, adjusting it, changing it, reacting to it and enjoying it.  Just like any campaign, things will have to be modified, tossed out or added, but give it some time and attention and you will really enjoy it.

Anxiety of the New

For the better part of the last 15 years, I've had some sort of a steady gaming group around me. People came and went, group make-up changed, dynamics changed but for the most part, I was always there - part of the decision making team on who to bring in, who to let go, who to teach, who to encourage. Tomorrow night, the table gets flipped and I will be the outsider in an established group - considering my recent move, this is not unexpected.


There is a base anxiety for this change, but there is also concern of how my personality, my play style, my expectations, my experiences will affect an established group. Given the brief conversation I had with the GM, I think the group has a solid base, but with any modification to the status quo, there is cause for caution.


I said all of that to say this, I am extraordinarily excited about the prospect of gaming with a completely new group - people I didn't teach how to play, people who don't have the same "house rules", people who may not have or even know about "hot pizza", people that aren't part of my last 15 years in NWA.


NWA, I'll miss you but HS is my present and my future, and things seem to be looking on the bright side.

Dual Wielding Insults - Hasbro

First, Wizards announces that they can't create a system that is worthy of replacing a previous edition and ask for players assistance.  Now, they have decided to go back to the well of goodness and kindly offer us a rehash of the original, I give you Dungeons and Dragon 1st Edition!!!!!

At least a portion goes to the Gygax Foundation, but I just have to wonder if Gygax would actually want them to so blatantly try to profit off of his hard work.  Sadly, if I can find these at one of my *local* shops, I will purchase them as mine have disappeared into the ether of multiple moves.