#i should probably put GURPS on the list too

[sugar-spice-and-everything-dice]

So of the (current) four remaining systems on my "check out" list, here's where we're at:

Genesys - looks cool and I think it would be worth getting even if it's not right for a campaign system switch; found a detailed review that I'm in the process of (re-)reading, but so far I'm intrigued by the mechanics and success/failure thresholds; unfortunately the review also mentions that there aren't many actual tools for making stuff, it's focused more on rules and aesthetic and then goes "the GM can make up the other stuff"

Cypher - haven't found a ton of info on it, and mostly only in the context of Numenéra, but I'm leaning away from it based on what I have found; it seems too simple and maybe I need to watch some actual play for it or something, but I'm not fully on board with it (yet)

Pathfinder 2e - this has been on and off the list a few times; frequently-recommended as better than dnd 5e, but also seems very close in concept and I'm not sure if that's really what I want; I have also heard that it is either less crunchy or more crunchy than dnd so. hm. what's the truth

ICON - saw a post on this a few hours ago and was intrigued; haven't looked into it at all yet but the post was convincing enough (and had a link, thank god); seems like it's still in the playtest stage at this point? it's still fantasy genre, but has a detailed RP system separate from its (also-detailed) combat system, so at the very least it could have some good stuff for a franken-system...

Obviously I am still open to suggestions for a system that fits a long-term, high-magic, low(ish)-combat, science-fantasy homebrew campaign, if anyone's got them.

Sidenote: I feel like (of the ones I've looked into) ttrpg design tends to see "customizable" or "flexible" and goes "oh, then we'll leave it vague and up to the GM to decide what they want" when that's. not really it? I don't want abstraction, I want a toolset. Give me options of things that will fit into this system and let me build from there. I want Legos, not clay.

[sepiadice]

Tales of Genius Ch. 1: Mystery in North Fort

(8/5/2018)

Thus I return to the Game Master’s screen, bearing a shirt that labels me of such![1]

Which is good, because there’s going to be no further updates with the Fallen Island D&D campaign. It’s, in theory, still running, but I found myself waiting for an excuse to get out, so I decided it’s healthier to just silently leave.[2]

As previously mentioned, I ran a short GURPS session with the Dungeon Fantasy Box set (and its I smell a Rat module), after which the group and I had a nice long talk and it was decided it was best not to return. Still have nostalgia looking through the revised third edition rule book, but it’s not a good fit for me or my players.[3] Too granular.

Which brings us to Genesys, a system I discovered relatively recently. It’s a generic system, has a narrative focus, and was used by a podcast I like and trust![4] Also, it’s not Powered by the Apocalypse or Fate, neither of which I’ve played but I’m just tired of hearing about them.

So, sit down and prepare yourself for the first episode of a SepiaDice Campaign (yet to be named).

CAST:

Eli Roberts: (Played by Lyons) Child of Clio. Doctor, travelling to write an medical text akin to Gray’s Anatomy

Olivia Grayson: (Played by Maddie) Child of Thalia. Apprentice to Eli.

Fromthe: (Played by Jose) Child of Calliope. Military veteran and current mercenary.

(These references to greek muses shall be explained another time)

DATE: WINTER 1911

SETTING: NORTH FORT

The northernmost town of Astree, sitting in The Tines, the mountain range that separates Astree from its northern neighbor Hervarar. North Fort was once a military fortress standing stalwart against the once consistent wars Harvarar inflicted upon Astree. However, a treaty was forged several generations ago putting an end to such conflict. Soldiers were still stationed in North Fort, just in case. Gradually, however, merchants travelled there more, families came to stay, and the fortress grew into a proper town.

It’s during a harsh winter that our story opens.

For there’s been an avalanche, cutting North Fort off from the rest of Astree. The town has been forced to start using their emergency supplies. However, this has revealed a problem.

North Fort’s mayor[5] has summoned three adventurers who happen to be in town for their own reasons.

The mayor lays out the situation: supplies have been going missing, which could spell doom for the town if the rationing keeps being undermined. No one can be above suspicion, which is why the mayor decided to go outside the City Watch. The party arrived after the thefts started (but before the avalanche), hence why the Mayor is choosing to trust them.

Eli accepts while the youthful Olivia and Fromthe distract themselves, possibly with yo-yos.

To help with the investigation, The Mayor supplies the Duty Roster of the guards stationed outside the emergency supply storage (a converted pantry filled with hard tack, potatoes, and probably barrels of water) and agreed to having a town guard meet them at the same location.

The party then immediately ignored this appointment to suspect the general high class and went to question the proprietress of the general goods store, Isabel. Fromthe, who is currently a merchant of undisclosed goods, tried to glean some information, but didn’t get anything new because Fromthe just annoyed Isabel.

The trio reconvene outside, talked in circles for a bit, then decided to ask a traveling merchant at the local tavern, The Public House.[6]

There, Fromthe once again learned it’s a small town without much of an upper class outside The Mayor and the one member of the clergy, both of whom have more social capital than financial wealth.

Finally, Eli takes his subordinates to the store house, where they meet Officier Morty.[7] They investigate the storehouse, and find a logbook with terrible handwriting, which noted Intellect Eli cannot decipher. Olivia could, however.

The logbook showed that initially the vanishing supplies were minor enough to be marked up as a counting error, before gradually becoming more brazen. The only visitors of note were The Mayor, Debra, the local priest, and a few guards.

Next stop: The local church of Polyhymnia!

Once a small, utilitarian chapel for a military base, it’s been renovated and expanded to a full, proper church.

Eli heads in while Olivia decides to scale the side of the building. And falling off. Fromthe catches her, but sprains his ankles, which Olivia fails to heal.  Inside, Eli discovers a detail I forgot to introduce earlier (but I managed to get away with!): townspeople are getting sick, and are coming to Father Brown for advice.

Eli questions the priest, who is quiet and unassuming, and agrees to see a few patients in a side room.  A skilled examination uncovers an unfortunate truth: it’s a mass poisoning with baneroot.[8] Oh no.  Olivia comes in and Eli fixes Fromthe’s ankles, and then sends them out to investigate where the baneroot may have originated.

Olivia, noted druidic sort, walks the streets, but finds nothing in the public places.

Fromthe again goes to The Public House, and finds a travelling plants peddler, who is drunk. The peddler reveals that, yes, he’s sold some baneroot (it’s got a pretty enough flower), but not to whom.

Then the plant seller passes out drunk, and Fromthe and Olivia grab his ledger and jot down notes.  While it does reveal a list of customers, the peddler has segregated the stock count from who bought what. However, a certain priest is included.

Meanwhile, Eli continues to question the sick. Seems that those regularly attending church haven’t gotten sick, and those who started attending after getting sick started getting better.[9]

After the party meets back up and compares notes, they go to the Mayor with their suspicions in regards to the poisoning.

The Mayor isn’t very excited, since he doesn’t really want to accuse such a prominent community member without firm evidence. Also, he hired the adventurers to find out who’s stealing supplies. Also, maybe tell the Guard Captain about crimes?

Now reminded of their job,[10] the party goes to question Debra to see if she knows if The Mayor might be the thief. Specifically, Fromthe is pushed to question her.

Since The Mayor hired them and Debra is likewise innocent, I handed the secretary to Lyons to role-play.[11] It gets awkward and I needed to feed the lack of information, but it was a pretty good exercise.

If your players are up for it, GMs should give them NPCs to play. It’s a good way to keep them engaged in scenes without their characters, and Genesys in particular handles it well since motivation can easily be determined by the social skill rolls, and information is easy enough to feed.

Now having progressed a little on the thefts, the party returns to the poisonings, choosing to just confront Father Brown themselves.  Not wanting to cause a scene, the party discreetly takes Father Brown into the side room to accuse him.  Father Brown attacks with magic. Eli and Fromthe take point while Olivia flees to do other things.

Because it was getting pretty late, I went ahead and ran combat until all three players got to use the combat mechanics (since the main goal was to test the system).

Olivia’s turn was breaking into Father Brown’s room and finding the poison and antidote plants growing, as well as the stolen supplies. It all comes together!

Now shot a little and seeing he’s outmatched, Father Brown is arrested and confesses. He’s a clergyman in a faraway town, and thus has little chance at promotion, so he had hoped to fake a miracle to increase his standing.

Mystery solved! Our heroes are awarded double rations, and all is well.

Except, the only way to the rest of Astree is still blocked by avalanche wreckage, and supplies are running low and are lightly poisoned.

But that’s a problem for another time.

In the end, the players claim to have had fun, and I didn’t feel like I was in a panic attack the whole time, so it was successful. Plus, the system was well regarded (even if we still need to get used to advantages and threats). I’m not ready to move onto the podcast phase myself, and I’m hoping to getting a little more character depth from the PCs, so I’ll just have to keep Game Mastering.

Until next time, may the dice make things interesting!

[1] Actual shirt I have now. It’s neat! [2] Basically, the DM officially lost all my good faith due to external matters, and I no longer wish to humor him. [3] Plus I’ve become disenchanted with Steve Jackson Games. Too much reliance on the Munchkin cash cow, too little support for GURPS and other games, and their use of Kickstarter needs to be discouraged. [4] Well, Campaign uses the Star Wars RPG system, but Genesys is that broadened. [5] Who I don’t think got named. The party named his secretary Debra, though. [6] North Fort are not noted for their inventive naming conventions. Practical people. [7] Named such because Lyons and I inexplicably opened the conversation with spineless voices. He switched when I named the guard. [8] Which I’m hoping is a fictitious plant, for my purposes. [9] This is something I should’ve been more on the ball with, and I should’ve done a better job intertwining the illness into the narrative earlier. [10] To be fair, it’s the same conspiracy, but they failed to connect them yet. [11] He likes playing flirty women.

[prahlrus]

dnd feelings

i’m going to talk about my dnd feelings at some length until perhaps it will become clear why i’m working on the dnd homebrew project that i am.

this post has become extremely long, so i’m hiding most of it below.

on 4/20 (no relation) of 2016, i tweeted, apropo of encountering The Fantasy Trip for the first time: 

i think The Fantasy Trip is more or less the game i imagined DnD was before i ever actually encountered its rules

before i explain that, let me give a little bit of context.

context: TFT was the ultimate precursor to GURPS, the tabletop rpg that loomed large over my high school years and still occupies a place in my heart. if you want to read more about it, here’s a dedicated fansite and here’s a review by a longtime player.

personal context: my first edition of dnd was 3E, and when i opened the book i remember seeing that first chapter on abilities and thinking to myself “oh, that makes sense, the game probably has some set of mechanical abilities that represent the different things different characters can do and the game is about combining those in different ways to make the character you want.” then i read about how, in dnd, ‘ability’ meant ‘ability scores,’ of which there were only six and everyone had them.

in contrast, when i, fifteen years later, opened TFT, i was confronted by exactly that: a set of completely modular mechanics that characters can have, and a very minimal set of rules for combining them. it was a moment of great healing.

dnd 3E did actually what i expected it to have, in the end, but the modular mechanical abilities were spread throughout different parts of the system, their largest concentration as feats and spells, but also attached to different races and classes. however, the non-modular class-level-based mechanics were the beating heart of most dnd characters (on a continuum, of course, from the least module-friendly barbarian up through the specialist classes into the terrifying bonus feat engine that was the 3E fighter and summiting in the endlessly variable wizard) and i felt, although i don’t think i was able to put words to this feeling until i got into GURPS years later, that dnd was too rigid and inflexible in the kinds of characters it allows you to make.

now, there are a couple of good reasons why a game would be very rigid about how it allows you to combine its mechanics:

some of those mechanics might combine in balance-upsetting ways. in particular, dnd (and its imitators) are cautious to keep the best combat defenses and durability separate from the best offensive abilities. see, for example: restricting spellcasters from wearing armor and penalizing barbarians and monks who do so.

allowing players to choose any arbitrary collection of abilities leads to a kind of combinatorial explosion in character builds and can be paralyzing to non-obsessive players. this creates a huge burden of knowledge, which only grows as more content is added to the game.

the second of these seems like it became a failure point for 3.5E after a while. even though the design of the game was supposed to front-load the largest choices about your character, the gradual multiplication of race, class, prestige class, feat and spell options (to say nothing of magic items!) increased the burden of knowledge to an unmanageable level. 

of course, it was still a playable game and people were welcome to filter out the parts they didn’t like or the books they didn’t know that well, but what become core pieces of the game wound up spread over altogether too many books (for example, the tiefling race in Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and the warlock in Complete Arcane). in 4E, i think the intention was to limit this by basically making all character builds basically palette swaps of the fighter/rogue/wizard/cleric quartet. as far as i’m concerned, that fell flat because the preposterous, somewhat broken variety of 3.5E was actually core to the appeal.

now, a person might read the above and think that i would hate 5E because it does exactly the things that i was upset at 3E for doing: 5E takes its pool of modular mechanics and packages them up in classes and subclasses. sure, there are character backgrounds (honestly, an extremely good addition, although i don’t think i’m thrilled with the execution) and a small pool of feats, but the mechanical bulk of character creation is bundled up in your choice of race, class and subclass. certain classes (especially dedicating spellcasters) and subclasses (battle master, the elemental monk tradition) let you dial up the complexity ceiling, but the floor remains low.

it might be that i’ve mellowed in my old age or that i’ve seen how some of my non-dnd-playing friends were able to easily get into 5E, but i really sympathize with the design decisions. the designers have two objectives in a character creation system: giving characters cool powers and not overwhelming players with options. the class/subclass structure is a good way to limit the explosion of choices and make a more accessible game.

it also makes a game that’s strictly linear in its expansion. 

ever new subclass added to the game adds exactly that: one subclass. a new spell might add a little more complexity, if it’s available to multiple caster classes, but in general each new thing adds only itself to the game, not itself plus a thousand possibilities of combination.

aside: i definitely don’t love the kitchen sink of 3.5E with all its expansions. not enough designers set about to design replacements for core material, and too many design supplements to it. although i never owned it, i really like the “variant players’ handbook” idea of Arcana Unearthed/Evolved. imo, every book that introduced new races or core classes should have offered the suggestion of what races or classes to remove from the game if you were including the new ones.

anyway, here’s the line of design thinking it led me down:

what if the subclasses were another layer, like backgrounds are, that gets chosen independently of class?

there’d need to be some way to make sure that classes with different core mechanics (like fighters and wizards) get different mechanics from the “same” subclass.

each mechanic should still be as modular as possible. The restrictions on who can have it should be at the level of the module, not the level of the ‘subclass.’

the ‘subclasses’ will be themed lists of features (which can have prerequisites) and spells, that characters can choose from as they gain levels.

in my original sketch, the related ‘wild’ classes (barbarian, druid, ranger) could be created by applying a ‘wild’ theme to the prototypical classes of fighter, magic-user and specialist, respectively. for this not to feel as flat as dnd 4e, the themes would need to have significant differences in the kinds of mechanics they offered. for this not to feel as overwhelming as 3E, each theme would have to be well-focused.

the state of the project now is that i’m replacing both alignment (because i never liked the dnd alignments too much in the first place) and subclasses as these ‘themes,’ which i’m calling ‘alignments.’ one alignment, for example, is based on order and protection. its spell list  largely overlaps with the cleric spell list, and its features are mostly defensive and healing mechanics. a magic-user in this theme might be able to become fairly tank-y, but they wouldn’t have the damage output of magic-users in the other themes, that don’t have the same sorts of straight survivability features.

anyway that’s the extremely involved homebrew dnd project i’m working on right now:

design the three template classes that will be themed by choosing an alignment.

draw up a list of mechanics i want to be modular

assign them and the list of spells to my custom set of alignments

i have designed the template classes and listed 220 different features (feats). there are five different alignments, each of which has access to 58 feats. 20 are more generic and open to characters of any alignment.

i still have to write full rules text for the feats and probably design 10-20 new spells to fill out a couple of the lists. but i’d say that i am actually very close to having a playable total rebuild of dnd 5e?

go me, i guess.

[swipestream]

When It’s Not Fun Anymore

I’ve hit a rut recently where a few bad experiences have soured me on role playing games. I’m still in love with the various card/board/dice games that I play at random with friends. However, I’m starting to dread cracking open the dice bag, whipping out my character sheet, and reading through the rule books for the RPGs. This put me on the trail to think about what I could possible do to inject more fun into the gaming experience.

Hit a Convention

 Conventions are always a change of pace from your regularly scheduled games. 

Conventions are always a change of pace from your regularly scheduled games. You’re going to game with new people, experience new styles, and find a new game to fall in love with. I highly recommend signing up for sessions involving a game system you’ve never played before or are slightly familiar with. This will really shake things up, and you might find a new game to fall in love with. Sometimes, being disgruntled with RPGs isn’t RPGs themselves, but the fact that you’re doing the “same old, same old” week after week.

You may also find new people that are local to your gaming group that can be invited into the group to shake things up. Fresh blood and new ideas are a great way to get out of that rut of running or playing the same style of games, even if the game mechanics don’t change.

Play Something Old

 It could be a one-shot or even a brief adventure that takes a few sessions. 

If you’ve been gaming long enough, there is at least one game (if not dozens of games) that you’ve fallen in love with in the past. Drag one of them off the back of the shelves, dust it off, refresh your memory of the rules, and fire up a new game with one of them. This doesn’t have to be a giant commitment of a multi-month campaign. It could be a one-shot or even a brief adventure that takes a few sessions. You’ll find new ideas, fresh takes, and a renewed sense of adventure with the old game. If you don’t own the game anymore, then it might be available as a PDF on one of the many online retailers of role playing game PDFs. I also highly recommend Noble Knight for finding out-of-print gaming materials. Many FLGSs have used RPG sections as well.

Play Something New

Speaking of an FLGS . . . head into your local shop and peruse games you don’t already own/play. Find one. Buy it. Play it with your group. If you’re not sure what to pick up, then talk to the shop employees. My FLGS, Gamer’s Haven, has a great staff with a wide variety of perspectives and high levels of experience in all things gaming. I’m lucky to have that. I hope you’re as lucky as I am. Tell the staff (in brief) what you’ve been playing and ask them for something that’s slightly (or drastically) different. They should be able to point you in the right direction.

Granted, in this situation, you’ll probably land in the GM’s chair and in a position to teach the game to your group. That’s fine. I have an article here on Gnome Stew about how to go about teaching a new system to a set of players. Yes, it will be more work than playing your regular game, but the payoff can be worth it to get you out of a rut.

Change Genres

 Don’t drag too many genres into the game. 

If you’re playing a “generic” rule system (GURPS, Hero System, Fate, Savage Worlds, etc.), and you’ve been solidly in the “high fantasy” genre, then maybe it’s time to talk about dropping some cyberpunk action into your group. Maybe superheroes? What about urban fantasy, space opera, or weird westerns? You’ll be amazed at how a simple shift in genre can reignite the imagination and drop you back into enjoying the game.

I can also recommend mixing genres up (weird western with cybernetics and a horror theme anyone?) to really put you in a new mindset for gaming. A word of warning, though. Don’t drag too many genres into the game. It’ll be confusing, disjointing, give the players and GM too much to keep track of, and could unbalance the game as a player finds that “just right combo” of cybernetics, magic, the enchanted Colt Peacekeeper on his hip, and an android horse that allows amazing leaps over dry gullies.

Change Seats

If you’ve been the GM for a long time, maybe it’s time for you to be a player. Simplifying your game down to keeping track of a single character and her abilities can be amazingly refreshing. Honestly, it is quite a bit of work to prep for the game, build the world, track the NPCs, set up fair encounters, generate treasure, reward the players . . . and so on. Sometimes it’s exhausting, and this can lead to being disgruntled with the whole prospect of playing RPGs. Shifting to a chair that’s not behind the screen can be amazing. Just moving over one chair around the table makes all the difference in the world.

If you’re a player and aren’t challenged by what’s going on in the game, maybe it’s time to up your skills, step behind the screen, and take on the laundry list of things (and more) that I outlined above. I’m a firm believer that everyone should GM at least one adventure. It provides for new perspectives (and respect for fellow GMs), and can really entice a person who is stoutly “only a player” to open up their mind and check out gaming from a new angle.

Play Non-RPGs

If you’re tired of the role playing game experience, maybe it’s time to check out some card/board/dice games. This can be with your current gaming group if they agree to shelve the RPGs for a few sessions, but it can also mean you step away from your group for a while to see what random games you can find to play with random people in the back room of your FLGS. Most role players that I know also have a wide and expansive collection of non-RPGs on their shelves as well. Drag one of those out and spend a while relaxing with a variety of tabletop games.

Take a Break

 Just step away from gaming for a month or two. 

Another option, and one of the more extreme ones, is to take a break. Just step away from gaming for a month or two. I’ve done this a few times, and when I found myself missing it, I contacted my old group and asked them if they still had a seat for me at the table. I found that the time away to collect my thoughts, regroup, gather more energy for gaming, and just relax was amazing. I came back to the table as a better player and enjoyed the game more.

Change Groups

 If you’re not able to find an existing group, then start your own! 

This is probably the most extreme option here, but if the group you’re in isn’t filling your needs in gaming, or you don’t quite fit in (either socially or in play style), then this is time for you to step away from the current group and go find a new group. Searching online is one approach, but I love hitting the cork board at the FLGS and seeing what kind of gaming shenanigans I can get into with a fresh group of people.

If you’re not able to find an existing group, then start your own! If you live in a decent-sized city, I’m sure there are orphaned gamers out there that are in need of a group as badly as you are. Just throw up a notice on an FLGSs cork board and let folks know you’re looking for players for a certain game style or a particular game.

When I first moved to Colorado Springs almost 20 years ago, I found a gaming store right away. Before I’d even unpacked the last box in my new apartment, I had found a freshly-started gaming group for Vampire: The Masquerade. I’m happy to report that I’m still friends with two folks from that group to this day.

I do want to throw out a word of warning, though. Not all encounters with random people from a notice on a cork board will go as well as mine have. Do an initial “meet ‘n’ greet” at a public location to get a feel for the person. This is especially true if you plan on hosting the game in your home. Just use some caution and common sense. Most gamers I’ve met are great, upstanding, and perfectly good people. However, “most” does not equal “all.”

Wrap-Up

I’m certain many of you out there have fallen out of love with gaming at some point in your gaming career. What have you done to return to the hobby? I’d love to see what other advice is out there for finding new ways to enjoy role playing.

When It’s Not Fun Anymore published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames