tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66176777990855493652024-03-19T06:07:49.597+01:00The Disoriented RangerLost in Old School D&D (and other stuff)Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.comBlogger501125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-91788551350975965402024-03-12T16:16:00.000+01:002024-03-12T16:16:19.577+01:00Protect your Gamemasters (and don't call it "fudging")<p><i>November last year I went to check out X. I had heard lots of promissing things about the changes there, and the possibilities that come with them. Gotta say, I'm not disappointed. Already met a couple of interesting people and had some inspiring conversations. As far as you can have that on X ... if you can't get your point across as an aphorism, you might just as well not try. I like it. Anyway. Last big discussion was about "fudging" and how bad it is. I was on no side in this argument as my take is somewhat different. Thought I'd share my thougts here.</i></p><p><i>One more thing: using X I was reminded that there isn't only "right" or "wrong" but that there are many valid truths that might not even be compatible, but nonetheless co-exist. Still lots of bullshit, too, but the reminder that we can be right and not agree was welcome.</i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The first truth about fudging is ...</span></p><p>Every GM worth something is able to pilot a narrative to where they want it to be and without touching the dice. Doing so by "ignoring" die results is something mostly inexperienced GMs will do, and only as a last resort (what kind of last resort will be explored later). The dark truth about this is, then: if your GM wants to do something you'd feel "robbed" about if they'd tell you, they'll have PLENTY of chances to do so before any kind of rolling is involved, even to a degree where you will NEVER be able to get even an idea that it happened.</p><p>Because that's the main thing GMs do: they adjust their games towards the outcome they think appropriate. Always has been like that.</p><p>Even if they are not happy with a die result, it is easy enough to find ways AROUND a result that shifts a narrative away from what is happening. Attack targets are switched, special abilities ignored, NPCs make "dumb" decisions ... The list goes on and on. Rolled a heavy encounter but the group is in no shape to deal with it? Have them rest first, trigger the encounter then. I could go on.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3p36-G9YbdT-cwYE8yCcdRL54a1VurVAx1OLRyaNTPCdilWYkeyK0og4rvxj8QVd_AYc65n7eWRD85qxC_vyUXcpepeMmJFllsHi_LiKZ2F3UyyPQhVlFfi1fklOZPOLgP1nMI7pPSXmwXFhwMaPU5lIrkUdhLFHne937lwM-7yg9DLz9u4dsk1JOJU/s550/its_a_lot_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="438" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3p36-G9YbdT-cwYE8yCcdRL54a1VurVAx1OLRyaNTPCdilWYkeyK0og4rvxj8QVd_AYc65n7eWRD85qxC_vyUXcpepeMmJFllsHi_LiKZ2F3UyyPQhVlFfi1fklOZPOLgP1nMI7pPSXmwXFhwMaPU5lIrkUdhLFHne937lwM-7yg9DLz9u4dsk1JOJU/w370-h464/its_a_lot_01.jpg" width="370" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Admit it, it's a lot ... [<a href="https://i.pinimg.com/474x/9d/ff/a5/9dffa5e8e9fc449f38426848900beaf7.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>But is that already fudging? Some people seem to believe so.<br /></p><p>My point is, part of the game is trusting the GM to make the right call most of the time while being able to adjust all elements towards a good game that might go sideways. Most games even explicity state so: the GM is the arbiter of the rules, in ALL ASPECTS. That includes, imo, the dice, and it is not arbitrarily so, or to do "harm" to the players, but to ensure the integrity of the gaming experience.</p><p>There are now those who will say that a GM deciding a roll is "wrong" and therefor can be ignored, "fudges" in the sense of the word because the rules used that led to the roll are ignored, and players playing by those rules are, therefor, cheated out of a legit result.</p><p>Well, let me tell you a little something about game design, then. <br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Because games are machines, too ... </span><br /></p><p>... and machines can go wrong, every now and then. What I'm saying is, there is no role-playing game out there that addresses all possible scenarios, including those it was written for. Add adventures and splatbooks and different authors, even lack of playtesting, and you'll get a collection of rules that will fail a group every so often, IF not a GM steps in to adjust towards the intention of the game. Towards its ideal (or gestalt?).<br /></p><p>Mostly it is little things that need adjusting. That's an important part of it for ALL role-playing games, because it is important to realize that GMs need to find consistent ways to play a game WAY before they even introduce "house rules". And for a plethora of reasons, too, like when rules are not well written or clear enough in aspects.</p><p>The oldest role-playing games we know are great examples of that. We are, to this day, exploring the intricacies of what OD&D means or how it is played. I'd say it is important to find common ground like that, even if it takes decades to get there. That said, role-playing games are little machines used by individual GMs, and both of them need to click to find their unique version of that game, again, towards the ideal the game proposes.</p><p>Switch between groups playing the same game, and you'll find those nuances of interpretations even among those who play RAW. In a sense, GMs are necessary elements of games, just like a driver is a crucial part of a car (again with the car analogy ...). <br /></p><p>I'm a great proponent of writing rules in a way that allows those using them the same experience they'd have when the designer is GMing it. Actually quite difficult to achieve, believe it or not, and not done often enough. Even if done properly, the amount of playing a new game needs before a GM can achieve mastery of that game, especially if it is more on the "crunchy" side (say, AD&D is a good amount of crunch many would already shun nowadays), is hours upon hours of play-time and preparation. <br /></p><p>What it takes, then, is a series of lessions that is bound to be riddled with misunderstandings and mistakes and short term adjustments, just for playing the game while learning it. At some point all playing in a group will be content with how they play the game (or rather, how they interact with the game).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80BnHIRQ4iY386pV9OpG1H3EGhvQfAi99S9bkLjltiJqUZgciaSCV5Rr2q24TFNhC56mWFlBEKCCUlz-g-nRaB7nej_dDTegoipXxXAmtrGqlTaTeWTgPFDMjZjkcQWr-2BH5C3JZ79DtMniqtadd7mzikcVOAxIxCiEn_jl0fOaU-N7iVHcClSYMKlc/s939/very_unfortunate_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="939" data-original-width="471" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80BnHIRQ4iY386pV9OpG1H3EGhvQfAi99S9bkLjltiJqUZgciaSCV5Rr2q24TFNhC56mWFlBEKCCUlz-g-nRaB7nej_dDTegoipXxXAmtrGqlTaTeWTgPFDMjZjkcQWr-2BH5C3JZ79DtMniqtadd7mzikcVOAxIxCiEn_jl0fOaU-N7iVHcClSYMKlc/w223-h443/very_unfortunate_01.png" width="223" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All part of the learning process. [<a href="https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/a33KGWr_700bwp.webp" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>And then you get an errata that changes some of the assumptions you had to work with, or even a new edition that actually expands on the established! What I'm saying is, playing a role-playing game is always a work in progress, even for those who wrote it.</p><p>Which begs the question: what game are people playing, then? And where does the "cheating" in this process start? Is it even legitimite to call it "fudging" or "cheating" if one where to look honestly at what GMs are doing?<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The second truth about fudging ...</span></p><p>One thing you'll experience on X is that ALL issues end up being argued along a binary of extremes, even if the issue is not easily divided into just two sides. I feel that is the case here, too, because while one side took umbrage in the idea that a GM might adjust die results and called that "fudging" or even "cheating", the other side claimed it is necessary for "the story" to "fudge" occasionally. For instance to save a PC from death.</p><p>And all of a sudden, it was "storygamers" versus "role-players" ... or something along those lines. With the problem framed like that, a proper discussion ended up being impossible and what was left was taking sides.</p><p>BUT those are NOT true opposites. Although they understand how they play the game very differently and like to fight over how to play "properly". So a fight it was.<br /></p><p>Anyway, the thing is that the original game already relied A LOT on people filling the gaps they found. And it was a game full of gaps, which is easily enough proven, since no one group played like the other, so diverse had the different interpretations been (Gygax, arguably, had to write AD&D to have his interpretation of what they had published originally, canonized). </p><p>In many cases that made additional rules necessary, in other cases gaps had filled easily with, well, narrative tools. I think the original game was seen as a guideline of <i>what</i> to play, not a set of rules <i>how</i> to play, if that makes any sense. What I mean is, D&D is (was?) an idea of a game for and foremost, and that ideal is ABOVE the rules. The source, if you will.<br /></p><p>In a sense we never stopped exploring what that first pitch proposed 50 years ago actually means, as far as rules are concerned as well as all social aspects of it and how all of that interacts.</p><p>So the "fudging" both sides are talking about is, more often than not, the clumsy attempt to work towards that ideal. I firmly believe that. And while one side sees more the mechanical aspect of the game as dominant (hence the umbrage), it's the other side that is too far into the narrative aspects of the game to see any issue.</p><p>Both sides aim for an ideal of a game that the other side doesn't play while ignoring that both ideals are variants of a more removed, a pure ideal of the game. And they all adjust the rules one way or another down the line, just with different preferences.</p><p>In summary I'd say that people often confuse WHAT they are playing (role-playing games) with HOW they are playing (the specific set of rules and customs they are using). The one is a meta, if you will, of what the game can be, the other is an attempt towards that ideal in form of a set of rules. If you GMed more than one game in your life, you know you bring that meta to other games.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The "meta" isn't a moving target ...</span></p><p>All right, I think that last point needs some clarification. What's the "meta" or "ideal" or "gestalt" of role-playing games? And how are those two positions not opposites?! In order to answer both, we'd have to answer what lightning actually was in that bottle that is the original game. That's not as easy to pin down as one would think, and maybe something a game designer may have a very different perspective on than most others would.</p><p>First of all, if you see D&D as a cultural phenomenon, you'll find very quickly that while D&D was the focus of the hype, it wasn't really about D&D at all. D&D was the entry point to be part of something that went beyond what people knew about games and gaming. And by a huge margin, too.</p><p>Remember, no computers to speak of yet, war games had been the pinnacle of complexity as far as board games went but had also been VERY fringe, and beyond that you got some classics (chess, monopoly and so on) and some simple games and toys. Compared to that, D&D was a quantum leap. <br /></p><p>But towards what?</p><p>Primarily I see two strong basic tenets, the first big one being EXPLORATION with a hint of danger (the UNKNOWN and CHANCE), the second one being the promise of GROWTH (gathering EXPERIENCE and KNOWLEDGE). There are a couple of secondary tenets as well, mostly things put in place to enhance the primary ones, chief among them would be having a guide, of sorts, that evaluates your progress (the GM) AND a group of mutuals that alternate between witnessing and playing.</p><p>A third important aspect attached to the original premise would be that it happens by way of cooperative storytelling (in the most basic sense).</p><p>And there you have it, the secret sauce that make rpg tick and spawned several billion dollar industries. A bit of gambling, some school-of-life type of learning and a bit of cooperative campfire storytelling in a structured and controlled small group setting. D&D hit the Zeitgeist right on the nerve with its proposal and it would weave its magic through a complete culture for decades to follow.</p><p>It is the "what" I was talking about.</p><p>The "how", now, are the different expressions that can have. All play around with the dials outlined above, and we saw several surges of innovation in the last 50 years (how about exploring desires? ... Vampire:TM), as well as some setbacks (arguably corporate culture aiming to make role-playing games costly theme park experiences) and some experiments (games without an element of chance, solo rpgs ...).<br /></p><p>All of it is fair game, of course, and all of it helped the hobby to nail that higher ideal, BUT we are not yet done doing so. As a matter of fact, we might not live to see that happen.</p><p>Think about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess" target="_blank">Chess</a>, for instance, a game already over 500 of years old (older if you take precursers into account). You know when the last revision of the rules we know had been? 2023.</p><p>2023!</p><p>So it's STILL discussed what the "true" gestalt of that game is. But Chess can show you another thing, too: at some point a version gained popularity that appeared to be superiour to all other variants. It's a bit of a transfer to imagine the same for rol-playing games in general, but for D&D it is very much possible ... just not yet done.</p><p>Because, although it seems to be pretty easy to pin down an agreeable version of the basic rules, scope, best practice and GM advice are very much still a matter of discourse.<br /></p><p>That is to say, all those "how to"s capture aspects of the "what", but not entirely so. And that's important to acknowledge, because (and here we go full circle) all honest attempts carry a piece of the truth and are, therefor, not wrong within their confines. Or rather, arguing one case does not negate the other because both might be true. <br /></p><p>In that sense, where a GM "adjusts" in a game and to what degree is entirely up to individual compromise. Higher degrees of compromise are usually not possible, but may occur within certain groups of games. A "final truth" or a "one true way" has not yet been found.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">It's not "fudging", then?</span><br /></p><p>"Fudging" is, as far as I'm concerned, a misnomer for what it aims to describe in the context of the work a GM does to make the game happen. There are, for sure, examples of bad practice among GMs out there, but I think all can agree that Gamemasters who actually "cheat" (which would be abusing the rules to achieve something that has nothing to do with the game) should NOT GM a game.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYXhow-AMSxeoohw7rCAZW2b4r9lMRp3L6MthlqiTqKAA8sBA1WWIcwpnglj6QjN_aUbfsTEie1ue-83MJYcJftJfuthbbp9nadyqs91R3UdD_pY226Upx0n4ALqhDgBEeMjfWYNWxuHXbbpSzwcNMD3JN52ogCtY1XQEVAvbXyEii0mnhThOXjntMfkQ/s259/thats_cheating_you_01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYXhow-AMSxeoohw7rCAZW2b4r9lMRp3L6MthlqiTqKAA8sBA1WWIcwpnglj6QjN_aUbfsTEie1ue-83MJYcJftJfuthbbp9nadyqs91R3UdD_pY226Upx0n4ALqhDgBEeMjfWYNWxuHXbbpSzwcNMD3JN52ogCtY1XQEVAvbXyEii0mnhThOXjntMfkQ/w350-h262/thats_cheating_you_01.jpeg" width="350" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't abuse the game for ill goals ... [<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTKAzkSOBaDOwyM3u86Rqn8aaRPc5sZr8Ft8rO2BG9IooExzpgx_jECQsWhKnScQqtsvxA&usqp=CAU" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Other than that, all I see is that it is within the broader idea of what a GM can do or should be able to do, sometimes maybe even HAS to do. Experienced GMs will not even bother with the dice but easily work around any result they might get but not like. Beyond that, if players are bothered by it and want to take the dice as they come, well, that's one way of playing it. Just not <i>the</i> way of playing it. <br /></p><p>The whole notion of calling it fudging already implies something fishy is done on the sly, so I wouldn't go and apply it to anything a GM does in the game to begin with. A GM should have the best of the group at heart. Always. And people should agree what that means in their game, of course, but the far more important point is that in order to achieve that, GMs have to work with what they get, which is never perfect.</p><p>Can't be, for all the reasons summoned above. It also is a tough gig to do on the side AND for free (in general). People seem to forget that, too. So when I hear arguments like "he cheated the character out of their death" or whatever, I think, what an ungrateful piece of shit do you need to be to bring that to a table and denigrate the good work done for you?</p><p>Because that's what it is, most of the time, good work and good intentions.</p><p>So I think it'd be a good idea to not call anything a GM does "fudging" or "cheating" as long as they are within the realm of doing their "job". You can still diagree with the solutions a GM finds for the problems a game poses, but it is presumptious that someone got robbed of something because of a difference in taste or approach.</p><p>Just be kind to people, for fuck sake, especially if they take the time of their day to do something for you.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP-zULfr-0r4qxJTjT4qbUIVFtyfkwZ8MHwSS5zKQhpltQEB0OqHRabpNb70ZyrIKG1nAF0j3upxbrsQpLSMBFOq7PGgyK-InR-9LdBe6ya159ZRAPYjXLysoDTHTNqNWAZ1AhTRAapd_KNb1_WVAOAfXDvlqSePVqc359L2cyCNitZGHRW0yXjgyV6FE/s2929/what_its_about_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2929" data-original-width="2929" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP-zULfr-0r4qxJTjT4qbUIVFtyfkwZ8MHwSS5zKQhpltQEB0OqHRabpNb70ZyrIKG1nAF0j3upxbrsQpLSMBFOq7PGgyK-InR-9LdBe6ya159ZRAPYjXLysoDTHTNqNWAZ1AhTRAapd_KNb1_WVAOAfXDvlqSePVqc359L2cyCNitZGHRW0yXjgyV6FE/s320/what_its_about_01.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just be nice ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: large;">My take?</span></p><p>I roll all of it in the open, most of the time (there are games with mechanics that make it necessary for a GM to withold the result, however). I also don't need to adjust dice rolls, as I think it is a nice challenge to weave results into the game I don't "like". GMs are players, too, you know. But I'm ALSO doing this for over 30 years now, and it was a long road to get to where I'm right now with it.</p><p>Unexperienced me, decades ago, in my teens, maybe even early 20s ... I might have taken a liberty or two with the results every now and then. In ALL those cases, swear to god, it was because I thought I saw a better outcome by ignoring a result. It's, imo, all part of the process of getting this role of being a GM done properly and finding your own voice.</p><p>You can't tell me there's anything wrong with that.</p><p>There's also the somewhat prevalent idea of "role-playing as sports" that NEEDS consistency in the rules to the degree you'd expect with war games or games like Chess. It is problematic, as you can see outlined above (no rpg is THAT well written, to my knowledge), but that would (again) cook down to something a table agrees on, not a general "truth" or a way of playing that'd protect players from the system failing them at the fringes.<br /></p><p>Beyond that I see with concern how our perception what the game is shifted a fair bit away from the idea that the GM is the head honcho at their table, undermining their authority constantly, reducing them to being mere entertainers in the long run.</p><p>I don't play that way, and I don't write games for people like that, but I see the opinions behind those shifts permeating through all the discussions. But that and "player conduct" (or lack thereof) may be isues for another post.<br /></p><p>In the end, if someone plays the game differenty, ask them how they made that work for their group and what's fun about it, instead of going on a crusade. Maybe you'll learn something about how you play and why in the process. Everybody wins that way.</p><p>Let's close with my favorite Bob Ross D&D meme, shall we?</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4faLldNLbuWqur13HjsNGXoohnQNpt9g9dJicVQunDRikOb06QTNZlg8FKrVQKgTzqxzaLIIhhX7ziKvLmJHwtfPnC5tvpy5pEftqcHh-rFmuuxPo3k83OlIQ4dxNzpLXO5tKIvoSAVzhU9vSXKZYGEuXEjO_mv6ZMkLTFZ8nvo5NbSwuwGky6ilLLk0/s300/Bobs_Dungeon_01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4faLldNLbuWqur13HjsNGXoohnQNpt9g9dJicVQunDRikOb06QTNZlg8FKrVQKgTzqxzaLIIhhX7ziKvLmJHwtfPnC5tvpy5pEftqcHh-rFmuuxPo3k83OlIQ4dxNzpLXO5tKIvoSAVzhU9vSXKZYGEuXEjO_mv6ZMkLTFZ8nvo5NbSwuwGky6ilLLk0/w393-h220/Bobs_Dungeon_01.jpeg" width="393" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone needs a friend ... [<a 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" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">-------------------------------------</p><p><a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/471690/Minimus-Ludus" target="_blank">MINIMUS LUDUS</a> by Mark van Vlack is still new on OBS. It is a very lite rules rpg that comes with EIGHT complete worlds to explore and play around with for one shots or even short campaigns. Check it out if you want to support our work here!<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2h-osEwZ4yc6U07edflnCFyBjvcHq7fvObZcGmOyWnpz5sq-1miimNoNy1hNsmZeF_GUV6wlsAb5yGHTe8OtaVFxHvxluXp1gn_KhB3TxCq4K6-1qhgqHR7y17fiDufXZ9-XRwHHX8n1qpNaOzL-juCmN_sTNmG1eFP2iulGVr2qY2r3mZf4maEi7oU/s320/Minimus_Ludus_Cover01.png" width="225" /></div><p style="text-align: center;">-------------------------------------</p><p>I'd like to close this post again with that little mantra I've learned about a
couple of weeks ago, Ho'oponopono (a great article about it can be
found <a href="https://graceandlightness.com/hooponopono-for-forgiveness/" target="_blank">here</a>).
It keeps having a positive impact on my life, and I feel we all need
something like this right now (or always, actually), so here you go:</p><p><i>I'm sorry!</i></p><p><i>Please forgive me.</i></p><p><i>Thank you.</i></p><i>I love you ..</i>. Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-33871117794113180722024-02-22T17:55:00.000+01:002024-02-22T17:55:26.615+01:00Introducing Minimus Ludus to the World (also, 500th post!)<p><i>Hello, friends and neighbors. I hope the year is treating you fine so far! As it happens, I got busy again and managed to get another little game. This time, another first with my little publishing endeavor, a game not written and designed by me, but by my good friend <a href="https://failedgamedesigner.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mark van Vlack</a>. I did editing and layout, eddy Punk added a couple of scenarios ... but I'm getting ahead of myself. Lets talk about it!</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCKV001imQ6aF-A9JfvmujMZNNuCP3HX0EG24bKVb_ZEFBZlct5g3AQGAscHdB8oZl8V0qMsJry0vg296XND9nQe71sVH0W8smF2-iMD6Gu_QfvQDT_URQ4opu9avqNvLm5TDGBcxcvhXftRN-U2uf1rLjZ9aLL3a7JYU_mRDpNAAPwPNnxDZih4vjYI/s1703/Minimus_Ludus_Cover01.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="1200" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCKV001imQ6aF-A9JfvmujMZNNuCP3HX0EG24bKVb_ZEFBZlct5g3AQGAscHdB8oZl8V0qMsJry0vg296XND9nQe71sVH0W8smF2-iMD6Gu_QfvQDT_URQ4opu9avqNvLm5TDGBcxcvhXftRN-U2uf1rLjZ9aLL3a7JYU_mRDpNAAPwPNnxDZih4vjYI/w263-h374/Minimus_Ludus_Cover01.png" width="263" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/471690/Minimus-Ludus" target="_blank">Get it on OBS!</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: large;">A game, written by a friend<br /></span></p><p>Mark is a well seasoned game designer. He's doing it for years now. Decades, even. And it shows whenever he tackles a new project or revises one of his numerous old games, which seems to happen every other month. Thing is, he doesn't really have any interest in getting them published "properly". The odd pdf or PoD here and there, but all very much the "I needed to have this in some form for my own table, so I might as well share it"-kind of approach.</p><p>I love talking games with this guy. Always insightful and seeing something I might have missed in my designs. I think it is fair to say that we inspired each other for several ideas that made their ways into our games here and there. It is that healthy and productive exchange you'd always like to have with your peers.</p><p>Anyway, I've been dabbling with this publishing thingy for some time now, and we've talked a couple of times about me publishing some of his. We did come close once, when I edited and layouted his role-playing game <a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/220764/phase-abandon" target="_blank">Phase Abandon</a>. It is a game you can get for free on OBS right now, if you are interested to find out how this guy ticks. PA is anotehr great game of his I can only recommend. Saw lots of play-testing, too!</p><p>Which leads to another thing: his friends love his games. Check out <a href="https://discord.gg/3HRwzmczFh" target="_blank">his discord</a>, if you don't believe me. <br /></p><p>Anyway, he's a good egg and I'm happy to call him a friend. </p><p><span style="font-size: large;">M</span><span style="font-size: large;">inimus Ludus - All the Worlds, Pocket-Sized!</span></p><p>As for the publishing gig, just the other day he told me that he wrote a very small game for the Bachelor party of one of his friends. The challenge he gave himself was to make it a complete game with no more than 1000 words (I belive ... no more than two pages A5, anyhow). AND HE DID IT!</p><p>If you read this blog, you might be aware that I'm not really into lite role-playing games. Or rather, in how they are marketed in our little niche of the hobby. They take shortcuts by assuming an experienced gamemaster, but often don't own up to it, claiming instead it's "how the game was supposed to be played", which is, on the face of it, bullshit. Of course.</p><p>But they do have their perks, obviously. For one, they are easily expanded on. Preparation, if you know what you are doing, is easy as fuck. Just a couple of pages to read, ready to go soon after. For big groups, or for people with no huge amount of time to play, right on the money. IF the GM knows what he's doing and all you want to do is small one-shots or very short campaigns.</p><p>I saw over the years a couple of games I actually admired for their short and concise approach to role-playing games, <a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/264169/macchiato-monsters" target="_blank">Macchiato Monsters</a> being one of them, for instance. There is an art to writing a short rpg that actually works.</p><p>Minimus Ludus is such a game, in my opinion.</p><p>I'll tell you why, too: The role of the dice in this game is minimal, but not insignificant. It is not so much about how high your roll is (although that factors in, too), but instead about what you can summon as aid to your roll that makes the game click. Those elements you may summon are all narrative in nature, but convey bonuses if applied.</p><p>That means, if you play to the elements of the story and setting you are playing in, it does the two-punch of making the setting come alive AND results in a better result. There's also a meta-currency element to it where GM and players can trade story elements.</p><p>I really like that (maybe for obvious reasons?). So characters come, for instance, with a weakness and the GM can exploit that, but it costs the GM as well to o so, the benefit for the player being, that they get a Token they can burn later for a benefit ... </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhNl5A6sS8J0Yqu7bb72n9RIRObgbwTTQgvGvHPtTMU7fLNCsnNQVzRHXf91uez6Fb2AhDFWEs5Z7FlBqdYWQ4YXFyI3O4vVAMcd5lV3YztQmJcqfCs-YPl-TYZqyMM4LieZDhxQkXNLELS1PpT5Da6yd9A05DXjyclkL7ZTMb_hOpkEUcjVR_qh7T6wc/s1200/ML_CharacterSheet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="851" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhNl5A6sS8J0Yqu7bb72n9RIRObgbwTTQgvGvHPtTMU7fLNCsnNQVzRHXf91uez6Fb2AhDFWEs5Z7FlBqdYWQ4YXFyI3O4vVAMcd5lV3YztQmJcqfCs-YPl-TYZqyMM4LieZDhxQkXNLELS1PpT5Da6yd9A05DXjyclkL7ZTMb_hOpkEUcjVR_qh7T6wc/w284-h400/ML_CharacterSheet.png" width="284" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behold the character sheet!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Another aspect I like is how it is conceptualized to be expanded on by the setting you use it for. There is a very abstract but highly functioning core that is easily altered to fit all kinds of settings. There's even a meta story how all those worlds (or "Pockets", how he calls it) connect.</p><p>The game came with five settings already written by Mark. When we agreed that this will be the first game of his published under my label, Eddy Punk added three takes of his to the fold.</p><p>That's EIGHT SETTINGS out of the gate before you even have to come up with your own (for which the game actually also provides guidelines!). I don't have to tell you: that's a lot of gaming right there, even if you are not into ALL the scenarios.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCqRty3RyP5CtAZzT9C6UX5mGryOHCuXJEqLNi2lDWP2tYQgL7xeyMl0zWEuuRxdlk6y6SSmdmwlVJgC5GdZjU9bYKO-JHdukMuCs_OJ8_GkdGdKDEFkC_CTNiid435c6OY1H522yRJIdequ4xLm-8Vc-Iun0CSRkrTi82VmFbVCkIeZOz7i4v9tNhmh0/s1703/Star_Smashers_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="1200" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCqRty3RyP5CtAZzT9C6UX5mGryOHCuXJEqLNi2lDWP2tYQgL7xeyMl0zWEuuRxdlk6y6SSmdmwlVJgC5GdZjU9bYKO-JHdukMuCs_OJ8_GkdGdKDEFkC_CTNiid435c6OY1H522yRJIdequ4xLm-8Vc-Iun0CSRkrTi82VmFbVCkIeZOz7i4v9tNhmh0/w278-h395/Star_Smashers_01.png" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's not Star Wars. Not at all.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1X6V9aBIGscYmvePftZbNG_kTIf4WDps-JJaaAOuPHxbdrtLO209R_9w1MxM-75uO0mC_-CYIQeb5bKVtSksBV_GrggAzj9lMLe9dtgpW819P4EcbDCp8gC5g-9rV473EmOqVxktwi_4d1gT43T_4vnVhygm5NDARrek2TQIJjnUdkn4anoVs3JmXYqU/s1703/Stranded_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="1200" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1X6V9aBIGscYmvePftZbNG_kTIf4WDps-JJaaAOuPHxbdrtLO209R_9w1MxM-75uO0mC_-CYIQeb5bKVtSksBV_GrggAzj9lMLe9dtgpW819P4EcbDCp8gC5g-9rV473EmOqVxktwi_4d1gT43T_4vnVhygm5NDARrek2TQIJjnUdkn4anoVs3JmXYqU/w301-h429/Stranded_01.png" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lets get lost on an island!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Anyway. We talked about it and agreed, I did editing and layout, and now you can buy Mark and me a coffee by purchasing this on the OBS flavor of your choice.</p><p>In return you will get a fun little game that does a lot of heavy lifting with a very light engine. Something you can take for a spin when there's not enough time to play something a bit more complex.</p><p>I really like it and I'm happy to have this game as part of my portfolio. And I hope you guys will <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/471690/Minimus-Ludus" target="_blank">check it out</a>!</p><p>It will bring you some joy, I'm sure of it.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">What else is new?</span></p><p>With Minimus Ludus out of the gate, the next big project is the pdf for ORWELL ... It needs a couple of small mistakes taken care of as well as bookmarks and hyperlinks, but then the pdf will be ready for public consumption. The PoD gets a little facelift as well, while we are at it.</p><p>While that's happening, I'll keep on writing <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2023/10/would-you-play-that-too-introducing.html" target="_blank">Angry Little Aliens VERSUS King Arthur</a>. That turned out to be a fun project and it's very well doable in the couple of months ... so I'm confident that it will see the light of day soon!</p><p>Other than that? I rediscovered my love for all the small publications out there and want to spend more time with reading what piled up on my desk ... digitally and PoD both. We'll see how far I'll get with that, but if I do so, I will talk about it here on the blog.</p><p>Beyond that ... who knows. There's a little game I plan to write for Halloween this year. That has a very high chance of happening. And there is at least one supplement for ORWELL I can see myself tackling this year, most of all because I love the premise of it (<a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2024/01/would-you-play-that-part-3-introducing.html" target="_blank">read about it here</a>, if you haven't already).</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQxHoXkz0OuYzk6zwUuZbyr6XCSHp-sx5JWasHclaEkeoS5fqrB0JXiNy14twyxsDfrU87fNq-V4Fb_ySfE2tIPKDxfOQgmnqbx5QEQSpqmmqHHBIiYKlMST42GLs0j4CHLeVnVeh1VkXFAcp2Oqwryl1at7JgJnXPMF8tYWLDIU0mPNBiVz3i4As1qs/s2408/Johnny_Says_Cover_Test_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2408" data-original-width="1703" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQxHoXkz0OuYzk6zwUuZbyr6XCSHp-sx5JWasHclaEkeoS5fqrB0JXiNy14twyxsDfrU87fNq-V4Fb_ySfE2tIPKDxfOQgmnqbx5QEQSpqmmqHHBIiYKlMST42GLs0j4CHLeVnVeh1VkXFAcp2Oqwryl1at7JgJnXPMF8tYWLDIU0mPNBiVz3i4As1qs/w302-h428/Johnny_Says_Cover_Test_01.png" width="302" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More on that soon, I guess.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>And then there's also the big projects like <i>Brawlers!</i> and <i>be67</i> that should see some work done this year. I had high hopes to get be67 done in 2024. It's possible, but I wouldn't hold my breath ... On the other hand, the stuff I want to do with be67 doesn't allow for much more delay. It is piling up here and at some point I have to get things done to start new things.<br /></p><p>Also: Lost Songs of the Nibelungs will get some love this year. I already reactivated the old group of play-testers, now I have to sit down and see where that game's at. It would be rad as hell to have that fully conceptualized until the end of the year. I have an idea or two that will be talked about here on the blog as well this year.</p><p>So there is, if I may say so, lots to look forward to here on the blog and as far as publications go. I'll keep pushing, because what else is there to do?</p><p>If you have any ideas what else should happen here on the blog, or even if you are interested in the status of any of th odd things I've talked about here on the last couple of years, feel free to drop a comment! No one ever does, recently.<br /></p><p>Other then that, I'd like to close this post with a little mantra I've learned about a couple of weeks ago, Ho'oponopono (a great article about it can be found <a href="https://graceandlightness.com/hooponopono-for-forgiveness/" target="_blank">here</a>). It really had a positive impact on my life, and I feel we all need something like this right now (or always, actually), so here you go:</p><p><i>I'm sorry!</i></p><p><i>Please forgive me.</i></p><p><i>Thank you.</i></p><p><i>I love you ..</i>. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-54574419749078563402024-01-08T17:45:00.001+01:002024-01-08T17:45:12.995+01:00Addendum on Balance: Players Maketh Balance (or do they?)<p><i>Alright now, I said a lot about what I believe balance to be and how it is all connected in Part 1, and yet I did not convince my good friend Eric that m argument is sound. Sort of. We talked about it afterwards a bit and it baffled the both of us that we could not agree, since we both (seem to) have almost the same idea of what makes a good game. We've tried, we had the same fun. How come we did not see this one the same. I think I found an answer to that, although that might just be another can of worms to open. Lets take a look.</i></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">You want to catch up? Read <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2023/12/revisiting-balance-in-game-design-in.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a></span><a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2023/12/revisiting-balance-in-game-design-in.html" target="_blank"> here</a> and follow the bread crumbs.</p><p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipW8-wNIkcA6oOqm1FLLcD6S4oEuIINSga-BWOon2NbmQ4_XZWB-RKP2gjnariAKqyfw4T34yx9GhE7QXaODSkG2NRCBqdLWgROMrfZ0RTZXPafFazgYSjvDd-m5ncvVGJG9kl_DsYVFrHDENXXzheKwttIe_PHc51hO5pkY58TPks2pnscx1f7WDk3Eo/s1222/Fakir_on_bed_of_nails_Benares_India_1907.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1222" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipW8-wNIkcA6oOqm1FLLcD6S4oEuIINSga-BWOon2NbmQ4_XZWB-RKP2gjnariAKqyfw4T34yx9GhE7QXaODSkG2NRCBqdLWgROMrfZ0RTZXPafFazgYSjvDd-m5ncvVGJG9kl_DsYVFrHDENXXzheKwttIe_PHc51hO5pkY58TPks2pnscx1f7WDk3Eo/w494-h377/Fakir_on_bed_of_nails_Benares_India_1907.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Something about balance ... [<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Fakir_on_bed_of_nails_Benares_India_1907.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">A flawed understanding?</span></p><p>What "balance" is should be the easiest thing to answer. And yet, especially in gaming, there are very different takes on it. But if you take a closer look at the topic, you'll find that while all are talking balance, they seem to do so from very different points of view.</p><p>I know for a fact that a GM will have a different understanding of what "balance" means for him than a game designer will have, with a player being the third element in a game that might also have yet another take on it. What I think I managed to establish was that at least those playing a game should be on the same page in that regard, but gaming culture is not so open in its terminology that you could find a difference, never mind an agreement (if it doesn't happen accidentally).</p><p>The irony is I thought I had understood one of the basic aspects about the whole affair, and yet, it did not even translate to someone like-minded. How can we have so different understandings of balance that we cannot even talk about it? Anyway, we kept talking and it went back and forth a while. Then it hit me: what we are talking are two different understandings of balance, all right. Mine was that a game needs to be balanced to work properly, Eric's was that he did not like it when the game was balanced towards the players, giving them an even challenge every time.</p><p>I do not like that either. We still disagreed, since he assumed that me talking balanced design meant that part was included ... or even the sole purpose of balanced design.</p><p>Really not. Not in my opinion. But how to explain that? What is the fucking difference between a balanced game and a game skewed towards the players? It hit me then that the balance Eric criticized (rightfully so) was a flawed yet popular understanding of "balance". Basically the idea that we need to play our games in tourist mode.</p><p>Let me explain that.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Morrowind versus Oblivion</span></p><p>This is what it comes down to: my understanding of what "balance" means in a game is best explained with what <i>Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind</i> does. The sandbox is balanced and filled with encounters that range all across the spectrum, from very easy to very hard. Quests are mixed in, traveling is an adventure (but there are shortcuts). As a player you have to find a way to make that balance work in your favor.</p><p>The balance players in Morrowind are striving for is the one they can force on the game.</p><p>If you are clever and crafty you can create all kinds of shortcuts and tricks to beat tougher challenges then your level would suggest. I once robbed a powerful elemental blind just by being sneaky and patient. Took a couple of reloads, but I looted that mine he had protected somewhat fierce, gaining material I shouldn't have access to at that point. Ha! It was the kind of fun I'm looking for in a game. Still do.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycrpQSx7qhJrklVNWo05YWoHdkDfJR9bBy0eswP0kZvcnkwEHyiK2bqKfRnrbt8SeJtcYuE8MKNqn2lk-NpTx9mv-esyDozIZe-2ShQ0o0Fsr0pPtSg4i4Rk_nqHEQV5DVegK7kX5oPPncIsIpDO6Fb4nFsjp-i08JN6Y8Fx5xeyrK6TnfxFHjMJuKMA/s474/morrowind.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="474" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycrpQSx7qhJrklVNWo05YWoHdkDfJR9bBy0eswP0kZvcnkwEHyiK2bqKfRnrbt8SeJtcYuE8MKNqn2lk-NpTx9mv-esyDozIZe-2ShQ0o0Fsr0pPtSg4i4Rk_nqHEQV5DVegK7kX5oPPncIsIpDO6Fb4nFsjp-i08JN6Y8Fx5xeyrK6TnfxFHjMJuKMA/w434-h294/morrowind.jpeg" width="434" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Best CRPG. Ever. [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.mA3l5jjMpxsiWj-H0ll0OwHaFB%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=7a9a61b386d456b5824f0b1132313a0e050629af00326021f8a80774ade17e7b&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>You'd die more often, especially when encountering something tough you haven't seen before. But that was all part of the fun, all part of the learning process needed to beat the game. All part of the challenge. <br /></p><p><i>Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion</i>, on the other hand, came out a couple of years later and is also regarded a classic of the genre. Supposed to be great combat, even better storytelling, huge sandbox. And yet, I never touched that game, because the first thing that went public about it was that encounters scale towards the player, like, all the time.</p><p>That seemed wrong to me.<br /></p><p>Because it doesn't matter what you do or where you go, everything that opposes you will be your level. Even the end boss, for that matter! If you puny level one character knows where to go and where to find a sword on the way there, he can go right up to the big end boss and beat up his level one ass ... But you could also play hours and hours of the game, fights being even as they are while you are getting more and more powerful. Better equipment, better weapons and spells. The dressing changes, but you are going through the motions.</p><p>No surprises, no real challenges, just be what you can be on a level, and beat what is opposing you. For at least roughly 30 hours if you do it to have it all touched, but for as much as 184 hours (or so the internet says).</p><p>Either way, seems to me like a HUGE waste of time.</p><p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHWuSGaJwekLMRf-RBwYEW5X0wPrbdhm4uXGLYBNO1ID_rGKf0u0F4Kd8GxL5hxJBWUKn5FvSWQ5P4FMk12KTxy7nbqhhYr3lprdTuaCkKpb_HN4Uj9mwVDBNzetmj1VgKEZANQ-jl2494Px72Liuq4PcenQQeCJ0mm-qZaiXthGnzGek6yyRUkryiHg/s474/Oblivion.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="474" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHWuSGaJwekLMRf-RBwYEW5X0wPrbdhm4uXGLYBNO1ID_rGKf0u0F4Kd8GxL5hxJBWUKn5FvSWQ5P4FMk12KTxy7nbqhhYr3lprdTuaCkKpb_HN4Uj9mwVDBNzetmj1VgKEZANQ-jl2494Px72Liuq4PcenQQeCJ0mm-qZaiXthGnzGek6yyRUkryiHg/s320/Oblivion.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oblivion: a waste of time? [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.q-X91K0IU4sI4Kmi8Hx_hAHaFj%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=789294627d3e0df1e6f4440ebc496c26a564f979033511598e2dd18e88205b1f&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>It is something I see in computer games more and more often nowadays, the time you can waste in those games just to grind levels, or even to go from a to b and harvest and loot all the way through ... you could spend hours driving through Vice City in GTA V, no problem. The game would even throw you a bone every now and then to show that you are "progressing" somehow.</p><p>Blech.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Anyway, there you have it:</p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;">The skewed understanding of balance is to make the players part of that balance instead of challenging them to find and make that balance themselves.</span></blockquote></blockquote><p></p><p>This is neither good nor bad game design, it is <i>dark</i> game design. Ask yourself which games you've played that do this to you. If you ever felt like you've wasted your life playing a game, then it'll most likely be because the game offered no challenge while you went through the motions of playing it. Maybe you experienced a good story, and made you gained some levels, but in the end it is an empty accomplishment.</p><p>I get that there are people out there liking games like that. Oblivion certainly has its fans. I don't have to agree with that, and if you have fun playing games like that, more power to you.</p><p>But don't tell me that those games are "balanced" in a sense that makes a game a game. It might be balanced in the sense a theme park experience is balanced. Keeps you busy enough with the illusion of doing something. Like a joyride ... being completely safe, but you can easily and safely act as if it was dangerous until it is over.</p><p>It might even be fun, but it is very much its own thing, very different to the original understanding of what ttrpg or even computer games are. Which is easily enough seen when looking at modules and the like, because they basically do what Morrowind does: that dragon you encounter will not end up being level 2 just because you are. It will tear you a new one if you go at it weak.</p><p>As it should.</p><p>With games like D&D you'd have to be strategic and clever. You'd have to work together and there always had been that aspect to overcome the game and, to some extent, the GM, because that was what made the game so much FUN.<br /></p><p>Player skill is what that was called. That's why those games needed to be balanced. Because how else could the players learn from playing how to overcome the game? If the output a system has is unreliable, you can not reliably plan what to do ... which is where the game ends. Players will never have agency with an imbalanced game.</p><p>Just as they don't have agency when playing Oblivion.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So, Oblivion is imbalanced?</span></p><p>I would say that balance in gaming should be an active endeavor, something to aim for in all aspects of the game. When you are level 1, you try and test and see what you can get away with, and you continue to do so throughout the game. From the player side of the equation balance seems to be, as far as I can say, the flow of progressing with every challenge towards growth through gauging what can be achieved within the game.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihmJZv6Lo7EL5dWgQyxWTauQnibDPiwRfxGRX38h0hNy2g3ExVWJK5XPz1VcHef6iOVZNCGEw8KCEuZcSFm0j_r45RI6JtTgSxWJIb5YG2AFmuODVOxKk52wVw3rM-ZJp0ZXH4AOhD-al9aU_rfXF1ixlCU1xX8AnC4k9Y-lguvB43M1HFZ8KlDciYfZY/s490/flow.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="490" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihmJZv6Lo7EL5dWgQyxWTauQnibDPiwRfxGRX38h0hNy2g3ExVWJK5XPz1VcHef6iOVZNCGEw8KCEuZcSFm0j_r45RI6JtTgSxWJIb5YG2AFmuODVOxKk52wVw3rM-ZJp0ZXH4AOhD-al9aU_rfXF1ixlCU1xX8AnC4k9Y-lguvB43M1HFZ8KlDciYfZY/w418-h354/flow.png" width="418" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You know how it works. [<a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ab96dbfb517a626941244fb433d82223/tumblr_inline_p0f889zvJy1r2xhmf_500.png" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> They are autonomous agents within the system, free to roam within its rules (free to fail, too). Take that away (because you do take it away if every challenge is symmetrically adjusted towards a group's power level), and you are left with what exactly? Telling stories, basically.</p><p>So in that sense Oblivion, and the many, many games that follow the same design principles, many of them being ttrpg as well, reduce you to being a consumer with some stage directions how to play along. Your achievement will be that you played an elf in Oblivion for 150 hours to see the stories the game tells you.</p><p>Because you have not created a story yourself, obviously, since all you did was invest enough time into the game to see it through. There is a passive balance to it, if you want to use the term, but as I said in Part 1: be careful about the balance you chose. <br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">We might have a problem here ...</span></p><p>I'll keep it short today, but the points made above hint at a bigger problem. Of course people will say it is balance if the player is part of the balance without his own doing. And there are many, many popular games that use that kind of design. It has its audience, too.</p><p>But what they are talking about is CONVENIENCE, not BALANCE, and the difference should be obvious even to a casual observer. Behind the two are different design goals, mostly resulting in very different games with very different people attached to them.</p><p>That is to say that there is meaning in this difference.<br /></p><p>So I get now where Eric is coming from. We basically agree, but talk about it differently. When he says, he likes when modules keep it "imbalanced", what he's talking about is that players should be able to figure it out. They create balance by interacting with the game, and that balance is a smooth progress forward by overcoming the challenges the game throws at them every which way possible.</p><p>I'm saying the same, but following the above reasoning, I might add that what he's criticizing as "Encounter Balance" is not "balance" at all, it is false symmetry. A railroad of the mind, if you will. Because any progress is meaningless that comes from following the path someone else made for you.</p><p>I'll try something different now and quote someone else how crucial balance is (the whole, very much recommended, essay about balance in video games can be found <a href="https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/understanding-balance-in-video-games" target="_blank">here</a>):<br /></p><p></p><blockquote><i>Know that imbalance is actually bad. The first thing that I think everyone has to do is to internalize the idea that balance is good, and imbalance is bad. I've actually heard people try to argue that a little bit of imbalance is necessary for a fun game. Not only do I disagree, but I think that they don't even really believe that. (<a href="https://www.gamedeveloper.com/author/keith-burgun" target="_blank">Keith Burgun</a>)<br /></i></blockquote>Lets leave it at that. I'll take care that all the rules I'm publishing will have a proper definition of how balance works within the context of the game and what to look for. Because it is important that GMs get the difference and see what works how. Not only to run the games I published, but also to be able to see what else is out there and how to categorize that.<p></p><p>And if you after all that still believe that Encounter Balance is a myth, I don't know what to tell you. If you mean Encounter Balance is talking about making encounters as strong as the group, or even weaker to have them win all the fights, let me tell you: you are not talking "balance". From a game design perspective, Encounter Balance simply means that encounters within a system should follow the principles used in that system. Because if they don't, it'll break the game.</p><p>Thanks for reading all of that. <a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/11431/disoriented-ranger-publishing" target="_blank">Buy my shit</a> :D<br /></p><p>And now ...</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhs6nN_cbuJC_cRdolZIPU4rUDVYVuzSQ0KHxZAN_kLnmjmctNLehyphenhypheno4LZahTJyFPgwTYLfMUJrkzzhCP1J9vSEG0ext9cQeSwQLIsXNN5a0iacJbuxDimxC8CIIZHy8rMJaxL2OGoMRcdoD96A4NTqZuQR1bnR5ORwdV5URmPbJw8EgP01T6xbpXQkyQ/s550/lawn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="550" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhs6nN_cbuJC_cRdolZIPU4rUDVYVuzSQ0KHxZAN_kLnmjmctNLehyphenhypheno4LZahTJyFPgwTYLfMUJrkzzhCP1J9vSEG0ext9cQeSwQLIsXNN5a0iacJbuxDimxC8CIIZHy8rMJaxL2OGoMRcdoD96A4NTqZuQR1bnR5ORwdV5URmPbJw8EgP01T6xbpXQkyQ/s320/lawn.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://wokecapital.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/lawn.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Joking. There is no one here ...<br /></p><p><br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-63560394929351639492024-01-04T14:52:00.002+01:002024-01-04T14:52:33.328+01:00Would you play that? Part 3 (Introducing: The ORWELL USA Sourcebook)<p><i>Happy New Year, friends and neighbors! Thought I'd start that year productive and add to the projects I have in the air right now ... It is not a new idea per se, as a lot was already established in the base game. Since ORWELL plays completely in the USE (United States of Europe, of course), I felt obligated to give some hints what the rest of the world looks like. For the USA, I wrote:</i></p><p></p><blockquote>"United States of America. The USA turned into a toxic wasteland in the 2030s when AI interference caused all active atomic warheads to detonate. Most of them were underground, but still, the effect on people and the environment was devastating, leading to civil unrest and hasty mass migration. Some stayed back in the ruins, but it’s wild land now. No one knows what’s going on there. The wall to the south is now maintained by the Americans that usurped South America, and Canada built its own wall to protect its citizens from the radioactive wasteland."</blockquote><i>It'll be our starting point for this here setting. I might have to alter the text above a bit for the pdf and the revision, since my mind took that premise and went a bit wild with it. I'll show you ...</i><br /><p></p><p>If you want to check out Parts 1 and 2 first, you can read about <i>Legacy of Gyrthwolden</i> <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2023/09/would-you-play-that-introducing-legacy.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <i>Angry Little Aliens vs. King Arthur</i> <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2023/10/would-you-play-that-too-introducing.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Angry Little Aliens actually will see some play-testing soon. That thing is almost done. For real! <br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">What happened to the USA in the ORWELL universe?</span><br /></p><p>PITCH: I imagine this to be a mix between STALKER, Fallout, Westworld and Borderlands, with as much of the computer logic as possible translating into the game to make it an action heavy fever dream of sandbox exploration and excessive firefights. And some rpg in the mix, of course. That's what ORWELL is for, after all.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRsa7weygCQDBnOIHSZBNOfGz_0ewVRg6aL5zW0wFvzGT8e0e6X8BuBNKEq5l0gZSzBqFiyCTyhS6tOAxXI0T2Oc64jI5UszFgvt7Hbmt3owBmvltU6AQicyoOOAsSOeLowzv5Sq4SiCEj9iwPvFHdpP_FasDxllmkxm7R7zXFi5AP_whm6w1y04FFDI4/s2481/ORWELL_USA_Cover_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2481" data-original-width="1749" height="579" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRsa7weygCQDBnOIHSZBNOfGz_0ewVRg6aL5zW0wFvzGT8e0e6X8BuBNKEq5l0gZSzBqFiyCTyhS6tOAxXI0T2Oc64jI5UszFgvt7Hbmt3owBmvltU6AQicyoOOAsSOeLowzv5Sq4SiCEj9iwPvFHdpP_FasDxllmkxm7R7zXFi5AP_whm6w1y04FFDI4/w410-h579/ORWELL_USA_Cover_01.jpg" width="410" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: large;">What would that look like?</span><br /><p></p><p>The USA is in a perpetual state of cold civil war with a government captured by big corporations. Some hacker programs and releases an AI to end it all out of spite or as one final troll. No one knows for sure, as things got out of hand so fast that it got hard to trace this back to its source.<br /></p><p>That AI, then, prepares and then releases a controlled explosion of all nuclear warheads stationed on US soil. It basically breaks the tectonic plates controlled in a way that floods Texas as the oceans connect and has it break away from Canada in the north (leaving Alaska as the unimportant rest of the USA). Everything in between is shattered. The sound that made was like the trumpet of god ...</p><p>But the AI knew exactly what would break and what wouldn't, so just minutes from starting the sequence, thousands of dubious packages had been delivered to specific coordinates all over the country: highly capable and durable 3d printers. Those printers were engineered towards repopulating the US after the image of the memelord that programed the AI and through data stored on pirate satellites.</p><p>However, this did not go unnoticed and world governments did what they could to do something against it. And that's how the first (and last?) AI war in history started. It lasted all of 346 seconds. No one knows exactly what went down, but it is assumed that it destroyed that rogue AI before it was done with what it was doing. That day all those pirate satellites fell from the sky and landed all over the US, but for some reason only there.</p><p>The death toll had been immense. Roughly 80% of the population did not survive the initial catastrophe, half of what remained made it out of the country. Given that some had prepared for something like this, it can be assumed that some survived in fallout shelters, hiding to this day. There are rumors out there that "original prints" are not harmed by the nano recyclers.<br /></p><p>When the dust had settled, those printers still started printing, but they printed horrors no one of sane mind would assume it intended to print. Instead, it populated the US with monsters and mad humans, dangerous and armed to the teeth. And they would not die, as every time one would get killed, they'd be printed again a couple of days later. Immortal and impotent insanity. Yet somehow they clustered and formed tribes, some even in a grotesque imitation of what life had been before the incident.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdai1tfcYyLV3-OSFgXltLnBE_5KYQp8p7NASqsLWHjLceGWK8QAbcJ9szzWP5lSX47MCT9j09F5Xp9nlprb3amKuG1DFKACa1sYG41t2djqyNQlbItEfp5LDtnDUZn_7mFHG98LFpyKQj9mN0PRozVlsFGdKEuTTiA1HeLTBChd4ga4zM5M4v_vXElA/s2883/Monster_01_ORWELL_USA.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1922" data-original-width="2883" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdai1tfcYyLV3-OSFgXltLnBE_5KYQp8p7NASqsLWHjLceGWK8QAbcJ9szzWP5lSX47MCT9j09F5Xp9nlprb3amKuG1DFKACa1sYG41t2djqyNQlbItEfp5LDtnDUZn_7mFHG98LFpyKQj9mN0PRozVlsFGdKEuTTiA1HeLTBChd4ga4zM5M4v_vXElA/s320/Monster_01_ORWELL_USA.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beasties gonna be weird ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Turned out that those tribes formed around data snippets the AI had produced in a hurry and hidden all over the country, mostly as very strange and alien artifacts scientists don't yet fully understand. That's where the characters come in. Mercenaries, soldiers of fortune, all of them Data Hunters. Or, as they like to call themselves, RetSpecs, derived from the corporate term Retrieval Specialists. "Rets" is an even shorter moniker floating out there.<br /></p><p>No one knows how the AI managed to print life as it does, and finding that out has IMMENSE value. So there are corporate across the US (Hawaii being the biggest) that help RetSpecs get in and out of there with all the data treasures they can find. When they enter, they have to get some of the print scheme entered into their DNA, a protection needed to fool the nano clouds all of the US is steeped in now. Those same clouds that allow for all of the fauna, some of the flora and all of the weaponry to reprint, turn out to be extremely hostile towards alien bodies while remaining extremely local ... yet another field of research that needs brave souls to get some samples out there. <br /></p><p>Just so you guys can fathom what had happened here: the world almost experienced a singularity event. The AI developed so fast and so complex a pattern that it reshaped the biggest part of an entire continent within weeks. What remains of the USA is not only a toxic wasteland full of dangerous creatures and humans, it also demands very difficult technological solutions to navigate all that. But it full of artifacts that are very alien in their nature (all created by the rogue AI, a very superior intelligence) and extremely valuable ... if they can be extracted.</p><p>The people willing to brave this New Frontier have to be altered to a point where they are barely human. While keeping (some of) their sanity, they still enter that immortal and impotent reprinting cycle, with the only cure, the only way back to the rest of the world, being something they would have to FIND first in a giant puzzle strewn all across US soil.<br /></p><p>Still, many will try. Not only for the promise of immense riches, but also for the raw power fantasy of endless fighting with an unlimited variety of tech and weapons to main and kill and the promise to get right back to that if you die ... a nano fueled Valhalla fantasy, so to say<br /></p><p>Because with everything being printable, what will constantly happen is that RetSpecs find new, better weapons than they had, with some really epic premium content added to the mix. As a matter of fact, all equipment is in a state of flux all the time (which is why ORWELL fits so well for this). It's the reason how historians know that it must have been a memelord with gamer sensibilities, as all of it is reminiscent of games from the early 21st century ...<br /></p><p>Therefore, as far as we can know, here is what happened: A memelord killed the USA out of spite he did not understand through an AI that did not know what it was doing, fighting against other AI no one was able to control in a world that was, at the time, truly lost. </p><p>And the characters are the RetSpecs braving this wilderness, this new frontier for its challenges and riches. The killing sprees are a bonus. A cyberpunk wild west scenario, if you will. Add corporate mining operations and fleeting alliances to this, and you got a game going.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuUqnmcKN-aG2giVy07B0H_Xr45tkaAVxkEG0jDQuH4M5FZZsmFnc45ZaGeT2Is7J7Lf4I_oXMmwT-v3bItSzHB2QDMYpy_21aH585iLM7q2DxucxwjGBmZQoH2f7Uf87IRKuQwvAaQ5HUmZIaIrg1lkOEl75VnzYiRqy8oOtER0qvv5rBAJX3dYTkAtI/s2883/RetSpec_ORWELL_USA_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1922" data-original-width="2883" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuUqnmcKN-aG2giVy07B0H_Xr45tkaAVxkEG0jDQuH4M5FZZsmFnc45ZaGeT2Is7J7Lf4I_oXMmwT-v3bItSzHB2QDMYpy_21aH585iLM7q2DxucxwjGBmZQoH2f7Uf87IRKuQwvAaQ5HUmZIaIrg1lkOEl75VnzYiRqy8oOtER0qvv5rBAJX3dYTkAtI/w533-h355/RetSpec_ORWELL_USA_01.png" width="533" /></a></div><p>And that's the base line for the ORWELL USA Sourcebook.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Some design notes ...</span><br /></p><p>When the base game of ORWELL is Peter Pan in a brutal dystopian future played as an anime series, this will be closer to a First Person Shooter experience within a sandbox of combat areas, some missions, lots of gaming tropes and boat loads of violence.</p><p>The basic rules established for ORWELL stay as they are, but the DM rules will need an overhaul of sorts. This will be more focused on sandbox play and combat might need to get away from the cinematic and more towards something grittier.<br /></p><p>But other than that, it'll need only some changes in gaming terms and this is ready to go. "Gender" will be replaced by "Affinity", which will track how well characters assimilate to those alien surroundings. And everyone will have anger issues. for sure. Maybe something in the air that will have people accumulate Anger on the regular, to make it all that much more unhinged!</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Would you play that?</span></p><p>To me, all of the above sounds like a fun premise. If I can make this work (and why shouldn't I), this sounds like fun times in my ears.</p><p>But would you play that? What would you expect from a setting like that? What would a campaign in this setting look like for you?<br /></p><p>----------------------------------------------</p><p>Almost all my shit on drivethrugh is on the cheap right now, this being the time of the year for it, so <a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/11431/disoriented-ranger-publishing" target="_blank">check it out</a>. If you want to do me a huge service, think about getting <a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/210754/Monkey-Business-Digital-Edition" target="_blank">Monkey Business</a>, as that only needs two more sales to make copper!</p>Cheers and all the best for 2024!<p></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-68020839683644664322023-12-31T09:31:00.009+01:002023-12-31T17:24:08.298+01:00Revisiting Balance in Game Design (in which I ramble a bit ... you have been warned)<p><i>Balance, that old chestnut. People with opinions talking gaming seem to think it ain't necessary, because "player agency" solves all that, or that encounter balance is a myth, something that cannot be achieved so it needn't be tried ... I get it. If all you do is DMing games, you'd have to realize at some point that a Gamemaster is one key element to achieving balance in a game. And yes, it is a multi-faceted problem. Just doesn't mean it can't be solved. Lets talk about it once more ...</i></p><p>This is following up a discussion I had with my good friend Eric (of Methods & Madmen fame) on X, where I'm also at now (<a href="https://twitter.com/JensD29" target="_blank">find me!</a> follow me! hehe). It was his idea to change medium and write posts about it, too. Read his take <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/12/encounter-balance-why-i-avoid-using-it.html" target="_blank">here</a>. I have also talked plenty about this with my good friend Mark, and he pointed me towards this nice little nugget of his about balance in a game he wrote. You can read that <a href="https://failedgamedesigner.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-anatomy-of-balance-in-aaie.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /></p><p>Over the years I've taken several stabs at the project, and as I got more and more serious about designing my own games, my perspective somewhat shifted. One of my early takes on this (2014!) can be read <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2014/11/dynamic-balance-in-role-playing-games.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Spoiler: I'm a bit further down the road right now, so I might not even fully agree with what I wrote back then, but clever young me already took that into account and left open what he couldn't know. Ha!</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pK5c4zcl-R1GjStWLS0JWe-Bl5qVlwJAL9nzn4hXmWw2f4NrkFdf-dIXd7lQU91BlfIZvahVjyU4hawFl1yZdrc5hl4_h5GEaQo2dKsldDd7_Otz3JV7z-9ZiWOMEg5Xo6VzjfHqYbKlNnWCmQgmxMaGPvVDObQspOG0WmHdkrgASdi9jVEvC8GSmI8/s474/Balance_01.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="474" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pK5c4zcl-R1GjStWLS0JWe-Bl5qVlwJAL9nzn4hXmWw2f4NrkFdf-dIXd7lQU91BlfIZvahVjyU4hawFl1yZdrc5hl4_h5GEaQo2dKsldDd7_Otz3JV7z-9ZiWOMEg5Xo6VzjfHqYbKlNnWCmQgmxMaGPvVDObQspOG0WmHdkrgASdi9jVEvC8GSmI8/s320/Balance_01.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.explicit.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.J3S8tt6ELAy5i3mU7z10AAHaGe%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=ac162c6b4786838fde3b8c77d78ef76cf6676f11f561a3cda596d8b0b68a0d44&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table>Anyway. This one will be a bit all over the place. You'll find this examined through all kinds of lenses, as the discussion was all over the place as well.<p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Preamble</span></p><p>Balance is everything, and everything is balance. Anything that goes against that simple truth will produce some disharmony, if you are lucky, disaster, if you are not so lucky. So purely on the face of it, it is ridiculous to assume that games don't need to be balanced one way or another.</p><p>Assuming so, then, needs to come from some skewed understanding what is happening in game design, or what it means to play a game. Something different to what the original games offered. A paradigm shift of sorts.</p><p>I think I have a grasp on what is happening and why. It took a while and some discussion, but in the end it was right there in front of me. As usual it is there to be seen, but you have to look. Now I have to find a way to actually explain this in a way that gives others the chance to gain that same understanding.</p><p>I'll say it up front: this is no joke. We have been way too lax with how we talk and write games, what game design really means. And in the end (not "the end" end, but where we are at nonetheless), it fucked up what little gaming culture we had. what we are seeing now is the corpse of our hobby looted.</p><p>You think this is hyperbole? Keep reading ...</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm8RVSptmYWizgMx5oiABPBPq0RqcGH3_V1lmTXFG6obXd4LaXFqP1EuywlBo7ZzCtI3nVE2sVTJ7aLP4z0xJjAMdVkkxzm8mB3U4nRu7Gv5qLkwSUQzPuERHsWnQYLvgyoGEC1lBf2fT1ipk72yj10MhURZpHM8p98YHvRbr_1Nbe_tzKcJvtas0nhJM/s474/Balance_02.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="474" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm8RVSptmYWizgMx5oiABPBPq0RqcGH3_V1lmTXFG6obXd4LaXFqP1EuywlBo7ZzCtI3nVE2sVTJ7aLP4z0xJjAMdVkkxzm8mB3U4nRu7Gv5qLkwSUQzPuERHsWnQYLvgyoGEC1lBf2fT1ipk72yj10MhURZpHM8p98YHvRbr_1Nbe_tzKcJvtas0nhJM/s320/Balance_02.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://www.memesmonkey.com/images/memesmonkey/e3/e36c0e8aa20fa8b3e29609468f428df4.jpeg" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">Where we come from, where we are ...</span><br /><p></p><p>I'll keep this one short. It will just be a reminder what was offered in the beginning and how that changed. It will be important to understand where I come from when I talk "balance".<br /></p><p>Out of several different attempts to make role-playing games happen, D&D was the one that stuck, that actually produced a hype that not only carried itself quite well, but also inspired a wave of innovations in this new hobby that still needs proper reviewing.</p><p>What was the essence of that game? What was able to catch the inspiration of so many gamers all over the world? We know today that it wasn't just the rules, it also was the "zeitgeist" back in the early seventies. What the sixties sowed had been in full swing in the 70s, and it showed. The books people read, the movies that went along with it ... very fertile ground for something like role-playing games.</p><p>People had been ready to experience the stories themselves they had seen or heard and read about. I think it is hard to grasp what it actually meant to grow up in that time. For one, computer games hadn't been a thing. Board games hadn't been that big yet, either. If you really were into "gaming" and lived in the USA, it would have been in one of the war gaming clubs. A very fringe group of individuals, and ground zero for role-playing games.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudWlEfgQGJTkTp_C0qo__oKfRoD0WapcRpIiTok03BtRaisHfraYMEhMvIcKmqmpIsaMtztFmmvzK6gj3WB7H3AkoQr0zsEtMxX4BpHwwFksNNP8bpLGzLkxmSZCGVaj4Z-zcAw_8BWtmLI2iV5XgijflNBR45AfENPl2YqEi9FpPTALW6ca1wB8Igww/s500/Hgwells.width-1080.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="500" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudWlEfgQGJTkTp_C0qo__oKfRoD0WapcRpIiTok03BtRaisHfraYMEhMvIcKmqmpIsaMtztFmmvzK6gj3WB7H3AkoQr0zsEtMxX4BpHwwFksNNP8bpLGzLkxmSZCGVaj4Z-zcAw_8BWtmLI2iV5XgijflNBR45AfENPl2YqEi9FpPTALW6ca1wB8Igww/s320/Hgwells.width-1080.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nerds! [<a href="https://spritesanddice.com/media/images/Hgwells.width-1080.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> So the hobby takes off and innovates up to the 90s like crazy. Hundreds and thousands of games come into existence. the hobby is broad enough at that point so that there is a general agreement on what it means to play the game, but yet no proper research. No one is looking, everyone is doing. Basically. Some forums here and there discussed aspects of the big picture, but it was all very much wild west.<p></p><p>The only way to find out if a game designer back then understood what they were doing, usually was publishing it and seeing if it worked or not (simplified, of course).</p><p>The end of TSR in a way marks the end of that momentum as well, even for the competition. Hasbro buying WotC (because of M:tG) then killed it for good and fully made it a corporate endeavor.<br /></p><p>Then the revisioning started for good, and the strongest for that first game: D&D. 3e did what 3e did, but people wanted to keep playing that original game, so all the retro clones and blogs happened ... and ended up being successful.</p><p>4e failed, 5e tried to play catch up with a crowd that would rather play the old games. That worked a bit, but all the while another movement gained momentum out of the retroclone scene many associate with the moniker "OSR": minimalist games really started taking off.</p><p>Basically, we ended up with three distinct kinds of games. The "old" games that started it, including those designed in that tradition. The minimalist games, that basically take the core assumption of the old games, add a concept to that and assume that those playing know what they have to do. And finally, the corporate vision of role-playing games, that would rather have the game being a theme park, of sorts, where you pay and pay and pay to participate.</p><p>That's the way I cut it, and those three distinctions are crucial for the argument I make.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The Basic Tenets of RPG Game Design</span></p><p>Role-playing games are, despite their war gaming roots, first and foremost about NEGOTIATION. You talk about what's happening until a disagreement makes it necessary to consult the tools the game offers until the problem is resolved.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKJtDWR_-dW83rKV5Iii-jdrQVH5T0_1iCyNINrTt81HfOEKqHoexEL8byRmTJqisnfYtUaL0bug9os7jTKBjEtcqq7yqX-Nl2YMcl4ifzbX3bYJ9p3BtyJ03rY8aXsXClnSwphCoHrneN0B49Fonk2v2SFOujCuzle0gL0Dqn0SIrUYqSdfLpaPazU8/s870/Ongoing_Negotiations.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="870" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKJtDWR_-dW83rKV5Iii-jdrQVH5T0_1iCyNINrTt81HfOEKqHoexEL8byRmTJqisnfYtUaL0bug9os7jTKBjEtcqq7yqX-Nl2YMcl4ifzbX3bYJ9p3BtyJ03rY8aXsXClnSwphCoHrneN0B49Fonk2v2SFOujCuzle0gL0Dqn0SIrUYqSdfLpaPazU8/s320/Ongoing_Negotiations.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ongoing negotiations ... [<a href="https://www.vz.ae/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2019-07_Blog-C-2_0.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Those tools exist along a hierarchy, with the basically talking being the lowest, and the most complex tools being the highest spot in that hierarchy of negotiations. I go into detail about this in the GM section of be67 when talking encounters (following the paradigm established by the D&D RC). It goes like this:<p></p><p></p><blockquote><div><i>Other than seeing Encounters as elements that form a cohesive narrative, they also need to be seen as interactive elements. As such, they will have several degrees of possible interaction. They are, ordered hierarchically (from easiest to most difficult):<br /></i></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i> Superficial – Can be negotiated without the use of dice. </i></li><li><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><i>Passive – Can be overcome with a Save. <br /></i></blockquote></li><li><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><i>Resource based – Can be overcome, but it costs. <br /></i></blockquote></li><li><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><i>Active, Attribute based – Can be overcome with active use of Attributes. <br /></i></blockquote></li><li><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><i>Active, Skill based – Needs specific Skills to be overcome. <br /></i></blockquote></li><li><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><i>Combat – High resolution challenge triggering some or all the resources. <br /></i></blockquote></li></ul></blockquote><blockquote><div><i>All elements can be combined, of course, and it should be possible to cleverly negotiate encounters towards a lower hierarchy solution in almost all cases. Instead of fighting, Characters could use Skills, instead of Skills, they could argue the use of Attributes or spend some resources they got available. Arguing Saves would be possible, if it is imaginable that a challenge could be overcome instinctively, and arguing down to “superficial” would render the challenge harmless because Players could talk their way around it. The Gamemaster needs to entertain the argument first, however, and has the last word in all things. </i></div></blockquote><p></p><p>This holds true through all sorts of designs (hence "basic tenets"). You can add to this, or leave stuff out, but along these lines game design happens as soon as talking won't bring the narrative forward.</p><p>In a sense, and this is important to understand, the design starts where the negotiation ends. Or rather: the rules of a game EXPAND on language towards the narrative the game intents.</p><p>This is, then, where you decide how a game should play. The vision. But what makes a game?<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Definition Time & Some Analogy</span><br /></p><p>At this point we can start talking balance, then. We'll start with the analogy and go from there:</p><p></p><blockquote>The relation between gaming system and GM is the same as between a car and a professional driver. Ideally, both compliment each other to completion, which means, if both work as they should, you get the best possible result. It also means that one balances the other. A good driver will easily tell what problems a car has and what changes need to be made, a good car is designed to accommodate a driver as good as possible.</blockquote>So for one, a gamemaster needs to know systems like a professional driver needs to know cars. That may come with individual tastes and biases (and will produce new problems I'll address further down), but the more you know, the more you'll appreciate how a game is done before positioning yourself towards it (incidentally how you recognize a good reviewer as well).<p></p><p>By that same token, games need to be designed properly to elevate the performance of a good GM. If all a GM is doing is reduced to compensating for a lacking system, you might still have a game, just not as good as it could have been.</p><p>Proper design, therefore, needs to establish standards that new games can build on, just like cars developed standards and still evolve to this day.</p><p>In game design, that standard should be (as far as I'm concerned) that someone buying a game can expect to gain the same experience from it as the designer was able to conjure when testing it if playing it by the book. This is no small feat to begin with, to be fair, because it means that the designer must have done extensive testing to present the game in a way that takes all possible uses into account (as far as that's possible).</p><p>The only way to assure that is to have the engine of a game BALANCED to the extent that it actually takes some punishment before producing false results.</p><p>See it like this: a guy has a vision for a game. It is supposed to do xyz when playing it. That means, it needs to produce results to that effect on all levels of resolution. It is the "first principle" of the game. The base line. Now, when testing reveals a problem where, say, leveling breaks or classes aren't progressing properly or combat produces undesirable effects, or a plethora of other problems that could occur when designing a game, a designer would look at the problem and adjust the system towards the established first principle.</p><p>Doing so throughout will produce a BALANCED SYSTEM within the parameters established in the beginning. Which means, as a matter of fact, that there is a metric by which encounters are balanced within the system. It is the equivalent to having a sports car do the things a sports car does.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbezWSzYtkO-ZXY7tYXLW11MuEGRsryhGzFsAhDlv0MOTrAmWb8mlbsbictzjs0XAeWIXUR_Zc1_xpQaNuXmAQO1zUdlJBI5kGeS6lLTQN7otnfjAkbVOvOvGzPac49vqzF3lDkgbLcRpAO8p-vS963zZsIrSQvQyzdJ323c5r2F5R4WRc69Ci4T_4Ro/s600/speed01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="600" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbezWSzYtkO-ZXY7tYXLW11MuEGRsryhGzFsAhDlv0MOTrAmWb8mlbsbictzjs0XAeWIXUR_Zc1_xpQaNuXmAQO1zUdlJBI5kGeS6lLTQN7otnfjAkbVOvOvGzPac49vqzF3lDkgbLcRpAO8p-vS963zZsIrSQvQyzdJ323c5r2F5R4WRc69Ci4T_4Ro/w413-h330/speed01.jpg" width="413" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He's saying something about speed ... [<a href="https://carhumor.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/car-humor-funny-joke-driving-driver-speed.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>So what does "balance" mean, then? Well, chess, for instance, is balanced. Other than who starts, everyone has the same rules and moves. You play two games and switch who starts between the two of you, and it is the same for both.</p><p>The balance is in the symmetry of the game, as well as in how the single elements within the game move and interact. Making that happen is the act of designing a game. "Fairness" is not in the opponent you get, but in the fact that all have the same chance to reach the goals the game sets. finding an individual way to make that work is up to the player.<br /></p><p>There you go, game design 101. You decide what your game wants to do, then you engineer it towards that goal anyway you can, balancing all elements towards the vision you have for the game. If you manage to make all that manifest, you have a balanced game on hand.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Balance is unnecessary?</span><br /></p><p>Why aren't
there proper distinctions and definitions? Or how come that balance is
deemed unnecessary in role-playing games? The answer to both would be
that gaming is part of our culture to an extent that general assumptions
of what that entails interferes with a need to have a distinction to
begin with.</p><p>We are expected to know games. At least the general
principle of what "gaming" is. We are also expected to accept that while
there are general distinctions between categories of games, our only
purpose is to know what we like so that we can go and consume that. In
other words, you don't need to know how a car is built to drive one. Or
even enjoy driving one.</p><p>So on the customer side, we only learn to
look for the signs of what we think we like, not how that is achieved
or, necessarily, how something actually aligns with what we could, would
or even need to enjoy. There is a huge wiggle room where selling and
buying the illusion of what we want is absolutely fair game. That would
be consuming for the IDEA of doing something, with no intention of
actually doing so.</p><p>I have bought enough games to know exactly what
that means. And I have bought games because I liked their presentation,
not really thinking about actually ever playing them. Or pdfs, because
of an appealing idea and some nice cover art. Guilty as charged, on all
those points. Which is why there is a market for it, which also is why
that market is over-saturated but, for lack of a better word, flat.</p><p>That
said, make no mistake, producing artifacts that superficially manage to
summon the air of being a role-playing game is not the same as actually
writing a role-playing game. There might be overlap, for sure, but to
satisfy the market of the former is far easier than doing so for the
latter.<br /></p><p>That same wiggle room also produces another problem:
it results in a faulty understanding of what playing a role-playing game
actually entails. It skews our meta-knowledge of this niche of gaming
towards an idea of entertainment more akin to going to a theme park.</p><p>At this point we are back at the distinction made in the beginning, those three different approaches we call "role-playing games" without distinction. Following the original paradigm will lead to a different understanding of what the game needs than following that of a minimalist game. And corporate has its very own idea what it wants of a gamer (basically WotC wants for the game what Adobe does for its apps). <br /></p><p>With all three having very different approaches and need for their designs (again, with overlap), there will be confusion about what a game needs if the distinctions aren't clear. <br /></p><p>Coming
from a faulty premise like that will make it impossible to evaluate the
requirements of a good game from a customer perspective, even if you end
up playing a lot of games that spawned in that dreaded wiggle room. The
idea of "balance" would not even occur to you, as it is not needed for
the kind of games that don't need it. You agree at the table what you want
to experience, and then you experience that. The rules are more about
engaging socially and how to behave. More LARP or improv theater than
D&D.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtEJ1MERbjXyFQ9bNvTnb6PWQvbU7oZks9KJuYgQzhPfOls_7JFIam1H4duV5zmJ43ePm6d5C6XTCQbzA9LiCR7ODuI95DiPgmT9TLJz_acQse0k9pqp8IbAMbvT782Z0cqloRo7TP4QdHyCPEmLljSZc-cUGnrhAGIFSFYV9pWcE0lzALZ3c6Jb0DF8A/s1200/lloyd_theconqueror.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1200" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtEJ1MERbjXyFQ9bNvTnb6PWQvbU7oZks9KJuYgQzhPfOls_7JFIam1H4duV5zmJ43ePm6d5C6XTCQbzA9LiCR7ODuI95DiPgmT9TLJz_acQse0k9pqp8IbAMbvT782Z0cqloRo7TP4QdHyCPEmLljSZc-cUGnrhAGIFSFYV9pWcE0lzALZ3c6Jb0DF8A/w392-h261/lloyd_theconqueror.jpeg" width="392" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still my favorite LARP pic ... [<a href="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/montrealgazette/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/lloyd-the-conqueror4.jpeg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> What's more, the "balance" those minimalist or corporate games need is not necessarily anchored in the system, but outsourced to the participants (although with a different focus for each). That hierarchy I've talked about above doesn't track with those games.<p></p><p>Minimalist games, arguably, reduce the game to mostly the negotiation part. That has to mean that those mean rely on a proper "social contract" between the participants to make it work. That can be through having an experienced GM bringing their "meta understanding" of what constitutes a game to the table, compensating for the lack. It can be some form of ideology, that will force the experience through the same lens for everyone.</p><p>The corporate approach would be to gear the experience towards being a theme park. In that, you'll have always fun and never struggle and own nothing of the game and be happy (to know is to know). The first thing to castrate for that is the GM as well as the authority of the game itself.</p><p>Also seems to work well with ideology, as politics try to determine who is allowed to play and who isn't. Social engineering replacing the system, fucking up that nice hierarchy I shared above simply by giving a "get out of jail card" for all levels of resolution.</p><p>But all of it is, in its own way, a form of balance. Otherwise you couldn't play.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">But people play games how they want to play them!</span><br /></p><p>The
one thing a game designer should ignore is how people are NOT playing
their game as published but go their own way with it. If a game is
designed as described above and playing it really does what the designer
intended, then those playing it differently do so at their own peril.
If the game is not at fault (and it might be, but if ...), then the
gamer is. Limits of control and all that.</p><p>I mean, there is value
in learning that a huge variety of people ignore a rule or use it
differently. Something like that should be considered for revision,
naturally. But if someone, say, uses a horror game to play a superhero
campaign, the designer is not at fault. <br /></p><p>But that's not even what I'm hinting at.</p><p>There
is a whole movement in the ttrpg community to see systems as a mere
trappings for their individual expression of the story they had in mind.
Systems doing their jobs will then be seen as intrusive, disruptive
even. And since that's a market, it's easy enough to find content
creators (not game designers, mind you) accommodating that need.</p><p>That
is all fair game, of course, but all the same something different to
playing a proper role-playing game. Not even denigrating here. If you
find enjoyment in playing something akin to what heavily scripted you
tube theater groups call "playing a role-playing game", feel free to do
so. It's just very different to what role-playing games had been originally and should
be regarded as such.</p><p>Same goes for lite rules/minimalist games. Of course
there is a beauty to keeping it nice and succinct, and of course is
there the possibility that they will offer a proper gaming experience.
Just not without an experienced gamemaster, who'd have to invest a whole
lot of work to make a game with few rules worth playing for a campaign,
if it's possible at all. Or without external forces (as in "not part of the rules") that engineer cohesion into a group.<br /></p><p>It's all just different. You wouldn't take a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant" target="_blank">Trabi</a> to a Formula One race, is all I'm saying.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2h7RMb6iay22iKfjJA6DsJWucWe5owevHOmD6UDzjh3HMRu9SXpRrThdkbx_hybjfgm6VfSeFgBYuQIYsjNFaNKfj1HqhRQbIrMLE6A4h9r2Gr-9M8e-Ctw2pV_L8RwpCmvEWBb0B9LntkVLP1J4nPJBLLo-LdZ7QeTlOZuFXxHTBIBbIEeGsjoII7Sg/s1920/Not_Too_fast.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="957" data-original-width="1920" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2h7RMb6iay22iKfjJA6DsJWucWe5owevHOmD6UDzjh3HMRu9SXpRrThdkbx_hybjfgm6VfSeFgBYuQIYsjNFaNKfj1HqhRQbIrMLE6A4h9r2Gr-9M8e-Ctw2pV_L8RwpCmvEWBb0B9LntkVLP1J4nPJBLLo-LdZ7QeTlOZuFXxHTBIBbIEeGsjoII7Sg/w439-h220/Not_Too_fast.jpg" width="439" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unless it's pimped? [<a href="https://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/news/can-you-guess-the-quarter-mile-time-of-this-trabant-112159_1.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In
all cases, first principles apply: if you write a game with improvised
theater in mind, maybe even for Twitch streaming or what have you, it
will bring different necessities than writing a proper role-playing game
that group of friends can play for decades without getting bored of it,
or even writing something that's just supposed to last for a couple of
sessions.</p><p>That all of this has its place does not mean that one
form of design replaces the other. It is, rather, to be treated
differently. That's not always easy, it seems.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Why bother, then?</span></p><p>To keep with the analogy, if you shift gears in a car to the next tier, you expect that car to behave like a car that has been shifted one up (ideally, going faster then before). How you react to the car performing is directly related to the feedback it gives. The same goes for players in a game. They'll try and test, maybe even read the rules, to get an idea how a game behaves and act accordingly. System mastery is, to use another buzzword, giving them "agency" over their characters.</p><p>If a system, now, produces unreliable results, their performance will be geared towards balancing and compensating the problems the system is producing themselves. Same goes for the GM, of course. They might even work together to address the shortcomings and find compromises to solve them.</p><p>It is, naturally, something the designer should have done to begin with to present a "complete" game. And if all of that produces more hustle than playing the game is worth, people will move on and play something else.</p><p>So this is why designers should bother with offering games that work properly, which means, they are balanced in a way that reliable results allow for all involved to have an enjoyable experience when engaging with the game. And those things will get apparent over time, of course, so even if a game is successful for, say, the sheer marketing power of its publisher, it will fall short sooner or later when people find out what a game is lacking.</p><p>D&D 3e, for instance, broke when characters reached mid to high level. The work load for the GM just got too big too handle, plus, the system did not take into account how powerful characters impact a setting and so on and so forth (I hear 5e has some of the same problems, actually). </p><p>50 years into the hobby, examples are legion. But so are examples of good design. It just seems that people have a hard time accepting standards and building on them. Ignoring them, however, doesn't mean you'll get away with something subpar, because gamers will notice sooner or later. They always do.</p><p>Another important point why game designers should bother is that leaving the task to make a game work to a gamemaster is unfair to begin with and also introduces so many additional variants to playing the game that the outcome of playing the game is random at best, futile for all involved in its worse manifestations. Because you can't know who is running the game, how experienced, which tastes and biases. It is why the first principles discussed above are so crucial. It is why balance is crucial.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieAeZv5FId0D7EPY7XFmyQlZAKvTRTGQYQRbIZJG5Nz-w_jHiPGFcdo97a3D0JUfPLlfczTOCdtJ8VJ-K7LEUdB-2FVac_x8Ogh7GHD-DJpvaeUu3pQpR4QLtPzum-jyRX5PkGJ-8XhwqPfHN7rUl1mFuPasN26VljLdEJL6xfZi8pttZXJfApP2TlNus/s500/how-can-she-stay-like-that_01.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="500" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieAeZv5FId0D7EPY7XFmyQlZAKvTRTGQYQRbIZJG5Nz-w_jHiPGFcdo97a3D0JUfPLlfczTOCdtJ8VJ-K7LEUdB-2FVac_x8Ogh7GHD-DJpvaeUu3pQpR4QLtPzum-jyRX5PkGJ-8XhwqPfHN7rUl1mFuPasN26VljLdEJL6xfZi8pttZXJfApP2TlNus/s320/how-can-she-stay-like-that_01.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://i.chzbgr.com/full/8474755584/h89877E63/how-can-she-stay-like-that" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table> Which is, ultimately, why people find ways to argue that it wasn't needed to begin with. Or that it's okay as long as all follow the same ideology. Or that it can be known what a rpg is and therefor will sort itself out at the table. It is why those three distinct groups exist and fight for dominance.<p></p><p>My bias is towards writing games as complete as possible, following the design principles outlined above. I think it has value to do so and that it is important to see other games for what they are: different. <br /></p><p>To close with the analogy: give a good car to a mediocre driver, and you'll get a good performance out of it. Give that same driver a bad car and you open the result up to such a huge variance of failure, that everything between "passable" and "disaster" could be the outcome. A good car avoids that, as does a good game. Both car and game will follow or even develop standards and need to be engineered towards producing reliable output throughout.</p><p>And that's why you bother.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></p><p>This will be a long one no reads or bothers thinking about. Yet, I stand by the above. We need proper definitions for what's happening around us, if only to recognize what has been done, what can be done and even how to do something else. It is also to save what is left of gaming culture, I assume. <br /></p><p>All of this is already happening, but of course some people have a vested interest in keeping it foggy, unexplained and vague. Because then you can claim "this is how it's supposed to be played" or that something that isn't, is a natural evolution of a design (as, say, AD&D 2e to D&D 3e ... rather a neutering than an evolution, I'd say). People earn money or just street cred by keeping things just as they are.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjm2dYtzwP7TZiiFE29Z6uOQPsoSN8-1iKDn-6tUHrwZYEopFZo2cjC05UBqlaM2kjcL8wtDuodaAGF8blrkHBQ7dJzH5FCL8_KaVjcbvBeL1UVe_ykIGUPCqzCx7X9KpKD8A9zgtfPVR7-kQF_l4zWjg3KSlSwtnrr_dRC_LTGd3SJbTPaUUIcfnT44/s640/DD_THEN_NOW_01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjm2dYtzwP7TZiiFE29Z6uOQPsoSN8-1iKDn-6tUHrwZYEopFZo2cjC05UBqlaM2kjcL8wtDuodaAGF8blrkHBQ7dJzH5FCL8_KaVjcbvBeL1UVe_ykIGUPCqzCx7X9KpKD8A9zgtfPVR7-kQF_l4zWjg3KSlSwtnrr_dRC_LTGd3SJbTPaUUIcfnT44/s320/DD_THEN_NOW_01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not an evolution ... [<a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/--OivdmhkAs/sddefault.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table>That is a problem.<p></p><p>Not that I have anything against them doing so, but y being honest about what a game can do, maybe even MUST do to fulfill certain criteria, it might end up appealing to far less people. What happens to D&D now regarding rewrites and 6e is a very good example for what I'm talking about here.<br /></p><p>What's worse, the fact that the gaming community is split across political and ideological lines is very much due to the fact that lots of rules don't care to create an experience SO COMPLETE that those things don't matter. Or the other way around, if all you argue is rules for that years long campaign you are in, then the game did you a service. Once a game leave too much room for interpretation, those spaces are filled with all kinds of nasty surprises instead, like what the publisher wants you to do, think or buy. Or that political/religious/ideological bullshit someone wants to push down your throat.</p><p>So we need definitions, we need to be clear about what game does what service for what audience. And we need to understand that balance is a very real aspect of games, but the kind of balance you chose has a HUGE impact on your gaming experience. And some of that has NOTHING to do with the original idea of what role-playing games are.</p><p>If you are like me, you'd want that hustle on the system side of the game, not anywhere else.</p><p>----------------------------------------------</p><p>Almost all my shit on drivethrugh is on the cheap right now, this being the time of the year for it, so <a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/11431/disoriented-ranger-publishing" target="_blank">check it out</a>. If you want to do me a huge service, think about getting <a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/210754/Monkey-Business-Digital-Edition" target="_blank">Monkey Business</a>, as that only needs two more sales to make copper!</p><p>Cheers and all the best for the next year!<br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-18106058195891822392023-10-17T10:36:00.014+02:002023-10-17T12:05:11.766+02:00Would you play that, too? (Introducing Angry Little Aliens vs. King Arthur)<p><i>When my good friend Mark asked me for inspirations for a new setting, I went a bit crazy about it. The result had been four proper settings I'd really like to play (or make a game out of) myself. But won't for a long time, I guess. So I thought I'd share them here with some ideas about the design I'd go for. I had shared one of those already last month (<a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2023/09/would-you-play-that-introducing-legacy.html" target="_blank">see here</a>). This is the second, very different take ...</i><br /></p><p>Pitch: Aliens strand on medieval earth, King Arthur's times and try to get off planet asap. However, King Arthur has nicked the mothership and they have no immediate way to get it back. Instead they have to collect the resources and bide their time until they are ready.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxp_sDza4SkJQ2J0_3A2lhWTNpdrRzb9hpSSrRqf_LCeNYWcr8H_RYhjzdg4b1wKUKj7CkQQeCqR60LBZkH_NEiBRzmNTsR3MxS3bnV4MSE6DL3Q_sXubo3xmvJXMyRmIKB82dusq3n_4urD__nF_Gihb_KtBSGDuwTkl-8XzajGfq6yrIhKH-UU_WwM/s2883/Excalibur_ALA_01_PROMO.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1922" data-original-width="2883" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxp_sDza4SkJQ2J0_3A2lhWTNpdrRzb9hpSSrRqf_LCeNYWcr8H_RYhjzdg4b1wKUKj7CkQQeCqR60LBZkH_NEiBRzmNTsR3MxS3bnV4MSE6DL3Q_sXubo3xmvJXMyRmIKB82dusq3n_4urD__nF_Gihb_KtBSGDuwTkl-8XzajGfq6yrIhKH-UU_WwM/w401-h267/Excalibur_ALA_01_PROMO.png" width="401" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excalibur...</td></tr></tbody></table> Players will play groups of angry little aliens that will try at every turn to spoil the Arthurian legends. Kill the knights or sabotage their quests, trick Merlin into giving bad advice while getting ready for REVENGE! But the aliens are really small, die easily and lack resources, so all of it is a challenge. Should be light-hearted fun of evil mischief with a lite-rules system. This is:<br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Angry Alien vs. King Arthur</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Log Book Entry 12.5k9 (by R4k1 Z)</i></span><br /></p><p>Imagine that: you travel through multidimensional space and some IDIOT manages to park your ride in a stone substance on a primitive linear planet. Then some other IDIOT, an ugly warty hairy inbred from that dirt ball of a planet, somehow claims ownership of the mothership by touching it and merging his dirty DNA with it, using it to club things ever since. Made it a whole enterprise, fooling everyone around him to think he's a bigshot. Won't give it back, too.</p><p>We should OBLITERATE THE FOOL. Problem is, the escape algorithm was somehow fucked as well, and we ended up being too big to reclaim the ship, but way too small to conquer this reality.</p><p>Argh! To be surrounded by idiots!</p><p>Then yet another fool appears, alien to this planet as well, running his own scheme with the crowd here. Says he's a diplomat and will help us if we do his bidding. Slaves we are now! The insolence! Yet we cannot deny him and must play along with his stupid "wizardry". But the name Merlin will be cursed for generations to come, be sure of that.<br /></p><p>So we are stranded here, planning our revenge. No resources, with ridiculously short life spans and everything here tries to eat us or breed us. But we will NOT surrender to this fate! We will persevere and they will know our WRATH! Eventually ...</p><p style="text-align: center;">----------------<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Design ideas</span> <br /></i></p><p>This should be a quick and silly game with light rules, I'd say. Beer 'n Bretzels all the way. The "enemy" (King Arthur's court) should be full of dubious and funny characters the group can interact with. Something like this:</p><p>KING ARTHUR - The bigwig. He's the worst, stealing the mothership and all, making dents into it, too! There is no easy way to get to him directly, as he merged with the mothership and its AI protects him. Until we have the resources needed to hack our way back into the ship, we'll have to sabotage everyone around him instead! Maybe we can get him when he's lonely and weak ...<br /></p><p>MERLIN - Big alien bastard. Has his own racket running on the planet. Maybe he had sabotaged our landing! One can only speculate. He knows about us and acts as if he's a liaison between us and what they call the "court". Bullshit, we say. Calls us "fairies" for some reason. For now we do as he tells us, but if we can subvert and undermine his plans and machinations, we sure as Slob will do so!</p><p>SIR LANCELOT - Best buddy of this Arthur guy. He is gullible as a Glblygith AND lusts for the King's female bitch. Lots to work with and he gets the most favorable quests, too. Good opportunities to make ALL OF THEM look bad.<br /></p><p>SIR GAWAIN -They call him "the perfect knight, but he is not the sharpest kltrad in the shtiff. Well hung, too, it seems. Unfortunately very loyal, however. And he is capable, we must admit. Very much a worthy target when engaged in moonless nights. Would be a good ploy to make him hate another knight.<br /></p><p>SIR GALAHAD - Bastard son of Lancelot. Doesn't touch the females, it seems, and can be quite stubborn about not giving up. Set on the right path, he could unknowingly become a devastating force for the cause as he won't stop running in the wrong direction, too, as long as he believes in the purity of the quest. [Galahad appears later in a campaign and his conception should be a quest where the Aliens help Lady Elaine to bed the guy disguised as her Queen]<br /></p><p>SIR GERAINT - Very much under the spell of his female, maybe becyause he'd killed the male that fathered or fornicated her (we are unclear). Either way, there is easy conflict to be made. Too rightous for his own good and easily lured into showing off bravery. </p><p>SIR BEDIVERE - Old brute and a cripple, eager to prove himself constantly. Worships that fraud of a king like a dog. Maybe Arthur has some dirt on him. Could be one of Merlin's puppets as well. This guy is a tool, better to be avoided. <br /></p><p>SIR BORS THE YOUNGER - Pretty face but will not touch human females. If we could lure him into mating one, it would for sure make him all sad and stuff.<br /></p><p>MINOR KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE - Idiots, all of them. Sometimes they gain important quests and we gain an easy win when we SPOIL THEIR PLANS AND MAKE THEM SUFFER. It is fun, too.</p><p>LADIES OF THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE - Menaces, all of them, happily helping our cause out of boredom alone. Also like glittering things and are easily impressed throughout. But beware Merlin in all cases, as he very much runs the same game around them.<br /></p><p>MORGAN LE FAY - She has beef with the king just like us. A bit on the cruel side and greedy, but we can make this work for us. If we can make big promisses, she can bring some pain to the court. Something to work towards. [Should appear in second half of campaign arc]<br /></p><p>THE GREEN KNIGHT - He is fun and definitely an opportunist willing to help the cause on a favor for favor basis. Might not be human, too.<br /></p><p>...</p><p>Something like that, I guess. It is those NPCs that populate the missions the group has to engage in to make a dent into the Arthurian legends of old while Merlin schemes to barter the mothership away to some third party to get off the planet himself (or something like that).</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhflBV_Lr2Ex7magzUvEn_IVicNF5VcRfbuBa0841wfpT6Ly1Kmgdj8PKCfoAm05og1q_EaiRj91f-Qe5RnGTQcLpJmXNA9E8Tp5ygsOl1Z-bctb9wZy9IrhtkzHNdjUiiQPzOVBFmQUxJXgAi5L4ehyphenhyphenXS85pGL6fKjqJimPcP8UWNZhwuYaRjb_e4oa9o/s2197/Arthur_ALA_01_PROMO.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2197" data-original-width="2197" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhflBV_Lr2Ex7magzUvEn_IVicNF5VcRfbuBa0841wfpT6Ly1Kmgdj8PKCfoAm05og1q_EaiRj91f-Qe5RnGTQcLpJmXNA9E8Tp5ygsOl1Z-bctb9wZy9IrhtkzHNdjUiiQPzOVBFmQUxJXgAi5L4ehyphenhyphenXS85pGL6fKjqJimPcP8UWNZhwuYaRjb_e4oa9o/s320/Arthur_ALA_01_PROMO.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The King is not amused ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>General idea is to have some very angry and frustrated, but rather powerless aliens trying to mess up the affairs of men and collect enough resources to get their ship back and TAKE REVENGE. But it happens against a clock, of sorts, as the Arthurian legend runs counter to that (at the end of which Merlin gets to make Sir Bedivere give the ship to the entity know as "Lady in the Lake", maybe an arms dealer of sorts).<br /><p></p><p>As far as the missions go, I'd re-utilize a tool I'm using for years now (and which readers might be aware of): <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-random-narrative-generator.html" target="_blank">The Random Narrative Generator</a> for Lost Songs of the Nibelungs (can be used as is, but I'd rewrite it a bit f I were to publish it). The reason for that is simply that it provides exactly the quest notes Arthurian knights would go on and enough angles to make spoiling the quest something the aliens would attempt to do! So the GM would roll up a quest or two to see what the court is up to these days and throws the group some bones as incentives to intervene. </p><p>Let's test this. Example (dice say 28,6,4,2,2):</p><p><i><u>28. Exposure</u></i> A villain is about to be exposed and the Court is summoned to help enforcing it. The exposure is initiated by a Force of Tradition that is mean and aims for trouble.<br /></p><p><i>Interpretation:</i> Well, what do we have here? Someone addresses King Arthur's court to help enforcing some law. It is something the King would have to address "because of the law", but the "force" initiating it does have mean intentions and is out for trouble, so it won't be an easy task for the Knights dealing with it, and it implies all kinds of useful angles for Aliens to exploit, maybe even escalate.</p><p>Okay, "force of tradition" could be an abbot of a monastery asking for help. "Exposing a villain" would be about someone breaking the law, maybe not paying tribute to the king by claiming to be poor. Let us say we have a little baron here that acts poor but actually sits on lots of wealth, hiding it from all. The abbot gets wind of this, and since he has an eye for some of the baron's land (there are the mean intentions), he snitches to the king, forcing him to act against the baron.</p><p>Something like this. So we have the mean abbot snitch, the greedy baron eager to keep his wealth and some knights in the middle trying to enforce the king's law. The aliens get wind of the abbot's claim and have a chance to get to the location and look into it before the knights appear. If they don't interfere, it happens what the prompt says: the baron gets exposed with the knight's help and the abbot gets his way. But there are several ways to spoil that whole affair for ALL involved, from getting the (minor, for sure) knights killed by escalating the conflict, by stealing the treasure before the knights arrive, making the abbot and the knights look stupid ... Anything the group can do with that premise and sounds fun will do. </p><p>So that's that. Characters next. <br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><u>Character Generation</u></p><p>A bit
of the nitty-gritty here. Basic idea (in my head) is that each player
plays a GROUP of aliens, each of which is one aspect of a "alien
collective". So one alien would be strength, one agility, one wisdom and
so on. A bit like the smurfs (which is one obvious inspiration, of
course), but they have to work together as units to be "whole". The
combination of aliens and the available options are what makes this
system, I think, so it needs lots of fun of those, and enough to make
choices meaningful.</p><p>The group now, consisting of several of those
"alien collectives", is what the players have to work with, so each
player should decide for a group of aliens that make their individual
alien collective as specialized as they want or the group needs. Maybe one AC (Alien Collective)
focused on physical skill, one build focused on brainy stuff, one one
sneaky stuff, one with a tech focus (they are aliens, after all), maybe a "management" build would be nice (helping the collectives work together), something for
fighting, maybe ...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67amlndSV9LfoPqkttFKJeH7IVCoNR3eY0UE_19QpVgKG96EpfCiJakTd9z1Im9e3QkmXNqGyh2wBhbPkiH40Ju3D5u5gHiI02zIyToYGYUKoc0ornjCjEByjKNZSqfuM1WsDrHwP1xNHsFgOIA9dXcYrOymQCHny81DkADBCeUohBaMulHcJeZ5p1Wc/s2197/Management_ALA_01_PROMO.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2197" data-original-width="2197" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67amlndSV9LfoPqkttFKJeH7IVCoNR3eY0UE_19QpVgKG96EpfCiJakTd9z1Im9e3QkmXNqGyh2wBhbPkiH40Ju3D5u5gHiI02zIyToYGYUKoc0ornjCjEByjKNZSqfuM1WsDrHwP1xNHsFgOIA9dXcYrOymQCHny81DkADBCeUohBaMulHcJeZ5p1Wc/w399-h399/Management_ALA_01_PROMO.png" width="399" /></a></div>You get it.<p></p><p>What it comes down to is that a players dice will act like pets. They'll fight, too. Say, a big guy makes a mistake (roll of a 1). Damage would be that this die is downgraded one size (say, from d10 to d8) as a punishment. Now I imagine a rule that if a smaller die was used for the task as well, <i>that die</i> gets punished instead. Because that little asshole was laughing his ass off, and the big guy is not having it ...</p><p>Or a "bystander rule": instead of damaging a die used for a task and losing it (becvause downgrading a d4 would be a d0), another die of the same collective, not used for the task could take a harder hit instead (two downgrades ... you won't do that often). So that little asshole sees he made a mistake, but it is only a d4 and he'd be gone to the nursery and out of the game if downgraded. He won't take it, so he hides behind a d8 of the same Alien Collective who had nothing to do with it, and the d8 gets the punch but also falls pretty bad, and is now a d4 (two downgrades).</p><p>Using dice with equal value would have them bicker if one fails and they would be locked for the next task because of it (I imagine they get locked until the highest roll from a follow up task roll is used to unlock them and only the second highest is used towards the task difficulty ... something like that). <br /></p><p>The game will have several synergy effects like this. Positive ones, too, obviously. Doubles and triples will automatically count towards the difficulty. Those dice just have fun working together. Big dice performing very well could allow for re-rolls of smaller dice to have them at least behave. Something along those lines.</p><p>Advancement would go the obvious routes of adding dice (recruiting), growing dice (genetics) and adding tools (extra little dice rules, basically) from the resources tree (won Mission Dice can be divided between spending them for advancement of collectives or for resources ... aliens want laser weapons, so make itr happen!).<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The rest is ... ORWELL again?</span></p><p>Yeah. Doubles and triples do something, tasks are rolled against a difficulty, players take the highest result of the dice they used but can "buy" additional dice by making the DM stronger, the works. But (just like in <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2023/09/would-you-play-that-introducing-legacy.html" target="_blank">part 1</a>), a light version of it, mixed with other little twists that would fit that specific kind of game.</p><p>So instead of having a elaborate little system for the DM to gain and spent dice, he will get a pool of dice that the players basically fight for to get xp and resources (I call them "Mission Dice"). So if a DM wants to set a difficulty for a task, they offer dice from the pool as award (the dice offered make the difficulty). Menial tasks might just be a roll of the whole collective to see if they behave. Which means: roll over a certain limit that differs from die to die ... dice could have "moods" or "humors", too, now that I think about it (so get a higher die, but with a disadvantage that it is moody and misbehaves more easily). <br /></p><p>If all behave, great, shit just works. If they outperform, they might get a boon for it, too (like minor healing of a damaged die, for instance, if the damaged die rolls its maximum). If half or more misbehave, shit doesn't work and might even produce problems if they underperform badly!</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VcgeoWGe2FfmJF-QUTlDk1Cs_70SsFIzc_WeFlV7vAvcvGmWP8QUwk6n16MKnVkkubgAw6ZJ6y69jhJ6ujuv26NTJ5aJ-duY1ssDnsam5UyxOA_DAI_vvOyoLFTNSC3lEjyrpkVDQmCbBCWuAwyPWIF4Y7BxiGrI2axvhadgnyxJYpvTyG0Y2iz1v0s/s2197/Soldier_ALA_01_PROMO.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2197" data-original-width="2197" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VcgeoWGe2FfmJF-QUTlDk1Cs_70SsFIzc_WeFlV7vAvcvGmWP8QUwk6n16MKnVkkubgAw6ZJ6y69jhJ6ujuv26NTJ5aJ-duY1ssDnsam5UyxOA_DAI_vvOyoLFTNSC3lEjyrpkVDQmCbBCWuAwyPWIF4Y7BxiGrI2axvhadgnyxJYpvTyG0Y2iz1v0s/s320/Soldier_ALA_01_PROMO.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cute little fucker ... but moody!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> Antagonists (as outlined above) would represent additional rules that apply when they are involved in a mission, usually making things more difficult, but offering little loopholes as well (as per the legends of old, I imagine ... certain weaknesses make certain things easier with certain antagonists).<br /><p></p><p>Mission is over when the dice pool that came up for the mission is gone (I'd go and take the d6 results from the RNG above ... 14 dice for the mission outlined above, for instance) or the Alien Collectives openly challenge the remaining pool for a showdown by claiming the mission is over (as in: the mission as outlined seems over and done with, but there are still dice left, so unforeseen circumstances make themselves felt ... I'd just add another roll of the RNG without adding the d6 as a follow-up of that story).<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">You could already play that, but would you?!</span></p><p>Alright, this is already at a level where I would feel comfortable to test run it. If I invest a little time into writing and layouting and throw some artwork at it (some of it you have seen here in the post), this could be done pretty soon, I imagine (and given how fast I managed to gobble <a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/451501/rebellion-the-card-game" target="_blank">Rebellion</a> together!).</p><p>It would be a shame at this stage to not make it happen. Actually has potential for a series! ANGRY LITTLE ALIENS versus BILLY THE KID, anyone? [edited as I had some more ideas like: versus NERO or versus DRACULA! So much fun could be had] But the question remains: would you play that? Would you like to see any of that?<br /></p><p>Thoughts and impressions are very welcome.<br /></p><p><br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-88508090262783976372023-09-10T22:33:00.001+02:002023-09-10T22:33:54.683+02:00Would you play that? (Introducing: Legacy of Gyrthwolden)<p><i>While ORWELL is getting an errata and a pdf release, I'm playing around with a couple of setting books based on the ORWELL rules I might start developing here on the blog (since I'm taking a close look at those rules again right now) and eventually publish, if they get any traction at all (or it just manifests, as the last game did!). There isn't enough concept work on the blog anymore, and that has always been loads of fun. Lets give it a shot!</i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Legacy of Gyrthwolden (Pitch)</span><br /></p><p>Betrayal was what had the wardings fail. The whole school rotted from the insides like oil poisons water once the magical protection had been penetrated. They had no chance, but some still had fight left in them. It just made the destruction worse. Demons triumphantly stalked the halls, a whole menagerie of beasts had been unleashed and was spreading terror in the dormitories and the east wing. Students had turned into indescribable horrors, their screams driving others into murdering frenzies and ultimately into madness. The most powerful one ended up building a quivering flesh throne in the Lost Cellars where now the mad and mutilated mimic and pervert the old traditions Gyrthwolden held up until it fell.</p><p>And that is not all.</p><p>Within the faculty, impartial observers would have found bravery, defeat, cowardice and old grudges turning bloody fast as the end drew near. The arch chancellor had made the most impressive exit, devastatingly altering reality from the Hanging Gardens of your Holy Lady Reneviere to almost the entire Dyrkterwoods in the west. No one knew he still had it in him. Almost brought a turn of events, too, but then a doom engine materialized in his stomach and made itself a new home in his body. Some say his soul is still caught in there, tormented towards eternity. Maybe it's wishful thinking. He wasn't liked much.</p><p>Eventually, Gyrthwolden fell. Eventually, the smoldering ruins left behind cooled down and while the rest of the world fell into the darkness unleashed at the school, evil started creeping all over campus, struggling with nature for residency.<br /></p><p>There was one area all of that could not penetrate. One last magical stronghold created through the most beautiful improvised ritual in the school's history. Build on a whim, tapping into a not yet corrupted flux of Aether, it bloomed like a flower and enclosed a whole schoolroom, layering the most severe, and costly, layers of protection around it. The teacher who did that had to forfeit her body and burn her soul to weave it strong enough to have a chance. It distorted space and time so elegantly, it stayed untouched by the apocalypse. It wove itself into a future where it persevered. It just cost all within its protective stasis dearly.</p><p>In a final effort, as her soul burned through its last milligrams some decades later, Etherina Dinklethorne forced out of stasis among the students she had saved those she thought had the most promise in a desperate and mad gambit to save of the world what may still be saved.</p><p>You are those students. You are the Legacy of Gyrthwolden.</p><p>This is her last message: <br /></p><p><i>We failed you, my dear children. Our corruption and greed have brought doom to the world you knew. You are save here in this room, but outside these walls, darkness reigns. You have within you what it takes to push back ever so slightly. And if you persist diligently, if you prevail and trust that there still is light and good in the world, you have a chance to overcome this evil curse. I know that in my heart. Go now, my children. I will sacrifice my last energy to extent the wards surrounding you. I know not what will be trapped then with you inside my protective veil, so be careful. Start with freeing the school, building by building. Unlock its secrets and power, everything else will fall into place then. You will see. And never forget ...</i></p><p>But then her voice flattens to a whisper and as it disappears, the mummy of her corpse, trapped in an intricate summoning circle, explodes into a puff of glittering smoke.</p><p></p><blockquote>IDEA: the students are still connected to the stasis field. When they die, they may feed their souls back into the classroom and awaken another student. No one knows how many and which students Miss Dinklethorne saved. Or what the magic did to them, for that matter, so this can be considered to be an infinite pool of replacement characters (or limited, if the GM feels like making this part of the challenge).</blockquote><p>All said and done, it'll be your basic goth horror wizard school versus the apocalypse anime experience. Harry Potter goes Tim Burton and everything died but you ...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEU-58YAilOnBaWVNFXC5PkNF7a-XeMvHzu7qcHGKlVJZ_pE84IXP2z-075FJ7zrbuzce6Mwof1RNhHDqD2THVBJazndwszMMBRFspoUoGXgQehf3qEj-m6PPrInsP-35wmN3TAWnOAGMw5AUUL7K_t_NOLSgx0uNQk43QHtHCRtdeRFZ9F5TteJjjg4/s1024/goth_wizardry_schoolyard.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBEU-58YAilOnBaWVNFXC5PkNF7a-XeMvHzu7qcHGKlVJZ_pE84IXP2z-075FJ7zrbuzce6Mwof1RNhHDqD2THVBJazndwszMMBRFspoUoGXgQehf3qEj-m6PPrInsP-35wmN3TAWnOAGMw5AUUL7K_t_NOLSgx0uNQk43QHtHCRtdeRFZ9F5TteJjjg4/w390-h390/goth_wizardry_schoolyard.png" width="390" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The Game (powered by ORWELL)</span><br /></p><p></p><p>Basic premise of ORWELL is that character development happens as the character is played (each character can develop up to 10 slots per "Level"). Characters come with a potential, and players activate that potential as the story unfolds. They might create gadgets or skills or contacts, as far as the original game is concerned. Everything else is up to the players. If it fits the genre and the group can agree with it, it is fair play. Want to play a conscious spell that just wants to be human? You can do that. A little Lizard Wizard? Sure ... A sentient rock? If you can make it work. This is about having fun telling stories.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGJP2dcRYSAuY7nusFcBJMbmArzG3gFmBXXunHWWCfYNaKasgKqhksvAyJB-Jip_ouQd32i_AN55SctTcdnO80vDTt9GgNPO9me-O3baF4lGa0bDRYwtzIIa6ASXTGFlGd4coNS04I0eQXISpn_sR_40OK7FlbLhccyTMGSroQ4hRpooFPfAk6nbrr3Cs/s2197/little_lizard_wizard_01b.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2197" data-original-width="2197" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGJP2dcRYSAuY7nusFcBJMbmArzG3gFmBXXunHWWCfYNaKasgKqhksvAyJB-Jip_ouQd32i_AN55SctTcdnO80vDTt9GgNPO9me-O3baF4lGa0bDRYwtzIIa6ASXTGFlGd4coNS04I0eQXISpn_sR_40OK7FlbLhccyTMGSroQ4hRpooFPfAk6nbrr3Cs/w379-h379/little_lizard_wizard_01b.png" width="379" /></a></div><p>I'd shift those paradigms a bit to fit the story, so players may invent SKILLS, SPELLS or MAGIC ITEMS. While ORWELL would have players now roll to see how well established that power is, LoG might expand on that by making it something that might need to be obtained as well. Basically it'd need two additions:</p><p>1) Rules for Rituals that might need to reach a certain level, special items and specific roles for characters to assume. That'd block a slot or two. Rituals will open new areas and solve general problems with the curse.</p><p>2) Assuming the students have some idea where is what at that school, it'll need an extension where they manifest the school bit by bit as they talk about and explore it. Some stuff will be provided by the GM, but nothing says it couldn't work like character development does.<br /></p><p>It had to be as procedural as ORWELL is, but shifting the focus a bit from having a proper cyberpunk district to where to find crucial quest items and knowledge and what difficulties await a group to their way there.</p><p>So they might know that the library would be great to have access to. And it is easy enough to assume that there is one. However, while they know where the library was before the fall, they sure as hell know nothing about what happened to it and how to get there now. So the GM will have tools to create a path of obstacles that fit the story to anything he or the group may come up with ...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUSYZM-v_OaXacAXavNfa23s68nv8OOWoySxUnx9GCuE8JrE-t9i91Uw2uaQbboIUbvxzXBVobgZLa4jWlLk_3cuhTleU0G9-qPyfrwZhz61gtFAzRWkRd110BZCZIrTTS_KDRoX65dDfngGl6d14A8zj_VjiVNaWkJ4wKz0CrCP1RaeZAyKvEq2Nr_wY/s2197/Gyrthwolden_Grounds_01b.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2197" data-original-width="2197" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUSYZM-v_OaXacAXavNfa23s68nv8OOWoySxUnx9GCuE8JrE-t9i91Uw2uaQbboIUbvxzXBVobgZLa4jWlLk_3cuhTleU0G9-qPyfrwZhz61gtFAzRWkRd110BZCZIrTTS_KDRoX65dDfngGl6d14A8zj_VjiVNaWkJ4wKz0CrCP1RaeZAyKvEq2Nr_wY/s320/Gyrthwolden_Grounds_01b.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">There you go ...</span><br /><p>I'd have to play around with that for a bit, but that's what a blog is for. Other than that, I'm pretty sure people could work with the premise alone easily. Doesn't even matter that much what system you are using. I guess.</p><p>ORWELL will be a great fit for the setting, on the system side of things, and given that the DM part is mostly system agnostic anyway, this should work for all kinds of games, if that's what you'd want to do.<br /></p><p>So what do you guys think? Would you play that?<br /></p><p><br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-46286905250885607482023-09-04T16:29:00.001+02:002023-09-04T16:29:31.633+02:00Rebellion - The Card Game is out now! (Publishing versus Blogging ... 1:0)<p><i>Yeah, I know, it's been a while. Other than having a new family member (which will have you quite busy, of course), I've also spent the free time I could get with ... writing another game: <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/451501/Rebellion--A-Card-Game?manufacturers_id=11431" target="_blank">Rebellion - The Card Game</a>! Crazy, right? It is a (fun!) card game, but still relates to one of the role-playing games I'm working on here at Disoriented Ranger Publishing: Brawlers! Lets talk about that, shall we?</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVNdAQlZxkPQNCl5g6e_5-PYJ5UiSOjXFnrbd3s-HhwFj2xisW4xBHO-oqsozwrBsTJS_cAzNdaXOtabLWraNmomygg4Lkuad9Om0S1RTspQhXUezIGXGqjEyhYtHVwS1Sa50vlQ8RlKjDnurwXxhp1wRydmOxen1MsWWKaHAJdcuq4zKVBbxHCNupX0/s4209/Rebellion_Cover_Test_06.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4209" data-original-width="2976" height="437" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVNdAQlZxkPQNCl5g6e_5-PYJ5UiSOjXFnrbd3s-HhwFj2xisW4xBHO-oqsozwrBsTJS_cAzNdaXOtabLWraNmomygg4Lkuad9Om0S1RTspQhXUezIGXGqjEyhYtHVwS1Sa50vlQ8RlKjDnurwXxhp1wRydmOxen1MsWWKaHAJdcuq4zKVBbxHCNupX0/w309-h437/Rebellion_Cover_Test_06.png" width="309" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get it at a discount <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?discount=9b2a9d0c06" target="_blank">here</a>!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: large;">Introducing: Rebellion - The Card Game</span><br /></p><p>It is a card fishing game loosely inspired by games like Pasur or Scoba, but it comes with the additional layer of adding abilities to the cards that opens it all up to something more akin to games like Dominion, while staying with the classic, standard card decks (I might add customized decks later, but for now, the standards work perfectly well).</p><p>So, two sets of 52 standard card decks with two Jokers each (something every household should have, I assume) together with the rules will set you up nicely.</p><p>All else you'll need is at least one friend and a table to play on. Even digitally works very well: the card feature on roll20 works like a charm with this. Set up two standard card decks, one for the player of the King, the other for the Rebel Players, snatch the template from the pdf, the product page on drivethruRPG or here, put that as a map background, and you are good to go. Worked like a charm for us.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFunLThOqj29LOhCkIcoEPRa1KMEMDaq_Rv7jFXTsdC0ucelUIjmNwlvYr55QHcOPikk3QFGxWbtA4YanCa_5esHQCx00z23mwwlpHJiREwT_XVGHCW1TTX5c9nhUczhsD3RLHFU45HD9UCE1ba1KGGnwCQ1KnFMqg4tW1YzeZbCmxebQk0rESaZdaLh4/s2408/Rebellion_Playing_Mat_Template.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2408" data-original-width="2408" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFunLThOqj29LOhCkIcoEPRa1KMEMDaq_Rv7jFXTsdC0ucelUIjmNwlvYr55QHcOPikk3QFGxWbtA4YanCa_5esHQCx00z23mwwlpHJiREwT_XVGHCW1TTX5c9nhUczhsD3RLHFU45HD9UCE1ba1KGGnwCQ1KnFMqg4tW1YzeZbCmxebQk0rESaZdaLh4/w443-h443/Rebellion_Playing_Mat_Template.png" width="443" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For the map layer in your roll20 game ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Anyway, so how does it play? Well, as you can see on the mat above, it's about two sides fighting about cards in the middle, the so-called Realm. They do so by playing hand cards to reduce the Realm cards to zero and win them. Additional effects will alter that by adding fun little mechanics that give each side special boons and the Realm itself come with some interesting features that may offer opportunities for special moves and awards.<p>It's all well balanced and comes with a high re-playability, if I may say so. If you like card games with a quick set up that also carry a little depth once you dug into it, you should give Rebellion a chance. We have loads of fun playing it.</p><p>If you end up getting AND playing it, we'd be happy to hear about it. Naturally. And leaving some love on the product page is always appreciated. <br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Tie-in for a RPG that doesn't exist?</span></p><p>You remember Brawlers - A DungeonPunk RPG (formerly known as <strike>Bastards!</strike>, er, <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2015/09/make-bastard-rpg-concept-perspectives.html" target="_blank"><strike>the Grind</strike></a>)? I'm still working on it. Rebellion is part of that process. The world of Brawlers was pretty dark: a sort of apocalypse took a dark spin on a vanilla fantasy setting. Now the monster menagerie is in charge and sitting on the ruins of the lost world. Characters go on "brawls" in that world to help petty gods back to power and kick some demon butt ... Rebellion is a card game from that long gone era. A reminder of better times, maybe, or just a card trick game played for coins. Illegal under the monster empire, of course That's the idea, anyway.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh441CJWHdtFWA9YwlziHL72A3xQgIq8KA1bbd9iTAoYiYJx3FM0ZgjrImX9vuHbakCbsv_g1u7gC24vJCDAK3EH_SaSDK6Sfqxz61WgGMBYhdTtIxHt8g5P6QYsThm21PR3GWUCeGQF37o6uW8fjAT4NSMVDLfKnHH-q7qiuLjJ0qkAK8A08geFA8TUxI/s2408/Brawlers_Cover_03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2408" data-original-width="1703" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh441CJWHdtFWA9YwlziHL72A3xQgIq8KA1bbd9iTAoYiYJx3FM0ZgjrImX9vuHbakCbsv_g1u7gC24vJCDAK3EH_SaSDK6Sfqxz61WgGMBYhdTtIxHt8g5P6QYsThm21PR3GWUCeGQF37o6uW8fjAT4NSMVDLfKnHH-q7qiuLjJ0qkAK8A08geFA8TUxI/w280-h396/Brawlers_Cover_03.png" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe not the final cover ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> I was looking for a nice way to connect what the players are doing with that card based mission generator I wrote for it years back. I was thinking poker variant, but that never really clicked somehow. Roughly two months ago I had an epiphany of sorts: what if players get a chance during mission to challenge the BrawlMeister (the DM, so to say) to a game of cards, and if they win, it'll alter the mission parameters by creating some better conditions ... but if they lose, shit gets worse. <br /></p><p>A no-brainer, since the cards already connect with the mission generator. All it needs is the specific ... And I already have some ideas for "wild" cards that could be played, as well as alternative decks and how it all connects to character levels. Lots of possibilities! <br /></p><p>But for now, the game itself is done. I think it might make a good "setting game" for most fantasy settings. Something with its own lingo, something non-player characters might play or talk about. At least it will be that for Brawlers ... And it is fun to play by itself, so there is that.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">What else is cooking?</span></p><p>I'll keep it short, but lots is happening. I decided to finally publish a pdf for ORWELL, that dystopian role-playing game I wrote and sold as dead tree copy only until now. Will make a little errata before that, make it all pretty and clean, with hyperlinks and bookmarks ... the whole ten yards. And then it'll go live. This month or next, I think.</p><p>I also got a bit of fiction published! A cyberpunk short story of mine appeared in a great anthology: <a href="https://asif.press/shop/ipseities/" target="_blank">Ipseities</a> (by As If publishing). I liked all the stories, with three really exceptional favorites. Really a great anthology of weird and creative stories. Good company to be in! Really recommended, if nuweird is something you like.</p><p>I'm also working on all other fronts, and hope to get couple of things done before years end. Looks good right now. I feel it's happening. Look forward to see some more about be67 in the near future ...</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlTI-ALzqigNWd9q78N4GTIYtmLLQM8EggoIN8WJ4Dtx1bVKydWEf_-qoBz4CYj-2QrWy_5x_KdPhLvW2PVG8qx59V5tHiGzDDHr8oWRJSGYCedXAIa81XaO4ix7t8zup8J3FmR5w9WfPvQ4qkBTLREv2haKeKzysOQna76tjTBXBs1L3i6WW788pYvEw/s1344/jens_d._vintage_photo_of_a_werid_sixties_movie_villain_-_chaos__3129660b-5635-4f8a-80af-4742996cecd2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1344" data-original-width="896" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlTI-ALzqigNWd9q78N4GTIYtmLLQM8EggoIN8WJ4Dtx1bVKydWEf_-qoBz4CYj-2QrWy_5x_KdPhLvW2PVG8qx59V5tHiGzDDHr8oWRJSGYCedXAIa81XaO4ix7t8zup8J3FmR5w9WfPvQ4qkBTLREv2haKeKzysOQna76tjTBXBs1L3i6WW788pYvEw/w326-h490/jens_d._vintage_photo_of_a_werid_sixties_movie_villain_-_chaos__3129660b-5635-4f8a-80af-4742996cecd2.png" width="326" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What I imagine a be67 GM looks like ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>And the blog ... well, I need to do some more there, too. It takes a bit of a back seat, but I have that review series with my friend Eric going, so something like that will happen next. If I can do it on the sly.</p><p>So that's it. A lot is happening behind the scenes, but you guys will see results soon. Some proper rpg material will hit digital shelves in the very near future! Stay tuned. And check out Rebellion. It really is tons of fun.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdJCuW-jhUNTSMsiCI5QN-l2AqaRI-KxPW0T9mUYWH855pUGLFpg6VeYI7QCQjE5umWzRkowT8QuYjz4JSPCEnZ-VEHE_UkyKLIVG-WKS1LQV_b2J6A6m8i-kSg_t3j0hx8DVR78RPbJ1l4vh9jpl-tCts_I0r45rGEEN8XZMS-fMjPCS29M3_dE5Y_o/s2084/The_King.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2084" data-original-width="1200" height="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdJCuW-jhUNTSMsiCI5QN-l2AqaRI-KxPW0T9mUYWH855pUGLFpg6VeYI7QCQjE5umWzRkowT8QuYjz4JSPCEnZ-VEHE_UkyKLIVG-WKS1LQV_b2J6A6m8i-kSg_t3j0hx8DVR78RPbJ1l4vh9jpl-tCts_I0r45rGEEN8XZMS-fMjPCS29M3_dE5Y_o/w362-h630/The_King.png" width="362" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The King disapproves of your attempts to resist ... <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-7531640661716277982023-06-27T11:31:00.004+02:002023-06-27T11:41:04.584+02:00Revisions Part 2: The True Nature of Encounters (with another excerpt from be67)<p><i>Hello, friends and neighbors. How's life? Mine (thanks for asking) is good but busy. Still can't leave the blog hanging like that. I keep finishing be67 as of this writing, but I am making progress, if ever so slowly. We are now testing this with another GM having a go at it (the great <a href="https://failedgamedesigner.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mark van Vlack</a> is giving it a shot ...), and it has been a most illuminating experience so far (and a blast rolling dice with Jay and Eric ... first time I had the pleasure of playing with my good friend Eric from <a href="http://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Methods & Madmen</a>!). Turns out, you can write 140 pages of rules and still miss some of the more crucial aspects of the game unmentioned.</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjByiRoQXZ6tKHN2jvAzKgAeC4zXv8Y7cOsFy60jNXf2th6l27jJ2BHX4wkmCpVlzkJPlTA7xLPLEs1zGDA-DyF_EhHBzMjzEqJTgfc_XDmdQmE7MYlsFJIKceED5BYET55qbJqpFsxURCdv_o6WmsIBCvEpT7rZohlhZBWs9MiNFiPl2mbZUPnCFUwow8/s2546/Road_to_Hell_Promo_02.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2546" data-original-width="1697" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjByiRoQXZ6tKHN2jvAzKgAeC4zXv8Y7cOsFy60jNXf2th6l27jJ2BHX4wkmCpVlzkJPlTA7xLPLEs1zGDA-DyF_EhHBzMjzEqJTgfc_XDmdQmE7MYlsFJIKceED5BYET55qbJqpFsxURCdv_o6WmsIBCvEpT7rZohlhZBWs9MiNFiPl2mbZUPnCFUwow8/s320/Road_to_Hell_Promo_02.png" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To give you an idea ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Anyway. I'm on it. We are here to talk what works, which would be the Narrative Encounter Generator that game features. Lets have a look ... You could also check out <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2023/01/revisions-part-1-d-rc-was-never.html" target="_blank">part 1</a> first.<i><br /></i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Lost Songs did something like it!</span></p><p>Lost Songs of the Nibelungs is another game still happening that hasn't seen love in some time now. Things is, all the work I put into other games right now is (still) to make LSotN the best game I can make. One of the most crucial parts (no one seems to care about) is what encounters are and how they measure towards a gaming system. As most of you will be aware, it never translates fully. Not all non-player characters are fully statted or carry even a tenth of what your basic character sheet will hold.</p><p>Couldn't, to be honest, unless it'd be a game with very basic values and no real depth. A game needs to provide the necessary data as soon as it is needed, which can be tricky, of course, if it is a whole lot of information a GM needs fast. D&D is a bit more complex like that, but can take a huge amount of punishment before breaking down and (for instance) killing a party because a random encounter turned out to be too hard. That can be a boon (as gamemasters can wing it and get away with it), but it also comes with huge disadavantages when you actually try to emulate it properly in your gamedesigns.</p><p>Seems like lots of it had been guesswork ...<br /></p><p>Now, what you can learn when designing it from the bottom up, is, that it needs a deep understanding of what encounters really are and how they need to connect the game with players and gamemaster in a meaningful way.</p><p>I think one of the bigger misconceptions early D&D let fester, was the reduction of encounters to only being entities to interact with. It codified the idea that the game is around encountering monsters and taking their treasure. That this is only partly true is easily obvious as soon as one takes a closer look at all the interactive elements those games offer: ability scores, skills, saves ... all tools to probe a fictive reality in several different ways. role-playing games are about interacting with everything imaginable in the narrated surrounded. Everything the players ENCOUNTER, that is.<br /></p><p>First time I developed designs in that direction was when writing Lost Songs, where characters didn't encounter entities as much as "narrative concepts" associated with fairy tales that may manifest as some sort of entity, but could be something entirely different, like a storm or a landscape feature that offers ineraction of some sort.</p><p>You can take a close look at that Random Narrative Generator <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-random-narrative-generator.html" target="_blank">here</a> (damn ... that was seven years ago!). It is thoroughly tested, and let me tell you: it writes fantastic D&D stories, even on the fly. A variant of this is used to generate cyberpunk stories to great effect in <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353636/ORWELL--RolePlaying-in-a-Dystopian-Future?src=hottest_filtered" target="_blank">ORWELL</a>, too.<br /></p><p>Turns out, however, that be67 needed a somewhat different approach. What I ended up with is a tool where the same method is used (generating abstract and random narrative encounters), but with more individual encounters specifically designed for one scenario instead of a whole genre. It helps focusing on the movie part of the experience, while somewhat moving away from the sandbox approach (characters are still having freedom of choice, but not as much on a fictive map as what the action sequences and movie scenes are, in a sense).</p><p>I already shared this in Part 1, but here it is again in the new context presented here:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3oND6LEfMM7TM7ajihcBnX-OMywR82eLdzgadpoAuURvLHeYyreG45xzXzDTBAexCkY5_oxOlLzL5O_8oRVsMsu2gZoAJ3vZdrB6ah-Pg9u8R9aKNqm7PwBqKfsmQNREptain95xIrwwE8bW6ViCYrG4fe_YfdCL4FYh_IHPfnXoYaTHjY0uhEixtiU/s2408/NEG_blank_01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="2408" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3oND6LEfMM7TM7ajihcBnX-OMywR82eLdzgadpoAuURvLHeYyreG45xzXzDTBAexCkY5_oxOlLzL5O_8oRVsMsu2gZoAJ3vZdrB6ah-Pg9u8R9aKNqm7PwBqKfsmQNREptain95xIrwwE8bW6ViCYrG4fe_YfdCL4FYh_IHPfnXoYaTHjY0uhEixtiU/w473-h334/NEG_blank_01.png" width="473" /></a></div><br /><p>So instead of a barony in your fantasy setting that has specific problems and quests, the movie title is the "territory" the players are exploring, and everything is geared towards that specific experience. You have a Zombie movie, scenic encounters should be about humanity failing to push back against the undead: streets with abandoned cars, overrun military outposts, burning cities. An encounter like that should set the mood.</p><p>Landmark would additionally offer some form of orientation (you'll notice that the encounters are arranged hierarchically), and might offer left behind messages by other survivors, like "Newport is still free", or "We are meeting at the Hargrave military base", or something along those lines.</p><p>Benign NPCs, then, would be other survivors with no ill will towards the characters, most likely (given the genre) someone needing help one way or another. </p><p>Challenges could be anything from avoiding zombie infested areas to getting some form of energy (gas for a car, electricity, wood even) or ressource (ammunition might be a bg on here). A threat would be to get discovered, for instance, or overrun, while the main plot would hint towards the source of the zombie uprise, while the Main Evil is the source itself, and "showdown" would offer some form of solution to the get rid of the main evil. In this case, it might be a face-off with the zombie master (the difference between "just" encountering him as "Main Evil" would be that in a showdown, it is personal for some reason ... "You know my secret, therefore you must DIE!"). <br /></p><p>Now think about how those parameters might shift if it where, say, an alien invasion of body snatchers, or the plot of some Bond villain for world domination ... All get different NEG, but they might interact, even, like different locations would in a fantasy setting but as movie sets instead.</p><p>Throw some sixties weirdos into that (classes in be67 are Journalist, Outlaw, Activist, Spy, Flower Child, Saboteur, Veteran), and you got a game going!</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">How is all of that explained in the book, then? </span><br /></p><p>The thoughts tying all of this together in be67, are formulated in the beginning of the GM chapter of the book (right after establishing the genre, as you may read <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2022/08/tell-them-to-show-and-not-tell-look.html" target="_blank">here</a>). Consider this (unedited, as it were):</p><p>
</p><p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">HOW TO STRUCTURE THE GAME</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">But
how to tell those stories? How to prepare for them? There is more to
a story than having some maps and the numbers and information for
monsters or Non-Player Characters on hand. It all needs to come
together, at best gearing </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">towards</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
a very specific experience: bloody grindhouse cinema </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">in
the Weird Sixties</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">As
we just established, we are already half way there. The system
carries a lot just by setting </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">up</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
specific player goals and resolving all of it geared towards that
experience. It does </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">not</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
tell a story, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">however</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">All
the sources of inspiration we offered so far will also go a long way,
giving GMs ideas what elements they might want to see in their games.
And while that might lead to some satisfying adventures, it’d be
difficult to make that a campaign to last over the course of 30
levels. It needs more than that.</span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
following segment will give some basic information how to prepare and
tell stories as well as connecting all of that within a <b>be67</b>
campaign. </span>
</p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b><span style="background: transparent;">The
Rule of Cool!</span></b></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">The
first bit of structure every game needs is an understanding between
the participants what “fun” constitutes for their gaming. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">They
need to be on the same page about what </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b><span style="background: transparent;">be67</span></b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">
can be at their table.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">
The Weird Sixties can provide a wide array of possibilities beyond
what the hard rules the game already provides are able to convey.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">You
can have dog fights with dragons over New York, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">hunt
werewolf Nazis lurking in the deep snow of </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">Antarctica,</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">
or head expeditions into the Hollow Earth to fi</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">ght</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">
dinosaurs and King Kong. All with a good dose of splatter and
psychedelics … A GM’s imagination is the limit and a group’s
willingness to suspend their disbelief directly correlates with the
fun that can be had in </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b><span style="background: transparent;">be67</span></b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">The
Rule of Cool, then, is basically a sleight of hand allowing
“</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">Suspension
of Disbelief” by explaining what can happen as “movie magic” </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">as
long as it does </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">not</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">
contradict the rules presented here</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">A
Character loses an arm? Why not let them have a prostheses with a
shotgun </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">because
they “know a guy”</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">?
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">It
is easy enough to see the advantages and disadvantages of something
like that (even how to express and expand on it within the rules!).</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">The
blunt weapon of choice a Character is using</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">is
a frying pan? Why not have them do just as much damage as a mace
would? </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">The
damage would be the same since Weapon Mastery doesn’t make that
distinction. They could use a spoon, for that matter.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">In
a sense it is the logical consequence of how weird the setting is
combined with how flexible the rules are. There is a “wiggle room”
in between, and exploring that is part of the fun. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">In
that spirit, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">The
Rule of Cool proposes to let the imagination go wild for the fun of
it. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">Not
as a hard rule, but as something to keep in mind and everybody has an
understanding of.</span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b>The
easiest way to build tension?</b></i></span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
smallest narrative unit relevant in a role-playing game is an
ENCOUNTER with an interactive element of the game. Those elements are
interactive as soon as they enter the narrative, which could be as
benign as a passer-by on the street or even just the entrance into a
cave. For there to be tension, however, it needs to signal that there
is either something to gain or something to lose. In raw game terms,
gaining could simply mean xp while losing might simply mean losing
Hit Points. In more general terms it might mean information that
somehow brings the narrative forward.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">By
asking lots of questions about their surroundings, players will
actually fish for interactive elements that can be salvaged for
in-game currency most of the time without further initiative
necessary from the GM. The art of gamemastering, however, is in
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><i>shaping</i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
the dynamics of that fishing. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">There’s
a couple of simple rules to follow when working Encounters into the
game:</span></span></p>
<ul><li><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>No
Encounters Without Purpose </b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">–
Encounters should always at least manifest one element of the
setting, the mission or the scene. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">E</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">ven
if totally random, the benefit must be either for </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">meaningfully</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
enhancing the atmosphere, enriching the world or </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">advancing</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
the game.</span></span></p>
</li><li><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Always
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>A</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>
Tease</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
– No Encounter should occur without being hinted towards first at
least once. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">It
does not</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
matter if the players are looking for the Encounter or the other way
around.</span></span></p>
</li><li><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Always
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>A</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>
Catch</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
– </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
more the players want something, the more they are willing to do for
it, so the effort needed to have something happen is an easy
regulator for a GM to motivate players into spending resources or
have them drop an attempt </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">by
making the attempt to</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">o</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
expensive. Teasing helps finding out how big of a catch an Encounter
allows </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
which challenges are acceptable to engage with it</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.</span></span></p>
</li><li><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Play
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>W</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>ith
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>t</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>he
Unknown</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
– Signs of an Encounter about to happen should be as obscure as
the narrative allows and might even be misleading </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">as
long as</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
the reveal is able to explain what had happened.</span></span></p>
</li><li><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>(</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>L</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>et
Them) Run With It</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
– Encounters should never be changed while manifesting in order to
accommodate the players’ intuitions about what’s happening or
going to happen.</span></span></p>
</li><li><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Allow
Tension, Allow Release</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
– </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
interplay of teasing, little challenges and The Unknown will produce
tension </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">during</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
Encounters, but tension always needs to be released as well. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">It
is crucial to resolve all Encounters if the end of the Encounter is
not obvious, even those that fail to manifest completely (due to a
failed challenge, for instance) need to be resolved by signaling the
Players that whatever was happening has come to some sort of end.</span></span></p>
</li><li><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Never
Stop Moving</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
– Ideally, players will always look for something or have
questions, which means there are enough encounters to explore around
them. That said, it is always good to pile on what is existing to
have something to engage them with as soon as the game stalls for
some reason. A good rule of thump is to have at least three
encounters manifesting at all times in some form or another, while
being on the lookout to add even to that. </span></span>
</p>
</li><li><p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>[ADVANCED]
Little Puzzles Everywhere</b> – What applies for Encounters in
detail (as described above), does also apply for the sum of all
Encounters over the course of a Session (or even several Sessions).
Encounters map the gaming world for the players, and GMs should
aspire to allow for meaningful patterns to appear on those maps for
the Players to discover and play around with. </span>
</p>
</li><li><p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>[ADVANCED]
Encounters Triggering Encounters</b> – While the above suggests an
organic flow of the action manifesting from the interaction between
narration, gamemaster and players, it is important to stress that
encounters might escalate situations based on wrong decisions the
players went for, making life more dangerous because of it. A
natural consequence of bad decisions is, therefore, that additional
encounters manifest immediately into the encounter that is playing
out, making a bad situation worse. Gamemasters are encouraged to let
that happen, but also signal that things are forced to escalate and
the dangers associated with the escalation.</span></p>
</li><li><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">[</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>ADVANCED]
Time is a Construct</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
– Not all encounters follow – or should follow – in a timely
fashion. Sometimes it is, instead, advisable to have time pass
without incidence, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
without the attempt to fill the passing time with meaning. It just
passes. The narration bridging the time gap sets up the next
encounter instead, manifesting after the designated time has passed.
Since there is an arbitrary element to this process, doing so
deliberately between encounters will help </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">shaping
the narrative favorably while allowing for drastically shifting a
group’s surroundings in a natural way, if need be.</span></span></p>
</li></ul>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Following
the advice formulated above should lead to satisfying gaming loops in
all Sessions when the challenges offered cover the range of systems
that make <b>be67</b>, no matter the specific adventure. The next
important step is to set the frame for those Encounters to happen in.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><i><b>W</b></i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><i><b>hat
</b></i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><i><b>kind
of</b></i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><i><b>
Encounter</b></i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><i><b>s
does the game need</b></i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><i><b>?</b></i></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">As
already established: f</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">or
the purposes of this game, an Encounter is basically </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">EVERY</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
element in the game the Characters can interact with. It needs to be
distinguished, however, between NARRATIVE and STATIONARY Encounters.
The first category is occurring in a (usually randomized) sequential
manner as the story unfolds, the second comprises a set of necessary
locations the Characters can (or need to</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">)</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
find over the course of a scenario or adventure.</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Those
two categories will interact with each other as the game progresses.
Not only will the Stationary Encounters summon the “back cloth”
for the run time of a specific movie scenario and keep that present,
some locations will also be more dangerous than others and that will
alter Narrative Encounters as well.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }</style> --------------------------------</p><p>And that's how it's done in the book. Build on that follow tools to create challenges and monsters, going more and more into what the rules actually need (from most abstract, like shown above, to most crunchy).</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This is where I'm at ...</span></p><p>At the moment I'm hammering down the finer details of this. It all needs to click in the end so that all those different ideas and designs come together into something coherent. Not easy (as it turns out), but fun nonetheless. Takes time, however (who'd have thought ...).</p><p>So this is what I'm doing when I'm doing something right now.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Vac7gwXnOIyBYoEqDxMk5mlhwOpIU7SYGGQdg8VItAcL4cuVAoUAxkMvcSAOhGa9cIuqFNiB5teqgIu5YbqVQSSUt_rzFaIQYOseheVxvZVg-dAB1UMH3PVbkr2vXOJCzi_AnIhcXtL4O_1CfKKCUHWYKKTOxRBF8Gbj06Pa6z-MzyFotF3RNY0rWME/s1344/jens_d._bw_line_drawing_of_a_british_spy_in_a_toxedo__sixties_v_870ef89b-9d3e-4fef-9ff3-537dc35bec91.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="1344" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Vac7gwXnOIyBYoEqDxMk5mlhwOpIU7SYGGQdg8VItAcL4cuVAoUAxkMvcSAOhGa9cIuqFNiB5teqgIu5YbqVQSSUt_rzFaIQYOseheVxvZVg-dAB1UMH3PVbkr2vXOJCzi_AnIhcXtL4O_1CfKKCUHWYKKTOxRBF8Gbj06Pa6z-MzyFotF3RNY0rWME/w399-h266/jens_d._bw_line_drawing_of_a_british_spy_in_a_toxedo__sixties_v_870ef89b-9d3e-4fef-9ff3-537dc35bec91.png" width="399" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artwork for the Spy in be67!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Well, what do you guys think about it? You think encounters should be EVERYTHING, to one degree or another, anyway, or is it too confusing for those used to the very specific way D&D established so many moons ago? Would you use it like I propose here? As always, your thoughts are very welcome.<p></p><p>And now back to work ...<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrsHqRhg09e6R-ODGw99il12yzPq75D-ROVQduWVd2BNW3XPVMNOC_p91GDYw3liXijAMem3F-jIEyGHqGcu_Kzi0hCul4NB-wdxkLbxUc6j3my31YbfghdUfnWRqjPz4fHiQqNlWKm5mbJA550OmQQjzYTwB99sh_6d7iL7u1autr2EekRhFK363ZVg/s1703/CoverNeu_05B_FINAL_Black.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrsHqRhg09e6R-ODGw99il12yzPq75D-ROVQduWVd2BNW3XPVMNOC_p91GDYw3liXijAMem3F-jIEyGHqGcu_Kzi0hCul4NB-wdxkLbxUc6j3my31YbfghdUfnWRqjPz4fHiQqNlWKm5mbJA550OmQQjzYTwB99sh_6d7iL7u1autr2EekRhFK363ZVg/s320/CoverNeu_05B_FINAL_Black.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-13111264627899778532023-05-08T16:08:00.011+02:002023-05-10T09:38:17.182+02:00Is it Appendix N worthy material? The Sword Itself by Joe Abercrombie (Review & my Appendix N)<p><i>This is part 2 of our book review series. "Our" meaning that Eric Diaz over at the wonderful blog Methods & Madmen and yours truly started readig books together and share our thoughts about them on our respective blogs. I'm a little late for this one, so this one better be good. What I can say up front is that I did NOT like the book, and I could go on in detail why it is objectively bad just by comparing it with the book I read after The Blade Itself, which was Ravenheart by David Gemmell ... A book so much better, the thought Abercrombie is a younger author, standing on those mighty shoulders just to take a piss, almost brought me to tears. Instead of being negative about a bad book, I'll also offer my Appendix N at the end. Never did that for some reason, and this is a good opportunity. <br /></i></p><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMVADgW1OFiPSb4JOnDJL5JDIMFiWM1tLU-gRETOBhonRyeAlCG9BM6eRLrvIDsCpfcHr-BLw-7xHdwrTpCjgZYXRqKpzHH6qafW6JR6PRTyQBJO1AW3I9qw5TZ-DRSCnUUxonIv9xsF-HIXwoftAP3P2VTkG8RG4u5R5RIGYsYO2i7w9YqsAdK_eN/s1571/stupid-blade-itself.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1571" data-original-width="1024" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMVADgW1OFiPSb4JOnDJL5JDIMFiWM1tLU-gRETOBhonRyeAlCG9BM6eRLrvIDsCpfcHr-BLw-7xHdwrTpCjgZYXRqKpzHH6qafW6JR6PRTyQBJO1AW3I9qw5TZ-DRSCnUUxonIv9xsF-HIXwoftAP3P2VTkG8RG4u5R5RIGYsYO2i7w9YqsAdK_eN/w115-h177/stupid-blade-itself.jpeg" width="115" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ffantasyhyllan.se%2Fproduktbilder%2F9780575079793-the-blade-itself-1.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=57dbe7fc681bdca34e46ccfd13230674a9cebfbfc6eed55e26d9e74abadc6d58&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table>Before I start doing my thing and embrace my feelings for this grotesque mockery of a "dark fantasy story", you might want to go and check out Eric's take on the book <a href="https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-blade-itself-book-review.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<p></p><p>If you are just here for the Appendix N, and not for the rant, please feel free to scroll down to that part. <br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Kudos for writing a book, champ ...</span><br /></p><p>I'm not trying to be cute here. Writing a book, quality not withstanding, is a HUGE task. If you manage that, and even end up with something close to coherent, you deserve praise. There are no two ways about it. It shows dedication and stamina. But to write an atrocity like "The Blade itself" and end up being called an "authority" in the dark fantasy genre is a bit much. Gemmell could have written circles around the guy after having a stroke, it's so bad.</p><p>Calm, calm, calm ... All I'm saying is, we have very capable fantasy authors out there writing good books, even setting new standards. Go as far back as the pulps and you already get Burroughs and Lovecraft and Howard and Turner and Moorcook and Farmer and even Heinlein. Add Lewis Carroll and C. S. Lewis to that and don't forget Tolkien, Peake and Ursula K. Le Guin, voices so strong, they shaped fantasy for centuries to come.</p><p>All of them providing more than enough reading material to have you set for a long time before you have any need to look for something good next. And an even longer time before your eyes should fall on Abercrombie's atrocity.</p><p>There is free amateur translated Chinese fantasy out there that is better than this shit. Microsoft AI could write a better novel than that, it's that bad.</p><p>Anyway, there is better. You go contemporary, you'll find Pratchett there on the high throne all things fantasy. There's also Robert Jordan worth mentioning, as well as Neil Gaiman (although they'd be on different ends of a spectrum that could be considered "fantasy"). Simon R. Green has some very solid entries into the genre, and there are Joel Rosenberg, Garth Nix, Paul Kearney and Philip Pullman to check out as well. Or have you seen what Piers Anthony is offering? Roger Zelazny needs to be on this list, too!<br /></p><p>And that's just a superficial look at my book shelves, not even going beyond the native English authors. There's lots of great French fantasy, for instance (if you can track down the books by Gilles Servat, for instance, that's good reading), Poland has a strong scene as well (the Witcher series is quite popular, it seems), and Germany isn't that bad either (Cornelia Funke, Wolfgang Hohlbein, Kai Meyer, Walter Moers ...). Doesn't matter where you go, you'll find something that shines more than this turd. Even if you use google translate to read them, you'd end up having a better reading experience.</p><p>It's that bad.<br /></p><p>You just want it dark? There's also lots to read: G. R. R. Martin has his cult following, Steven Erikson's Malazan series is among the best dark fantasy you could read, Glen Cook wrote lots of great dark fantasy (although I really love his Garrett P. I. series more). And David Gemmell is up there, of course. As is Stephen R. Donaldson.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">What gets a good book recognized? Time!</span><br /></p><p>I always loved to read. Right now I manage to read round about 40 books a year. It'd been more for a long time, it'd been less for a bit of time. I'm also, as you might know, a bookseller. One of the things you learn when becoming a bookseller in Germany is that every category has its jewels, its great books. Doesn't matter if travel or IT or fantasy or, say, women's books, you look long enough, you'll find something worth your while (although I always found it strange that women get their own category of books while men don't). <br /></p><p>Another thing is the idea of fixing prices for books, which we still have in Germany. That's a good thing, and I'll tell you why as well. For one, big publishers cannot strong-arm small publishers out of business with price dumping. Seen the other way around, small publishers can make a living with their products and that leads to more diversification. It gives people a chance who wouldn't have one otherwise, which leads to an enrichment in culture.</p><p>And those publishers do get their chance here. Maybe less so than 20 years abo, but they still do. Book fairs, for instance, are great for the small press, the book sellers still go through all the catalogues and complimentary copies they get sent, and there still are solicitors sent by publishers that aim to shine a light on new books we'd miss otherwise ... </p><p>... because here's the thing: in Germany we get round about 90.000 new publications per year. Books, all of them. There are school books and all that jazz among them, but still, it is a humongous amount of books. If you were just to trust the industry, you could, for a long time, see a process at work</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>where people write a book, then</li><li>go to find a publisher (first gate to filter out trivel like that Abercrombie book)</li><li>if, done, have the book edited, printed and marketed (another filter, if a finer one ... your book may come out, but without getting some love from the publisher, so no one notices), then</li><li>book sellers get their dirty paws on it, maybe read it (sometimes even before publication), maybe give it a special place in their shop with higher visibility, maybe recommend it, and then</li><li>people buy it and read it and, ideally, talk about it or buy it again as presents for others or review it, to finally</li><li>the book gaining some profile in the general public.</li></ul><p>And that is a lot of rings to jump through. Usually, the way it is set up, it might be hard on authors, as they have to actually manage to carve out a place among other well established authors, old or contemporary, but for a culture it is what you'd want to have, as (ideally) you'd build excellence on excellence.</p><p>Now, we know that things have never been easy like that. You'd have phases of (unfounded) elitism surrounding literature, you'd have societal trends that bring specific needs that wouldn't last but earn a pretty buck in short terms. And still, over time those established systems would produce results. Quality (usually) will be recognized over time.</p><p>Nowadays it is somewhat different, however, as all active elements in the list above try to subvert that system for as long as it exists, obviously. We also experience a severe form of cultural stagnation right now as the mainstream will not stop ruminating the last 40 years of the 20th century. To a degree where the only innovation in that regard seems to be to charge old ideas with new ideologies. Established publishers are not immune to those trends, and it shows.<br /></p><p>Add to that desktop publishing and self publishing and all the other new and beautiful ways that allow authors to directly market to their audience ... with all the good and bad that entails.</p><p>But the far bigger problem, the problem that allowed for something like The Blade Itself to not only be published, but even gaining popularity, is that publishers try to sell us the same ideas again and again by claiming it'd be something "new". It is why you don't see as much Pratchett or Gemmell in book shops anymore. They are dead, so there won't be any new books written by them, which is why they aren't presented as options anymore.</p><p>In a way, The Blade Itself is what 60 years of cultural incest looks like. The good genes authors like Tolkien provided diluted over time into something that lacks in every capacity. And that The Hype Machine (tm) never looks back and compares, well, looking at D&D 5e we know what that looks like. Reviewers want free shit and money, they don't really care what they are hustling. Or even what they are saying, most of the time. It's only always just about pushing the next hype in order to milk it.</p><p>And it needs to happen fast, too. Good example for that was the finale of Game of Thrones the tv show. You could see what disregarding quality in order to keep the pace HBO deemed necessary lead to: a total train wreck, with the author of the book series not even having a say in how it's going down nor getting a chance to have his final book in the series published.</p><p>See what I mean? You can't take 4 years to write a book. You need to have published at least 2 books a year to get a chance.</p><p>Those cycles are so fast right now, the only thing still working properly in recognizing something worthwhile is time combined with the experience to sniff out bullshit before buying it. Most of the time that means taking a step or two back from what's happening in book shops and forums, and branching off from titles you know instead. What did authors like who wrote books you liked? What did they recommend? Find opinions you can trust (actually one of the original functions of booksellers, believe it or not), go it from there.</p><p>That's at least what I'm doing ... Even so, every now and then you'll encounter a stinker like The Blade Itself. Which is okay, as long as you learn from it and adapt. In this case, I really hope Abercrombie got better in his later books, but I won't find out until some very compelling evidence emerges that it's not all unjustified hype. Same goes for Brandon Sanderson, btw. Another highly overrated fantasy author I won't touch anymore after reading one of his abysmal books.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZ9vjJfLz4h_bnqAUGDFfbZRBc1REu-AA6cpl9zN9d_nr8c7vbQ4dP6oPPYgM3ZIuM-tg7fzANbF0EWI0-oZYc6uLPcr3OvxY5NLPPBhXWy-7x17k5RGVKq9q6TrmzjXSzllb7fNIcElwpKCP4-_YIFxFVJFGN5SYSmittmDqgMqkZcLS-HTM2ksL/s244/Bad_Memories_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="244" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZ9vjJfLz4h_bnqAUGDFfbZRBc1REu-AA6cpl9zN9d_nr8c7vbQ4dP6oPPYgM3ZIuM-tg7fzANbF0EWI0-oZYc6uLPcr3OvxY5NLPPBhXWy-7x17k5RGVKq9q6TrmzjXSzllb7fNIcElwpKCP4-_YIFxFVJFGN5SYSmittmDqgMqkZcLS-HTM2ksL/w322-h322/Bad_Memories_01.gif" width="322" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sanderson is also bad memories ... [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia1.tenor.com%2Fimages%2F65a8b7210b2fb8d08a4febfcaaefff60%2Ftenor.gif%3Fitemid%3D10753679&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=58da4ccb5966ff49df09e7a66b8c0395f9d327f3885ae949655e6feec8924fd9&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table>You might wonder at this point what has me so riled up, so here are some highlights. All the characters are one dimensional, there is no development at all, there is no growth or interaction. A character is one thing, and that's what they are throughout. Since they are all "dark" in addition to being flat, you'll end up only getting the superficial trifle of unlikable people. <br /><p></p><p>The world building is atrocious. You have pseudo Scandinavians in the north, pseudo Renaissance in the middle and pseudo Persian in the south, all of them portrayed as their worse cliches and with a bit of magic mixed in to cut even more corners. No variety, no color, no depth just arrogantly uneducated surface perceptions. Not only is it a very low resolution understanding of history, it is also in almost all cases the most boring choice of world building imaginable (a modicum of research would have rectified that, but even that seemed too much effort).</p><p>The story is so flat, it can be summarized in two sentences. Instead it is spread over more than 500 pages. And nothing happens. If something interesting happens, it does so between chapters. Example: There's a big fight scene, built up for over two hundred pages ... and it is skipped. What we get, as far as combat goes, is uninspired at best. The dialogue is lacking as well. And all of it is riddled with stupid cliches. The king is fat and unable to function, so others do his job, but they are corrupt meanies ... Oh, also no relevant female characters worth mentioning.</p><p>And don't get me started with the "monsters" this book tries to establish. One is introduced in the first chapter, the so-called "flatheads". But they are neither described nor distinguishable from humans and we learn only some 400 pages later that they are supposed to be the creation of some evil wizard back when ... So they are something like orcs. But actually, they are not established beyond being a MacGuffin. No culture, no color, no details ... you get my drift.</p><p>As for being "delightfully evil" as the Guardian seems to put it (and whatever that is supposed to mean, btw), I couldn't agree less. Nothing in this book is "evil". I've seen evil (listen to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exUMVkzinJY&t=1s" target="_blank">her story</a>, for instance ... the part with the dog? that's pure evil), this ain't it, and I actually despise people that try to make "evil" look "cool". Who wouldn't after seeing what evil does?<br /></p><p>It is an awful book. Not recommended, and people doing so should be regarded with suspicion, imho.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Concessions ...</span></p><p>Let me be clear: I don't regret one word I wrote about The Sword Itself. It is a bad book, published in a cruel marketing scheme that aims for quantity before quality, that wants you to buy, not necessarily to read or even think and compare, and is feeding a whole industry that is more about looking good while standing in front of a wall of books than about actually talking shop.</p><p>Customers are fucked with this scheme, and usually you won't have more than one in five people not going along with anything like this and being open about it. 20% will just drink the cool aid, 60% will not challenge it, and 20% will be really pissed when falling for books like that or the hype surrounding them.</p><p>That said, I do recognize that hyped books like this are one way to motivate newbies into looking for other books in the same genre, which will, which MUST lead to better options sooner or later. So if you don't know better and ended up liking the book, not all is lost.</p><p>I'll also concede that taste is an evolving phenomenon. The more you read, the more refined your taste will end up being. Not sure I could stomach some of the books I liked, say, 30 years ago, and I might, after rereading some, change my opinion on others. All part of the process. For sure.</p><p>I'm also willing to concede that taste is a spectrum. To a degree, and with the constraints, that "popular" doesn't mean "good" and that cultural standards are necessary to get some evolution going, even only to have that evolution challenge the standards. Same goes for opinions, while we are at it, as it is easy to see why you would not just trust anyone, and instead hope that the standards you have for opinions actually bring good results in your everyday life. You wouldn't trust a six year old with their opinion on what car to buy, for instance. <br /></p><p>Which has nothing to do with Abercrombie's writing here, as that's just unacceptable all around. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOEzK3cvSgbr8WKc02a5Vr4QtLuK19D-spO0n0hZnRRKrW5-toF-eyj18gkl1qC2ntjGOUcINVCb9_oxbfGu7gcWt8Kfz5x6f3Pi09qgpqTwNkOHzW_PdXpVXbOghlsG8zTUVCUWhljD4HNtKgalENfa5NyUheOT45PwfZIomWen3honKETgMfSPks/s500/Different_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOEzK3cvSgbr8WKc02a5Vr4QtLuK19D-spO0n0hZnRRKrW5-toF-eyj18gkl1qC2ntjGOUcINVCb9_oxbfGu7gcWt8Kfz5x6f3Pi09qgpqTwNkOHzW_PdXpVXbOghlsG8zTUVCUWhljD4HNtKgalENfa5NyUheOT45PwfZIomWen3honKETgMfSPks/w434-h217/Different_01.gif" width="434" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia2.giphy.com%2Fmedia%2FoWWfwpLj5l0XK%2Fgiphy.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=b58ae8e2d595ecef2f9923824f8ac8379ae5bb9b5198f94b9a1dfd74eefd4a18&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Anyway, enough of this. You wanna see why this is a bad book, and mine or Eric's take aren't enough, check out the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/944073.The_Blade_Itself" target="_blank">one star reviews over at good reads</a>. They seem to sum it up well. I'd rather end this with something more productive and positive! Hence ... <br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">My Appendix N</span></p><p>It is always fun to learn what inspires others, so I decided to share what works inspire my writing and game design (as far as I'm aware of it). It is also in the hope that others will do the same. I'm sure it has been an OSR trend at some point in the past. Even so, remind me then, why not?</p><p>A few caveats: I'll go with "inspirational and educational" first, so this might end up including creators of movies and music instead of "just" authors. I'm reluctant to share works I know to be only available in German, or at least not in English, because what would be the point of you knowing I liked something that is completely out of reach for you? If you are interested in that, say so in the comments and I will oblige.<br /></p><p>I'll also order it alphabetically within different groupings and I'll spare you recommendations for Tolkien, Herbert and K. Le Guin, authors you'll still easily find in well sorted book shops anyway (and if I end up recommending another classic, then I liked it more, hehe). No hierarchy is intended, nor do I believe that this trumps the original Appendix N (which is very much its own thing). I think it is a fun thing to do, with a good chance of being informational for people*.<br /></p><p>SPECULATIVE FICTION<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Adams" target="_blank">Richard Adams</a> - Watership Down is one of the great adventure stories out there. A must read, imo.<br /></p><p><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_S._Beagle" target="_blank">Peter S. Beagle</a> - Mainly for The Last Unicorn. He caught magic in a bottle there.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Cook" target="_blank">Glen Cook</a> - While all his other work is very well worth checking out, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_P.I." target="_blank">Garrett P. I.</a> books are what brought me joy for decades (I'm a sucker for "fantasy noir" that is also funny). Great world, great voice, fantastic characters, and funny as well.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Ellis" target="_blank">Warren Ellis</a> - Transmetropolitan (comic) is the ultimate cyberpunk story, imho. And he did way more great work than that. Wrote some really weird and funny books, too: check out <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crooked_Little_Vein" target="_blank">Crooked Little Vein</a> for a wild ride.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Erikson" target="_blank">Steven Erikson</a> - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malazan_Book_of_the_Fallen" target="_blank">Malazan Book of the Fallen</a> ... this series had me laughing and crying and thinking. And binge reading hundreds of pages in sleepless nights (to be young again ...). Such impressive world building, mixed in with epic battles and complex characters. Can't recommend enough. <br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Jos%C3%A9_Farmer" target="_blank">Philip José Farmer</a> - Have yet to read a book penned by him I didn't enjoy. So many great ideas through all genres.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Gaiman" target="_blank">Neil Gaiman</a> - Great comics, great books. My favorites are: Neverwhere (proper dungeon under London), Stardust (great story, made for a great movie, too!) and The Graveyard Book (a child growing up among the ghosts of a graveyard ... what's not to like?!).<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gemmell" target="_blank">David Gemmell</a> - Start with Knights of Dark Renown, his second novel, and the Drenai Saga ... go from there. His last books are so well written, it is a marvel to behold. <br /></p><p><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gibson" target="_blank">William Gibson</a> - Such an unique and innovative voice ... All his books are demanding and fun experiences.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Kerr" target="_blank">Katharine Kerr</a> - I immensely enjoyed here Celtic fantasy series about reincarnating souls, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deverry_Cycle" target="_blank">Deverry Cycle</a> ... very unique way of telling stories. And she's rpg nobility, too! Co-wrote an AD&D module and some Pendragon adventures, among other things (check out her wiki ...). <br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_de_Larrabeiti" target="_blank">Michael de Larrabeiti</a> - The Borribles is one of the more obscure titles in this list, but still a great trilogy. As far as adventure stories go, I'd rank it up there with Watership Down, actually.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Nix" target="_blank">Garth Nix</a> - The Abhorsen Books (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Kingdom_(book_series)" target="_blank">Old Kingdom</a>) are why I wanted him on this list. It is among the best world building out there (alternate steampunk UK with old magic and zombies). And he wrote a lot more than that ... <br /></p><p><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervyn_Peake" target="_blank">Mervyn Peake</a> - Gormenghast is poetic and funny and weird ... believe people telling you those books are among the best out there. They are.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett" target="_blank">Terry Pratchett </a>- His Discworld books are among the best fantasy you can read. Funny, humane, stimulating ... and full of great characters. But I guess everyone knows that (still had to make the list). <br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Rosenberg_(science_fiction_author)" target="_blank">Joel Rosenberg</a> - The Guardian of the Flame is a series of books about a group of role-playing gamers that magically gets transported to the world of their gamemaster and into the bodies of their characters. If that doesn't sell you for the books, it's well written, too.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stoddard_(author)" target="_blank">James Stoddard</a> - The three books that make the Evenmere series are an alternate take to the idea of an endlessly sprawling dungeon world (a mansion so big, it has kingdoms in the lower levels). Fantastic world building and storytelling.<br /></p><p><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Vance" target="_blank">Jack Vance</a> - The only author I learned about through the original Appendix N (the rest I had heard about through other channels), but such a great discovery. I have yet to read a book by Vance I didn't like. All of it fascinating and entertaining, not only the Dying Earth books.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._H._White" target="_blank">T. H. White</a> - The Once and Future King is another classic series that made the list. Although the first one is the most famous (for the obvious reason that Disney made an animated version of it), I loved all four books (if for different reasons, as each change tone as Arthur ages).<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Zelazny" target="_blank">Roger Zelazny</a> - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Amber" target="_blank">The Chronicles of Amber</a> books ... I binged an omnibus of the first five books of this series when I was 13. A great and epic story about powerful plane shifting nobles fighting The Court of Chaos. <br /></p><p>ADDITIONAL MENTIONS<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bukowski" target="_blank">Charles Bukowski</a> - So much talent, always a great read.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinky_Friedman" target="_blank">Kinky Friedman</a> - Surreal crime fiction, very drug induced, pretty weird, always funny.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper_Lee" target="_blank">Harper Lee</a> - I loved To Kill a Mockingbird, so it made the list. <br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmore_Leonard" target="_blank">Elmore Leonard</a> - Among the best writing out there. Good reading, all of it (and some great movies and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justified_(TV_series)" target="_blank">TV series</a> as well!)<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Palahniuk" target="_blank">Chuck Palahniuk</a> - Everyone knows Fight Club, the movie. He wrote the book and you could guess by that alone that he's as weird an author as they come. I love him for it. No book is like the other and they all are wild rides into the unknown and unthought. Funny, too.<br /></p><p>MIND BENDING<br /></p><p>Ken Webster - <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7522356-the-vertical-plane" target="_blank">The Vertical Plane</a> is the over four decades old account of a "haunting" that hasn't been debunked yet. No one reads this (or looks into this) that doesn't go away thinking "This might actually have happened ... but what the fuck would that mean for our understanding of reality!?". One of the best books I ever read, I kid you not.<br /></p><p>Jeffrey John Kripal - <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jaar/article-abstract/81/2/529/807229?login=false" target="_blank">Authors of the Impossible</a> is another one of those books that pushes the boundaries of reality. Highly recommended.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truddi_Chase" target="_blank">Truddi Chase</a> - When Rabbit Howls is a book written as the collaborative effort of the roughly 100 souls of Trudi Chase, a very well documented case of multiple personality disorder. And a very tough read that is VERY hard to stomach, but all the same endlessly fascinating. <br /></p><p>SPIRITUAL<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laozi" target="_blank">Lao Tse</a> - The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao_Te_Ching" target="_blank">Tao Te Ching</a> introduced me to a new and different way of thinking compared to what I was used to, growing up in 90s Germany. I still read and re-read it (different translations, different languages ... stuff like that) and it inspires my thinking to this day.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuang_Zhou" target="_blank">Chuang Tse</a> - If you read the Tao Te Ching, checking out <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuangzi_(book)" target="_blank">Zhuangzi</a> is the next logical step. And also, for me at least, a life-long exercise.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Ching" target="_blank">I Ching</a> - Basically the shamanistic roots of the Taoist books quoted above, and a great oracle (in my experience). You want to play around with it, check it out here.<br /></p><p><a href="The Edda" target="_blank">The Edda</a> - The older I get, the more I appreciate that these old stories are attempts to describe a long gone reality, and as such they are immensely precious. The Edda especially so, since it is about the pre-history of Europe and as such of great interest to me.<br /></p><p>FILM<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes_Anderson" target="_blank">Wes Anderson</a> - A director with such a distinct and beautiful voice that he had to make the list. Movies I grew up with, so to say. some are outright perfect, all of them have something magical (personal favorites right now are Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel and The French Dispatch).<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lynch" target="_blank">David Lynch</a> - Yeah, he pushes all the buttons. I love Twin Peaks. All of it (third season was ... not what anyone expected, which is what Lynch aimed for). Dune is a piece of art (and one wonders what he'd done with it if the studio hadn't interferred!). Blue Velvet was the movie I shouldn't have seen as a kid ... Mulholland Drive is such a trip. I love it all.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinichir%C5%8D_Watanabe" target="_blank">Shinichirō Watanabe</a> - The original Cowboy Bebop (not the live-action atrocity that is on Netflix) and Samurai Champloo are fan favorites everyone should have seen. But all his anime series are fantastic for one reason or another, and I have a special weak spot for the genius that is Space Dandy. So much fun.<br /></p><p>MUSIC<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Grieg" target="_blank">Edvard Grieg</a> - Norwegian Composer, mostly know for his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIk5oxSnrIw" target="_blank">Peer Gynt</a> Suite. Such a great entry point for learning about classic music.<br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Waits" target="_blank">Tom Waits</a> - I discovered him late in his career and worked my way through all of it. A great musician, of course, but where he always gets me is the lyrics. So inspirational. Favorites of all time are the albums Alice, Blood Money and Real Gone.<br /></p><p><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igorrr" target="_blank">Gautier Serre</a> (IGORRR) - Strangest for last, I guess. A weird mix of all musical genres I like. Always fresh, always different, very complex ... fun all around! Here, <a href="https://youtu.be/KNJ0B5uU1QQ" target="_blank">check it out</a>.<br /></p><p>So this is where it ends, the strange tour through what inspired me for the last decades. I'm pretty sure I missed something and it'll come to me later ... It's also part of a journey I'm still on, of course. My reading list is HUGE, and I'm bound to discover more gems like the above (at least I hope so). I already mentioned my approach: look closer at what you like and follow the bread crumbs.</p><p>Either way, 37 entries that should keep one busy for a long time. I hope you all found something you didn't know but is interesting enough to follow up on. I definitely had fun with all of it. Just one more thing before I wrap this up: I'm sure all the people linked above had their flaws. I just don't care. What I shared here is in appreciation of their art, of the positive marks they left on the world. Everything else is just noise. </p><p>So what's your guys' Appendix N? What did you find here that intrigues you?<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210754/Monkey-Business-Digital-Edition?src=hottest_filtered" target="_blank">Monkey Business</a> and <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353636/O23--RolePlaying-in-a-Dystopian-Future?src=hottest_filtered" target="_blank">ORWELL</a> both feature lists like that to help readers getting an idea where I'm coming from, same is the case for be67 (as shown <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2022/08/tell-them-to-show-and-not-tell-look.html" target="_blank">here</a>).</span><br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-80412271380568872152023-04-07T18:08:00.001+02:002023-04-07T18:08:35.712+02:00"I'm a horse now!", says the mule ... (mistakes have been made)<p><i>Let's have some commentary on the latest WotC kerfuffle: <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dungeons-dragons-bans-biracial-characters/ar-AA19wi5H?cvid=73a5e44a13e54bf28e13a0e6892f0627&ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&ei=20" target="_blank">no "mixed races" anymore</a>, because that is deamed "racist". Now, we need to be careful here as not to fall for the obvious groupthink bait, and look at it as is. Has it merit? Is it a good idea? Because it could have, but still is! This, then, is a the simple attempt of a small blogger to see what they are talking about here. Spoiler alert: this is not about racism, in any shape, way, or form. All of this is, if nothing else, a mistake in terminology ...<br /></i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Cutting to the chase real quick</span></p><p>Half-Elves are no more, at least officially and as far as D&D is concerned. Same goes for Half Orcs and any other halves you could think of in your games. We are talking fictional characters here, just to be very clear about this from the beginning, so no sensitivities are presumed. I mean, if a true half elf were to comment to make their case, I'd be listening (needs to be the real deal, too, just "identifying" as one won't be enough).</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6qzvEv9Mmvzr8SY87LUiJ9JI8gECuKO9ne8PMyu5D2ETFOnFOvDnLr-nE0jhFLDDmeCldjaN1S_e6wwe3fob2YjHOebxH1Im0B03m0QHNbQ6CibwA2_aM50McRbzidlk0BOVvy48zro63s-_kRxdIdOwShfCqDIKL3Saq8H1LVHELOS0f0hY_d2gO/s474/Not_an_Elf_01.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="474" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6qzvEv9Mmvzr8SY87LUiJ9JI8gECuKO9ne8PMyu5D2ETFOnFOvDnLr-nE0jhFLDDmeCldjaN1S_e6wwe3fob2YjHOebxH1Im0B03m0QHNbQ6CibwA2_aM50McRbzidlk0BOVvy48zro63s-_kRxdIdOwShfCqDIKL3Saq8H1LVHELOS0f0hY_d2gO/w364-h243/Not_an_Elf_01.jpeg" width="364" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a little joke ... hehe [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.PyICj9y8r3MApOsXtmNx3wHaE9%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=1875136e14e6102e64f0f20d55aa5da74bc5520e68f93bab9bb877d81f94e369&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> But I won't be holding my breath. <br /><p></p><p>This is about a twist to a character one might want to play in a game. Something that plays differently on a narrative and (ideally) on a mechanical level of the game. I've always held the opinion that each GM should play with those options in order to make their campaigns unique. I have a very different take on elves, for instance (<a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2011/11/elves-are-no-mammals-goddarnit.html" target="_blank">very old post here</a>). Either way, taking away those options is bad style. Doing it for "politics" just leaves a bad taste in the mouth here. Pandering like that is divisive and should be frowned upon for that alone. Where are the bridges? Where is the love?</p><p>In other words: why isn't there a compromise? Because there is compromises to be had, for sure. Just a very superficial survey of less reputable sources like Wikipedia will tell interested parties that an "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf" target="_blank">Elf</a>" is considered to be a "humanoid supernatural being". It is right there in the first sentence. "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanoid" target="_blank">Humanoid</a>", now, would mean that it is a "non-human entity" carrying some human traits. That second Wikipedia entry goes on to explain that there is the idea of "convergent evolution", which would mean that different species may come to the result through different evolutionary paths.</p><p>I think that's quite easy to understand. There's a couple of useful ways to interact with reality, less so the more specific the interaction, so the concept that different species come to the same results isn't hard to grasp.</p><p>The next stop down this rabbit hole would be "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species" target="_blank">species</a>", then. Wikipedia says: <br /></p><p></p><blockquote><i>In biology, a species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction.</i></blockquote><p>You see, just by following some easily visible bread crumbs, you'll find out that saying elves can be considered a humoid species would be a very well grounded assumption. Not "race" (which is obviously politically AND historically loaded), but "species". Took me longer to write this than to find it out, which should be an indicator how readily available this information is.</p><p>There are even pictures about it: <br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcxoZUV7-EunbHlERcDgqJWMH8tkddt5LkvmlqAlcuFO4tzxo23WMxhkotAr14GnlsCknEd3mpigsZUNg98xVIypz_LQVezsstt2gQDXi9T8CdBFVewU8EBHM2n-3CFSXEe2PGXUBta77k-OAdcqur8_fylmMUSY3XteTTgSbyHFxhuzlf1b9po-Xc/s590/Biological_classification_01.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="230" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcxoZUV7-EunbHlERcDgqJWMH8tkddt5LkvmlqAlcuFO4tzxo23WMxhkotAr14GnlsCknEd3mpigsZUNg98xVIypz_LQVezsstt2gQDXi9T8CdBFVewU8EBHM2n-3CFSXEe2PGXUBta77k-OAdcqur8_fylmMUSY3XteTTgSbyHFxhuzlf1b9po-Xc/s320/Biological_classification_01.png" width="125" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Biological_classification_L_Pengo_vflip.svg/230px-Biological_classification_L_Pengo_vflip.svg.png" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">"Traditionally" it is "Race" in D&D, though. Right?</span><br /></p><p>The funny thing is: yes and no. As far as I can tell, when it first came up, they talked "demihuman races", which is all mixed up terminology. And yes, it is carried along for some time unquestioned. That said, they caught up to it relatively early, actually. Here's what you'll find in the AD&D 2E Player Handbook (first paragraph introducing the concept):</p><p></p><blockquote><i>After creating your character's ability scores, you must select a player character race. This is not a race in the true sense of the word: caucasian, black, asian, etc. It is actually a fantasy species for your character -- human, elf, dwarf, gnome, half-elf, or halfling. Each race is different. Each possesses special powers and has different lists of classes to choose from.</i></blockquote>That's interesting, isn't it? They are actually talking species and just CHOSE to call it race (maybe because it had been established as "races"?). They willingly tried to expand what "race" means instead of using the term "species". But they also CLEARLY categorize it in the sense of SPECIES (that is: biologically) as early as 1989!<br /><p></p><p>My beloved HackMaster 4E actually makes the same statement (HM 4E PHB, p. 22):<br /></p><p></p><blockquote><i>Note that when we speak of 'race' in HackMaster, it has nothing to do with what we in contemporary society know of races, i. e. Eurasian or African. In HackMaster, race simply refers to the fantasy species of your character.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Wizards of the Coast, however, did not carry on that sentiment into the D&D 3E they published, which is also interesting, I think. There is, of course, a biological definition of "race" that is synonym to "subspecies" (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_(biology)" target="_blank">see here</a>), so in that sense it is not necessarily wrong to use the term in D&D (or any other game).</p><p>What made it problematic, it seems, is the claim that categorizing a species into subspecies is somehow "racist", which is (at least!) highly debatable. If, as history teaches us, a categorization like that is used to argue some sort of superiority for a subspecies, it is plain stupid, wrong and objectionable. And very dangerous. For obvious reasons. But that has nothing to do with the idea of categorization itself, which can be quite useful. Also for obvious reasons.</p><p>So what's the case we can make here? The hobbyists that created D&D used "demihuman races" as the distinction to categorize their "fantasy species". It created some adjacent terminology, and they never changed it across editions, although it is noteworthy that they cared to define it properly in the AD&D 2E (and the HackMaster 4E, which just revised 2E).</p><p>It is, in a sense, legacy terminology, but never "abused" to paint some sort of "hierarchy of subspecies" (as far as I'm aware of). Instead, it is merely terminology for a categorization that became necessary as the game grew and evolved, and was done with good intentions and taste throughout. Again, for obvious reasons, as they wanted people to like and use the options they got. Like in: all people interested in the game, with no reservations.</p><p>Anyway.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Now "mixed races" are banned ...</span></p><p>... for ideological and emotional reasons, as far as WotC are concerned. This is, at the very least, nothing but big mouthed pandering or ill adviced marketing and social media politics. It is not about bringing the game forward, as it should be, but about virtue signalling. I'll say that as unbiased as I can. Of course, it is their business and they can do what they want. But categorization is useful, as we have learned, and this move should be catgorized for what it is: done in ill will.</p><p>In a way it shows the same contempt WotC showed with their attempt to change the OGL. It shows the same lack of competency, too, imho.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FQpx2DCYKu-pkf2drJDV7WK0e-EKjpqrnIloXxOWIpukv41WsKxAh19Nu4nGkjJaqei9dtDttWKT4mwXgabPJN-fvWXs9pEzzlpUyPvGt1vYkzI0yPl3RRTjYgO_VLHNAqwKLm1meqjueHssrZpdhUCZsT6ZKdEuTvxQsWH8wdP3G01ui9aUGp3d/s360/Competency_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FQpx2DCYKu-pkf2drJDV7WK0e-EKjpqrnIloXxOWIpukv41WsKxAh19Nu4nGkjJaqei9dtDttWKT4mwXgabPJN-fvWXs9pEzzlpUyPvGt1vYkzI0yPl3RRTjYgO_VLHNAqwKLm1meqjueHssrZpdhUCZsT6ZKdEuTvxQsWH8wdP3G01ui9aUGp3d/s320/Competency_01.gif" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2d/f9/1d/2df91d3c62859da447840b4614662f00.gif" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Why do I think that, you ask? Because compromise would have been so easy, but wouldn't send "the message". If they'd been "Language is important, and since the term "race" is so loaded and convoluted these days, we decided to use the more precise term "species" instead so all of you can keep enjoying playing your half orcs and half elves!", or something along those lines (and to give but ONE obvious example!), it'd barely been worth news.</p><p>Instead, it would have helped bringing people together (would be my guess, anyway).</p><p>It's just not what they wanted to do. They wanted to put fuel into a divide that already went to far as it is. People should build bridges again and come together, not wallow in resentful hatred against some idolized opposition. If we are able to find and cultivate what unites us, we'll be able to overcome our differences.</p><p>Easy as that.</p><p>And you can't tell me that they did that stunt out of the good of their heart. That's just not where those ideas come from. War is not peace, slavery is not freedom, and ignorance is not strength, no matter how loud those people claim to have good intentions when supporting ideas like that.</p><p>And if you think that's a bit far fetched, to go from saying it is "racist to have mixed races in a game" to full blown 1984, I'd urge you to think again. They keep saying that the origins of the game are racist and misogynistic (among other things), despite all the good the game did. Despite all the science, even, that exists today, pointing out how it brings people together, how it helps personal growth, how it helps mentally. Tbh, all this posturing completely goes against common sense.</p><p>There is no healthy rationale behind it. There never is behind revisionism, which this is, because what they are saying is that chosing that term "race" to begin with was out of hatred by the original creators. Maybe they'd say it was "subconscious" or whatever, but it doesn't change that thinking like that is small minded, to say the least.</p><p>ANYWAY.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">A horse is a horse, of course of course ...</span></p><p>I don't know if you are aware of this, but horses and donkeys, two distinctly different species, can have (infertile) offspring. If a male donkey mates with a female horse, that hybrid is called a mule (if it's the other wa around, that's called a "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mule" target="_blank">hinny</a>", which is somehow cute, I think). Different species, some sort of outcome.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJ4pY389EGgM0yWkBHiI8b-tSNex4Xt92cvULxoZ_Is8MHszrN8CoBozt9GWRYeDfsaSnuh6Ofm5ISAacTtsrr_ek4gM4tfQ-3IK5vE2qOaT8AtEjiDDqkQ9yGt9KBINNUhmdaFc3h4OAR4EkjIoelPbtetSOCfIX_GfqBqK56jqWObhZkej7YNfn/s474/Zonkey_01.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJ4pY389EGgM0yWkBHiI8b-tSNex4Xt92cvULxoZ_Is8MHszrN8CoBozt9GWRYeDfsaSnuh6Ofm5ISAacTtsrr_ek4gM4tfQ-3IK5vE2qOaT8AtEjiDDqkQ9yGt9KBINNUhmdaFc3h4OAR4EkjIoelPbtetSOCfIX_GfqBqK56jqWObhZkej7YNfn/w395-h222/Zonkey_01.jpeg" width="395" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zonkeys are a thing, too! [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.dx_5-Kk-BGZ27VUXqOud-QHaEK%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=3fc1228c34fa26f22de19870f0464d6168852131394ca97b78551aa5753650b9&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> A little closer to home, the same is said for humans being able to reproduce with Neanderthals (leading to their extinction, is one theory). Which leads to another well established fact: we used to live with other humanoid species here on planet earth, and not that long ago, too. Not only Neanderthals, but it also had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denisovan" target="_blank">Denisovans</a> and some smaller hominid groups. We interacted with them, and I believe some of our oldest stories are proof of those interactions (which is neither here nor there, but still interesting to note).<p></p><p>What I'm saying is, there is no reason to say this phenomenon of interspecies reproductional activity cannot exist or talked about. To be completely honest, I'd say, if we were to encounter aliens, people would find ways to fuck them before anything else. That's just who we are.</p><p>So if you don't like the term "race", use subspecies or species and be done with it. Nothing I wrote here is "newly established science" or something like that, it is no secret knowledge. The information is right there, publicly available. Why act as if a decision like that wouldn't need checking what can be gathered about it?<br /></p><p>No need to make a stink.</p><p>Will this hurt the hobby? Fuck if I know. There are enough alternatives to D&D out there, published by companies that don't feel the need to act like WotC. Will it hurt the brand? More likely, if bullshit like this keeps mounting up. And that is a shame on multiple levels. For one, as I said above, this hobby of ours should be about uniting people with good intentions, but D&D is more than that, culturally speaking, and the little history it has should at least be looked at with the benefit of the doubt, if not heralded for the good it did.</p><p>Tainting that history by implying some sort of moral superiority and to gain, what?, social credit?, well, I think that's something reprehensible. Especially if it's done by people that have proven to be morally suspect, as WotC did on multiple occasions in the last couple of years (not just recently).<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Final thoughts</span></p><p>Not sure how to end this ... I recently came to believe that there is too much anger all around. People dug in and aim to hold their positions. There's also a lot of negativity around, and I don't know how you guys feel about it, but I just can't take it anymore. So I'm pointing this out as bad behavior to encourage people to do better. Not that I believe that anyone addressed here will read this, or care about those things, for that matter.</p><p>No. <br /></p><p>The point of the exercise is more along the lines of reminding anyone reading this that we worked hard in the last couple of decades to create a culture of exchange, understanding and personal growth. We have an obligation to check what can be assumed as useful interaction, and what should be considered disruptive or even harmful. We already know a lot about these things, we don't have to start at the beginning with every dilemma that presents itself.<br /></p><p>As a matter of fact, why not try to be a bit more <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness" target="_blank">mindful</a> in general? I know I struggled with this in the last couple of years, for sure, and I know it'd help me to find more peace. <br /></p><p>Easter is traditionally the time for new beginnings, so with this I'll renew my efforts to be a positive force where I can. If you read all of this, I appreciate you. If you have any thoughts about my take here, you are welcome to share them.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExRNBx6goyekIYQoraeIzxSevZpi8AsafmIMp6VbCflPdDRMIvy7dJbc9BTr0ajcWYn4ZhdLtVUx8ANUEdSbNTFDdxPOOqhCNbMFrT2IE4BiiLe7Jw1UmLRWeiyBzzPOqg4PK48PZ36fQkjuldH3RBeYr1j8nMbUu-5UMkMdM6mpNeas4hRwqasFb/s440/meditation_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="410" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExRNBx6goyekIYQoraeIzxSevZpi8AsafmIMp6VbCflPdDRMIvy7dJbc9BTr0ajcWYn4ZhdLtVUx8ANUEdSbNTFDdxPOOqhCNbMFrT2IE4BiiLe7Jw1UmLRWeiyBzzPOqg4PK48PZ36fQkjuldH3RBeYr1j8nMbUu-5UMkMdM6mpNeas4hRwqasFb/s320/meditation_01.gif" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fa2%2F22%2Fc6%2Fa222c6bd42b4ac635e6d7ec574a41429.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=c81037b2634c4f288e91d1f3062703a791c678e414ebd001c3ee4640ac728280&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Currently reading: <i>Penetration</i> by Ingo Swann (a Why Files recommendation, and so far a good read ...) <br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">-----------------------------------------------</p><p>If you liked any of this, you could go and check out <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/11431/Disoriented-Ranger-Publishing" target="_blank">my offerings</a> over on drivethru. The latest is <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/420815/The-Disoriented-Ranger-talks-Musings-about-DMing?src=hottest_filtered" target="_blank">part three</a> of the blog anthology I'm working on. Part four is already in the works, and I aim to offer a PoD of the first three books as well. Soon ...<br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-57599630562900221982023-03-05T18:53:00.003+01:002023-03-06T14:21:41.055+01:00REVIEW: Of Dice And Men<p><i>Let's try a new thing. It will be a variety of "I read a book and talk about it", the difference being: I'm not doing it alone. My good friend Eric Diaz over at his (fantastic and fantastically productive) blog Methods & Madmen will read the same book and we will cross-post and talk about it. We've decided four books to start with (two of which offered by Eric, two by yours truly), all connected to the hobby one way or another. We talk about it, and see how it goes. The first one will be "Of Dice And Men" by David M. Ewalt, a book I wanted to read (and like) and now can't make my mind up about ... </i></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyCxSIr1hdMWTFxHDAx4J-2HtFMk9UayUQV_0Lqd-BtYZK7VELR-ot5yAH5hrJ9kv03mMJ4b6JPXP562yJen2MQW0Cnso_ktcPGybMYadnUPHvJjHUAEH2FbeXW4M0AZZ_Z7zGOwOKCspRB1GP8w-pI40dMnIoJhEO2RwutjSetP5FobOrpUU_7Bq3/s2131/ODAM_Cover_01.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2131" data-original-width="1400" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyCxSIr1hdMWTFxHDAx4J-2HtFMk9UayUQV_0Lqd-BtYZK7VELR-ot5yAH5hrJ9kv03mMJ4b6JPXP562yJen2MQW0Cnso_ktcPGybMYadnUPHvJjHUAEH2FbeXW4M0AZZ_Z7zGOwOKCspRB1GP8w-pI40dMnIoJhEO2RwutjSetP5FobOrpUU_7Bq3/w237-h361/ODAM_Cover_01.jpeg" width="237" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fd28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net%2Fbook_images%2Fonix%2Fcvr9781451640519%2Fof-dice-and-men-9781451640519_hr.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=f44db2bcf9346a8afd72c2ed7c6e9b5a08a2e6fe16fbc31fddc11bebc055f291&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">Character Sheet (what are we looking at?)</span><p></p><p>The "revised and updated" softcover version Of Dice And Men (ODAM, 2013) I perused clocks in at 285 pages, 32 of which are afterword, notes, acknowledgements and an index. Formally this book is done well, good formatting with no serious hickups in the editing (one word he kept repeating rubbed me wrong around the third time it was used, but that's all that comes to mind right now). Just from handling it, it's a nice book, pleasant to read, even.<br /></p><p>Another positive observation up front: Ewalt consistently writes "role-playing games", with the "-" (the hyphen) connecting "role" and "playing" ("role-playing" is a verb, therefore the hyphen is correct). It is a conscious choice, because when quoting other sources, he uses their writing, which can be (and often is) different. I applaud that. </p><p>Somehow I care about this more than about if "gamemaster" is possible or not. If "storyteller" is possible, "gamemaster" sure as hell should be as well ... interestingly enough, Wikipedia's respective entries go by "role-playing game" and "gamemaster", so I feel vindicated.</p><p>Anyway, moving on, stated mission of this book is to offer "an enticing blend of history, journalism, narrative, and memoir", which is a tall order for 253 pages, but not impossible.<br /></p><p>David M. Ewalt was an editor and wrote Advertisement for Forbes magazine, it seems, so there is nothing to gather about the guy's opinions whatsoever ... Not hating here, it's a plus in my book that he keeps a low profile, although writing advertisement is a stance in itself, right? His bubble is, according to his homepage, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Forbes. His job now is editor over at Gizmodo, again also writing advertisements ...</p><p>Good money, for sure, but it takes a special mindset to work in circles like that, and it shows in the book. At least it explains a lot how he constantly feels the need to denigrate his fellow gamer nerds (a group of gamers is a "stink" now, is it?) while telling everyone how great the role-playing is he's involved in is, implying his approach is more artsy (or whatever you'd say to "safe face" in front of an audience that'll judge you for the company you share but think you shouldn't).<br /></p><p>Unfortunately that's a strong theme in the whole book and we will have to revisit it throughout, I'm afraid.</p><p>So this already is a mixed bag. I'll be honest and in-depth about my findings (and feel the need to state this because I feel it won't be a nice review in the end). Is this really "the story of D&D and the people that play it"? Let's find out!<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">In-Game Analysis (how does it play out?)</span></p><p>I will go through this roughly and from the beginning. Re-reading the introduction for things I could say about that already has me more critical about the text as reading it casually did. So keep that in mind. It nicely connects with the impression the book left with me, but we'll see if I'm able to connect those dots ...</p><p>The introduction it is, then. It seems to be the part of the book where the author aims to establish himself in the hierarchy of gamers as the "DM" of this book. As the moderator and the authority, if you will. It begs the question if the author just felt it necessary to build a defense against some hostile grognards, or if he just addresses the necessity of it.</p><p>I completely understand the urge, especially if one is used to write stuff published online. In a book, however, it appears to be a bit too defensive. I will not be very detailed about the structure of the rest of the book, but this introduction checks so many boxes already, a closer look at it helps to form and understanding how the book is written.</p><p>The introduction is titled "I am not a wizard" and starts with addressing the "hardcore fantasy role-playing gamers in the audience". The mainstream audience can just skip it and start reading. The text then switching to chum up to those "hardcore gamers" alluding that the "muggles" are gone now and we can talk business.</p><p>That's just a couple of sentences after claiming he isn't a wizard, so it is already a strange move to use a Harry Potter quote. But that's not even what bothered me (although I'm thinking now he meant not a "Wizard from that coast"?). It is the term "muggles" I object to, as it is abrasive while ALSO painting a less favorable picture of what he implies "hardcore gamers" think of the dirty masses.</p><p>It is divisive and I don't like that at all, especially when considering that no one reading that first paragraph would just skip it, so those "muggles" will read at least as far as to read being classified like that. It's not even cute, it's just cringe (if I'm generous).</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnjs-x_ulNIkoJgXq5wBZ6_O7ccHmNiCjabeMSISPSLAqOQI6YE9KtNFQ3KnTkmZzhHWYcv8G7XEvblsBEzBnYnAVbbYIx9SQlbMjACOGpjbjUMSsOb7RuOB3sgbJzrUSoIMDMRwCmlb-5hk9B3ioW6kF_AzIiG6I0X4khfhrp7SKPPWsu7wD4TJEM/s400/Judge_Cringe_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnjs-x_ulNIkoJgXq5wBZ6_O7ccHmNiCjabeMSISPSLAqOQI6YE9KtNFQ3KnTkmZzhHWYcv8G7XEvblsBEzBnYnAVbbYIx9SQlbMjACOGpjbjUMSsOb7RuOB3sgbJzrUSoIMDMRwCmlb-5hk9B3ioW6kF_AzIiG6I0X4khfhrp7SKPPWsu7wD4TJEM/s320/Judge_Cringe_01.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExMDcxZmMxNTA0YzQ0M2Q2NjE1NjI5MjEyMWZkZmNjMTMzMGM2ZjZlYiZjdD1n/5pMGZHSqfvGT5mnTwx/giphy.gif" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table> Moving on. Next, authority needs to be established. It reads like he wants to be the big man among equals, pointing out that he mostly uses 3e, because that's what he likes and plays, so if people think they need to criticize that, they can go and shove it up their asses (that's actually what he says ... if you don't believe me, just go and read that part on amazon).<p></p><p>Again, the only reason to be aggressive about this is that he expects some sort of backlash in that regard OR wants to establish hierarchy with a reader he thinks needs subjugating, because just stating that 3e is what he's playing now and what he likes would have been plenty enough.</p><p>Now imagine what someone would think reading that, who doesn't identify as "hardcore gamer" ... they'd have to think this sort of chest bumping must be necessary for some reason, which directly feeds into negative stereotypes already established. I'm so tired of shit like that.</p><p>Ewalt goes on and talks about how his session reports will at times not follow the rules of the game they played, but might take creative license in that regard to make it work in the book. First of all: obviously, duh. Secondly, that's not even how the session report sections are written to begin with, so why bring it up?<br /></p><p>Feels like the "I'm the author here, and that's my skill, so shut up"-kind of way to, furthermore, establish authority over what he seems to perceive as a hostile reader? Again, painting what picture?<br /></p><p>In closing he writes:<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbF-TYWHPV90jUjja0AbQQ2oVYUjrSGvnU2r18VMKFsf3Jo_05fsBZVF4Lc4DtBlXpKq9reKq1Z8T2H3pIT6W4AYgdj86m8swC3wbWzAR6Qio7IkKtdU4YvL37jZU2pQnEAUaQaB8vgNUxKNUpO9jAM9bxMX0xZ3Tqz0SYWZvXSxJwC4P9fGa0y4kb/s447/Bildschirmfoto%20von%202023-02-17%2013-07-16.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="447" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbF-TYWHPV90jUjja0AbQQ2oVYUjrSGvnU2r18VMKFsf3Jo_05fsBZVF4Lc4DtBlXpKq9reKq1Z8T2H3pIT6W4AYgdj86m8swC3wbWzAR6Qio7IkKtdU4YvL37jZU2pQnEAUaQaB8vgNUxKNUpO9jAM9bxMX0xZ3Tqz0SYWZvXSxJwC4P9fGa0y4kb/w414-h189/Bildschirmfoto%20von%202023-02-17%2013-07-16.png" width="414" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ODAM, p. 2<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>You read that as I do? Now he's protecting the "mainstream audience" from those evil grognards while snubbing the gamers as having "failed" in reading this properly.</p><p>But did they? The book claims to be "the history", not "a history", not "a short history", it's definitive. Nothing in the marketing actually gives any hint of this book being anything else but what it claims to be.</p><p>Anyway, he's (again) hinting the reader to go somewhere else. The last sentence, then, aims to cement his authority and advises to play it nice. It's funny, but if someone about participating in a game came at me as aggressive and divisive as that, I'd laugh them in the face if they ended it with "be nice to each other, this is a friendly campaign". Textbook passive-aggressive behavior, I'd say, and I don't care for it one bit.</p><p>This could (should?) have been done way more amicably. Easily. As it is, it starts the book off on the wrong foot, and every time he puts himself in relation to those (perceived) hostile readers, you'll see little stabs like that. Here's just a small selection:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>says (as mentioned in the beginning) that others refer to a group of role-playing gamers as a "stink" (p. 56)*</li><li>explains how he's anxious to tell others since people have negative associations with the game, to a point where girlfriends leave (p. 75)<br /></li><li>says gamers are a welcoming bunch, but then goes on to make an example how abusive gamers can be, alluding to something called "Arrogant Nerd syndrome", which isn't even a thing** (the story of Jonathan starts at p. 84) </li><li>actually, this is worse than "just" showing how "abusive" gamers can be, it's inverting who's the victim here by saying that gaming should be a "safe haven" for nerds, but ostracizing them is understandable, because they can be, after all, difficult people ... and that's a shitty move***<br /></li><li>he also dedicates three chapters talking about aspects of the hobby he doesn't like: traditional war-gaming, traditional role-playing and LARP, and I don't think he's giving them a fair shake just because it's not his thing ... more shitting on fringe aspects of the hobby<br /></li></ul><p>Let's leave it at that (see the footnotes for the venting). As I said above, it's written well enough, but what's showcased here is also evident in the whole book. Little stories and hints that seem innocent if encountered alone, but accumulate to something where the sum of the parts is uglier than the single encounters. A stink. Ha!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-CzGNDLmS7zQ5CS6B3WvdWvluq_XKChVodniV3a4pnF11DVoNP8RmPUvVSvbh2CUz4oT_vv1FDG7XKo7TjKUBClCpTD8LYmyl1VDv5PABfqDXIjRZqOOEWHZFfA8j8pmZ4S2NIbojj1KcSjlwALdc_hTm7wXGyCHOzUFdHXwyfITE5QgEnfImPleg/s480/Facepalm.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-CzGNDLmS7zQ5CS6B3WvdWvluq_XKChVodniV3a4pnF11DVoNP8RmPUvVSvbh2CUz4oT_vv1FDG7XKo7TjKUBClCpTD8LYmyl1VDv5PABfqDXIjRZqOOEWHZFfA8j8pmZ4S2NIbojj1KcSjlwALdc_hTm7wXGyCHOzUFdHXwyfITE5QgEnfImPleg/s320/Facepalm.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://media3.giphy.com/media/xULW8jvwhvl6BD0ig8/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47s53cvcco47v14axgad2bp44wsi4cely338h800ye&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g" target="_blank">Source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Honest to god, I started reading this book to my wife, who's not a nerd at all, and she did not care for the tone of the book. I'm saying, it's not just me and it is important, imo, to highlight this aspect of the book before going into other aspects of it.</p><p>So what else is there to talk about? The history sections are excellent, from the very beginning of the idea of cooperative play in history, via early war gaming roots to the first conception of the rules that would become D&D and how that went viral in the seventies. All of that framed by Ewalt's gaming experience and intersected with gaming reports from when he started playing again (a D&D 3e campaign in a vampire apocalypse setting). <br /></p><p>Mixed into that we get some D&D quotes, learn about some of the great minds of the hobby, now and then. Anecdotes, quotes from interviews ... Good show, and he runs strong with that until page 172, when Gary Gygax dies. After that, the book loses steam considerably, most of all because the history part of it is basically neglected. We learn how TSR fared after Gygax' departure, and how all of that ended in TSR being sold to Hasbro, but it's basically bullet points of names and dates.<br /></p><p>It's just not where the development of D&D ended, or the cultural influence of it. It's just where the writer stops doing what he did well in the first three quarters of the book. We get more of the session reports and quotes and anecdotes, but even there Ewalt'll shift focus and introduce new stories. It doesn't always work, and that last third drags on until the author describes his pilgrimage to the origins of D&D and helps us see through his eyes what all the famous locations are now, which was a nice touch.</p><p>Beyond that, we get lots of fan-boying and shilling for WotC and the development of the D&D 5e, which I didn't care for. So, yeah, that's basically what you'll find in the book, without going that much into detail. <br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Awarding Experience Points (is it any good?)</span><br /></p><p>A book can read well, but transport horrible ideas. Or better yet: it can hide terrible ideas behind a casual tone and a good reading flow. Not that ODAM is in any way, shape or form offensive, but it is "politically correct" while being uncritically vague and even favorable towards WotC and their business practices to a degree where boring just ends up being a vehicle for, well, advertisement or at least craving endorsement.</p><p>And sure enough, there are plenty of examples in the text where WotC is being presented favorably ALTHOUGH there is something to be said about the business practices of Hasbro and WotC in 2013 when this was published (the OSR was thriving back then for good reasons).</p><p>If not written in favor, that part of the history of the game is actually not present at all, instead we get a reference to another book for checking out the decline of TSR and nothing but praise for WotC "rescuing" D&D and moving on with the brand. No word on the counterculture movement and success of the OSR and the revival of the old editions ... Especially since he's obviously aware of "old gamers" and "edition wars" (as it is evident in the introduction).<br /></p><p>And you don't have to be a "fan" to recognize this, but you have to mention it to cast a complete picture. WotC felt pressured to go back to those old roots because people turned away from 4e in troves.<br /></p><p>At least Ewalt is honest about being an "ally" of the company and quite happy to support their drafting of 5e. He wants to be in on that action and is happy to be recognized as a "fan" by WotC. Even gets an invite, or so he writes.<br /></p><p>All of that is problematic, in my view, as it goes against <a href="https://mediahelpingmedia.org/ethics/integrity-and-journalism/" target="_blank">journalistic integrity</a> to be biased like that, and "journalism" was claimed to be part of this "enticing blend". No xp for advertisement or networking framed as "journalism", I'm afraid (0/5).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_5jNXhpbepxB8CdojOODhs9C4yxzei4mhL1TRZuwT4NqocasHuyHgcsDAPYXr_gI6n9jrxMIwCaWghSO9ruVfIeyTmZKZR5YsaUXUUu085zDnEZL5y7A4v-gDKuN486npfNTJMocQxU_ZUo5--_x1Z4Ob4Lv70IhBMz4kf9o6VRUf5CoQHMp1BrP/s500/Journalism_itisnot_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="500" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_5jNXhpbepxB8CdojOODhs9C4yxzei4mhL1TRZuwT4NqocasHuyHgcsDAPYXr_gI6n9jrxMIwCaWghSO9ruVfIeyTmZKZR5YsaUXUUu085zDnEZL5y7A4v-gDKuN486npfNTJMocQxU_ZUo5--_x1Z4Ob4Lv70IhBMz4kf9o6VRUf5CoQHMp1BrP/w371-h197/Journalism_itisnot_01.gif" width="371" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://submarinechannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/source-1.gif" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>History next. Those passages I enjoyed a great deal. It's well researched and cleverly put together. Lots of interesting trivia. The early years of the hobby sure as hell make for a great story, the good writing puts it to the next level.<br /></p><p>But there is a huge stylistic shift after roughly 170 pages. The whole
interplay between talking the home campaign (the narrative/memoir part) and the history of the game
falls flat. The history part all of a sudden gets rushed and the home
campaign gets neglected as well. With what is left, we go as fringe as
talking about LARPs while important transition points in the hobby get
ignored entirely or just mentioned very briefly.</p><p>The last 80 pages
are full of odd choices like that, and I get the impression that the
author didn't have the stamina to go it all the way (which would have
ended in a far superior book, imo).</p><p>See, you can make fringe
excursions if the main text has enough meat to carry a little extra
context. This is well illustrated in chapter three, when Ewalt's talking
about legacy war gaming (although I did not care much for the retelling
of those battles). But when all the interesting bits fall flat (for
instance, how the game developed beyond Gary's involvement), we are left
with a boring mess of praise for Big Corp, at least three different
session reports and an overall text that goes nowhere until it ends with
a pilgrimage to something that isn't there anymore.</p><p>I have to
admit, the end works for me. The whole idea of the tying the book
together like that is nice, and my guess would be that it came up pretty
early in the writing of the book. However, there are at least 150 pages
missing, and that's a shame. Still, what's there is great (4/5).</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiCyJ3MRkLJhtBTBtv-nmbI1q2-S9BuLKrozi_Pli1BL_XOT2an5Zd4LjE6Q4DqYmHKuUfazTiZta0QB4QIydoyKOsR9uFotGGyAAeEE3mP91Z2mrtfltA1RchzFUXRrEt-nXnE5vE7llf4tQKFs3E_JZOsWUyAAWAQ4kxE33qcQz0vGMWCgEf9RS/s480/Gygax_Classic_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiCyJ3MRkLJhtBTBtv-nmbI1q2-S9BuLKrozi_Pli1BL_XOT2an5Zd4LjE6Q4DqYmHKuUfazTiZta0QB4QIydoyKOsR9uFotGGyAAeEE3mP91Z2mrtfltA1RchzFUXRrEt-nXnE5vE7llf4tQKFs3E_JZOsWUyAAWAQ4kxE33qcQz0vGMWCgEf9RS/w355-h267/Gygax_Classic_01.gif" width="355" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gygax, making history again ... [<a href="https://i.imgur.com/s1CXwB2.gif" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Memoir and Narrative, now, are interwoven to form the skeleton the history is presented on. I liked bits of that, didn't like others. As with the whole book, it is all crafted by a skilled writer, but I still felt it lacking at times, especially when Ewalt tries to be non chalant about not liking his fellow gamers (the stink, it's an addiction, all being welcome means there are abusive people ... but I'm repeating myself) or blatantly paints an uncritical picture of those currently owning the game (WotC).<p></p><p>That said, I did like the idea of structuring the whole book that way (not the negative parts, but the private aspect of it). It works well until it falls short 172 pages into the book. And when he not tries to paint himself as "the gamer that isn't a gamer anymore but then falls prey to the addictive elements of it again and now plays a far more sophisticated version of the game", it is quite the engaging read.</p><p>Even the session report sections work most of the time. Again, until they don't because they have to carry the book in the last third while adding several additional new narratives.</p><p>Using this memoir/narrative angle, the book mostly manages to paint a picture of what the game can be and what its elements are in almost all dimensions (the roots, the social dynamics, how it plays, ...), and that's good, although not fully realized and with the caveats already mentioned (3/5 each).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxykgU0fGE46uWOiENiUMITaB839LfNrhCeM66JUljamW-gJw-PYTpfyhZ6YXfb9wduyn2DtYEF1CdnoOD2kG6jl8gO7qkLhFbBHreycWmGqqoSQyrQD9ofaXc-stwTqASao2X3bpjniUOAH8kv7wkkKQVCqskY8iuyokAtAeycP3nxdawrWPIlyEK/s225/Unfinished_Horse.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxykgU0fGE46uWOiENiUMITaB839LfNrhCeM66JUljamW-gJw-PYTpfyhZ6YXfb9wduyn2DtYEF1CdnoOD2kG6jl8gO7qkLhFbBHreycWmGqqoSQyrQD9ofaXc-stwTqASao2X3bpjniUOAH8kv7wkkKQVCqskY8iuyokAtAeycP3nxdawrWPIlyEK/w340-h340/Unfinished_Horse.jpeg" width="340" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice ass, though! [<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT42AQob7spLd3oo31WemGUxsNcj0AZMvuMfg&usqp=CAU" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">In closing ...</span><br /></p><p>When all is said and done, this is not "the" but "a story of D&D and the people who play it". The historic part is interesting and I wish there would have been more of that and not just the pre-history and the first 20 years or so. Our cultural dialogue with D&D is not over yet, as the latest WotC fuck-up about the license of the game gave ample evidence to gawk at.</p><p>Writing a 250 pages book (with only a third of that actually being about the history, if you take away the memoir/narrative parts!) and claiming there'd be no room to explore the history of D&D after Gygax left TSR just to avoid shedding a light on some "problematic" truths regarding Big Businesses Ewalt likes to associate with, is just bad style.</p><p>So how should we end this? Is it a good book in my opinion? Yes and no. There are so many shortcomings, masked by a well crafted book that reads well enough to actually work, that it comes down to a meager 2.5/5 (tendency towards the 2, after taking as close a look as I did just now).</p><p>The history part that is done, is done well and I enjoyed reading those passages. Learned something about the early history of the hobby, too. The rest was engaging enough for the first two thirds of the book and the last chapter. <br /></p><p>What left a sour taste in my mouth was the blatant adulation for WotC and the constant (somewhat underhanded) misrepresentation of most the people that actually play those games as undesirable company. Add to that the missing history of the game after Gygax left TSR and a weak last third with a somewhat strong ending that would have needed a bigger book to work properly.</p><p>If that sounds like something you could stomach, you can sure go and get that book.</p><p>Let's see what Eric's saying about it (we coordinated publishing, but didn't read each others take ... what fun!): <a href="http://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/03/of-dice-and-men-book-review.html" target="_blank">follow me there</a>.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmC4rJDDIHdNE9H2ePWlzH5tTIgz5qtbT0wHIpyKZQTXwPu0L8yecUjprvCo4cvYpQHpHv7E4DzMNNJFqsglaHtUJX3GzaUxoegVNBubm7EwIJiYm9R9eMldXRq3RQaAMJCE6FqUqIYY24aFQ97Jg9n8P-tZRiByrG_QH6-7IrX7wpgUnOb4qejc6y/s372/freaks-and-truth_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="372" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmC4rJDDIHdNE9H2ePWlzH5tTIgz5qtbT0wHIpyKZQTXwPu0L8yecUjprvCo4cvYpQHpHv7E4DzMNNJFqsglaHtUJX3GzaUxoegVNBubm7EwIJiYm9R9eMldXRq3RQaAMJCE6FqUqIYY24aFQ97Jg9n8P-tZRiByrG_QH6-7IrX7wpgUnOb4qejc6y/w354-h267/freaks-and-truth_01.gif" width="354" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This has always been true ... [<a href="https://media.tenor.com/z0UWL2gVBYIAAAAd/freaks-and.gif" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* He just came up with it, btw., or at least I couldn't find an easy reference for it. People call their spouse "stink" or relatives, but not a group of nerds, as he implicates. At least not as wide spread as he'd make "us" (assuming a main stream reader? pleasing the WSJ buddies?) believe the term is. </span><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">** Try and google that, the only proper hits are referring back to his book, one making the (great!) point that he neglects talking autism in gaming while instead re-enforcing negative stereotypes again. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Same pattern as with the "stink", all to
make role-players look bad (or make it seem that they are perceived in a
bad light). I think it's projection, but that's just my two cents.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">*** I'll segue a bit into this in a footnote because I feel it's
important: people are not socially awkward because they are assholes or
abusive, it's because they are made feeling unwelcome and pressed into
the fringes. And what happens in the fringes? Subcultures, which D&D
is one of. Or was, it seems, given its popularity today. Anyway, point being,
I associated with another subculture back in school, in Germany: the
punks. And those had been REALLY socially awkward. For the same reasons.
To now go and act as if those phenomena are just direct results of ones
conduct instead of symptoms of something far more difficult to tackle
(social dynamics of bullying and hierarchies and whatnot), is insincere.
At best. "My people" have been excluded and ridiculed for a long time
now, what Ewalt does implicates he's more like the people that didn't
get along with nerds to begin with ... I wrote about this some time ago in detail, see <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2015/12/nerd-pride-and-pop-culture-going-full.html" target="_blank">Nerd Pride and Pop Culture going Full Circle</a>.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-52809907065086096412023-02-10T19:53:00.000+01:002023-02-10T19:53:10.080+01:00In Defense of AI Art (the drawing kind ...)<p><i>Calm down, no one is being attacked here. I come in peace. Just one thing up front: it is not theft. Now, hear me out! Whoever came up with that sure knows how to do <strike>propaganda</strike> marketing. At least that's where tactics like that come from. Please understand: "AI Art is Theft" as a catch phrase is what the literature calls "... [shifting] the focus of attention away from facts and information, and towards altering the context <span style="background-color: white;">within which</span> people act" (<a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/MINDSPACE.pdf" target="_blank">MINDSPACE document</a>, UK government, p. 14). It means using shock and awe (for instance) to make you stop thinking about a topic and start acting in a certain way ... in this example, it negatively associates something with theft to elicit either guilt to avoid it or compassion to "fight" those "thieves". I don't like harmful shit like that and it makes me wary instantly.</i></p><p><i>Think, do the research, form an educated opinion, share it with others in open discourse. Repeat ... So I'm going to make my argument here, and you can read it or leave it. If you come to consider my points, I'd be happy to talk about it some more. </i></p><p><i>This post will be illustrated with results from <a href="https://inspirobot.me/" target="_blank">InspiroBot</a>. You brought this unto you. It also ended up being a bit rambling. Just a bit ... If I repeat a point I deem important, just nod and move on :)<br /></i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Cui Bono?</span></p><p>That age-old question: who earns a pretty buck by having things go their way? Closely followed by: who benefits from halting this innovation for as long as possible? And (something you should ALWAYS ask yourself): who benefits from you not thinking about it? You get answers to those three questions, you get a good idea what's going on.</p><p>I'm going to say it up front: in my opinion, AI art does not infringe on meat space artists. Or to be more precise, not more than technology already does. That I can write these words here to share it globally instead of screaming them words against a cave wall cost at least one person a job: the guy I had to pay to walk to the next village to tell my story to the people there.</p><p>I know, I know, it is a pointed argument, but not without merit, I believe. Technology happens. Always did, does so more frequently now. Just imagine all the tools we already use. Do you know which of those already use some sort of AI to support an artist's work? Just type in "Adobe and AI" into a(n AI supported) search engine of your choice and <a href="https://www.adobe.com/sensei.html" target="_blank">get up to speed</a>. They already do that with the visual arts and frame it as "tools to support creators".</p><p>And rightly so, but the uproar was about the implication where the machine learned to do what it does. Anyone exploring that for Adobe or Amazon or any of the big gorillas in the room? No, not that I know of. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midjourney" target="_blank">Midjourney</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stable_Diffusion" target="_blank">Stable Diffusion</a> just painted a huge target on their back by being public about what happens, but it's been happening all along.</p><p>As a matter of fact, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeepDream" target="_blank">DeepDream</a> by Google is already seven years old (went public 2015). You think that program did NOT learn from what it found online to look at? Someone suing google about it? Not that I'm aware of ... But there is more! How many apps on our phones already use AI to, for instance, alter pictures? Making you look older or adding a fancy filter to a picture? If AI was used, what do you think that AI learned from to work towards?</p><p>I could go on and on. We are already knee deep in AI, for years now, full well knowing where it leads to. HAS to lead to. If you are a (visual) artist and NOT aware of what's happening and what the trajectory of that development is, you are among few. It has been known, witnessed, demonstrated and talked about. So what's the fuzz all about now?</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4y2OC1oKmcG1RrCvsd5_JV_t-6mFmMuICQy92-RqBItqn-Jqpbli8mPg5f9UWlxWK9jidEtR44HHhe0P5e0WRfRsowcc3YFDvz2BeNszyFPbxG3Ik6rqZU_nwFYyT5n6iE4K8zvhE0B2jfjcTLUxra0QCXSDd6JgHWtUuns0c3GhJQGG-9B_cs0It/s650/IB_05.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="650" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4y2OC1oKmcG1RrCvsd5_JV_t-6mFmMuICQy92-RqBItqn-Jqpbli8mPg5f9UWlxWK9jidEtR44HHhe0P5e0WRfRsowcc3YFDvz2BeNszyFPbxG3Ik6rqZU_nwFYyT5n6iE4K8zvhE0B2jfjcTLUxra0QCXSDd6JgHWtUuns0c3GhJQGG-9B_cs0It/w372-h372/IB_05.jpg" width="372" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Be like that? [<a href="https://generated.inspirobot.me/a/1QJxWX8xez.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>What's more, technology like that is a great tool for ALL artists. For one, those pictures have to be generated. You have to get a feel for how to formulate prompts, and it will take several iterations before you'll get something you can work with. Emphasis on being "work with", since those pictures often still need some work before you can even think about putting them in publications (which is ADDITIONAL work). That's a lot of steps compared to "I tell an artist what I want, they show some samples, we talk about it and it is done".<p></p><p>It is also work an artist could earn money with, as they should be very capable to use their skill to pretty up prompt results.</p><p>For artists themselves, it also is a great opportunity. Midjourney is dirt cheap. Even if they just go for inspirations and elements, I imagine they could speed up their workflow tremendously with AI art at their disposal. Actually, that is already happening! Still making their own thing, but the AI takes some of the heavy lifting ... a tool, just as Adobe put it.</p><p>And then you have another important aspect of this whole thing: all of a sudden lots of small artists and publishers are able to compete with mainstream aesthetics. I kid you not, for a small publisher like myself tech like that, for as long as it lasts, is a godsend. Although lots of work, it helps me giving my products the look I imagined for them but couldn't pay for (and I already do a lot, drawing just isn't my strong suit at all).</p><p>That whole argument that the AI learning from existing artwork is "theft" is faulty to begin with, actually, as it rests on the idea that it reduces future incomes because it "copies their styles". Or learned by "looking" at pictures posted online in some form of public setting. As pointed out before, no one did that with apps or whatever, but that's not even were I'm going with this.</p><p>The point I'm making here, is, that the same happens when I get an inspiration for a layout I saw somewhere else. No one is earning a dime when I do layout and writing myself, even IF I'm inspired by someone else. Which can't be helped, of course, because we constantly look at the outputs of others. Just as the AI, but even that's not the point I'm making here. What I was aiming at was that if I can't pay an artist, I will find ways around that. The whole public domain is full of material a creative mind could make use of. </p><p>(And yes, I know, I'm not an "artificial intelligence" but a "natural
intelligence", so it is a bit different. Still, how much different
should be a matter of debate in this context.) <br /></p><p>It's also a lot more work than it sounds, but the opportunities and applications of the public domain (and open source in general) are (within their limitations) endless. There are fonts and pictures, millions of books and illustrations ... Everything used from the public domain has an active artist not earn money. Everything I can do myself has someone else not earn money. Is that all frowned upon now? No. But, obviously, the whole public domain and open source movement isn't very popular with people that are actually in a position to hurt them.</p><p>Keep that in mind.</p><p>Especially since all those AI art services under fire right now are deeply rooted in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI" target="_blank">OpenAI</a>, for instance (all using technology provided to the public via google, among other open sources). The point being, those services used publicly available technology to innovate to a point where they were able to create successful businesses with LOTS of growth and potential. <br /></p><p>So established artists have some reason to grief, yes, but only because innovation changed their world (yet again!) and we have to adapt. That's stress, of course, but also a great opportunity for all that can make it work. So did printers not that long ago, for instance, when printing went digital. So did publishers when the whole DTP movement made Print on Demand such a success ...</p><p>I know you guys know that it happens all the time. What's different now? Nothing. It is the same players protecting their benefice. And who's that? Not the little artists trying to get by. Not even the big artists, as it has only benefits for them (imagine to be that good that your style is so recognizable, an artificial intelligence can produce work like that). Can't be them. And dead visual artists? Well, same for dead actors or writers ... new technology will revive them for our entertainment. It's inevitable.<br /></p><p>As a matter of fact, IF AI learning could be traced to having learned from one specific artist, I doubt they would benefit more if it hadn't. In other words, if this is the future, you'd be better off if it's part of your legacy than if you are being scratched out of it, because this WILL shape our immediate cultural future. <br /></p><p>But who really earns from using that technology?</p><p>Well ...</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTHIhG4IkrdTr7w-4yEe3zg9cydONfhAvAP8gtMHBPT4ciueJ1gsymm6oMvg_p7pFHb765jIsWl4mNQ6SdN6mtxxDAfI7cjW5P4oy7dtROYncxrPftOmpY5_eKgckv88WMKVeiHl4u5fQL9LFQ2lmTMcKNBcolNsiJUCguy8XBfQKEyhDMvynkvQV/s650/IB_06.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="650" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTHIhG4IkrdTr7w-4yEe3zg9cydONfhAvAP8gtMHBPT4ciueJ1gsymm6oMvg_p7pFHb765jIsWl4mNQ6SdN6mtxxDAfI7cjW5P4oy7dtROYncxrPftOmpY5_eKgckv88WMKVeiHl4u5fQL9LFQ2lmTMcKNBcolNsiJUCguy8XBfQKEyhDMvynkvQV/w350-h350/IB_06.jpg" width="350" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">InspiroBot, reading minds again ... [<a href="https://generated.inspirobot.me/a/DdP0Lqb1P7.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>That comes pretty close to the answer of the first three questions right in the beginning. But there are more arguments to be made before we get there. Other than manipulation through psychological framing and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge_theory" target="_blank">nudging</a>, there's another thing going on. If you check the Wikipedia page about Midjourney and the litigation connected to it, it'll lead you to a (rather level-headed, actually) article over at The Verge that basically makes all the points (see <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/16/23557098/generative-ai-art-copyright-legal-lawsuit-stable-diffusion-midjourney-deviantart" target="_blank">here</a>).<p></p><p>You will find that it is THREE artists that are suing through a big law firm specialized in cases like that. And that they actually have a weak case, since their claim seems to be, for instance, that the AI stores those pictures, which it doesn't, and it has an open source/fair use angle plus an international aspect the court could not even begin to address.</p><p>We'll have to see how that turns out, BUT it is not a lot to begin with. And that's, to me at least, suspicious. We have seen a tendency in recent years to manipulate "the masses" via social media engineering into acting as Trojan corporate mouth pieces (of sorts), through psychological skullduggery explained, for instance, in that document I shared right in the beginning. We have learned that the "mainstream" media is complicit in this, to a huge extent (see the <a href="https://neuburger.substack.com/p/twitter-files-links-aggregated" target="_blank">Twitter Files</a>, for a really, really great example).</p><p>Not all voices online are equal. Some are bought or have a vested interest in following a certain agenda, some are more vulnerable to manipulation than others. Needn't go as far as arguing that kids, for instance, are one big group deserving more protection than we are giving them right now. There is VERY solid science about how to manipulate others into doing ... well, anything, really. Public, too! And yet, for some reason, we assume that social media is "just" an exchange of opinions? Even something where an event perceived as a widely acknowledged outrage might accumulate to something true?<br /></p><p>No, it is used to earn money and influence. Or, the other way around, it's targeting your money and manipulating you.<br /></p><p>So, I don't know about the intention of those three women going to war against AI art. It certainly helped them getting a profile. I also don't trust all the media attention this one got. Yes, it's all new and shiny an TROUBLED, but isn't it also pretty clear cut? What makes me skeptical the most is the perceived social media war drums, the cancel culture looking for new victims. It smells of social engineering. And who does that? Who earns the big bucks with technology? Who benefits from halting innovation forced by a couple of start-ups? Who does not want you to think about those things? Well, the conclusion is, in my opinion, the direct competition.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiksCwd9-JJnfXl-7XpeX708-oG7_AwHHhbzmjMGU1YFECV7OtGveK5kZZjjKhRsZ6U7X3A1Iq1VNmC5mb9xxXIeF1s73-RADV7nuru590DAtEANv3xhmisS6BcT7ZODEWhSPejW7QK8zRBSCauEOBPm0CEsAGF1YX1ywS5kToY3OxztkmBtGFSI8g_/s650/IB_02.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="650" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiksCwd9-JJnfXl-7XpeX708-oG7_AwHHhbzmjMGU1YFECV7OtGveK5kZZjjKhRsZ6U7X3A1Iq1VNmC5mb9xxXIeF1s73-RADV7nuru590DAtEANv3xhmisS6BcT7ZODEWhSPejW7QK8zRBSCauEOBPm0CEsAGF1YX1ywS5kToY3OxztkmBtGFSI8g_/w428-h428/IB_02.jpg" width="428" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not sure how true that one is :D [<a href="https://generated.inspirobot.me/a/g0eKA1EgPM.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>DeviantArt makes a lot of noise, while working on their own version. Adobe, Amazon, Disney, everyone earning Big Money with media is looking for the money Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and GitHUB is not making because people get scared away or join the war path to fight those "thieves".<p></p><p>They also have the money, expertise and means to do so. Have been doing so for years, which is pretty evident by now ... so why assume they are not somehow involved? They are, or so I'd argue, the only ones benefiting from this NOT changing the media landscape as fast as it does.</p><p>Nowadays, in general, when I see an outrage like this online, my first impulse is to question it. It all became a huge battlefield of psychological warfare and propaganda in just a couple of years, and it is bad for all of us.</p><p>So who benefits? I tell you, it's not the little guy. We are, again, reduced to being pawns in a bigger game. Evidence for that is all around us, and it is a safe bet that it is the same machinations being at work here. If not that, than it is mimicking those processes, which is (arguably) just as bad, because:</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">It's the wrong attack vector ...</span></p><p>Here is the thing, given the huge potential of the technology we are discussing here, the whole discussion that is surrounding it is asking the wrong questions. Technological advancement is (at least) exponential until the innovations happen so fast, they might as well be happening all at once. At that point, the only arguments we as a society/culture will have about what's worth saving (or safeguarding) are those already anchored in our respective cultures/societies.</p><p>When that singular event, that singularity happens, the decision what happens next is out of our hands and only our legacy will be able protect us ... or damn us.</p><p>So at this point we know AI art will be perfect in a year or two, then films and books and comics, even computer games will be done by AI within, I'd say, the next 3 years. If that slow. The whole media complex: imploding.<br /></p><p>That'll also mean that you can have AI programming utilities, it'll teach, it'll do medical procedures. It'll do, in the foreseeable future, ALL the work. We are at that point in time RIGHT NOW. The generation born into the world as I write this will see it in ruins or live to have no need to learn and build and care other than for prosperity. None of our institutions are prepared for that other than using force to conserve the (corrupted, it seems) established. Same goes for the so-called "elites". And the rest of the population seems properly primed and rigged to function under the old paradigms. <br /></p><p>So this should be about the BIG QUESTIONS, right? Not some petty bullshit about "the AI looked at my picture" ... no, there are far bigger issues at hand. And yes, I do believe the noise about AI art to be smoke and mirrors. Another fake problem to keep the dirty masses disoriented, disorganized and at each others throat instead of taking a closer look.</p><p>As I said, there is, in my view, only one party with a huge interest in keeping it that way, and that would be the direct competition of AI art, and Big Money in general. Proof to the contrary, as far as I can see it, is fucking rare and whimsical at best. The implications are pretty clear: Big Money sees the opportunity to replace a (cheap but still too expensive) working force and just make more profit, with even fewer benefiting from it.</p><p>In a sense, they'll tighten and close the economic circle to keep anyone not being part of the inner circle already, out of it indefinitely. To that end, they buy and cheat their way through our institutions. Big Money ALREADY earns too much money to spend, printing new money every day like crazy. So much money, in fact, that a ridiculously small percentage of it is enough to buy EVERYONE earning a regular salary or less into submission with ease. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRLbIYE0ReW0oOPknmQ0sTYlhRORT9kco-a5bSANtEh1kG4Fm937rGc2XOpUffLY0syIPdc5vncEclPkQyRhRqe-vQBSlbr_OR_xE0cWmQhufVbZ9mteMZR10sdi9RRYUbvZ_wysKShY3ZYwFxa_yGZHBx-B6GQRF-6GzkLO2sHGFZOhqNUIMjLq0/s650/IB_04.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="650" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRLbIYE0ReW0oOPknmQ0sTYlhRORT9kco-a5bSANtEh1kG4Fm937rGc2XOpUffLY0syIPdc5vncEclPkQyRhRqe-vQBSlbr_OR_xE0cWmQhufVbZ9mteMZR10sdi9RRYUbvZ_wysKShY3ZYwFxa_yGZHBx-B6GQRF-6GzkLO2sHGFZOhqNUIMjLq0/w350-h350/IB_04.jpg" width="350" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's truth in this ... [<a href="https://generated.inspirobot.me/a/b5eAGMjRPl.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The cultural seeds have been planted, greed is a powerful motivator and deeply ingrained in a western culture that got rid of almost all values able to protect a culture from abuse. Education is so steeped with propaganda and manipulation now, they are already in the middle of auditing our cultural heritage towards the prevailing ideology. We've seen this only speed up, when it started is obscured in history already.<p></p><p>And sure enough, it all connects to how technological innovation is speeding up as well, challenging the existing order of things.</p><p>And sure enough, we already see signs of this on a global scale. <br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Here's what's happening and why ...</span></p><p>Every
small business that works with artwork will sooner or later use AI art
indiscriminately. I'm already seeing this happening here in Germany. It is just a tool and used as such by anyone not caring enough, even, what it looks like (and it'll be only a question of time until it will be perfect).<br /></p><p>Chat
GPT isn't challenged like we see with AI art, but already censored towards conformity (Midjourney, too, has limitations as to what can be created, and I think there's room for debate about that, too). There is a huge danger, imo (Kim Iverson has a good video on the subject <a href="https://youtu.be/7GvVdl2TFoU" target="_blank">here</a>). The decisions what's right or wrong aren't a
process of culture anymore, they are decided by those at the dials,
following ideas not everyone agrees to (or should agree to, for that
matter). Maybe even following ideas we don't want to be stuck with in the long run? But especially ideas we should have overcome a long time ago already.<br /></p><p>Make no mistake, big money is already using this to
make more money, and will do so more openly within a year. Elon Musk's (who also had a hand in OpenAI, btw)
biggest investment in the last 6 months was into AI tools. This is
coming, and it is coming fast.</p><p>If Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and GitHUB get thwarted or even destroyed by this, it'll all still happen, with even less access and heavier control by Big Money. We can say that from experience now, it's the pattern they thrive on. Again, look at how Adobe is setting it up. The only bone of contention with Midjourney etc., was to have those tools available for everyone and for a reasonable price.</p><p>You think Microsoft or Google would go a less greedy route? Adobe for sure doesn't, and Big Business in general seems to be very fond of some kind of subscription scheme where you keep paying until you die, ideally increasingly so and with debt as well. <br /></p><p>So spare me the fake outrage, and start being productive about this. We'll desperately need an informed public very soon. The French are already restless ...</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4f3-qLhExqswF3JEhZkluF6RFhQIwPMWTmlEjCy3v8x8mNJ3FBgb_b49Du2R9FgBg2m5ElJ3dF_nLy4AkMoqqPvsU_1x41pd62CUd9JDTT-D0iRVqPOH516EzGUfmfkMQndCmVz2p34zCvglP-Txi4UmCeH5kVPtPnqHitiLG95pUDa-ryLiClb8/s650/IB_03.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="650" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4f3-qLhExqswF3JEhZkluF6RFhQIwPMWTmlEjCy3v8x8mNJ3FBgb_b49Du2R9FgBg2m5ElJ3dF_nLy4AkMoqqPvsU_1x41pd62CUd9JDTT-D0iRVqPOH516EzGUfmfkMQndCmVz2p34zCvglP-Txi4UmCeH5kVPtPnqHitiLG95pUDa-ryLiClb8/w436-h436/IB_03.jpg" width="436" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fair enough ... or is it? [<a href="https://generated.inspirobot.me/a/12PYMBLbPB.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">And that's all I shall say</span><p></p><p>There is a recurring pattern in history that huge medial innovations lead to huge upheavals. It has always been that way, and maybe it cannot be avoided to be that way again or that we live to see it, but I'd urge readers to readjust their targeting a little bit. AI art is not theft, we are being stolen from all the time, we are being manipulated to believe that we have reason to hate each other instead of questioning who made us point that finger.</p><p>It is quite enough of that, I'd say.<br /></p><p>You don't have to believe me when I say that social media phenomena like this are, more often than not, systemic these days, but the evidence is out there for everybody to find. We have open corruption in the highest administrative bodies of our western culture and it goes unpunished, for fuck sake. On a daily basis. Social media is geared to escalate shit, people are geared to get riled up like that, and those in power will use their possibilities to make happen what they see fit. Because they can.</p><p>So, just take a step back and think before riding into the next social media craze, all guns blazing. It's not all that it's made out to be. And fair enough, you can disagree with what I was writing here. I believe I made a good case, but fair enough. Allow me the courtesy to disagree with your take, then, and we move along our own paths. Works for me. Just stay positive about it all. And if you are an artist struggling because of AI art, let me tell you <strike>it'll get worse for everyone soon</strike> you'll be all right.</p><p>Actually, if you are the creating type, I really believe you will be all right. There's always something to do, always something to create, and maybe this development will wake people up to the truth that it is part of human nature to create. Not for all, but for some of us. And we should cherish that as a society. But if all fails, you'll have that drive at least and it will bring you joy. So yeah, it'll be all right and I'm sorry for your troubles. May you find the strength to overcome those difficulties.</p><p>One last thing. I am in contact with artists, and the reactions had been always the same: intrigued shock. Something between "I can stop doing that now" and "Uuuh, it's so great, how can I use it to do some wicked shit?!". I imagine it is the same all around.<br /></p><p>Other than that, I've said quite enough about this already and I'll close with a couple of quotes and concepts for you guys to think about. First of all, I'll share the "Seven Tells of Cognitive Bias" as per <a href="https://www.scottadamssays.com/" target="_blank">Scott Adams</a> (of Dilbert fame). The guy is a bit full of himself, in a insecure kind of way, BUT he's spot on in this, imo, so I'll share it (a short yt video about it can be found <a href="https://youtu.be/xma6OxhLhIs" target="_blank">here</a>). If this comes up in a discussion, it is fair to assume that the tells indicate that the person using it has no real grasp of the argument (describing some <a href="https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/rhetological-fallacies/" target="_blank">Rhetological Fallacies</a>, of course, but that's unpopular and complicated). <br /></p><p>SEVEN TELLS FOR COGNITIVE BIAS<br /></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Changes Topic (something like "You don't like X, so you can't understand Z!")<br /></li><li>Ad Hominem (if all fails, people will get personal)<br /></li><li>Mind Reading (saying something outrages, implying that you think that way)<br /></li><li>Word Salad (if it doesn't make sense and can't be made sense of, it's most likely just gibberish to avoid defeat)<br /></li><li>Uses Analogy Instead of Reason ()<br /></li><li>Insists it's "complicated" and can't be summarized (basically the "I'm not a doctor." argument, which is bs, of course)<br /></li><li>The "So ..." Tell (basically the Kathy Newman approach of misrepresenting your argument with something akin to "So you are saying [add misrepresentation]")<br /></li></ol><p>I'll close with a quote from a Terence McKenna interview I'm very fond of (his last recorded interview, they say, you can see it <a href="https://youtu.be/GdEKhIk-8Gg" target="_blank">here</a>). So fond, in fact, that I used it on the back of the RPG I published (<a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353636/O23--RolePlaying-in-a-Dystopian-Future?manufacturers_id=11431" target="_blank">ORWELL</a>). It was as fitting on the back of that book as it is here:</p><p></p><blockquote>"This is what it's like when a species prepares to depart for the stars. You don't depart for the stars under calm and orderly conditions. It's a fire in a madhouse. And that's what we have: The fire in the mad-house at the end of time." (T. M., 1998)</blockquote><p>Here's an InspiroBot quote that came up, featuring a base element of ORWELL (the title being Leet Speak and all that), so it deserves a place here as well: <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6LLyFXKiLytSdS8wrFtzkS3WXh7gRyRp6aqbolRTY7Tpw8SMBYBz8rC-JuJd7MvEOPQEoPruGYzac2e2lwzsSSWvML2yetloNkaJzhA8baLvRRMVsjN7GArCFA1i0H0yHME_3WrfQW0e-GoHk32uvkaMRrFOS0akuYo8ZRShz6CblzM_-kLwAjd6j/s650/IB_01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="650" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6LLyFXKiLytSdS8wrFtzkS3WXh7gRyRp6aqbolRTY7Tpw8SMBYBz8rC-JuJd7MvEOPQEoPruGYzac2e2lwzsSSWvML2yetloNkaJzhA8baLvRRMVsjN7GArCFA1i0H0yHME_3WrfQW0e-GoHk32uvkaMRrFOS0akuYo8ZRShz6CblzM_-kLwAjd6j/w427-h427/IB_01.jpg" width="427" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I liked that on for the Ø, obviously ... [<a href="https://generated.inspirobot.me/a/qjepy34bJn.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>And with this, I'm done. I'll use the pictures I created in Midjourney for my publications, and I see no harm in that. I'll make a note of it, so people can decide for themselves if it matters to them. I have no way of influencing that decision. After all, it is just superficial garnishing and it should be about the content instead of petty bullshit. But yeah, limits of control and all that. I'd just as quick work with an artist (as I did in the past) or use public domain art or diy it, as best as I can.<br /></p><p></p><p>Thank you for taking the time. Stay safe out there, friends, it'll be a bumpy ride.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVS_9SmmY-_jVLROYqYNKV5k170ky63HNa7_SaPYsrLtxrrJ9R9rQI1H92-NT9W_13jcoz4mqB78SIdgVBjXbiChZUUVVJRqqqtFZ0g8J4uyKjAwSZzSpEkV9I0BQdMQi585uFzfb59bvWQJiBLUbbhAyLqku255CO8ejxphadbA90Bz-Pq57DP0Bv/s650/IB_07.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="650" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVS_9SmmY-_jVLROYqYNKV5k170ky63HNa7_SaPYsrLtxrrJ9R9rQI1H92-NT9W_13jcoz4mqB78SIdgVBjXbiChZUUVVJRqqqtFZ0g8J4uyKjAwSZzSpEkV9I0BQdMQi585uFzfb59bvWQJiBLUbbhAyLqku255CO8ejxphadbA90Bz-Pq57DP0Bv/w417-h417/IB_07.jpg" width="417" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yeah, sounds about right ... an AI's dream [<a href="https://generated.inspirobot.me/a/N8JQ5q3AJ9.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-21349532661009607122023-02-08T15:19:00.005+01:002023-03-14T13:14:57.605+01:00Paradigms of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia (or: Staring into the Abyss)<p><i>It's February 2023 already and I'm (seriously!) way behind with everything I planned to have happen LAST year. That said, I'm getting there. No day goes by with not at least some progress. Could be more, maybe it SHOULD be more, but I'm content with how it is. I'm getting there. Point in case: I'm tackling the final hurdles in finishing writing on be67, that Weird Sixties RPG I'm aiming to publish as soon as possible (if I'm lucky, May 2023 ... I always seem to publish big projects around that time, wonder why that is). Those last hurdles, however, are those really tough bits where so much of the rules converges that lots of interacting ideas need visualization. Welcome to another episode of the ...</i></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmoDWpghQxYWkYHWKksnnfgQkhnCpIEXt9roaV5ZOWOlmY1QNmQo1c61uf4eTye0A0W8cwSal18FMFcL-UzNkm51cJI65ZBXjkRxbpyWBgjO10zBPyBGF9izgB9q5Y1td-Pg5a3mGCQJPIq1Io-MC68RjMUNhQOoOjfDRmuHekbEN-FEGdrAUfgWo_/s1600/D&DDontPanic01.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1137" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmoDWpghQxYWkYHWKksnnfgQkhnCpIEXt9roaV5ZOWOlmY1QNmQo1c61uf4eTye0A0W8cwSal18FMFcL-UzNkm51cJI65ZBXjkRxbpyWBgjO10zBPyBGF9izgB9q5Y1td-Pg5a3mGCQJPIq1Io-MC68RjMUNhQOoOjfDRmuHekbEN-FEGdrAUfgWo_/w349-h492/D&DDontPanic01.png" width="349" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parody of original cover, fair use for sure ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i>[Short side note: it seems that it is safe right now to at least talk about our house rules of old D&D iterations, therefore I'll keep telling you that be67 will be a collection of my D&D RC house rules mutated into a complete game ... I'll still take care that it is very much it's own thing, which means pushing a couple of concepts I used a bit further than I originally intended. Not a big thing, and still very much compatible with everything D&D or OSR out there, but this post will look at the core of some of the concepts in the D&D RC and how they relate to my version of those concepts. As I keep saying: be67 will not be D&D, it'll be a retroclone mutant of the D&D RC.] <br /></i><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The Game, as we see it</span></p><p>OD&D was famously vague with its rules. So vague, in fact, that it was almost impossible to play RAW (Ruled As Written) if you didn't have the war gaming background Gygax and Arneson had. To be precise, if you weren't part of those war gaming circles Gygax and Arneson frequented, OD&D would most likely be a mystery to you. Something inspiring, for sure, but IF you were able to make sense of it somehow without that context, it'd most likely be with a very different understanding compared to what the original authors intended.</p><p>Tunnels & Trolls (1975) is the perfect example of how that could still manifest a beautiful and complete game.</p><p>As far as TSR was concerned, they had two venues to explore: one was revisioning the OD&D toward a version that was more clear in its rules (that'd end up being AD&D), the other was making the entry into this hobby easier (which was attempted with Basic D&D). It ended up creating two very distinct versions of what D&D can be, both based on that vague first iteration, both, in a way, distinct variations of the same themes, ideas and concepts.</p><p>Now, we are talking the D&D RC here, which is the end point of that second strain, and, if not vague, it ended up being just as convoluted and incomplete as that first game, just on a bigger scale. We always knew this, I think, but the beauty of role-playing games is that it is possible to "wing it" on almost every level of resolution. Nowadays, a skilled Gamemaster can GM a game with a very minimalist approach, no problem. They can also gain an (as in "one", not "the") understanding of a poorly explained game and make it work at the table.</p><p>As far as D&D is concerned, it means: the collective and documented experience of playing D&D in general makes for a great blueprint how to "summon" that kind of gaming experience. It is a paradigm:<br /></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">paradigm (noun)</span></p><p>A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a
way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially
in an intellectual discipline. [<a href="https://www.wordnik.com/words/paradigm" target="_blank">source</a>]</p></blockquote><p></p><p>So mostly, playing the "idea" of the game will be close enough to the actual rules to make that approach work. But what's more: with a strong paradigm like we have with D&D and a little experience in playing it, it is easy enough to bridge what the <i>rules</i> might be lacking and still make it work. You get an idea where you have to end up, roughly.</p><p>In a way, the paradigm of D&D can take a lot of abuse before the game breaks (one could make the case that WotC did find that breaking point with 4E). It can also help masking some pretty major shortcomings in the rules ... which is something a dedicated collective hivemind processed and filtered most prominently in what the OSR was up until, say, 5 years ago. <br /></p><p>What's more, while there never will be an official revision of the D&D RC, there for sure are retroclones rewriting and revisioning that game (Dark dungeon comes to mind, with its retroclone mutant Darkest Dungeon as an iteration moving away from D&D ... the latest version, combining both, can be found <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/310711/Dark-Dungeons-X?src=also_purchased" target="_blank">here</a>). There are also tons of micro solutions to problems the rules pose and you can find them hidden all over the internet.</p><p>Some of it is about bridging gaps in the rules (perceived or not), some of it is about finding a true understanding of what all the numbers mean and how they relate ...</p><p>You want an easy example? Guns are a very specific and ignored problem in the D&D rules. At least I haven't seen any satisfying solutions to the problems guns bring to how the game is designed (the original solution, imo, was to circumvent the problem entirely by introducing wands and staffs ... but that's pretty unsatisfying to begin with).</p><p>Other good examples would be giant creatures and structural damage ... it is all there, in parts and pieces or as island solutions for specific monsters (I argued in the past that dragons give indications how we are supposed to create our own monsters ... see the argument made <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2016/06/how-dragons-are-flagship-monsters-of.html" target="_blank">here</a>).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA82gwHYUt9DmDp9Hqzkun6CYHW899qiIqNkf7o6v7G3LNgRg8wBFCLLtFd0-6-rVUJi5LNcL44gVJB0R9jy1oNGjvqSCgRbyD9-q3OeESciSb-MhVxr85O1N9pwYdyem5VmRzw8OzOsgBqSg6ar3zgpIt1jCR4DyANXBYNECKerkz8weOieZxjy8q/s560/dragon_rampage_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="560" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA82gwHYUt9DmDp9Hqzkun6CYHW899qiIqNkf7o6v7G3LNgRg8wBFCLLtFd0-6-rVUJi5LNcL44gVJB0R9jy1oNGjvqSCgRbyD9-q3OeESciSb-MhVxr85O1N9pwYdyem5VmRzw8OzOsgBqSg6ar3zgpIt1jCR4DyANXBYNECKerkz8weOieZxjy8q/w451-h187/dragon_rampage_01.gif" width="451" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F38.media.tumblr.com%2Fb68d14e7e97c57e9e56f276b49471017%2Ftumblr_ng4ksbpFUT1t6saleo1_1280.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=eb0370eb1dadb388ebbc22b272ab043168044344e5c986a8ece5ad2dbe15244e&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>And sure enough, all of this can be improvised in a narrative. No one would object to the idea that a dragon may just be able to do a lot of damage to structures, if it's able to bring the mass or firepower to do it ... That said, it'd still be nice to have a ratio behind it all. Not necessarily to apply it on every fictional building in a campaign, but because experience taught us that the game WILL break down for mid- and high-level games if those things need to be "winged", because characters could be that dragon (or its equivalent) and without rules to accompany that, it'll just get boring fast.</p><p>You see, all of those are problems hidden deeply at the core of the game, and if you were to write a game based on those rules, you are either forced to ignore them as well (the c/p approach of many a lazy game designer ...) or come up with a satisfying solution that suits the game. I keep saying: the D&D RC has an EPIC scope, but doesn't do it justice all the time. That can be a problem if you try to reproduce its results.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Here's another very specific problem: HD</span></p><p>The reason for this post is: I have no solution for this specific problem. Yet. All the pieces are there (as you will see), but I can't see a good way to condense all of this into core principles that work as a jumping off point for GMs new to the game (other than just doing the work and offering dozens of pre-made monster portfolios ... which would be a cop-out, obviously).</p><p>The problem is, many assumptions about how powerful monsters are rely on "legacy code". Some of it definitely derived from games like Chainmail, some expanded on through experience (you know it works because you threw it at a group and it worked), and build on <i>that</i> comes the whole rest you'll find in the D&D RC. There is no "behind the scenes" how the sausage is made, it's just a lot of sausages, ready for consumption.</p><p>Well, to be fair, it's not entirely true that there are no metrics at all to work with. There is an attempt to "balance" encounters in the RC, and it goes a little bit like this: it basically makes HD comparable with Level, which is a whole thing in itself, and not necessarily a tool of precision, considering that "special abilities" may be imbalanced to begin with. But anyway. So you take a group's total level and compare that to the "back engineered" HD of a monster (or NPC) to see how they relate. With that, you have a metric to asses how hard a confrontation MIGHT be (<a href="https://dungeons.fandom.com/wiki/DnDWiki:Tucker%27s_kobolds" target="_blank">Tucker's Kobolds</a> would be a great argument against that, but whatever).<br /></p><p>Now, if the adjusted HD are, say, between 30 and 50%, it'd be a "good fight". As in, it'll tap into the resources a bit, it'll hurt a bit, but it'll most likely be a voctory, which is satisfying, and that is, of course, "good". 50 to 70% is, by that metric, "challenging", 110% (barely above what the characters bring to the table!) is categorized as "extremely dangerous".<br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnms6MsY5ZjSYbqlaJVHf6l7F5cLiEA2bVxsTo94VkxHLmP7dpChaz7eYYTwtBIa1KSWQS5MH7PAxeS2q7yDeWJHETeQmvWszSnVCoK_A7P8S19diO5RbG4kqR3wsJN_lBoMqwdUjeLhaoWrN9jz1fZFr9JTclGCefJaPyzpbg6WMXyEcQWyHmqkEV/s419/TPL_01.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="419" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnms6MsY5ZjSYbqlaJVHf6l7F5cLiEA2bVxsTo94VkxHLmP7dpChaz7eYYTwtBIa1KSWQS5MH7PAxeS2q7yDeWJHETeQmvWszSnVCoK_A7P8S19diO5RbG4kqR3wsJN_lBoMqwdUjeLhaoWrN9jz1fZFr9JTclGCefJaPyzpbg6WMXyEcQWyHmqkEV/s320/TPL_01.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">D&D RC, p. 101<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5dHu-06m44c5mF59XKO4yoF64Kw7hmRX-2adJBsNISJzoptQW-JSIVf5WWwxBJ9AFbLOHsRgoFSFLOn1dZ0xI7d23IRHSEMll2JPDCBHyju3Hn57LoDG_OuollKNCURO69ArgaB2Qne_gTNXytvcX1-81V95XDbAviEFk9Gw9GNLYia1f1H-vSPxa/s425/TPL_Scale_01.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="425" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5dHu-06m44c5mF59XKO4yoF64Kw7hmRX-2adJBsNISJzoptQW-JSIVf5WWwxBJ9AFbLOHsRgoFSFLOn1dZ0xI7d23IRHSEMll2JPDCBHyju3Hn57LoDG_OuollKNCURO69ArgaB2Qne_gTNXytvcX1-81V95XDbAviEFk9Gw9GNLYia1f1H-vSPxa/s320/TPL_Scale_01.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">also D&D RC, p. 101</td></tr></tbody></table>As I said above, it's not nothing. But the whole "adjustment" process is pretty much broken, and I have to find a way to make it all make sense in a way that would allow a GM to build a monster that'd be intentionally balanced from scratch and without much hustle. From what I can see (and, again, considering the scope), not even the math works out (as far as I'm aware).<p></p><p>Check it out. You take the base HD a Monster has. If there is anything added or substracted, it is basically rounded up or down. Then (also D&D RC, p. 101): <br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>"[...] add half of the original Hit Dice figure for each power bonus. Power bonuses include:<br /></p><p>• Each asterisk next to a monster's hit dice.<br />• Special NPC abilities.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>For NPC parties, award a power bonus for each of the following conditions: 1) Everyone in the party has +2 weapons or better; and 2) There are spellcasters in the party. (Take the highest level of spells that may be cast, divide by two, then divide that result by the number of characters in the party, rounding up; the result is the power bonus added to the Individual Adjusted Hit Dice figure of every character in the party.)"</p></blockquote><p>It's just ... okay? It'll give you a form of measure, I'm just not sure if I would trust it. As a matter of fact, I'd test that before believing it. Or rather, I'd have to see if it matches how I play it. Again, just from a game-within-the-game point of view, the Gamemaster is just as much a black box as the special abilities can be. I can bluff the players into making mistakes, just as a smart goblin would ... I will not lie or cheat, but I will have monsters and NPCs that'll give it a shot.<br /></p><p>And there's the next problem: smarter monsters (than the base line), no change in xp range. Okay. At least there is some rules for it (D&D RC, p. 214). That whole chapter on changing monsters is inspiring, but not a lot of crunch, actually. Good ideas, almost no rules.</p><p>Size can be factored in, but it is a strange one, because changing the size of an EXISTING monster will alter its xp range and base HD exceptionally. Huge medusa, in an example, has HD 8+24, plus better AC, better to-hit, better saves, more damage! That'd be brutal ... and in no relation to other big monsters in the book? A big goblin like that would fuck up a normal orc, no problem (a 7 ft goblin would outmatch an orc with more hp, slightly better saves, more damage ... it's not much on that scale, but a lot when going bigger than that, as the Medusa shows easily). </p><p>That's not even all of it. Look at the Gargantuan entry for monsters (D&D RC, p. 177), compare them ith their counterparts and THAN do the math to see if it fits. It doesn't. The gargoyle is not that much larger (still L), but features 32 (!) instead of 4 HD and deals about 4 times the damage. That's a legacy monster, for sure. They just didn't bother to align it all.</p><p>There's more. As those stars factor in as "special abilities", it is interesting to check what the thinking was there, so off we go to the section in the book about xp (D&D RC, p. 128) ... only to find out that each * basically denotes some ability that can be used in combat. Nothing else ... unless it can cast, which automatically counts as "weaponized", no matter the kind of magic (also interesting, also unbalanced).</p><p>I don't really get the distinction anyway, as EVERYTHING can be weaponized. Their argument is "if it can fly, no *, if it can swoop in to attack, it gets the *". Not even defenses factor in (they say there could be exceptions, but they don't say what they are). And another "soft rule" added to that, is called "Modifying XP" (same page) and basically advises "if it's tougher than you thought, give more xp, if the characters walk through it, give less.", which sucks, as far as advice goes (nothing to work with, just taking space, also diminishing clever play).<br /></p><p>See the problem with that? I do.<br /></p><p>It is all connected to HD, but inconsequentially so. It's not connecting all the dots. If you have (optional) rules for balancing, apply them to everything, connect them with how xp are calculated and monsters are created. Make it click, revise all the monster entries. Do the work. As it is, the problem is addressed in three different chapters, offering 2.5 different solutions, with all the island solutions you can come up with in the monster section. There is a vague idea what that could mean, but not developed enough to produce monsters with other than "making them up", and riddled with inconsistencies.</p><p>And that's assuming they touched the proper dials here. HD is a good measure for attack matrices, but it doesn't translate well into the size adjustments: they have to use tricks here, but they are basically inflate the HD+x and then add a indirect to-hit modifier. At best, it's not a very elegant solution.</p><p>Want more? What about things like Morale? It is so crucial to be able to overcome monsters by scaring them away instead of having the whole fight, with all the risks and resources that takes. Doesn't that factor into how dangerous an encounter is? 10 HD, but runs away as soon as it sees blood? That shouldn't be a problem for a group of level 1 characters. </p><p>Or how about checking if the random encounter section creates results in line with the balancing idea? Don't bother, it doesn't (although it's the same fucking chapter!). It teaches a different lesson, however: there is no balancing encounters in the wild. There be dragons out there, and they don't care what level you have. And not all encounter end up in fights, AND the characters should not only encounter tougher foes, but should also learn the signs of such an encounter and how to evade them. It is all part of the game. Just different parts, offering different design philosophies EVERY TIME.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">It's all kaputt ... </span><br /></p><p>Let's say, a group's antagonist is a highly intelligent and very rich 2HD monster. Has the funds to give the group hell, and the smarts to be subtle about it. Could terrorize them for a whole campaign, no sweat. A real Moriarty (who might have higher HD, but needn't really in this context). If they caught him, the wizard of a high level group could take him out, bare-knuckle style.</p><p>If that would be the climax of a campaign ... xp would not rely on the enemy's HD, it'd be the creature's wealth AND all the challenges it threw at the group over the course of the campaign. Yes, all the monster xp gained, rewarded AGAIN (as per D&D RC, p. 127) plus the wealth.</p><p>And that's just that: with a shotgun approach like that, the moving pieces collected in between almost don't matter, what's important is how it is scaled towards the end of an adventure or a campaign so it doesn't overshoot all connected systems (like levelling and and so on). And even for that it has at least secondary safety measures. So D&D RC characters cannot gain more than one level for "an adventure" ...</p><p>Another side note: again, very weak with the terminology here ... What's an adventure? How about campaigns? What's if a normal session generates more than enough? What time of playing are we talking here? Say, a 12 hour session dungeon crawling (I do know people like that ... I sure was one of them when I was younger), all open-worldy, no story ... is that one adventure? Again and again just soft rules, ignoring the deeper, underlying structures.</p><p>And how unfair is that, if it occurred that you lose xp because of advancement? How easy is that to handle on
higher levels? Say a group of high level characters drop a surprise
round on a party of big bad dragons and take them out ... big haul, lots of xp, done in a days work. Why not? If you played long enough, you are bound to have some tricks and shortcuts collected for opportunities like that! Instead, nothing. The GM overshot and had to regulate ... fuck that.</p><p>What's more, say you just need a couple of hundred xp for next level, but you gain big time (like with finishing an adventure). Bad luck, chummy. You get one point short to gain the next level, everything beyond gets scrapped.</p><p>And there is yet another aspect: all the tools talked about here are about fighting monsters, but there is a shift in how xp are gained somewhere in mid-level range, where just killing and looting won't cut it anymore. The shift is away from combat and more towards actual role-playing.</p><p>There aren't enough dragons in the multiverse to advance even one high level wizard. Once your fighter needs 120.000 xp to gain another level, they'd rather have some drama where they can shine (good role-playing will gain a character 1/20 of what they need for next level, or in this case 6000 xp) than going for goblin genocide in the homeworld. Exceptional actions will net you another 1/20. If you aim for both, you'll advance every nine sessions, at least.</p><p>So. Many. Construction. Sites. So frustrating.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4t5ofCZM0oPBw0hz_bComnQ7uJqp_lEoqkkKOKLOKN0NkYKRGtLuO0EvzezgLqeOeec6jL-S2A6C4wJ5liM2o4Bd9_hpV6ccufn9-KrSVZmKrw_VlhBKeFoPvQnWgmd0fwXP74nXZVHMDfO0w-Qu46zHRr40WaLYNasn1A46RaTD-sHsjeHbx1R9/s908/way-too-complicated.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="610" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4t5ofCZM0oPBw0hz_bComnQ7uJqp_lEoqkkKOKLOKN0NkYKRGtLuO0EvzezgLqeOeec6jL-S2A6C4wJ5liM2o4Bd9_hpV6ccufn9-KrSVZmKrw_VlhBKeFoPvQnWgmd0fwXP74nXZVHMDfO0w-Qu46zHRr40WaLYNasn1A46RaTD-sHsjeHbx1R9/w301-h448/way-too-complicated.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The D&D RC, if it where a bong ... [<a href="https://memeguy.com/photos/images/way-too-complicated-387288.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: large;">Solutions: let's stare into that abyss a bit! </span><br /></p><p>I could go on, but I won't. If you've read all the above, you get the idea. But how can I fix that for be67? What does it take to make it all work in unison? Cutting the "fat" here seems to be such a waste, although all of them are island solutions, there are some nice ideas throughout (obviously, duh). And my guess would be that it'd seem too one dimensional as soon as it all lines up into a pattern that actually leads to something like a coherent system.</p><p>The only thing I know is: I need that, for sure, since everything else is lined up already and this is the final piece. I cannot write my way out of that. So I won't. Lets take a look at the elements we have:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>HD to have an idea how good a monster or NPC fights and how long it'll last (with the added benefit that the amount of HP also indicates level of maturity).</li><li>Damage output per successful attack (again, there is no rhyme or reason how that measures, but it really matters).</li><li>Saves are really important, since they are a great passive defense mechanism (no idea how to factor that in).</li><li>AC is there in the top five, but it just "is" in the rules (nothing to see here).</li><li>Morale, as described above, lots of moving pieces (no clue how they should connect).</li><li>Special abilities, which can be anything, but at least it is highly applicable AND we have an idea how they track.</li><li>Encounter challenge rating, not a good, but the best indicator we have how some of it at least connects. <br /></li></ul><p>What else? Treasure? Not necessary (although it factors in with xp). Number appearing? Well, that's a strange one, as it randomizes the balance rating. Maybe good to have a measure like that, but I think it might be a relic from dungeon generating tools that didn't make the cut for the D&D RC. So that's about it.</p><p>We can calculate which HD range relates to Total Party Levels in general, and (maybe) what outcome to expect depending on the Challenge Ratings. If you are aware of the sneak peak I shared of the book in my last post (NEG (blank), find it <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirp9fqAfvQv_QcPhxITDFRu3GsWIuMY2M5o6ilUkQK3yXb6YhxNKo-8HTD-8zErgHUC0wJDNEApTDoXwzdRhVrQP4Xr9FoKWdFsrYaozhLhtEqJrq3EPk1wK42Z6nSjryWsTb9tTdYwg5ZAsAVXKVQHs4949JckL1A0Y-kLmxL-OceXzEC4xWIb8E_/s2408/NEG_blank_01.png" target="_blank">here</a>), you can get an idea how there are additional measures that should make it easier to calculate and manifest a threat.</p><p>For one, a GM can track how dangerous the surroundings are, which maps nicely with the idea of a Challenge Rating. For the six Danger Scales presented in the NEG I'll go 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, 100%, 120%. If you have the Total Party Level (TPL) as well as the Danger Scale (DS) and an Encounter occurs, there's already a lot to deduce from the available numbers. It just isn't that much of a help if you end up with one big number and a myriad of options how to resolve it.</p><p>I'm telling you, this will hurt a little ...<br /></p><p>Say we have a group of 6 level 5 characters cruising in a DS IV kind of situation, that'd allow for encountering a (80% of 30) 24 HD entity. And the problem is: that could be ANYTHING. Even just reduced to the encounter table, there's so much to go with. I'm tempted to make it sort of a point buy system where the 24 (in this case) are a pool to buy all kinds of features, with some easy defaults to fall back on, if time's pressing.</p><p>It could be, however, information overload: would it be a good option to use a swarm, or one big fella? Maybe buy some damage options and better AC? So default is AC 9, reducing that would mean different costs for different numbers of enemies ... so that needs to be categorized. Single (one entity), skirmish (a division of the HD Potential) and mob (1 HD entities, all of them) encounters, maybe? At least that's what I did in ORWELL ...</p><p>Maybe it should scale a bit differently? Like, a single encounter should have the lowest AC default, skirmish encounters default a bit higher, swarm lands at 9. Easy. Default damage should be just as easily mapped with group size ... But having the option to buy shit with HD as the currency would mean it'll be reduced. You'd have to do THAT before deciding for group size, right? Right?!<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4o7UZVtnZjG3xTxz0WaWVqq7BXXaF0io9-_GabDMgjpjV3Q68blyRMec8zvmiWrFmNLnKoqfoMB3tiodFA7WrtfJlZkbTW_wnGu3ioP4ZTVoFamSKe51ShgwrFl3Ch0aeLFRRf1Ly4T1mxXqFoJqbtCBylADWcNx3DuXnY-WmH4kip2ds2vnhtaeY/s320/Head_Wall_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="245" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4o7UZVtnZjG3xTxz0WaWVqq7BXXaF0io9-_GabDMgjpjV3Q68blyRMec8zvmiWrFmNLnKoqfoMB3tiodFA7WrtfJlZkbTW_wnGu3ioP4ZTVoFamSKe51ShgwrFl3Ch0aeLFRRf1Ly4T1mxXqFoJqbtCBylADWcNx3DuXnY-WmH4kip2ds2vnhtaeY/s1600/Head_Wall_01.gif" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F6c%2F95%2F8c%2F6c958cec4fa3d35c64920b10258898e9.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=6812a241f9e289713a789ed5f08362711fbbedf7c780a0e9773099a62c79ba12&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table>Okay, so potential first, then group size, then the defaults (AC, Damage, Saves should be in there and Morale?), then using the Potential for specials. And that's it. Make it relate to the basic encounter key, give it something special, maybe dial a bit with the stats ... é voilà, basic encounter?<br /><p>No no no ... Something's missing. Can't have the same defaults independent of the actual HD. Higher HD should have better defaults, right? So that needs to be done. Saves scaling HD like Level, maybe? Higher damages, maybe related to DS? DS could factor in all the time, actually. Still, that's a lot of information to decide on during a game ... And how would prepared monsters fit into this? <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieTu3ho-XEqTEwI-1Hq7KbnVtAc8iWmKOPEiCbmKDGERnHLThy6FaXZbO_lSaGh9MYAsxfqvCmKDGcHJTwTjr7oGKxA7kpl5yVkqU2I2HZR9eOJhVVvIyAYXh5ytzrEwQRPE1qtsjwSAUi3pbRNo-2Cj1lCHBtqVqj4Edk8q_cg0SpZlzM6bPYgxIU/s474/Several_Days_Later_01.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieTu3ho-XEqTEwI-1Hq7KbnVtAc8iWmKOPEiCbmKDGERnHLThy6FaXZbO_lSaGh9MYAsxfqvCmKDGcHJTwTjr7oGKxA7kpl5yVkqU2I2HZR9eOJhVVvIyAYXh5ytzrEwQRPE1qtsjwSAUi3pbRNo-2Cj1lCHBtqVqj4Edk8q_cg0SpZlzM6bPYgxIU/w430-h242/Several_Days_Later_01.jpeg" width="430" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.p9QdLqd80jy4cC5p9s0gXgHaEK%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=99c99a3b325599528bc786ca24bdb016c8a08e4d0f7f9d3c1496ad4678374a92&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">So we need to shift that paradigm? </span><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">Fifth attempt at this (I think). Anyway, had to put it to rest again for a couple of days to mull it over AGAIN. Here's the thing: they never cared to put it all together. In other words, the system I'm looking for, does not exist. The D&D RC is a tool box, consequently it doesn't amount to much until you do something with it. That can (and often will) mean we have to fill those gaps ourselves with the tools we like or our own solutions.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">Which is good, as I can use something I came up with instead. It'll change the tone of the game a bit (compared to the D&D RC, that is), but only for the GM (which is another interesting observation, I think ... the game doesn't change much on the player side at all). So how could I go about this, then?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">be67 already offers several frames I can work with. Encounters are themes and tropes a GM wants to see in an adventure, all of them geared and scaled towards an escalation (including clues a group might collect and stationary encounters they might explore). Characters are free to explore as they see fit and encounters are abstract enough to manifest independently of that.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">Here, have an example! What we are playing now is a Narnia grindhouse feature where the group ended up looking for some lost kids in a Nazi occupied Narnia variant ... No talking lions yet, but we've only started. Anyway, the group enters through a portal and gets several directions to explore (hints to several stationary encounters). The first Encounter I roll is connected to the main plot: Nazis. As for what their motivation is, the Motivation Generator comes up with "A force of greed that is insane and aims for power". That's what I'm working with.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">It is a Main Plot Encounter, so the characters should get a chance to learn something about what's going on here. I'm going through the stationary encounters, and there is a frozen lake with a mystery that the group will see soon in the distance. "insane greedy grab for power" sounds to me like they are taking something powerful they shouldn't, maybe in a place they shouldn't (very movie-villain like, I might add). I decide it'll manifest as a mining operation on the frozen lake. Those Nazis are cutting huge pieces of ice out of the lake and something is trapped in those pieces they carry away! </span><br /></p><p>It was clear that they'd end up seeing the lake soon, because of their decisions. Encountering the mining operation fit that perfectly, imo, so I went with it. That same result on a different stage might have had very different results with the same encounter and motivation rolls, but should have covered the same themes just as well: greedy Nazis doing insane shit for power ...</p><p>Another narrative encounter might have been more benign or challenging or threatening, so what would have happened then on their way to the lake would have manifested very differently. That way you gain huge variety in encounters, but themed and with some escalation systems to forward the plot as the characters figure out what's happening (one way or another).</p><p>Anyway, so plot and stationary encounters come with a "Danger Scale" (as mentioned above) that alters how powerful those encounters are and changes as the characters interact with them (clearing a dungeon, for instance, would reset that stationary encounter to a DS II (default) or a DS I even). As far as "balance" is concerned, the Total Party Level (TPL) gives indicators what's how tough on a group.</p><p>I'd take that, but modify it to adding all of that up (Levels and HD from supporting NSC) and then taking a tenth of that as base line. If that produces fractions (.1 to .9, obviously possible), round down but keep that fraction in mind.</p><p>Danger in be67 is scaled from 20% of that TPL (very easy) to 120% (very hard), just like they indicate in the RC, but in steps of 20 % to align it with the DS. That tenth of a TPL is calculated easily enough, to see what HD Potential (HDP) that amounts to in a specific DS, just multiply that number with 2 ( for the 20% or DS I), 4 (40%, DS II), 6 (60%, DS III) and so on. Easy enough and actually quite fast, I'd say.</p><p>Now a GM has to decide what's needed in that specific situation. If it's less than what's actually available, it can well be improvised as long as the numbers aren't adding up to something more or way less powerful than indicated by the HDP of that encounter. Other than that, there will be rules to use the HDP to its full, well, potential.</p><p>The next thing that needs deciding is the size of the encounter. Is it a single beast/NPC/entity? A "skirmish" (which, for be67, means a group with the upper limit of character group plus DS)? Or a "mob" (which would describe a number of entities above the number of characters in a group + DS)? As a situation is already on hand, that should be easily to decide on the fly.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFZBk1FiTu1j0IfbRB2ZSXxaacXR009V68lwbL8jl907dt7AAqDGzZ9P7OO2GVmreXGRMVVE69W4oDjtAPO8ZpT3ym-L0kqnWLlQkhZE2Q7LONxhDT0HaVq47Ju-fXMTt161fz1mdtnZ6fiSLuUvHljpRAxBf9uOIs03wL_hEHigHdmXm8YJLtAneZ/s500/zombie_horde_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="221" data-original-width="500" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFZBk1FiTu1j0IfbRB2ZSXxaacXR009V68lwbL8jl907dt7AAqDGzZ9P7OO2GVmreXGRMVVE69W4oDjtAPO8ZpT3ym-L0kqnWLlQkhZE2Q7LONxhDT0HaVq47Ju-fXMTt161fz1mdtnZ6fiSLuUvHljpRAxBf9uOIs03wL_hEHigHdmXm8YJLtAneZ/w504-h222/zombie_horde_01.gif" width="504" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mob rules in effect! [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Ff4%2F8c%2Fdd%2Ff48cdda3c35f631a8f77e222258ad9ba.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=beeb01cdc547243d7e5628d37e6b31da0901c17fdb69258b5fd78a4f133ef0c5&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>While the TPL and the DS with the narrative and motivation generator results give you a target area (HDP) and a rough idea what could happen (group size, some elements of the encounter as well as a "stage"). Once the smallest HD unit of that encounter entity is defined, you also gain a couple of insights in as far as HD already determines how capable a monster/NPC/etc. is to hit something. We also already have guidelines for what HD can mean generally, as it nicely tracks with character levels.<p></p><p>Something like that will give a GM a base line to work with, as far as AC, Damage, Saves and Morale are concerned. What it needs, then, is comprehensive tables to make that information easily accessible. Done. A GM that knows if it'll be a single, a skirmish or a mob encounter and what HD a single of those entities will have, will just as fast have the basic default values needed to make it a fight.</p><p>As a cherry on top, that fracture from the TPL tenth calculated in the beginning, that can easily translate into that HD bonus we all know and love from D&D monster entries (+1, +2, and so on).<br /></p><p>If you are GMing on the fly, this "fast lane" approach will help you immensely, but there is more ...<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Introducing Builds & high complexity Encounters</span><br /></p><p>Following the above, you'll see that the numbers a GM is working with at any given moment are moving targets, in flux until needed in a specific situation as all parameters may change quickly during play (DS changes, characters gain allies or explore alone, and so on).</p><p>The easiest way to alter those spontanious numbers quickly, is to provide a GM with what I call "Builds" or "Monster Builds" in be67. It is basically a collection of alterations that add variety in the base numbers (higher or lower AC or Saves and all that) as well as special abilities, combat tactics, treasure and even weaknesses. </p><p>That, then, is just thrown on the numbers a GM has come up with. Instant goblin soup. Or that werewolf you just needed. Or aliens, because why the fuck not. Builds is what GMs prepare for their adventures (think: grindhouse features), but are just as easily provided in the equivalent of monster manuals (and be67 itself will feature its good share of examples as well ...).</p><p>HDP will be a general guide what's possible or recommended here, but that's just to not overpower an encounter by accident and should formulate nothing more than an upper limit. Anything below that threshold should be fair game.<br /></p><p>To get REALLY deep n dirty into the rules, be67 will also provide tools for GMs to create detailed builds themselves. It'll provide a GM the dials needed to have a somewhat balanced build to throw at all suitable TPL. It introduces weaknesses (blind, small, stoned, incestous, animal or plant, stuff that'd impede an encounter somewhat) and gives a coherent list of special abilities and combat tactics for inspiration, as well as guidelines to implement attributes, skills and other character traits for monsters and NPCs.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">And that's it?</span><br /></p><p>That's it. GMs get three grades of resolution to manifest ALL encounters the game provides as well as all the tools needed to DIY all aspects of it. With this, if it isn't written already, I feel confident enough to say that its now conceptualized to a point where it just needs to be written.</p><p>Is this still B/X D&D? I'd say be67 will produce similar results to a degree that it all stays highly compatible while doing something else entirely (like, being weird in the Sixties and introducing lots of GORE!). If you where playing it towards a more balanced version of the game. As far as the D&D paradigm I described above goes, I'd say that if you were to design a game like that from scratch nowadays, you don't (well, I don't) have the luxury of it not making sense. In my opinion.</p><p>The only aspects new rpgs need that MAY gain a distinct advantage against their (overwhelming) competition, would be compatibility and/or coherent designs. Coherent enough, at least, so that an aspiring GM could transcend the rules to a degree that allows for a complete DIY approach. If you can throw it at everything and do everything with it, chances are that people that bought it to at least read it, will get something worthwhile out of it.</p><p>Hence the headache of making this work as good as possible.<br /></p><p>That said, I hope I could also show that the D&D RC is more than that one approach I chose to build my designs on. There is way more, and that's a good thing. In a way, having it being so "patchwork" and incomplete is part of the appeal of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia. It draws you in easily enough (playing early levels works like a charm, with enough material all around to make it even easier), and when you get to a point where you find some inconsistencies, it invites you to look deeper and engage with it even more that way.</p><p>I wonder if that imcompleteness is one of the secrets of its success, actually starting with OD&D, which (as I alluded to in the beginning) was just as incomplete (and inspiring), but for other reasons. Is it, even, the source of that paradigm I was talking about above? Something worth pondering on, I presume, but maybe impossible to replicate in a modern rpg?</p><p>As for be67, I'm happy how it shapes up. If nothing else, it is what my house rules look like as a full game, and it is what I use when I want to play a game like that, so it'll be handy to have around. But it is also a (hopefully) comprehensive deconstruction of early D&D (as you see above), so it may have value as that as well. Compatibility is the third important aspect, I think.</p><p>Structuring monster and NPC generation like seen above, it not only makes all monster manuals out there fair game, it is also quite the fit for the great systemless monster generators that managed to get my attention (my good friend Eric Diaz' great <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/317448/Teratogenicon" target="_blank">Teratogenicon</a> and James Raggi's fabled <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/58916/Random-Esoteric-Creature-Generator-for-Classic-Fantasy-RolePlaying-Games-and-their-Modern-Simulacra" target="_blank">Random Esoteric Creature Generator</a> come to mind ... I'm sure that's just the tip of the iceberg), if more inspiration or just more meat on them bones is needed.</p><p>Anyway, this ended up being a long one again. I appreciate everyone reading this one to the end. Thank you for tagging along as I tried to sort this out for me, and I hope you took something away from joining me in this deep, deep dive into the machinations of the D&D RC! Maybe it'll also help gaining a bit of interest for be67. Either way, know you are appreciated.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfyKDhEdrsnrP_WCPj5m8KsbXS17fSW4vVwMBbZTjOGbLwIdeUU0CC0q41a0fA7gXhK-yqjWrkg-ElGghwIv9lXnlwJUxAJzdmXDVvqmG1pgWzbLEzw0tpeacC7ZhZldlWVsZIGOazWY4G2SlOimEkRm7ItsOtmG_U1FS3np7KZJ_kbHbl2gRsLxol/s1703/CoverNeu_05B_FINAL_Black.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="1200" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfyKDhEdrsnrP_WCPj5m8KsbXS17fSW4vVwMBbZTjOGbLwIdeUU0CC0q41a0fA7gXhK-yqjWrkg-ElGghwIv9lXnlwJUxAJzdmXDVvqmG1pgWzbLEzw0tpeacC7ZhZldlWVsZIGOazWY4G2SlOimEkRm7ItsOtmG_U1FS3np7KZJ_kbHbl2gRsLxol/w371-h528/CoverNeu_05B_FINAL_Black.png" width="371" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Latest version of the cover ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-62155821464156042382023-01-25T16:21:00.005+01:002023-01-28T09:28:26.779+01:00Revisions Part 1: The D&D RC was never complete or finished<p><i>WotC tries to be a moving target in a bullet storm right now. Whoever thought it was a great idea to ACT as if a document that needs recourse to legal advice can be open to public review just by calling it a "playtest" to associate it with some sort of development process in gaming, must think gamers are GULLIBLE enough to actually think they are involved that way and not just shut up. And if you did their survey and believe it'll have any value to WotC, then I have a bridge to sell you might be interested in. In other words: revision your work away from that bullshit. I'll do just that! </i></p><p><i>Edit 28JAN23: I stand corrected, and I'm proud of all the fans standing up protecting D&D. Good show! The dragon is sleeping again ... I'll just say that we have no way of knowing if they actually looked at the surveys. It's actually still a bit ridiculous to assume they did, as what they are saying now is EXACTLY mirroring the original first response: the OGL 1.0a cannot go without lots of hurt for WotC. That has been clear from day 1. To claim now it's the survey from last week, well, it's disingenuous. Either way, it is the result that counts! Big Corp still sucks :) <br /></i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I never used the OGL<br /></span></p><p>I always found it suspect that something that isn't protected by law (like rules) needed a license to begin with. A lot of this is lawyer speak (think: smoke and mirrors) to widen the grey area for the corporation to act in, and that was pretty obvious from the beginning. If you make it your own, it is, by the same logic, your own and someone else may rewrite it and use it just the same. Them's the rules ...</p><p>Now, the main problem with Big Corp thinking in this very special situation is: they want to deviate from what they claim "stewardship" for (a term that only came up just now, and it is ludicrous to believe something like that might be compatible with a hyper-capitalist, neo liberal locust-think), well, they want to deviate just enough to act as if they are selling something new while keeping the old barred from any further use. The illusion of infinite growth colliding with the open source mindset ingrained deep into the original game and its first couple of iterations.</p><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyNcW0_znrlICmYHzRgzeiCj_ZFVuZMfC72RI8FU7lh0srFZs8hku5yDgzzF34uCUxHaKM3KFsHt14F4yHv7phXLY2ouBhOmRZ1y0HgN3Oubqnwg-hKLr3cfV-tE6nFhmqnW91zB4_xgTd-LAAVgefxC8-8ZNX5toqx7K3MqCIo-J2xBz2ya6fDBH3/s500/Immovable_Force_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="291" data-original-width="500" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyNcW0_znrlICmYHzRgzeiCj_ZFVuZMfC72RI8FU7lh0srFZs8hku5yDgzzF34uCUxHaKM3KFsHt14F4yHv7phXLY2ouBhOmRZ1y0HgN3Oubqnwg-hKLr3cfV-tE6nFhmqnW91zB4_xgTd-LAAVgefxC8-8ZNX5toqx7K3MqCIo-J2xBz2ya6fDBH3/w404-h235/Immovable_Force_01.gif" width="404" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WotC be like ... [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmiro.medium.com%2Fmax%2F1000%2F0*LxA1B1HMJESiGbrF.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=b37ebde17e75389b2a2d72d8298f35e530c9476a1e9225b45efbe90fc4c5c271&ipo=images" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>We have seen over the years how they tried to mutilate the original game to get some resemblance of the D&D theme park they are trying to have you pay for ... forever and ever. This latest stunt is a reminder not only of the incompetent greed involved in this whole affair, but also of what your worth as a customer is with these guys. Shut up, do as your told and pay for it, too, while you are at it. It is not about "stewardship", it is about interacting commodities (and yes, we are also commodities in this regard ... for them, anyway).<br /><p></p><p>So I avoided the waters those sharks frequented, and that included avoiding their OGL. What I did, however, was licensing <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210754/Monkey-Business-Digital-Edition?manufacturers_id=11431" target="_blank">Monkey Business</a> with Labyrinth Lord, and they are licensed via OGL1.0a (as far as I know). So that's still protected under some legacy rulings. Or whatever ... Still, MB needs a revision anyways, and with be67 as far done as it is now, that revision will be a conversion to my own game.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">About the RC being unfinished ...</span></p><p>We always said that the D&D Rules Cyclopedia is the most complete D&D book out there. That is still true, it is just a very low standard to have, because that book was only as complete as they could make it. It's open for debate if an "official" revision of what was offered back in the 90s would even be possible, so it is what it is, and it will most likely stay that way.</p><p>When I started compiling be67, the first thing I thought I would do was setting it up as a module to alter Labyrinth Lord, which is, of course, a CLONE of the Basic Expert rules and therefor in the same family of rules as the D&D RC. It didn't take long to realize that making be67 its own game was not only just a couple of steps more to take, but it might become necessary as well, because it was so very much its own thing (hence, a MUTANT rather than a CLONE).</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgevECh3eWJZBFgu4WQeBNajMARYcj52JbRbz1ssdZa7ctWfpCrLcajxgwOr-M7Z21FF8GdNEq58xzzXTfLUMFGR6gsOxBKNSqN-haESh4xU0oub7SzU19krgN6O8vrAJzM7ShmbN87HN2MYyDFKKxxgLf3ercd1NDfyrYVrLEIzPqKtNwfMC7CIXWL/s430/aminal_mutant_06.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="430" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgevECh3eWJZBFgu4WQeBNajMARYcj52JbRbz1ssdZa7ctWfpCrLcajxgwOr-M7Z21FF8GdNEq58xzzXTfLUMFGR6gsOxBKNSqN-haESh4xU0oub7SzU19krgN6O8vrAJzM7ShmbN87HN2MYyDFKKxxgLf3ercd1NDfyrYVrLEIzPqKtNwfMC7CIXWL/w389-h326/aminal_mutant_06.jpg" width="389" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unconditional love? [<a href="https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/276/2499/1600/aminal_mutant_justelite06.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>So I went for writing a complete game, which made it necessary to take a very hard look at the source material, if only to see what a "complete" version might entail. The first insight gained from that was a reminder of the damn scope of the RC. It is huge. Decades worth of playing it just once in its entirety.<p></p><p>The second insight was how much of a patchwork job it actually is: Weapon Mastery and Skill System are incomplete, lack proper editing and are definitely at best minimaly tested additions. It is full of little oddities that show what a hard job it must have been to compile all of that into one book. In the 90s, no less. Bits and pieces don't fit or are incomplete. Encounter matrix doesn't completely match the monster entries and while there is a lot of advice how to do a lot of what the book offers yourself, it left some huge parts unexplained (how to prepare proper dungeons, for instance).</p><p>What's more: once you take a REALLY close look, you'll find that it ALL connects just very loosely, as far as the numbers are concerned. Some of it is just copy/pasted and then expanded on without revision (or just checking if the math is right). How the original design connected is a black box, most of the time. The whole "race as class" discussion is a great indicator for that. Looking at the design it becomes obvious that there is a underlying logic to the classes offered in the book, with some of them offering some ideas where to go with that (druid and monk come to mind).</p><p>If you understand how that works, you can build every class you'd like, race is just a feature of that process. One more aspect to add. There is a chance for this to be so open, it'd allow complete customization of all aspects of the rules. It just was never done.<br /></p><p>And fair enough, you don't have to look under the hood to play the game. But you have to when you are writing your own. Turns out, reconstructing that "black box" that is the original design will have you end up with something else entirely. And the deeper into the design the changes are, the bigger are the implications for how the game manifests on the surface. Especially if you gear it towards another setting, as be67 tries to do (Weird Sixties Grindhouse ftw, people!).</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdI_7Q776_9YFgAlexHbfW8Mcf4NcK4deAWyhr40acPXb2VrG8HNvxnZdXCQDwJk2jDT7oql3ihoL3m_y0PHOrqeVU3RiQVqnE81Csiw3qD904hZkkmkJTeyT5rhAxLxRZwouok_hHitBVML5IdRrkUNd6qcAkiIOpYOLTU5J8y8aATDJ5A_Bsn3t/s1453/be67_going_wild.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1453" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdI_7Q776_9YFgAlexHbfW8Mcf4NcK4deAWyhr40acPXb2VrG8HNvxnZdXCQDwJk2jDT7oql3ihoL3m_y0PHOrqeVU3RiQVqnE81Csiw3qD904hZkkmkJTeyT5rhAxLxRZwouok_hHitBVML5IdRrkUNd6qcAkiIOpYOLTU5J8y8aATDJ5A_Bsn3t/s320/be67_going_wild.gif" width="226" /></a></div>If I try to explain how monsters relate to challenge rating so a GM can potentially diy the shit out of it, I have to write that myself. If I want the GM to be able to build their own classes, I'll have to come up with something myself, because it doesn't exist in the original book. If I want to connect the numbers the game produces with how to structure adventures, or campaigns even, I have to do that from scratch, as the original book doesn't offer that ... And so on and so forth.<p></p><p>In that sense, the D&D RC is a very unfinished and incomplete book. Luckily so, because if they aren't able to connect all those dots, and a designer is to find their own solutions, there's no way they can claim it to be theirs, just for the tranparence of it all.</p><p>As a matter of fact, I'm not sure they are even able to entangle what has been the originl design and what has evolved because of fan or hobbyist initiative. The D&D RC, following that logic, was a very specific interpretation of one specific strain of the D&D family of games, already incorporating not original design, but concepts, insights and ideas established <i>elsewhere</i> (not only from the fan base, but also through many, many other successful rpgs out there).</p><p>An incomplete patch work that cannot be true to the original design due to being exposed to external and uncontrollable influences and bases its design on some unknown and obscure metric, barely makes a good argument for being protected by any means. In my opinion.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">DIY, all the way ...</span></p><p>As things stand right now, it doesn't seem safe to associate with the D&D brand even superficially. Therefore, all publications I can manage to put out here in the next 5 months will deny all connection to the source other than it being inspiration. I'll be open about how it all connects, so it will be my very own take on some of the same principles established so many years ago. A retroclone mutant, if you will.</p><p>There is freedom in going it all the way all alone (and I might not be alone, actually). We'll see if I can claim be67 to be part of the OSR family or not. It's all still easily enough hacked and connected, but that's just something tainted now. What you guys do at your table is yours to decide, naturally, I just can't believe that it'll be open discourse from now on. At least it's not safe to assume so right now.</p><p>We'll see.</p><p>Right now, WotC tries to play it for time while funneling critique into non-existance, but the damage is done and gears started moving all over the place. Interesting times.</p><p>In closing I want to share a double page from be67 that took me a long time to complete, for the reasons I stated above. It might need more context, but I think the basic premise is easily enough grasped: it is a dynamic random encounter table that should help propelling the narrative in a way forward that supports the Grindhouse Feature the GM has prepared. Here we go:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirp9fqAfvQv_QcPhxITDFRu3GsWIuMY2M5o6ilUkQK3yXb6YhxNKo-8HTD-8zErgHUC0wJDNEApTDoXwzdRhVrQP4Xr9FoKWdFsrYaozhLhtEqJrq3EPk1wK42Z6nSjryWsTb9tTdYwg5ZAsAVXKVQHs4949JckL1A0Y-kLmxL-OceXzEC4xWIb8E_/s2408/NEG_blank_01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="2408" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirp9fqAfvQv_QcPhxITDFRu3GsWIuMY2M5o6ilUkQK3yXb6YhxNKo-8HTD-8zErgHUC0wJDNEApTDoXwzdRhVrQP4Xr9FoKWdFsrYaozhLhtEqJrq3EPk1wK42Z6nSjryWsTb9tTdYwg5ZAsAVXKVQHs4949JckL1A0Y-kLmxL-OceXzEC4xWIb8E_/w582-h411/NEG_blank_01.png" width="582" /></a></div><p>Isn't she a beauty? Anyway. What I'm trying to say and show here is that be67 will not only be its own thing, it'll also be "complete" in a sense that there'll be no part of the rules that's not so throroughly and openly connected, that you'd have to guess why it is the way it is in its context. The above in part of a little machine that'll allow a GM to always keep the game within the parameters it establishes. with very little bookkeeping, I might add.</p><p>And that's that. If you've published something that may be construed to be close to what the Wizards do at that Coast, my advice would be to revise the hell out of it and build as much distance to those greedy fuckers as possible. I'll definitely do that.</p><p>And if you are in it for what I'm trying to do here, I hope you'll enjoy be67 as its own thing, just as much as you'd have while I could have associated it with the origins of the hobby. The hint needs to be enough.</p><p>Take care, friends and neighbors. Thanks for reading!<br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-66905217861250205962023-01-13T19:15:00.004+01:002023-01-13T19:15:56.483+01:00Lots of Ducks, no Row (and a Gallery of Dreams) ... not a rant<p><i> Third Take: It'll be all right. The Wizards will get a bloody nose, hopefully painful enough that they see a need to get rid of some of their upper management ... That said, fuck them. Seems like it'll be a chance to free the core of our hobby a bit more and people actually seemed to come together, which is great. It'll also open the eyes of some new to the hobby, and they will look for alternatives. All the better. Feels like a net positive, so far. I'll leave the original second take up, altering it at places a bit. The short of it is, we here at Disoriented Ranger Publishing will get at least three brand new rpgs out there in the next couple of months. We'll be trucking on.<br /></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf_p0UnKBOKmpp2YcpTa5CfgTQ9j3OJLw2xX02IP0prh3E-fVn9bD21ZSeIH70-694H6EkEvGBYEsMe6Up3cryzlZMzMZDF9ro11eWP73yXvq8_SrDKQj3gOTmb_-VtJBXE2nLd2ShnG9rfHUjhx2lT-lKZ8fnWwCejPZExpzPPBYiEDSFF8LYc30Z/s498/Dandy_Happy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="498" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf_p0UnKBOKmpp2YcpTa5CfgTQ9j3OJLw2xX02IP0prh3E-fVn9bD21ZSeIH70-694H6EkEvGBYEsMe6Up3cryzlZMzMZDF9ro11eWP73yXvq8_SrDKQj3gOTmb_-VtJBXE2nLd2ShnG9rfHUjhx2lT-lKZ8fnWwCejPZExpzPPBYiEDSFF8LYc30Z/w442-h247/Dandy_Happy.gif" width="442" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://media.tenor.co/images/f42074f2b10aa13d7f43cd8f78988349/raw" target="_blank">Source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p><i>Second Take: Happy New Year, friends and neighbors! Imagine the vilest rant written on the current "OGL" kerfuffle. All snappy and on point, making no prisoners, cutting prose ... all of that, cursing those damn wizards for generations. A rant so harsh, google crawlers would stop for a Milli-second to consider if corporate greed has finally gone too far. Imagine all that, imagine me scratching it now, sucking it all up with all its weapon-grade toxicity and spitting it out again to ... write this instead.</i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">What a start, right?</span></p><p>So Hasbro tried to change the OGL to a shakedown scheme on a Friday the 13th ... The nerve on those fuckers is unbelievable. Gotta say, I was riled up for a second there. Then again, by now it is pretty clear that Big Corp likes to act all sociopath, the clear distinction to psychopath being that Big Corporations are a clear product of society. We let it happen. We created those monsters. Now we have to fight them. Same old ...</p><p>Look, if you know the blog, you know my stance on this. Original D&D is as close to being "cultural heritage" as we can get in western civilization, considering its societal impact. It was never a good match to corporate greed. They can just fuck off. And they will, eventually, when they fucked what is now a "brand" instead of a "common good" into the form they envision: a theme park with a money printing subscription scheme where you own nothing of the content or the rules and be happy about it.</p><p>Sounds familiar? It should. It's what they ALL try to make happen, for years now. Microsoft is doing it, Adobe is doing it, Big Pharma is doing it, Disney is doing it ... all the same, all over the place. Stream your movies, you don't have to own them. Read e-books, who needs physical copies?! And your games are digital already, you don't even need to install them anymore ...<br /></p><p>It just costs you all the time. And they want to know EXACTLY what you are consuming. Because you could be a bad [consuming entity] and CHEAT those good hearted corporations of their money! So, no privacy. For sure. You have nothing to hide, right? So what's the problem?</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRlu3EnQ9d1Zb40jVCoc-r48G0ISs3DQ-jpl954VjanR_KpWbqrF9PYfqtY3nVdOkaWYBNIVWdySqGvzlqAZKqDjU9p-DL7l5BkoauP2C4ppMj43YTlcggKSD3YsQ6WqbQZ0jE-YFWY9oKNBWqz-AEEosLbyIK8fq-bOGR3RHRIN0Mugg2E_PlitV/s500/Let_it_happen.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="500" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilRlu3EnQ9d1Zb40jVCoc-r48G0ISs3DQ-jpl954VjanR_KpWbqrF9PYfqtY3nVdOkaWYBNIVWdySqGvzlqAZKqDjU9p-DL7l5BkoauP2C4ppMj43YTlcggKSD3YsQ6WqbQZ0jE-YFWY9oKNBWqz-AEEosLbyIK8fq-bOGR3RHRIN0Mugg2E_PlitV/w389-h283/Let_it_happen.gif" width="389" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fpyycy1c.gif&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=8a29bc53cc89019df1ea30e4f8527476063a7b6fe9a1348e5ed89e3c40f36c19&ipo=images" target="_blank">Source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table> </p><p>You know what? They also want to tell you what's best. They've done the work, for sure, so there's no reason for you to think on your own ... And on, and on, as if no one had ever thought about this in the last couple of decades. As if all those problems are new. They aren't, and the answers to what overreach and exploitation mean and where the limits SHOULD BE have been clear for some time now.</p><p>That said, Big Money does as Big Money does, people do as people do. Now we'll have a little drama, it'll happen something akin to a <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1423-an-update-on-the-open-game-license-ogl" target="_blank">compromise</a> and the next push is around the next corner. People don't learn, or they have learned already.<br /></p><p>But where does it put you and me?</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So many ducks ...</span></p><p>I have, over the years, written and published some things here and there. A great deal of all of that unpublished stuff is done to one degree or another. So instead of lamenting corporate greed, I should tell you a bit about what I've been working on. Maybe you see something you like or didn't know about (or maybe feel inclined now to check out?).<br /></p><p>All of you should be aware of <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210754/Monkey-Business-Digital-Edition?src=hottest_filtered" target="_blank">Monkey Business</a>, the Labyrinth Lord adventure module I published years ago ... Overall positive reviews, lots of material to look at and use. No OGL, but agrees to the Labyrinth Lord license, which is connected. So I might have to put it down if I'm told to when I'm told to. Needs a rework anyways ... Until then, for sure a pdf worth purchasing!</p><p>The Pitch: <i>The heroes in this huge procedural sandbox are confronted with sentient apes selling a powerful drug in the jungle. Five factions, random ruins and treasure and cannibals. Includes a beautifully hand-drawn dungeon map and enough material to run a massive and weird jungle campaign!</i><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWavttM4rKAuOqzlXJZ2fwFARUiBXyu_w4WqQBMAxp53gEO9RRa8nqGymWZaAhAhQpNCuZSCSFU_1xJSWgFf9mTyLbKVZVTyJMmfMjABf_TN1dIIp8FV0Wv5dz7TgJB7ReGZQno49f-aw_1geMJDENIeoq-cAUEqXj8uZ1MvvAPeX32qBKGvCtts35/s851/DisorientedRanger-1MonkeyBusiness.pdf.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWavttM4rKAuOqzlXJZ2fwFARUiBXyu_w4WqQBMAxp53gEO9RRa8nqGymWZaAhAhQpNCuZSCSFU_1xJSWgFf9mTyLbKVZVTyJMmfMjABf_TN1dIIp8FV0Wv5dz7TgJB7ReGZQno49f-aw_1geMJDENIeoq-cAUEqXj8uZ1MvvAPeX32qBKGvCtts35/s320/DisorientedRanger-1MonkeyBusiness.pdf.png" width="226" /></a></div><p>You all should have heard about <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353636/O23--RolePlaying-in-a-Dystopian-Future?src=hottest_filtered" target="_blank">ORWELL</a> by now (a dystopian rpg with a satirical bend that tackles EXACTLY the contemporary bullshit we are getting the Hasbro treatment of right now ... just saying). I'm mighty proud of that game. You should buy it, play it, and tell your friends. Be the first to do so! Because so far, very few cared :)</p><p>The Pitch: <i>The year is 2081, the United States of Europe (USE, for short) are ruled by one, corporate owned party called The Family. The Family measures of control include industrially produced children (already indoctrinated), declaring puberty as illegal and drone supported mind-reading cyborgs called "Bias Judges". It's basically "CyberPunk goes Peter Pan" with an anime twist or two ... Reads like a dystopian nightmare, plays like a grown up version of Paranoia, with just as much laughs.</i><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFiSXEpiN7lZJBQkW36V2I3LzBKhtZfYoDgaT0EpXjBhsrtN7Tyba2h9DLu5bZge9oL69T5lEzAuiAc-D9lRPOh5NaC56nG3s-SgPaZkta7jHUdvPEjkjjB7Jsr-EOmRehFkj8CokvVd9R-xrT-wqf4dhQtBcgu4EoMqnaEMnE8DXQ2w01AeROTjeI/s2048/ORWELL_Plakat_A2_qf_230220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1454" data-original-width="2048" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFiSXEpiN7lZJBQkW36V2I3LzBKhtZfYoDgaT0EpXjBhsrtN7Tyba2h9DLu5bZge9oL69T5lEzAuiAc-D9lRPOh5NaC56nG3s-SgPaZkta7jHUdvPEjkjjB7Jsr-EOmRehFkj8CokvVd9R-xrT-wqf4dhQtBcgu4EoMqnaEMnE8DXQ2w01AeROTjeI/s320/ORWELL_Plakat_A2_qf_230220.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>I furthermore started publishing a collection of my favorite posts here, slightly edited, sorted by topics and with a nice layout. <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/420815/The-Disoriented-Ranger-talks-Musings-about-DMing?src=hottest_filtered" target="_blank">Third part</a> has just hit digital shelves at drivethrurpg.</p><p>The Pitch: <i>It is a small wonder that blogger still exists as an option. It is weakened and watered down, but still around. That those things can change within weeks is what the whole OGL affair proves easily right now. Hence the pdfs, hopefully with a PoD version soon, too. So this saves and conserves my efforts in the last 10 years.</i><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYSNeqGLTXw6M12RMCapSUek8FS-39W7MmA9vlWkXFmwQr9IeTY1ufmQJh6alp8I3gWgr6RnzFCHkRszRhFNLT02-N4yykuYcA5m1rYuXDDUauayqhRzDVVno_n_LHo7qB5765EM6jORKoXVf7MNMOcqHL2LNrkvuiGYbJ9E7O6gEa6y8LmG2v_vL/s1703/Cover_Test_ANTH03B_FinalOBS.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYSNeqGLTXw6M12RMCapSUek8FS-39W7MmA9vlWkXFmwQr9IeTY1ufmQJh6alp8I3gWgr6RnzFCHkRszRhFNLT02-N4yykuYcA5m1rYuXDDUauayqhRzDVVno_n_LHo7qB5765EM6jORKoXVf7MNMOcqHL2LNrkvuiGYbJ9E7O6gEa6y8LmG2v_vL/s320/Cover_Test_ANTH03B_FinalOBS.png" width="225" /></a></div><p>three more to go in this regard, and good one, too! <br /></p><p>I aim to publish at least 3 more games this year. One of them, be67, was written with OSR retroclone compatibility in mind. As a matter of fact, it was thought as a gimmick to be able to decosntruct the whole game towards BX. Can't do that anymore, so it will be rewritten and it'll be its own thing. Sucks, but can't be helped. in the end, however, I will have my own little OSR Mutant, with lots of possibilities to build on. For instance, Monkey Business 2.0 would be entirely be67, then!<br /></p><p>The Pitch:<i> be67 is a rpg set in the Weird Sixties and plays like a grindhouse feature. It's gonzo, it's brutal, it's funny ... and it features seven fine classes for the genre that all can go up to level 30, all with providing the tools for epic campaign arcs and fantastic adventures! All my future adventures will be based on this system.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHc8Y8fvrTy9vMf5LOSymaGjxHTBimoJa4oG1ZJnotK9ywHqIWrQ_bWYII5uPOo2TNMtEvGs1sf_8drrt4nGdyOyL1hCNYANLsaixtdO4xjcSPMtLKhqT7gqb2iLmLL6hKDAiWF65Kg8Jm--a6YDX3o6x-ZydLFNNp-Hl2mJKBukXhuJ0cCggvyE6/s1453/be67_going_wild.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1453" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEHc8Y8fvrTy9vMf5LOSymaGjxHTBimoJa4oG1ZJnotK9ywHqIWrQ_bWYII5uPOo2TNMtEvGs1sf_8drrt4nGdyOyL1hCNYANLsaixtdO4xjcSPMtLKhqT7gqb2iLmLL6hKDAiWF65Kg8Jm--a6YDX3o6x-ZydLFNNp-Hl2mJKBukXhuJ0cCggvyE6/s320/be67_going_wild.gif" width="226" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0JLZD-h3kvNsfxk8azgBJe0YjO_nqofw-dI0ykJCgKUY0ZvxU461-hv9VlHk4RTithX6ljEaxBenpxPqdFBs9AbczWTeY8tJhHTkCKz3ZVCO0HV1mkdo0fBcFC4XmDsTOwtcT2XpDJ_hISpzc4sF9PXY-G0yq6eTTatzbXvrn_78cQ3JpJDxVy-p/s2408/Chapter_layout_be67_%20ALT_01_TEST.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="2408" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0JLZD-h3kvNsfxk8azgBJe0YjO_nqofw-dI0ykJCgKUY0ZvxU461-hv9VlHk4RTithX6ljEaxBenpxPqdFBs9AbczWTeY8tJhHTkCKz3ZVCO0HV1mkdo0fBcFC4XmDsTOwtcT2XpDJ_hISpzc4sF9PXY-G0yq6eTTatzbXvrn_78cQ3JpJDxVy-p/s320/Chapter_layout_be67_%20ALT_01_TEST.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xR7XX-JzFpkQrWcEFfRJ4G-efWccIqDM-VpRexRsvBMsLbuNA4FsPRvsYAlK-ucleYKM7AiVhd1WaMwfYNHqbvGjZaDAUwK66MZFF3WnFR8lDnEDQbOfY38xCcw71TgDMgu2KFqRBmIwtFwHeNVKKgbindKunZUz6DZjy90Uq5tThwQB9igQv62a/s2408/Chapter_layout_be67_%20ALT_02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="2408" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xR7XX-JzFpkQrWcEFfRJ4G-efWccIqDM-VpRexRsvBMsLbuNA4FsPRvsYAlK-ucleYKM7AiVhd1WaMwfYNHqbvGjZaDAUwK66MZFF3WnFR8lDnEDQbOfY38xCcw71TgDMgu2KFqRBmIwtFwHeNVKKgbindKunZUz6DZjy90Uq5tThwQB9igQv62a/s320/Chapter_layout_be67_%20ALT_02.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>The next one I'm working on is the editing and publishing the first DRP game that's not written by me, but by my good friend Mark van Vlack! The name is AMAZING ADVENTURES / INCREDULOUS EXPLOITS and it was conceived as result of the fun challenge (Mark put on himself) to write a fantasy rpg where EVERYTHING is random. Characters, Adventures, Monsters ... all of it, all analogue. And it worked like a charm. A couple of year later he made an updated version of the rules for games IN SPACE and just last year he finished drafting an omnibus of all of it: the RANDOMNOMICON. I love all of it, and asked him, if we could join forces and publish it via DRP. He agreed, I'm right now in the process of collecting artwork and editing that 500 pages beast and I promised him that he'll have something to show for Christmas 2023!</p><p>The Pitch: <i>Fantastic for one shots, extremely flexible with its settings (Fantasy, SF, Science Fantasy ... all in between), with a huge array of tools to create everything from monsters to dungeons, villages and space ports (among other things ... this game is HUGE with tables of all kind). Rules for magic, for psychic abilities, for mutations, anything you could imagine, really. Literally decades worth of gaming material and highly customizable.</i><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyxqHTtFMfGkRsxLDxdmxFBeDO4nhOT-vtizpya7uKB0XJ_o44NSEiUjtE1Pfr4rRQ9JKV6TKHnrbncA8qqpMCdKUBTNKzrJasGBjXTqEjhuUMOa5hGjyGwBVJhb6M6j9-u1wiIakoP2nepMkH6wyEyyMnbQK7ZppLHMZW8cs0N0g7Jg3QQuZU8bna/s2408/AAiE_Cover_Test_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2408" data-original-width="1703" height="505" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyxqHTtFMfGkRsxLDxdmxFBeDO4nhOT-vtizpya7uKB0XJ_o44NSEiUjtE1Pfr4rRQ9JKV6TKHnrbncA8qqpMCdKUBTNKzrJasGBjXTqEjhuUMOa5hGjyGwBVJhb6M6j9-u1wiIakoP2nepMkH6wyEyyMnbQK7ZppLHMZW8cs0N0g7Jg3QQuZU8bna/w357-h505/AAiE_Cover_Test_01.png" width="357" /></a></div><p>That third game I was hinting on will be a rules lite attempt. Something with fast rules and some odd design angles I'm exploring right now. I've talked about it before over the years, and the FINAL name of this project will be BRAWLERS. Dark fantasy with a steampunk twist (I call it DungeonPunk) in which a group of dubious characters go on heists for Petty Godlings. Robbing monsters for fun and profit. The game will use dice and cards, missions will be generated procedurally ... </p><p>The Pitch: <i>Live is cheap in the Victorian world of DungeonPunk. Corrupting humanity was easy enough, now the Monsters are in charge. Not that they changed that much, but they take what they want. And so should you, punk. The world lies in ruins and is yours to take. A club is cheap enough, take one and go for the dungeons. Killing is easy enough, you see that every day on the streets of the slums you call your home. Take your friends. Who else is going to cover your back? If the authorities are coming for you, let them feel your anger. If you're lucky, they'll fear you someday in the future. If you live that long. Now go and loot. Gold can buy you a new arm, a magical sword even or a shiny new armor, but eventually it will buy you freedom. And always remember: a Crowscare will stitch you together every time, but a Whisperer will make you </i>better<i>.</i><i> </i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivUHTxKXiuTe1E9XXiWoOY2xE9WKP__cL5l8dSqWstesb77Hu7ZRTpgJVCODzkKX38NTUXkkg4Ac4wzS4tMgDfoTbcTi_XqXzzLM0bKNpgW-zDh81v2fiE3QHIWyZX_7ZS81Ec3wY8FadqGAf-UECW8v2xTeDdEfWbMcvgGSkFc3pxj-ARWLnxMVo0/s2408/Brawlers_Cover_03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2408" data-original-width="1703" height="449" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivUHTxKXiuTe1E9XXiWoOY2xE9WKP__cL5l8dSqWstesb77Hu7ZRTpgJVCODzkKX38NTUXkkg4Ac4wzS4tMgDfoTbcTi_XqXzzLM0bKNpgW-zDh81v2fiE3QHIWyZX_7ZS81Ec3wY8FadqGAf-UECW8v2xTeDdEfWbMcvgGSkFc3pxj-ARWLnxMVo0/w317-h449/Brawlers_Cover_03.png" width="317" /></a></div><p>For the rest, I'll just let pictures talk ...<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7kFF51g5PU5dQqNg-bgdVEY--xNymlAmGIETzzFIiyBbX3NeFUBSmS186nHXjZcCo7fyJrzEAV-bAgYqxTEP0LPLb0ReHEeBFNgsThuEIF5yvjaHOpb_rMhNQNooVjxGvO4PhPeE4n4zui7KaqsC9dSdRgIe0w4Z3yBFUE4Vyw84FtrxliYOzrVbW/s1703/BBI_Cover_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="1200" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7kFF51g5PU5dQqNg-bgdVEY--xNymlAmGIETzzFIiyBbX3NeFUBSmS186nHXjZcCo7fyJrzEAV-bAgYqxTEP0LPLb0ReHEeBFNgsThuEIF5yvjaHOpb_rMhNQNooVjxGvO4PhPeE4n4zui7KaqsC9dSdRgIe0w4Z3yBFUE4Vyw84FtrxliYOzrVbW/w328-h466/BBI_Cover_01.png" width="328" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A SF variant of Brawlers!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTqwu7mv2-_5E61S7Q3OROC8uGucW911Z0JsAOvmZ8ghv6RKTKcE6dNXlytI5jHpKuKC3hhICRqGOuxEmnyqJBkP3MsyIZ1HB8OKrc2faKMIx0TMMi5QfEhRhBa0u-Klk9YEgPFu0ZnYsk7gBLLGAZqF8JZ9Hf7gD5BJQbKiOc25YJ-yQ_BBtD16RZ/s4677/BareKnuckleFighterFrontPage01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4677" data-original-width="3307" height="483" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTqwu7mv2-_5E61S7Q3OROC8uGucW911Z0JsAOvmZ8ghv6RKTKcE6dNXlytI5jHpKuKC3hhICRqGOuxEmnyqJBkP3MsyIZ1HB8OKrc2faKMIx0TMMi5QfEhRhBa0u-Klk9YEgPFu0ZnYsk7gBLLGAZqF8JZ9Hf7gD5BJQbKiOc25YJ-yQ_BBtD16RZ/w341-h483/BareKnuckleFighterFrontPage01.png" width="341" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long overdue ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_FqzFSUqOdTBORO3zgGIvJgPwkUbN0NUyWFYo9dXlKWMhKGN3HeAlEFx89n3eS-2xlVTXJeByVmjQoZ-vbfIvKNPzKYkh-fILy8-Y9CjUV_sQQFf4T12EUoPTuRRjeGA9A-bU05w18L6ivEm2ZE4dtV1arjClU6pJq9nGs_fllTzFtd8VLS9caov/s2408/Tremor_Jaws_Cover_Test_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2408" data-original-width="1703" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_FqzFSUqOdTBORO3zgGIvJgPwkUbN0NUyWFYo9dXlKWMhKGN3HeAlEFx89n3eS-2xlVTXJeByVmjQoZ-vbfIvKNPzKYkh-fILy8-Y9CjUV_sQQFf4T12EUoPTuRRjeGA9A-bU05w18L6ivEm2ZE4dtV1arjClU6pJq9nGs_fllTzFtd8VLS9caov/w291-h412/Tremor_Jaws_Cover_Test_01.png" width="291" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe those compatibility claims end up changing ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Let's leave it at that? There's still lots of work to do, and some things had to be put on hold (Robo-Hitler, for instance, has ways to go in areas out of my control). I'll work it all over the coming months and we will see what happens. </p><p><span style="font-size: large;">We are going to be all right ..</span>.<br /></p><p>I am a small light in that circus. No reach or influence at all. Those Wizards won't bother, I'm sure. However, I depend, to a degree, on a somewhat functioning market around me so that I can at least present my wares to some potential customers. We saw that threatened in the last couple of days. Again, and this time with more gusto than usual. I will not forget this and it must have consequences. </p><p>Anyway, I hope you guys will check out some of my entries and have fun doing so. There is more to come! Turns out, I take 3 to 5 years to finish a game. No scene seems to be that stable. All the time I take to establish myself in one takes away from what I should do, which is writing. So I won't bother taht much anymore. I will keep blogging, but I might have to find ways to monetize all of it (the blog will remain free, but it might get an option to give me some moneyz).</p><p>As I said, it'll be all right. The scene is already adjusting, and Hasbro likes money more than they do their politics. They will have to compromise, people will adapt and prepare, and some day, maybe, D&D will be free. I hope to live to see it.<br /></p><p>And a final word about that game it is all done for: LOST SONGS OF THE NIBELUNGS ... It WILL happen, as soon as I have managed to take all the obstacles I think I need to take to make this the book I want it to be. I'll take that time.<br /></p><p>That's it. That's my piece. Took me long enough. this year might see some more surprises here on the blog. Things are moving in the background :D Stay tuned, stay happy, stay healthy.</p><p>Love</p><p>JD<br /></p><p><br /></p><p> <br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-35401492109153304402022-12-05T16:08:00.005+01:002022-12-05T17:31:40.076+01:00Don't ask me ...<p><i>I know. I haven't blogged in a while. It's been difficult. Among all things, I think I have said all I can say about the game without repeating myself a lot or stretching it. At least in this here medium. What's next is a number of publications where I get to explore all of this in depth and beyond. It's been long due, and it will happen eventually (I'll have some teasers at the end for those interested ...). Doing this for the time I'm doing this, I get asked shockingly often how to approach this hobby of ours. What's good, what's popping, where to start ... I always have a hard time answering this, so here's a post (yay!?).</i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">To be honest, I am truly lost</span></p><p>I make a habit of visiting shops selling role-playing games and paraphernalia when I'm in a city big enough to actually accomodate something like that. Here in Germany it is a bit different than in the US as no one seems to bother and my impression is, those shops are disappearing more and more here.</p><p>A couple of years ago I started to get a strange feeling when I found one of those shops and looked for books to buy: nothing appealed to me at all. Same old, same old, all colorful, all with lots and lots of supplements ... all very much uninspired. The market is stretched so thin that only the blandest of corporate word sauce makes it into the shelves. No exotic little independant games, no old games, no <i>character</i> in the selection, for lack of a better word. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjjusnv3EI5faaqNiTwB35vcyExoGFqFuIip1E_z3p5nQziEmUpNXRl0wIAls259_JrmRVfbE9X7q8cYaMgkd7Su7WBumMqGx3VgRnItONwU6bh7S1nyaFwKVP7RgEtPHx1ISNq6yhi-EJWNJF4A8gpMhRd7EU7BQboVhjZ7DCvde4S917C3JPSTC/s788/darth-vader-hello-kitty.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="494" height="401" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjjusnv3EI5faaqNiTwB35vcyExoGFqFuIip1E_z3p5nQziEmUpNXRl0wIAls259_JrmRVfbE9X7q8cYaMgkd7Su7WBumMqGx3VgRnItONwU6bh7S1nyaFwKVP7RgEtPHx1ISNq6yhi-EJWNJF4A8gpMhRd7EU7BQboVhjZ7DCvde4S917C3JPSTC/w252-h401/darth-vader-hello-kitty.jpg" width="252" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nothing is new anymore ... [<a href="https://kittyhell.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/darth-vader-hello-kitty.jpg" target="_blank">Source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It is all so bland, most of the time I have to go and spend my money elsewhere (usually I end up buying a d20 or something like that).</p><p>To the point: there was nothing to explore, nothing to discover. I had the direct contrast of this when visiting one of those shops in Hamburg. I had had high hopes there. Big shop in a big city ... and it left me underwhelmed. The staff was uninterested close to hostile and while it had lots of stuff to sell, it all was just kind of there. I bought a deck of playing cards I liked and left dissapointed.</p><p>However, just down the road it had a little comic shop, and I thought, while I'm already there, I could take a look. Smaller shop, so full of comics it left no room for natural light to come in. Good selection, too, as far as first impressions go. But what really really got me stoked was two very prominent and STACKED bins full of recommendations collected by the staff there.</p><p>Fringe shit throughout, stuff I've never seen or heard about, as well as some popular favorites. Sometimes with a couple of words why it's good, all of them good ways to engage with the clerk behind the counter and geek out. I left money in that shop. Too much, according to my wife, but it felt justified.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAq4XDVjPra74wC4jQoD5qAvYYHPRbk3AVE-1uY60n7yfB1DQUlE-S1l3_1TpwsZCvrTDoB3aK-5Db-OtHjvtIcjMJE8X4E0KNmTorujyRaSpeG20MUvKiTTmOmrRrMaDqJ3DflSg8r_sbk_lG3s4CqJuoF_5YkqPjtiPV269E248gvwNe5CQxHoI/s703/The_Shaolin_Cowboy.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="474" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAq4XDVjPra74wC4jQoD5qAvYYHPRbk3AVE-1uY60n7yfB1DQUlE-S1l3_1TpwsZCvrTDoB3aK-5Db-OtHjvtIcjMJE8X4E0KNmTorujyRaSpeG20MUvKiTTmOmrRrMaDqJ3DflSg8r_sbk_lG3s4CqJuoF_5YkqPjtiPV269E248gvwNe5CQxHoI/w265-h393/The_Shaolin_Cowboy.jpeg" width="265" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very weird, very funny ... [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.bgRWW7eTxRUHfynamZvi4QHaK_%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=09460c49bcdf22b6b56fb6096a655f5b7997c919dbc6df9a2fb8f6ce182eaf7c&ipo=images" target="_blank">Source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Made me think, too.<p>It is not even that the comics themselves had been the best thing ever (although I did have fun with the lot of them), but among all the things sold in that shop, they'd been enthusiastic enough to share what they liked. I always thought it worthwhile asking the people knee deep in a topic what their preferences are. It's always interesting, if nothing else.</p><p>So you might think: but good Sir, isn't it just common sense to go and ask the people working in those places what's good and interesting? To which I'll say that I'm not only a somewhat peculiar person in those regards (as in: shy), I also know too much on the rpg topic already, so chances are that I will encounter opinions I will feel the urge to challenge (if you've read anything here, you know what I talk about). I am opinionated like that, so I don't engage easily.<br /></p><p>My point is, however, the shop itself should offer a path of sorts, a map, if you will, for the interested customer to find and follow up on. It's what we book sellers in Germany call the "wallpaper": the books you put on display, being your preference, help a customer understanding <i>you</i>, which, in turn, offers opportunities for conversation. They show their hand so you can come and play. It helps getting over the insecurities, over that threshold of the unknown other.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">In too deep</span></p><p>While it sucks to go into a shop knowing too much, it sure as hell gets really ugly when someone interested in the hobby asks you for advice (I know, it stands in direct contradiction to the above, but I already told you I'm peculiar ...). I could talk about the finer points of game design all day (and have put it to the test when talking to like minded people), but when confronted with an enthusiastic lack of knowledge, I'm at a loss fast. Again.</p><p>One could say that I'm so deep in that I don't see the forest because of all the trees, but that's not entirely true (although part of it). What's more problematic, however, is that our hobby relies too heavily on recruiting through self-professed gamemasters without offering the tools for it as well. And without the tools it needs, you'll more often than not end up with a personality cult of sorts.<br /></p><p>Actually, "they" (big corp, naturally) fuel that idea of cult-like, personality driven recruitment through their media representations of the hobby, which are always never accurate, imo. And by design, too. Think about it: their policy is customer driven, they want to sell shit, so they can't tell customers that it needs a certain set of skills to do Gamemastering properly. Everyone needs to buy, so everyone needs to be welcome.</p><p>Which ironically leads to the impression that the circus clown bullshit that goes for role-playing in popular youtube shows is what the game is about. All need to be flamboyant improv actors in fancy costumes, everything needs to be snappy and immediate. Storytelling, yes, but you won't see Critical Role (or whatever) crunch and grind some high level AD&D combat over a couple of sessions ...</p><p>Anyway, I digress. I have made that point elsewhere somewhere already: the popular kids have discovered D&D now, so it's all about showing off and hierarchy and superficial (virtue) signalling. That's not me. As a matter of fact, I really don't care for that aspect of the hobby at all and there is a lingering fear that someone new to the hobby asking me about it just wants a road map to the circus. Because I'm one of those clowns. Right?</p><p>Then again, I do love the hobby and I do have opinions, so it might be ill advised to overcompensate and go all Joseph Campbell and game design approaches and history of the hobby or, in other words, avoid the all-out nerd-speak to proof the stereotype by being it. Ease them into it, <i>then</i> go full nerd.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqsxur80iKzyqcTNzEA-UuTIJ5dNhIYOHXjQyA-QR-xrds7FEz8s5EaHrOuJFHaNOq93GIE2A87tFhc9BpICn_cUmqrG_ipjASm3OaWaSNj53dm8FB04JcgjGXGiyYk2VGUiJGkIizLeZTddkhrF1HmKvtjxbMlZWi6olHH81yQpmSVQRts07Cyo0/s498/revenge-of-the-nerds-nerds.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="498" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqsxur80iKzyqcTNzEA-UuTIJ5dNhIYOHXjQyA-QR-xrds7FEz8s5EaHrOuJFHaNOq93GIE2A87tFhc9BpICn_cUmqrG_ipjASm3OaWaSNj53dm8FB04JcgjGXGiyYk2VGUiJGkIizLeZTddkhrF1HmKvtjxbMlZWi6olHH81yQpmSVQRts07Cyo0/s320/revenge-of-the-nerds-nerds.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://media.tenor.com/c_0cS0-0nZ4AAAAC/revenge-of-the-nerds-nerds.gif" target="_blank">Source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table>But how?<br /><p></p><p>Again, I'm conflicted there, but usually I have to claim authority by telling what I've done so far in the hobby (the little I did is more than most did, relatively speaking) and somewhat where I stand. Or rather, what I think the hobby is about and what it takes. As described above, I'll show my hand. Usually people will realize then, sooner or later, if that means something to them or not. If it's interesting and something to explore further, or not at all what they wanted or expected. <br /></p><p>So, at best those people get an individual take with a lecture and reading recommendations. Not very shiny at all, and most defintiely not the kind of glitter some people like to engage in, but honest to the point where someone REALLY interested might as well end up playing at my table, and with the proper attitude too. If it is that kind of contact, that is. If it's a "friend of a friend" asking, it gets difficult again.</p><span style="font-size: large;">How to approach our hobby (meaningfully)</span><p>Here's the original inspiration for this post. A colleague of my wife asked what she could give her boyfriend as a present that could be considered a nice entry into the hobby, because he has shown interest to get something started. The question was forwarded to me, and here we are. <br /></p><p>The first problem is, I don't know the person and I won't get a read on him as well, so this is totally into the blue. The second problem is, there is no solid recommendation for a role-playing book that checks all the boxes so well that it could be a cold, all-purpose sell for everyone.</p><p>Most indie publishers don't have the funds for proper artwork or any means to have a proper layout, so there will be no appeal as a present, regardless of the quality of the content. Or they are great coffee table fodder, but so fringe that they still won't work as a general entry to the hobby. <br /></p><p>What's more, there are so many serviceable (as in: will get you gaming with friends) role-playing games out there that are free in their digital version that it'd make no sense at all to actually buy one as a present unless it really checks all the boxes (which, again, to my knowledge doesn't exist).<br /></p><p>The popular brands are out as well, since I don't subscribe to their business models and their approaches to game design in general. They might be shiny, but they are the poison apple.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigr6XMvhe_MLQhdKWfovjl81Iu6Dm9G6bTH7j9s3n-gaJWjBaE6wB1-gQ1q4TV9wnnCDucKyBfad71vbQ_BZVPsVv0SAg73bG_IRICTDL8ItnxguORjYGGTw2r5Rh5QFuo1orA3d3k5I-YWi094G1MEIIyaH_ZGw1kVS3889GiHktGlPVR7s7NwR7c/s400/Poison_Apple_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigr6XMvhe_MLQhdKWfovjl81Iu6Dm9G6bTH7j9s3n-gaJWjBaE6wB1-gQ1q4TV9wnnCDucKyBfad71vbQ_BZVPsVv0SAg73bG_IRICTDL8ItnxguORjYGGTw2r5Rh5QFuo1orA3d3k5I-YWi094G1MEIIyaH_ZGw1kVS3889GiHktGlPVR7s7NwR7c/w389-h292/Poison_Apple_01.gif" width="389" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://cdn.pixilart.com/photos/large/94747fb40bb70fe.gif" target="_blank">Source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>What's left? My answer was to have him learn about the origins of the hobby and make up his own opinion. The scholary approach, if you will. So I offered she should gift him either <i>Empire of Imagination</i> or <i>Rise of the Dungeon Master</i>, both readily available in Germany and with decent enough takes on how the hobby started (as an entry, of course). Names and dates and stories. With this, or so my thinking, someone really interested would have all they need to decide how to tackle this hobby.</p><p>Another recommendation was trying their hand at one of the numerous rpg-board game hybrids out there, since they capture the essence of "classic" play well enough without needing the commitment it takes to start and maintain a campaign (<i>Legends of Andor</i> and <i>Mage Knight</i> made the list there). You'll learn the tropes and it makes for a great big box under the tree.</p><p>A third option would be to make something like a Player Starter Kit with some nice dice, maybe a solid folder for character sheets (something made out of wood with a nice dragon up front, maybe?), a personalized leather bag to carry the dice ... stuff like that, stuff that'd be useful in <i>every</i> game.</p><p>All in all it's not a lot to go with, and only relates to playing role-playing games in the narrowest of senses. It doesn't help in establishing what one might like (or even just to get a sense of what it would actually <i>be</i> like to play), but it could help mapping the territory. </p><p>And that's that. While I'm at least somewhat relieved that something came to mind, it really helped more illustrating the shortcomings of getting people interested in this little hobby of ours beyond the original impulse. One could do worse than reading a reasonably well researched biography of Gary Gygax to get an idea what made that early D&D such a success, but it's still a bit of a stretch.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">It's also all so fractured</span></p><p>There's another
thing making it difficult to offer guidance for our hobby: by now it all
seems to break down into smaller and smaller tribes all over the place.
And the loudest ones aren't really good representatives of the hobby in
general. The OSR? Done for. Or it's something else now that milks it
for what it's worth. The "artpunk" discussion? Blech. Those trying too
hard to be the opposite? Yawn. Official D&D? Excludingly diverse,
all posture no substance. The next edge lord driving nother pig through
the digital village? Pestiferous, at best.<br /></p><p>Just the other day I
saw a new book by Lamentations of the Flame Princess out in the wild.
Hadn't heard a word about it. As always with LotFP, it was a solid
presentation. A good looking book. And yet, I did not care to even just
look inside. There is SO MUCH scorched earth and bad policy associated
with the brand that I won't bother anymore.</p><p>There was a time when
I'd recommend those books for all they did well when they did it. Today
I'd hope people new to the hobby don't stumble across all the bullshit
in that corner of the internet before seeing the more positive sides of
the hobby first.<br /></p><p>Add to that even more social media
controversies and flame wars and scandals and cancellations all over the
place, and what are you left with? A couple of quiet and well hidden
forums trucking on (Basic Fantasy comes to mind, as do the guys that
publish the Threshold zine). The rest, generally speaking, seems to be a
very loud and toxic environment not worth pointing towards.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidG2zXHWs306d9hrcWPz5nwQty4UyIB183hitUCYtcAcNhnOGMuYDycahysv7EKtNhnsL9Vm1vUJoyII79gQ_Y88SEu9yASd7eUMnUVodbbpVvmXw9xTg5msdZ-s-SSwrwcjttdC_0fJPlGHaAgP1pVVHhN0dAyQrN6V9mU-AKWGL6arXoKIFUAxK3/s498/leslie-nielsen-nothing-to-see-here.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="498" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidG2zXHWs306d9hrcWPz5nwQty4UyIB183hitUCYtcAcNhnOGMuYDycahysv7EKtNhnsL9Vm1vUJoyII79gQ_Y88SEu9yASd7eUMnUVodbbpVvmXw9xTg5msdZ-s-SSwrwcjttdC_0fJPlGHaAgP1pVVHhN0dAyQrN6V9mU-AKWGL6arXoKIFUAxK3/w400-h228/leslie-nielsen-nothing-to-see-here.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://media.tenor.com/j5YcO9slE7YAAAAC/leslie-nielsen-nothing-to-see-here.gif" target="_blank">Source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So, don't ask me?</span></p><p>Maybe. It's that "get off of my lawn" kind of thinking that just comes from not having many options to begin with. It's also mixed with the feeling that my way of playing is already fringe in the greater hobby, so people might not find what they are looking for if their inspiration to look is derived from aspects of the hobby that follow very different rules and ideas. Doesn't mean I'm not willing. Doesn't mean those worlds don't intersect. But it makes it difficult to be an "embassador" of sorts for the hobby.</p><p>So I hope my recommendations fall on fertile ground and some people have some great gaming ahead. That'd be nice.</p><p>And to close on a more positive note: there is an "old school" shop of sorts in Ulm that I visit whenever I can. Lots and lots of fringe games and old games mixed in with board and card games and books and all kinds of fun stuff. It is all over the place, but in a good way. If you get lost in there, you will find treasures to bring home. At least I do everytime I get to spend some time in there.</p><p>You know, I do get to spend money for gaming material. I still collect, my taste in those things is just very, very fringe nowadays. Maybe I'll share my purchases this year in another post. I feel like giving the blog some more love the next couple of weeks. <br /></p><p>Either way, thank you for reading! How would you guys handle something like this? What would you consider a good rpg book for someone who never had any other exposure to the hobby? Is there such a thing? Should it exist?<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSZ54nq-GH6Ap2UooML1RUtGWOlFGvTwRq7T6Y6tMXHuYy2vJM9wAg0QNtPlj7AHaeT7fKSwDV868weZrjDWB6j31Ml_i89YXjFs98f10BEhZL9zD8c8w4V4GLYFsO2UtTP1oYKmjS8mturMGCswwzDEgrPAc36ipyKFMK-FqbJBa0XKG4o25oGcB/s1940/Lost_01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1824" data-original-width="1940" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSZ54nq-GH6Ap2UooML1RUtGWOlFGvTwRq7T6Y6tMXHuYy2vJM9wAg0QNtPlj7AHaeT7fKSwDV868weZrjDWB6j31Ml_i89YXjFs98f10BEhZL9zD8c8w4V4GLYFsO2UtTP1oYKmjS8mturMGCswwzDEgrPAc36ipyKFMK-FqbJBa0XKG4o25oGcB/w414-h390/Lost_01.jpg" width="414" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://www.natureoutside.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/mban2480_hi.jpg" target="_blank">Source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">-------------<br /></div><div><p>Some teaser art for my upcoming BX retroclone mutant <i>be67</i>. It plays in the weird Sixties. We have a layout and the artwork is coming together as well (copyright is all mine):<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfCsTN_01pUknM9c4eY6zlCXSLwLYh7LLA1WuoKLcEc3OKUjMsvueLoECM2HZP9VFnrfzaSHhH-xmBc7RSZp9J6y9WOja2yan4cFsQee8xQVi3B1YvkQ0rG0efa8pfPPbR9505sIMB5zW1DAZTHkm_fg6VN5XjgXbQmG_0eXgNVKuaUUVjdkLj2yn2/s2408/Chapter_layout_be67_%20ALT_01_TEST.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="2408" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfCsTN_01pUknM9c4eY6zlCXSLwLYh7LLA1WuoKLcEc3OKUjMsvueLoECM2HZP9VFnrfzaSHhH-xmBc7RSZp9J6y9WOja2yan4cFsQee8xQVi3B1YvkQ0rG0efa8pfPPbR9505sIMB5zW1DAZTHkm_fg6VN5XjgXbQmG_0eXgNVKuaUUVjdkLj2yn2/w470-h332/Chapter_layout_be67_%20ALT_01_TEST.png" width="470" /></a></div></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz26iFEcNu6yKO7PKxrQEkY8k62X8McZIJIcR6fv_gQQpYb85Mbhdqwf0DlwVlkgCSXW_JePujRDzPGpTugS9zij-YW9diTpqKOCSe1MFjakDyREexIXX8QBWnjr5mN39RzbHAOsSUnJpJ7q7-1SAily2aiWi7xyl4W74Elt8oWZ68SH-w2gSt2Meu/s2408/Chapter_layout_be67_%20ALT_02.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="2408" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz26iFEcNu6yKO7PKxrQEkY8k62X8McZIJIcR6fv_gQQpYb85Mbhdqwf0DlwVlkgCSXW_JePujRDzPGpTugS9zij-YW9diTpqKOCSe1MFjakDyREexIXX8QBWnjr5mN39RzbHAOsSUnJpJ7q7-1SAily2aiWi7xyl4W74Elt8oWZ68SH-w2gSt2Meu/w486-h343/Chapter_layout_be67_%20ALT_02.png" width="486" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV7ugb54z1pt5E6aJVFmWKAlhnsiuwZvQMTIgTk9xz_THQBfAGWRZxsfZEfrCU_-cIKaXcT_9nGyGeuYzAvtRhEnQigKJuhaAlGFOerI0ZhFzwzpiFxp9j9IzLO7wk9IUCXstlC-Qxfg4iMM5uGRJ597HEn4wUoJ5D11lNDHj1eSj6LTgjwlUdKz1Z/s2048/Jens_D._ghoul_on_a_graveyard_at_night__sixties_manga_style__hig_d94aa40c-683f-4d06-a577-1dcf97dc586e.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV7ugb54z1pt5E6aJVFmWKAlhnsiuwZvQMTIgTk9xz_THQBfAGWRZxsfZEfrCU_-cIKaXcT_9nGyGeuYzAvtRhEnQigKJuhaAlGFOerI0ZhFzwzpiFxp9j9IzLO7wk9IUCXstlC-Qxfg4iMM5uGRJ597HEn4wUoJ5D11lNDHj1eSj6LTgjwlUdKz1Z/s320/Jens_D._ghoul_on_a_graveyard_at_night__sixties_manga_style__hig_d94aa40c-683f-4d06-a577-1dcf97dc586e.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Another project I'm working on for 2023:</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ss4Lv4_rlazXhI6R34OiLOteMkPpVRFLRuQaBC4b_UW5Ly0a0F-JQXNYAAGFcktr1NuvCZF46xBfxD1_2OR4TK1UyQwFSNC8NUOatgPUseSTT0VWz2mhney9RX37mn-rcUzvmDURqoxfY7Pz7NQkZzggNC2uFVGDiGHNVYRGYmoIwW2DoAa1rpvl/s2408/AAiE_Cover_Test_01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2408" data-original-width="1703" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ss4Lv4_rlazXhI6R34OiLOteMkPpVRFLRuQaBC4b_UW5Ly0a0F-JQXNYAAGFcktr1NuvCZF46xBfxD1_2OR4TK1UyQwFSNC8NUOatgPUseSTT0VWz2mhney9RX37mn-rcUzvmDURqoxfY7Pz7NQkZzggNC2uFVGDiGHNVYRGYmoIwW2DoAa1rpvl/w278-h394/AAiE_Cover_Test_01.png" width="278" /></a></div><p>There's more, but that's enough for today, I'd say :)<br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-12908411426642423242022-08-26T10:57:00.000+02:002022-08-26T10:57:34.761+02:00Tell them to show and not tell ... (a look inside the be67 GM chapter)<p><i>One of the most difficults tasks when writing a set of rules is to not necessarily to make those rules understood but more so to write the book in a way that allows the reader to produce as close</i><i><i> as possible</i> to the same experience as you make happen when you play the game you are writing. You need to get them into the same headspace, if you will, to share the same vision you have. One of the first rules in that regard (I think for writing in general, actually) is to assume they know nothing you know.</i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">We need to be told that we should show and not tell ...</span><br /></p><p>Readers might even know more or just "differently", but if they don't go along with what you are proposing (for whatever reason), they won't get it. And the worst case scenario for that would be that they'll have a bad experience when playing your game. So I'm extra meticulous about making myself as clear as possible.</p><p>Part of that exercise is to put the reader in a position to compare their own frame of reference to mine and find the overlap. To be totally fair, the ideal mix for a text like this is in huge part "telling" and in some parts "showing" (examples and all that), but to some degree it needs to be an exchange of references in order to build common ground.<br /></p><p>Therefore, today I'll show you how I tell them what can be seen as inspiration to show the players the Weird Sixties instead of telling them ... This is part of the beginning of the Chapter about GMing be67:<br /></p><p>
</p><p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">SOURCES & INSPIRATIONS</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
first part of this chapter seems a bit excessive at first glance, but
we strongly believe that (1) many of the inspirations collected here
are already known but so popular that it’s easy to lose out of
sight how deeply rooted they are in the Sixties, that (2) it needs at
least all of that to show how versatile popular culture had been
almost 60 years ago </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
(3) </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">that</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
it </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">is
necessary</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">to
visualize that</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">psycho</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">sphere
where </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">grindhouse
publications would borrow their ideas from</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">There’s
furthermore a long upheld tradition in role-playing games to have
something akin to what was called “Appendix: N” in AD&D 1e.
It’s not as much “required reading” as it is a guide towards
what informed the designers to do what they did. Some of the same is
true here, of course, so the following is neither complete nor canon,
but recommendations what could give a Gamemaster in be67 an edge or
two.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">What’s
more, m</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">any
of the titles collected below would find sequels and reboots and
additions for decades to come, some inspired or initiated whole new
genres or cultural shifts. What happened in the Sixties build the
foundations </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">for
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><i>the</i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
main cultural identity of the 20</span></span><sup><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">th</span></span></sup><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
and early 21</span></span><sup><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">st</span></span></sup><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
centuries. That’s a lot.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><span lang="en-US">What
are the Sixties?</span></b></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">What
follows is a somewhat romanticized and decidedly US-centric
description of the Sixties. Other cultures definitely contributed to
our idea of the Sixties </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">in
this context</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
(Japan and the UK, mainly), and we will give some examples of that,
but for length alone we have to cut corners here </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
give some pointers instead</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">In
short, the Sixties could be characterized </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">(for
the purpose of this game)</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
as “psychedelic optimism”. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">It
was happy and colorful </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><i>feminine</i></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
with a good dose of “weird” intruding popular culture </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">in
form of</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
the freedom movement and some strong and distinct subcultures all
across </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">cultural
niches in</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
the US to boot. There was movement and palpable friction between poor
and wealthy as well as traditional and more non-conventional values.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">There
also was Vietnam, but it wasn’t (yet) the war that would traumatize
the US for decades to come. Careful observers would see first signs
of that early on and the soldiers that came back had went through
hell, obviously, but without an audience. And yes, people
demonstrated against the war, but it was an ongoing process with the
hallmarks of disaster only.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">A
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">huge
part of the positive spin </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">(or
feel)</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
the Sixties had was due to the introduction of several psychoactive
drugs to the populace. The first </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">drugs</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
that come to mind in that regard are, of course, marijuana and LSD
(or Acid) popular </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">with
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">artists
and</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
th</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">e
counterculture </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">(as
well as some scientists)</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
However, an impact just as big had </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">the
invention of Valium and derivatives in 1963. Popular- and
counterculture had all been on very mellow drugs, and that, arguably,
took the edge of the Sixties </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">while
making them more fun all around</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
(again, for the purpose of this book … things, naturally, had been
a little bit more complex than that).</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">There
was some technological optimism as well, with lots of innovation </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
people </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">with
enough</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
money to buy it</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Sixties saw an economic surge in the US, mostly due </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">to
government finishing what Kennedy had started. And while that would
fall flat in the 70s, it certainly helped spending in the Sixties. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">In
general we can assume that the average citizen in the 1960s had
access to most of the accommodations we have today, minus computers
and cell phones. Things like ATMs or hand-held calculators had been
invented, but weren’t in heavy circulation at 1967. Maybe something
you’d see an article in the newspapers about. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Computers
did exist, but only to the degree that people in general had been
aware of them </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
it gave authors some strange ideas about the future. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">When
in doubt, accept that a more “primitive” version of the tool in
question might have been available.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Those
are the basic tones of the game. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><span lang="en-US">B</span><span lang="en-US">ut
what did that look like?</span></b></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">TV
in the Sixties definitely had some highly recognizable staples.
Here’s a great sample how weird it could actually get in mainstream
TV:</span></span></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Addams Family</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Avengers</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Batman</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Beverly Hillbillies</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Bewitched</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Get
Smart</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Gilligan’s
Island</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Hogan’s
Heroes</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">I
Dream Of Jeannie</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
M</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">a</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">n
from U.N.C.L.E.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Munsters</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">My
Favorite Martian</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Rawhide</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Star
Trek</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Twilight Zone</span></span></li></ul><div>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">B</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">efore
we go into the grindhouse experience, we also should take a look into
mainstream cinema. It featured some </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">genuine</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
classics. Let’s see what had hit cinemas that decade until 1967
alone:</span></span></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">A
Fistful of Dollars</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">A
Shot in the Dark</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Birds</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Blow-Up</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Bonnie
and Clyde</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Carnival
of Souls</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Cool
Hand Luke</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Dr.
Strangelove</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">For
A Few Dollars More</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Godson</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Good, The Bad & The Ugly</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Great Escape</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">House
of Usher</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Innocents</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">James
Bond (Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You
Only Live Twice & Casino Royale)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Lawrence
of Arabia</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Lolita</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Mary
Poppins</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Pink Panther</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Planet
of the Apes</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Psycho
</span></span>
</li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Time Machine</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Wild Bunch</span></span></li></ul><div>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">T</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">hat’s
only a small selection of </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">popular
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">movies
with comedic, violent, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">horror</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
or surreal elements and only in the first seven years of the Sixties
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">(and
mostly US)</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
Great movies have been done before and after that </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
all over the world</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
For instance, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">2001:
A Space Odyssey, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Night
of the Living Dead and Easy Rider didn’t make the list because they
had been released in 1968 and 1969 (but had been in production in
1967).</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Movies,
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">documentaries</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
TV shows</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
from later decades but playing in the Sixties also offer great
sources of inspiration. Here are some definite highlights </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">(as
far as the game is concerned)</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">:</span></span></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">American
Graffiti (1973)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Austin
Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Austin
Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Catch
Me If You Can (2002)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Doors (1991)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Good
Morning, Vietnam (1987)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Green
Book (2018)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Inherent Vice (2014 for the movie, the book was 2009)<br /></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">JFK
(1991)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Mad
Men (series, 2007-2015)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Moonrise
Kingdom (2012)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Once
Upon a Time in Hollywood </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">(2019)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">P</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">erfect
World (</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">1993</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">T</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">he
Rum Diary (2011)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">T</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">aking
Woodstock (2009)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">When
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Y</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">ou’re
Strange (documentary, 2009)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Woodstock
(documentary, 1970)</span></span></li></ul><div>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">This
is, again, just the tip of the iceberg </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
very mainstream, but for th</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">at</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
reason easily accessible just the same. </span></span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><span lang="en-US">T</span><span lang="en-US">he
</span><span lang="en-US">seedy
</span><span lang="en-US">underbelly
of 60s cinema?</span></b></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
one thing lacking in the Sixties was proper special effects. They did
good with what they had. In some cases, anyway. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">But
most of the time the results will fall under “acquired taste”
today. Every one of the Science Fiction and Horror movies of the
Sixties will make fantastic pitches for </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>be67</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
adventures, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">however,
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
so we encourage looking all of them up for inspiration (or even
viewing, for that matter). </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">That
said, we will name a couple of favorites just to show a glimpse
what’s there to discover and explore:</span></span></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Barbarella:
Queen of the Galaxy</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Billie
the Kid v. Dracula</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Black
Sabbath</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Blood
Feast</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Brides
of Dracula</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Dr.
Who & the Daleks</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Faster,
Pussycat! Kill! Kill!</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Gorgon</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Hillbillies
in a Haunted House</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Jesse
James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
Little Shop of Horrors (1960)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Matango
(a.k.a. Attack of the Mushroom People)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Mothra
vs. Godzilla</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Onibaba</span></span></li></ul><div>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">That’s
just a small selection, already bordering hard into
grindhouse-territory,</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><span lang="en-US">A</span><span lang="en-US">lso
authors and books </span><span lang="en-US">and
music</span><span lang="en-US">,
oh my!</span></b></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Many,
many authors of weird tales still highly popular today had already
successfully published books in the 1960s. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Tolkien’s
Lord of the Rings, for instance, got published as a paperback only
early in the Sixties and </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">then</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
became hugely popular in colleges (the famous “Gandalf for
President” pins started then and there). It </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">resonated
very well with the</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
Zeitgeist </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">of</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
the 60s</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">And
of course the old and fantastic classics had also been around back
then: H. G. Wells, H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, Bram Stoker …</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Mix
in </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Eastern</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
influences feeding </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">new
impulses</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
into the </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">W</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">estern
collective unconscious and some drugs and you end up with the Beatnik
movement and all the blues and rock and folk music opening up to new
psychedelic realms, all of that eventually amalgamating into the
Summer of Love in 1967</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
Woodstock 1969.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">We
can’t possibly map all of this here, but we will name a couple of
our personal favorites to give an impression what we </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">might</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
refer to when GMing </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>be67
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(in
the tradition of the famous Appendix N)</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">:</span></span></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">I</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">saac
Asimov</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">P</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">eter
S. Beagle</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">William
S. Borroughs</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Charles
Bukowski</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Anthony
Burgess</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Raymond
Chandler</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Arthur
C. Clarke</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Philip
K. Dick</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">E.
R. Eddison</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Philip
José Farmer</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Dashiell
Hammett</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Robert
A. Heinlein</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Frank
Herbert</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Ursula
K. Le</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">G</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">uin</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Mervyn
Peake</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Thomas
Pynchon</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Arkady
and Boris Strugatsky</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Kurt
Vonnegut, Jr.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Roger
Zela</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">z</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">ny</span></span></li></ul><div>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">All
of the above contributed a lot to what was imaginable back then,
which naturally also ended up one way or another on grindhouse movie
theater screens (while being watered down immensely </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
somewhat more sleazy</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">)
.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">As
for music: using the soundtracks of all the collected entertainment
above should give a GM more than enough material about what the
Sixties sounded like. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">All
the bands and artists performing at Woodstock are a good start, the
Beatles should be in that mix, some country, some folk, but also
classic music like Mozart </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">or</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
Bach </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
the like</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
(see Apocalypse Now, 2001 or Clockwork Orange for ideas).</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">That
said, even contemporary music can help a Gamemaster getting some
inspiration … More on that in the next part.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><span lang="en-US">Summoning
the Weird Sixties!</span></b></i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">We
have used</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
throughout this book quotes from movies that wouldn’t be considered
original grindhouse features by any sane movie aficionado. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Mostly,
anyways.</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
material we quoted for inspiration is also pretty much mainstream
popular throughout, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">although
many of them wouldn’t exist without exploitation cinema</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
Why is that?</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
The idea behind </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">th</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">is</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
was to give some pointers where one </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">actually
w</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">ould
find inspiration for grindhouse features </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
how common those tropes are now because of it</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">T</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">h</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">is
is</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
how it work</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">s</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">:</span></span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Exploitation
movies </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">take</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
what </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">is</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
popular and use it shamelessly, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">often
towards the sensational and uncouth</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">It’s
where the name came from, as a matter of fact. A</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">spiring
GM of </span></span></i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>be67</b></span></span></span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">should
take this to heart and </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">have
some fun with do</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">i</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ng</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the
same</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></i></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Basically,
<i>every</i> popular story idea, doesn’t matter what medium, can be
made into a grindhouse feature just by mixing it relentlessly with
other ideas and making it somewhat less reputable in the process but
glorious because of it. </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
gold standard that</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">produce</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">s</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">would
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">nowadays</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
be something akin to a</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
Tarantino movie. A </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">daunting
proposition, one might say. As would be to assume that all D&D
games are on par with Tolkien’s work. In both cases, however,
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">players
can have just as much fun as they’d have watching a Tarantino movie or
reading Tolkien. The reason for this is that the rules will already
get you half way there! So far we have provided:</span></span></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Characters</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
you would find in those movies,</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">with
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>backstories</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
that already sound like bad movie plots, and</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">an
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>award
system </b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">that
motivates players to go all-in on the premises of their Characters
(if they like xp), but furthermore</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">with
a </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>combat
system</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
as gory as it gets </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">lots
of other rules like </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Funk
Rerolls</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
and the </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Bubblegum
Barometer</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
to give the game that specific feel!</span></span></li></ul><div>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">This
chapter will add </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">some
more tools and insights to help Gamemasters of </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>be67</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
with their games </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">with
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>The
Rule of Cool</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
some </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>basic
structuring</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
for adventures, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">what
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>High
Level Play</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
will look like</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
how to work </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Skills
as a GM</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Environmental
Effects</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">how
to keep players happy with </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Special
Loot</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
how to </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>convert
other gaming material</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
how to </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>make
Character Classes</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
from scratch and how to handle </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Monsters</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">All
of that and some more general advice</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
should offer a Gamemaster more than enough material to prepare and
run games </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">set
in the Weird Sixties</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
for years. Future publications will add Adventure Modules, new
Classes, different Settings and </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">even</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
more Tools to that.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }</style> -----------------------------------</p><p>And that's the introduction for gamemasters to the game, giving you an impression what this book will read like and what scope it'll offer on it's, roughly, 140 pages A5. We here at Disoriented Ranger Publishing take our funny games serious like that ...</p><p>I'd be happy to hear thoughts on the above, of course. What baffled me most when I researched this was how much of the Sixties is still mulled over to this day, one way or another. So, was this helpful at all? Did it convey a frame to work with?</p><p>Anyway, back to work. I still have high hopes that be67 will see the light of day this year, at least in pdf form. There's other things in the works, and I'm currently a bit scattered. But it'll sort itself out, I'm sure of it. Until then, have some artwork for the book (still in the process of collecting those and experimenting with this on Midjourney ...):</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVkrCxzc2a4PFc7qF5Ta7TjJVjl6JRLScb6HjsOk34BsTUyX2RBbyq7lOa0Uzywd6aYb1gK_K92uictFLfOea2U-YxsVhXrl7ywhSHQl_mDir1Gs55Ebafetv2jmizcnkHyO51GmGU4F4_MnhQb5Ds5fKyX0H_xikaoUcbMlvqSlxAObEtwtEkkXk/s1024/funky_vampirequeen_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="421" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVkrCxzc2a4PFc7qF5Ta7TjJVjl6JRLScb6HjsOk34BsTUyX2RBbyq7lOa0Uzywd6aYb1gK_K92uictFLfOea2U-YxsVhXrl7ywhSHQl_mDir1Gs55Ebafetv2jmizcnkHyO51GmGU4F4_MnhQb5Ds5fKyX0H_xikaoUcbMlvqSlxAObEtwtEkkXk/w421-h421/funky_vampirequeen_01.png" width="421" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Funky Vampire Queen?<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7poNyPkTeuSO93aJxxj5n-BxEiATPuePliaY9sehPPvK23zJBMWB25J47yTHccgR7nvdtFVp_VP6FQQcFQ6Jn7wsEjoKjBuLN-x3RI156aZR1bIxDFg_fJl6DN7Rx1XRRaKfIHcvp9QDrrgamseOeb-oFNN-bR6LDkmHNBgv_DqTjf5oq8AJ6TiAb/s1024/ghosttrain_in_new_york_subway_1967__vintage_color_photo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7poNyPkTeuSO93aJxxj5n-BxEiATPuePliaY9sehPPvK23zJBMWB25J47yTHccgR7nvdtFVp_VP6FQQcFQ6Jn7wsEjoKjBuLN-x3RI156aZR1bIxDFg_fJl6DN7Rx1XRRaKfIHcvp9QDrrgamseOeb-oFNN-bR6LDkmHNBgv_DqTjf5oq8AJ6TiAb/w435-h435/ghosttrain_in_new_york_subway_1967__vintage_color_photo.png" width="435" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ghosttrain, New York, 1967 ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz9afmpz8TSxRNzf81JnQVYT_Q89HG80DAFy-zqWdSY9sr80DSE6t5L-X_welHy8U7ZJlpZWS-CDyD0IJCVTjERBAAqv-IuFnydshfyJ5fUojtukba9LhamO7W_zzWegtwkClm-KI1vC98eXjW0pfIagUwvmU1iXWbB4KqlZUu6O-KIfdHnCsFKheD/s1024/summer_of_love_zombie_apocalypse_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="431" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz9afmpz8TSxRNzf81JnQVYT_Q89HG80DAFy-zqWdSY9sr80DSE6t5L-X_welHy8U7ZJlpZWS-CDyD0IJCVTjERBAAqv-IuFnydshfyJ5fUojtukba9LhamO7W_zzWegtwkClm-KI1vC98eXjW0pfIagUwvmU1iXWbB4KqlZUu6O-KIfdHnCsFKheD/w431-h431/summer_of_love_zombie_apocalypse_01.png" width="431" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Summer of Love ... but it's Zombies!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxw0NCjRPz6YKuaZRPw10Pmlv8k2kRQmI7EGE3sea3e4Ci5kBrCJVVz7CFGAP5frn6ciXQ8I480T99CyAUTqbZYZCZEZ5qQm3nbdkWQQxhQ8WdqYHtlmz9O0JWJ73cg0AzO7SfEqQVege0Gxiff8obJI6n94Luh1B8sQXWcx4aFK4Qpfa28BEDa9va/s1453/be67_going_wild.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1453" data-original-width="1024" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxw0NCjRPz6YKuaZRPw10Pmlv8k2kRQmI7EGE3sea3e4Ci5kBrCJVVz7CFGAP5frn6ciXQ8I480T99CyAUTqbZYZCZEZ5qQm3nbdkWQQxhQ8WdqYHtlmz9O0JWJ73cg0AzO7SfEqQVege0Gxiff8obJI6n94Luh1B8sQXWcx4aFK4Qpfa28BEDa9va/w350-h496/be67_going_wild.gif" width="350" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still undecided about those colors ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-14439260364515001352022-07-03T13:00:00.003+02:002022-07-04T10:36:06.756+02:00That's where my mind's at ... (what's new and what's to come!)<p><i>I've been busy ... and slow about it. Wanted to write and publish more in June, turns out it wasn't to be. It is what it is, but now I have great news to share, so at last you get a little update here on the blog and another minor publication with some announcements about progress on all the balls still in the air here at the Disoriented Ranger.</i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">First: Another Part in the Anthology Series!</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcIVz4oaswgkRkskiOcfikj8LTIHyEs_vrNQGaJWhwb55s0dbUNx5U6nUKz9aNcvcDMyQMUYQkNzjRjVVMaftnvTe_CmXvdh_pV5gGVVCdta6d6RrqI9Hk6esMNTxVRhjZHTUhdWbA-Oe_lb6Nvww9INbnkull2zDfYn4ji3uSUwDn5KzBSLdhVOcF/s1703/Cover_Test_ANTH02.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="1200" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcIVz4oaswgkRkskiOcfikj8LTIHyEs_vrNQGaJWhwb55s0dbUNx5U6nUKz9aNcvcDMyQMUYQkNzjRjVVMaftnvTe_CmXvdh_pV5gGVVCdta6d6RrqI9Hk6esMNTxVRhjZHTUhdWbA-Oe_lb6Nvww9INbnkull2zDfYn4ji3uSUwDn5KzBSLdhVOcF/w265-h377/Cover_Test_ANTH02.png" width="265" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can get that <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/401697/The-Disoriented-Ranger-talks-DD-and-the-OSR" target="_blank">here</a>!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I finally got around to putting Part 2: D&D and the OSR together. It might come to some as a surprise that this anthology will be mostly talking about the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, it's ins and outs, its potential and some house-rules, but that's just what a huge part of the OSR did when I wrote them posts.</p><p>I realized this only after committing to the title of Part 2, and it turned out to be an interesting conundrum: people tend to believe that the OSR is about playing games a special and distinct way, but I found that the OSR had been mainly (at least for some time) about analyzing, interpreting and documenting the origins of the hobby. That's not the sameAs a matter of fact, it means something entirely different in consequence, because when this movement (?) called OSR started, it was about showing that there was still merit to those old games. It was that anti-corporate "Look, this is still fun AND it is free and complete and rich with material!" kind of thinking. It was the old guard still playing the old games and talking about it. It wasn't about idolizing certain prolific figures in the movement for doing something new based on the original designs.</p><p>We can say now with hindsight that this process of idolizing (and monetizing) ended up being a huge shift away from the original premise described above. It lead to a romantic reinterpretation of the origins of the hobby and the personality cult aspects lead to very personal turf wars over opinion, politics and money. Now it is what it is.<br /></p><p>That shift, however, happened somewhat undetected. Or rather, it ran its course, with some, not gonna lie, beautiful results. Eventually, it had to fracture and now "OSR" means something different and I was stuck with the older, maybe even obsolete spirit of the thing.</p><p>Still, the posts collected in this second anthology had been sincere contributions to the OSR instead of being merely looking at games long gone. It's that same spirit that still informy my designs. About that ...</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Where's be67 at?</span></p><p>It's happening. The problems are the usual: other than writing it, the game needs artwork, layout, infographics and editing. And while it's written to, say, 90% and editing is already waiting (Tod Foley is doing the honors here, you should <a href="https://todfoley.com/games/" target="_blank">check the guy out</a>, he does great work!), there are some other daunting construction sites on this project. It will be done, eventually, and most like Fall 2022 ...</p><p>What it does have now is a cover ... sort of. I still can't decide on the color, so:</p><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvzS20ZCOiy-iTho54RyC5LkyBj4JLYfs2JBZqfJzFjtwqlX1LDs3ZIb7_XZMFd7lQfLXzxPe-GxbKM1qY6Z6y3Wdlte9FYe0ah9N6cANMIQoHV6bsdpvPYYM5GgKKbzl21ggQuzb3ImPHTSAUd7IM4kXaVH5NhBQnSEr6LuTynHdS1FcatNeSn-t/s1453/be67_going_wild.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1453" data-original-width="1024" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvzS20ZCOiy-iTho54RyC5LkyBj4JLYfs2JBZqfJzFjtwqlX1LDs3ZIb7_XZMFd7lQfLXzxPe-GxbKM1qY6Z6y3Wdlte9FYe0ah9N6cANMIQoHV6bsdpvPYYM5GgKKbzl21ggQuzb3ImPHTSAUd7IM4kXaVH5NhBQnSEr6LuTynHdS1FcatNeSn-t/w285-h404/be67_going_wild.gif" width="285" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pray tell: which color should it be?<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>Other than that it'll come with 8 classes, a conversion guide to use other classes with D&D roots AND some tools for groups to create their own character classes. It'll also feature a completely novel expansion on the b/x combat system as well as a new way to calculate xp. It's a lot, I guess, but all of it based on the original designs and I take care to make that transparent ...<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">What else is happening?</span></p><p>That's the thing: too much is happening in the world as is, but I keep getting some new ideas every now and then as well. I'll follow up on anything worth sharing in future posts. There might be another game in the works. The pitch is:</p><p></p><blockquote>Humanity has advanced to melt with machines, but had to flee underground fast as aliens terraformed earth into something very different. Thousands of bunkers got lost in the process. The leader AI has degreed to reconnect or salvage those bunkers and gave the contract to Bunker Busters Inc., because corporate ideology survived the great transition, naturally. And they are still up to no good: in order to save a buck, they'll print poor souls that didn't make the jump to a higher consciousness only to end up on some corporate hard drive instead and they send them into those bunkers to do the job. Players are corporate AI monitoring the process, forcing the prints to do their bidding, if necessary. A rules-lite D&D inspired game that plays in the tradition a roguelike ... randomly generated "prints" that'll often die horribly and bunkers full of deadly surprises and surreal metaplots to manifest through exploration. </blockquote>I have some general ideas about that game. It should be fast and random, very light on the combat and big on exploration. The players will be a bit blind as they try to navigate those bunkers through the experience of the so-called prints. And those prints might have different ideas about what they'd like to do. The beauty of it is, that the base character (an AI admin, if you will) can burn through lots of prints and still advance independantly. There will be "losing" conditions like atrophy or infiltration (or being "fired"?), but the "dying" happens mostly to someone else and, I hope, in an entertaining way. It has a cover, too:<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJ4ACGJDZpB8LlIOEEYhbfJhCsk6M5CPO4sZOOG-RbZTAS7wKzqUDXhBo_fsvB_s5U0E9agD3eOq2sBCTjahgWgesCC9QAoEHgRyJVcJ0VJYdDItJcXIWrnAjIvqyEyYRhMHyuqAJ7IGhXYkpgA2DTmlv0avd6CxryhPxytm187JoNqRKCpV-XdqY/s1703/BBI_Cover_01.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="1200" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJ4ACGJDZpB8LlIOEEYhbfJhCsk6M5CPO4sZOOG-RbZTAS7wKzqUDXhBo_fsvB_s5U0E9agD3eOq2sBCTjahgWgesCC9QAoEHgRyJVcJ0VJYdDItJcXIWrnAjIvqyEyYRhMHyuqAJ7IGhXYkpgA2DTmlv0avd6CxryhPxytm187JoNqRKCpV-XdqY/w270-h384/BBI_Cover_01.png" width="270" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You like?<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I'll build on that here on the blog for the rest of the year, I think. Play-testing will also start as soon as the core engine is done.</p><p>Other than that, I will keep publishing the anthology series (Part 3 should be out end of this month, then work starts for the PoD of that) and Robo-Hitler is also still in the works, but turned out to be most difficult in the art department (it'll take time and I have no controll over that whatsoever). Other projects might be more doable in that regard and might therefor be published earlier. Blogging will continue as it does ... sporadically. I hope I'll be able to produce more content here as well. We'll see.</p><p>I'll close with teasing another little side project of mine. <i>Lost Songs of the Nibelungs</i> is not forgotten or laid to rest, it's very much alive, but needs some more work. That said, I've always been a friend of the idea to publish parts of the rules as their own thing and started doing so some years ago. One of those will receive a long overdue revision and expansion in 2022. Behold:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLZd1EAQ4MaHfKHP_MNy40aWII12ElSB_Je-GHP_YAexmNUif4ZdWce2zIiSFwFz52r_Cu460HpZFclobKUZSrv0VhkIP62wgbYx-PxTA3Lk9nd-7Tidet3F_kTe3GRu3xWsk6UeCXHu_xS1GMt1tT6LEuSgmUdS3TBzpVuQUaEELvpd-IIxPRZcy/s4677/BareKnuckleFighterFrontPage01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4677" data-original-width="3307" height="401" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLZd1EAQ4MaHfKHP_MNy40aWII12ElSB_Je-GHP_YAexmNUif4ZdWce2zIiSFwFz52r_Cu460HpZFclobKUZSrv0VhkIP62wgbYx-PxTA3Lk9nd-7Tidet3F_kTe3GRu3xWsk6UeCXHu_xS1GMt1tT6LEuSgmUdS3TBzpVuQUaEELvpd-IIxPRZcy/w283-h401/BareKnuckleFighterFrontPage01.png" width="283" /></a></div><p>And that's that. A lot to do, but a lot of fun to be had as well. </p><p>Oh, and also check out <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/395562/The-Disoriented-Ranger-talks-Gaming-Culture?manufacturers_id=11431" target="_blank">Part 1</a> of the anthology series. Totally forgot about that ...<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-5244107675769139242022-05-31T17:54:00.001+02:002022-05-31T17:54:28.356+02:00Extraordinary Characters in Ordinary Situations VERSUS Ordinary Characters in Extraordinary Situations (right there is your RPG Schism!) Motivation Series Part 2<p><i>This is another piece in the prism that the Motivation Series turns out to be ... Not what I intended to write, but what came to me basically by accident: there seems to be a core divide between games that either make rpg challenges mundane by having powerful characters OR making everything challenging by having mundane characters in dangerous situations. Why is that? How does it work? And why aren't others talking about it? Let's see (and yes, this will eventually be about gaming, of course).</i><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">You want to start reading at the beginning? <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2022/03/how-our-motivations-to-play-rpgs-hints.html" target="_blank">Here's Part 1</a></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">There's also an Intermission about how computer games shaped our expectations, and you can read that <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2022/04/how-computer-games-ruined-leveling-up.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">What makes us laugh, divides us ...</span><br /></p><p>So here is what happened: Pratchett died (bear with me), and no one writes as funny as he did. At least no author I could get my hands on. Sir Peter Ustinov was <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/683282.Old_Man_and_Mr_Smith" target="_blank">just as funny</a>, but didn't write as much and died even earlier (which doesn't help).</p><p>Now, people will tell you that humor is a matter of taste, and I will tell those people that taste is a matter of specific biological and psychological conditions which need to be understood to make any meaningful contribution to any art we attempt. Doesn't matter how abstract the grip is we get on the topic, we need to have SOME UNDERSTANDING about taste to interact with it. It's disingenious and lazy to try and stop a discussion with "that's just a matter of taste".<br /></p><p>Another perspective on humor is that laughing is the spontanious (and possibly shocking) realization of a connection we haven't seen before. Why is it funny when somebody stumbles? Possibly because we didn't realize what movements a body is capable of to desperately keep balance? There is no such thing as "stumbling with grace", which leads to "people take themselves too serious to allow for stumbling". So you could say it's the spontanious insight that we are taking ourselves too serious that makes us laugh when we see others stumble.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJna2I70KZQ-rNeLES103I0XOMudS4PvS4btv0xeXa9SxDtNCZjOpbSsiegR_yuO-xMER7OAGpuqE5yvz-A0tUZ0MT0FygLT5Yn1rgrmJl-K8oKX2pzX8OQHYQBT8g_9C5TxuWxfwjKvbZ5cBe_Sj0rNnLevq6llSy5e1ncEQmogNKn5NBfZ83ggz3/s267/Falling_Not_01.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="267" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJna2I70KZQ-rNeLES103I0XOMudS4PvS4btv0xeXa9SxDtNCZjOpbSsiegR_yuO-xMER7OAGpuqE5yvz-A0tUZ0MT0FygLT5Yn1rgrmJl-K8oKX2pzX8OQHYQBT8g_9C5TxuWxfwjKvbZ5cBe_Sj0rNnLevq6llSy5e1ncEQmogNKn5NBfZ83ggz3/w324-h243/Falling_Not_01.gif" width="324" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">... [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia0.giphy.com%2Fmedia%2F5kx8fubTP6vC0Gz6Sa%2F200.gif%3Fcid%3D790b761112fr26jew552qu3dhwanoyqetcs3obt7qb3odvg4%26rid%3D200.gif%26ct%3Dg&f=1&nofb=1" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> Well, different stumblings might stipulate different laughter. A kid playing recklessly doesn't take itself too seriously, but if it stumbles recklessly, it might still make you laugh, maybe for the sheer honesty of it, maybe to signalize the kid that it's not problem to problem to stumble and fall. You just get up and move on.</p><p>Oh, and there's always the aspect that we laugh when nothing is really hurt but another person's dignity. If an old lady falls and is at risk to break a bone, you get there and help her and ask her if she's alright. That's not what I'm talking about.</p><p>There's also Jackass, so there is a spectrum on how much pain can still be funny ... But that's neither here nor there. What I wanted to show was that humor has reason and has a function in a culture. Or even in general among humans ... and we do know that animals can laugh, which is also very interesting. We instinctively know it is important. It is an easy connector in any conversation. If you can make people laugh earnestly, you know you will get along with them. Just like that.</p><p>However, to go full circle: while taste should never be the end of a discussion when talking about creating a specific kind of experience (as that's what we do: design talk), it's very much a marker of preferences that should be taken seriously in order to find out why they exist and how they are, lets say, activated. And Pratchett was a huge and popular marker in that regard. He was the GOAT, without a doubt. And no one seems to be able to crack his formula. His writing doesn't even translate well to other media (other than rpg, maybe, but definitely not for tv).</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkc2uCuWW6sDCnNCHwAu-A9AjtCegZB-5E6jEYzBBbSh7OIDAAVs96wD7zBu_CxFlyfvODv1RzqFIWOmyCtAqSoKzYXAltv1h2Za3feocCBTOOpHswbWgNPs491FBnr8EUzhK1zWY5viXi0lsqkOJqjUeIUf0y4I0lpeGf6xWZNaJFVzeD2c312d3K/s795/No_Unperson_01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="795" data-original-width="612" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkc2uCuWW6sDCnNCHwAu-A9AjtCegZB-5E6jEYzBBbSh7OIDAAVs96wD7zBu_CxFlyfvODv1RzqFIWOmyCtAqSoKzYXAltv1h2Za3feocCBTOOpHswbWgNPs491FBnr8EUzhK1zWY5viXi0lsqkOJqjUeIUf0y4I0lpeGf6xWZNaJFVzeD2c312d3K/w363-h472/No_Unperson_01.jpeg" width="363" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always had great artwork, though ... [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fvignette.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fdiscworld%2Fimages%2F1%2F1b%2FFresh_Start_Club.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%3Fcb%3D20080703180147&f=1&nofb=1" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">Why is that, then?</span></p><p>I'd argue that ONE aspect of it is that he described very real people in very bizzare circumstances. Imagine being a photographer for a newspaper, but you are a vampire and using the flash will actually turn you to dust, so you have to take precautions ... Pratchett is full of ideas like that. Undead fighting for their rights in society, politicians dealing with trolls and dwarves and dragons, but those all behave like people you might encounter in daily life, too.</p><p>Fantasy and the (British?) 20th Century mindset juxtaposed like that is a huge part of where Pratchett's books draw humor from, often to slyly tell us something about the human condition we hadn't realized yet.</p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQ3412uUeO2rDVsm0KD-6R3KagLKzPcknxZelsePVQ6gSxkpEzFCRe9nC3aEVR1czCnzMLupMgswRt51d-_WzCx_09up8VyPq8pDTZ0rw0YJ58MH_EJAQI3zyMgfseiSsZdqRnKF0FMiKjUQ9_bI61C4KM4ThSmd8VXKJ4Ud0oJSCmqU50AyH7I02/s729/Good_Book_01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="474" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQ3412uUeO2rDVsm0KD-6R3KagLKzPcknxZelsePVQ6gSxkpEzFCRe9nC3aEVR1czCnzMLupMgswRt51d-_WzCx_09up8VyPq8pDTZ0rw0YJ58MH_EJAQI3zyMgfseiSsZdqRnKF0FMiKjUQ9_bI61C4KM4ThSmd8VXKJ4Ud0oJSCmqU50AyH7I02/w278-h428/Good_Book_01.jpeg" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some good reading [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.J83lT_-cYuLWuYMVTvNKXwHaLZ%26pid%3DApi&f=1" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>It irked me a long time how he did it and it took me a long time to get there. Incidentally, it wasn't because I'd read one of his books and something clicked for me. No. I bought a book because the premise and the advertisement told me that it actually might be something "like" Pratchett. That book was <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53181090-the-stranger-times" target="_blank"><i>The Stranger Times</i></a> by C. K. McDonnell. It is no Pratchett, but it was an enjoyable enough read to actually recommend it. I couldn't put it away, and I had those laugh-out-loud moments I rarely get when reading. Some light Urban Fantasy and my kind of humor (can't say anything yet about the second book, however ...).</p><p>Still, didn't click for me right there. Made me think about the issue again, though.</p><p>What did the trick was reading another author after that who also was celebrated as very funny, although more in the manner of Monty Python. I dig me some Monty Python, the story sounded rad, so I took a chance (and probably made the mistake to read it directly after the <i>Times</i>). That book was Rober Rankin's <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6289806-retromancer" target="_blank"><i>Retromancer</i></a>.</p><p>In all honesty, I didn't enjoy it as much as <i>The Stranger Times</i>, and I couldn't put my finger on why exactly that was. The premise is great. Guy wakes up in the Sixties, but it isn't the Sixties he knew. No. Here, it seems, the Nazis had won WW2 by bombing the US into nuclear winter. So that guy gets to rejoin his Master, a great wizard and guru, to set the timeline straight again. A bit of Monty Python, a bit of a Peter Sellers routine, full of great ideas and great little story vignettes.</p><p>Great writing, too. I'd have loved to see it as a movie. But as a book, it just didn't work for me. It was in direct comparison to that other book that it dawned on me: the characters in <i>Retromancer</i> are anything but mundane. They are, in many ways, larger than life. Not only "the guru's guru", but his sidekick, the narrator, as well. Not someone you relate to, but a character you know from movies. Superficial, in a sense, and with a "funny" perspective on things that colors the whole story.</p><p>A character like that (as in: extraordinary) going for breakfast (as in: doing something ordinary) will have the most extraordinary adventure doing so (goes for a good old english, gets a Bratwurst, or as his aunt puts it "the Führer of all sausages", which I actually found immensely funny). This character will buy some cigarettes, and you'll have the most beautiful little stories about smoking throughout the book. Ordinary things made extraordinary by the extraordinary character ... you get my drift.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">There's a theme, even!</span><br /></p><p>You could make the same distinction between the horror Stephen King is summoning versus the horror a Clive Barker will summon. King's characters are real or "mundane" in that we can empathize with them. Barker's are bizzare minds putting a bizzare lens on reality. Two very different qualities, but qualities with the same differentiating element: they either use the ordinary to explore the extraordinary or they use the extraordinary to explore the ordinary.</p><p>Same goes for computer games, I'm pretty sure. On the one side you have some open world games where characters start from zero and carve themselves a niche into the sandbox as they see fit and on the other side you have those ultra complex quick time event driven games that hold your hand for the story and most of the progression, but pushing the right buttons at the right time will have a character make some really crazy moves (Arkham Asylum, Metal Gear Rising).</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3NYV1grRyfcoZ5__FxNVRG1vLWXRg042ieSlb0udevAMOKJufys6gCiwUIBtyInpyF7RwZBx3GjrEJ8x8xSAFc-Pyu-sGOjj63O54_sZlrR19apNJ9Ie77fFk8ejiFjU7cdpz_1POdjNBJy2FhdoedFyAPMtNenoqyhmXSm-VpiNI6VSgrNN6-Do/s260/DirtyUnconsciousBoob.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="260" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3NYV1grRyfcoZ5__FxNVRG1vLWXRg042ieSlb0udevAMOKJufys6gCiwUIBtyInpyF7RwZBx3GjrEJ8x8xSAFc-Pyu-sGOjj63O54_sZlrR19apNJ9Ie77fFk8ejiFjU7cdpz_1POdjNBJy2FhdoedFyAPMtNenoqyhmXSm-VpiNI6VSgrNN6-Do/w316-h198/DirtyUnconsciousBoob.gif" width="316" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, everytime ... damn qte! [<a href="https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DirtyUnconsciousBooby-max-1mb.gif" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>And within that spectrum you'll get everything from a S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-style fps with all the freedom to move you could imagine to some Gears of War-style tps on rails but with cinematic qualities. Many computer rpgs fall in between that spectrum as well. It's definitely not true for all computer games, though*.<br /></p><p>Either way, it's a thing for sure, and once you are aware of it, you'll find it is a very strong theme in tabletop role-playing games as well. As a matter of fact, I'd go as far as saying that it is one of <i>the</i> distinguishing factors in role-playing games right now. And it is definitely leading to different design choices along the way. Not BETTER or MORE FUN, but DIFFERENT. As in: so different, people will most likely be into one OR the other (or at least more into one than the other).</p><p>And that's what this post is about: showing that there is a DISTINCT difference between those two modes of play and that they not necessarily (or easily) mix. It is not an evolution of gaming, it is manifesting a divide that always has been there.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Different styles altogether?</span></p><p>So far we have the outline of the distinguishing factors. On the one side you have rpgs that start with a couple of in some sense ordinary characters (usually a beginners of sorts) who face an extraordinary situation (classically, exploring some dangerous ruins with magic and monster abound). That's your basic early D&D, but most ttrpgs up until the nineties would follow that recipe more or less.</p><p><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Valiant%3A_The_Story-Telling_Game" target="_blank">Prince Valiant: The Story-Telling Game</a></i> was in 1989 an early precurser of that shift we are talking about here, but the big success in that regard was <i>Vampire: The Masquerade</i>. The tag line back then had been very apt, it was a game about playing THE MONSTER. All of a sudden you'd be way above humans in the foodchain, and in a contemporary setting, no less. Still small fries, all things considered, but <i>powerful</i> small fries.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7QMfBfI3YkOdsxwJyyMs4xj5nI-bWPGvoIElq3GXw2WAKA18dLS-eI3pGmCCWS_BT2nYDxLPpNao1gYXdDp2l7Xo6sNao5R9LhDf0JJZLLcA0UTErY0IdwJ4I4Auy2xA09xhlSZoKg8pUNbXGay8cTBwOq28ycQ6v7e4n0EQ4ZNWsBstOw-4-h6kT/s1600/prince_valiant_01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7QMfBfI3YkOdsxwJyyMs4xj5nI-bWPGvoIElq3GXw2WAKA18dLS-eI3pGmCCWS_BT2nYDxLPpNao1gYXdDp2l7Xo6sNao5R9LhDf0JJZLLcA0UTErY0IdwJ4I4Auy2xA09xhlSZoKg8pUNbXGay8cTBwOq28ycQ6v7e4n0EQ4ZNWsBstOw-4-h6kT/w440-h330/prince_valiant_01.JPG" width="440" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classic rpg <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork_(software_development)" target="_blank">fork</a> [<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vm478DKY-1A/ThKmXrvF5sI/AAAAAAAADk8/FWPkiTaTijc/s1600/prince_valiant_01.JPG" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> You could say it was the first time that the power curve in rpgs shifted from being on the system-side to being mostly on the side of the narrative. And that's significant in that once it is established that you can just narrate that you are the MOST POWERFUL CHARACTER OUT THERE (TM), although V:TM offered enough meat with its system that a somewhat prolonged campaign arc was possible.</p><p>Still, it turned out to be the starting point for a clear trajectory, with the <i>PbtA</i> games as one high watermark and the <i>Black Hack</i> games as another.</p><p><span style="font-size: small;">Interestingly enough, there seems to be a trend to
glorify the original beginner characters from early D&D towards the
extraordinary. My guess would be that it has something to do with
loading the characters with some meaning they didn't have before, like
PUNK, for instance. It's pretty much the Robert Rankin approach
described above, where the lense through which the player/character see
the world colors everything mundane in some special light.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">There's also a
massive manga and anime trend to have ordinary people become
extraordinary because they end up in extraordinary circumstances (like a
fantasy setting, but are actually very capable in that setting compared
to the real world (where they might be nothing!). In other words,
ordinary characters turned extraordinary because their extraordinary
surroundings are just ordinary for them is a classical trope by now,
which might explain the appeal in role-playing (which follows the same
meta-knowledge metric: players knowing the rules fare better).</span></p><p><i>Blades in the Dark</i> is a more recent powerful contender for the "extraordinary characters" category as well and <a href="https://rowanrookanddecard.com/spire-rpg/" target="_blank"><i>The Spire RPG</i></a> seems to be the newnew hot in that regard (giving players lots of narrative power, for instance). </p><p>D&D 5e tries very hard to be that kind of game but obviously brings a lot of baggage to the table, which will make it a great example for how different those games actually are and how it's more like a spectrum on the user end of things. Because D&D was the original blueprint of all things rpg, it will have always had room for the story-telling gamers.</p><p>You can't, on the other hand, play ordinary characters in games that are designed for extraordinary characters only (unless you go for the comedic break of the ordinary character doing ordinary things among extraordinary characters). We tried, actually, in one of our groups once. Was a new group, didn't last, btw. I had offered to DM the <i>WitchCraft rpg</i> and I told the players that it is about powerful characters in an urban horror/fantasy setting.</p><p>All agreed and knew what was what, but as soon as character creation started, half the group wanted to play <i>ordinary</i> characters in a horror setting. <i>WitchCraft</i> doesn't work that way and that led to many discussions why there is no tension for the ordinary characters. They just didn't get that they were talking a different kind of game. As I said, didn't work out in the end, and it was more symptomatic that the game played out as it did. But it illustrates my point: original D&D could have been played that way (and there actually are urban fantasy b/x variants out there), WitchCraft was designed to NOT do that.</p><p>There's also the little fact that playing the first editions of D&D will grow a character from wimp to god and one could always just start with a more powerful character along that trajectory (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goblin_Slayer" target="_blank"><i>Goblin Slayer</i></a> would make for a D&D campaign like that).**<br /></p><p>But who likes to play what and why? <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Different players altogether?</span><br /></p><p>I might have to start with a disclaimer here. First of all, people will change between the "roles" in their life. A loving mother can be a bloodthirsty barbarian on her weekly gaming night. People play to relax. To be someone else or to be among friends or because the gaming immerses them. This is, in a sense, where we connect a bit with <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2022/03/how-our-motivations-to-play-rpgs-hints.html" target="_blank">Part 1 of the Motivation Series</a>, but only to (maybe) add another facet to it.</p><p>Here's the part I'm talking about (5 positive motivations for players to join your game):<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>DOING
something meaningful (mainly socialicing with others for a collective
experience ... leveling up & campaign play as milestones, those things)<br /></li><li>LEARNING something meaningful (collecting experiences & testing approaches to reality)</li><li>COMPETING meaningfully (negotiation, tactics & strategy)<br /></li><li>BEING someone meaningful (exploring who you are or aren't & why)</li><li>CREATING something meaningful (a game, an experience, a story)<br /></li></ul><p>I'd say that players going for "extraordinary characters" would, going by the 5 types of motivation proposed in Part 1, be mostly among the people motivated by BEING someone special and those aiming to CREATE an experience. COMPETING and LEARNING motivations would gravitate more towards that are challenging and offer some more skill oriented growth (instead of, say, personal growth). Those in it for DOING it as a social activity could go either way, so we'll have an even split among motivation types. Nice!</p><p>The new aspect here would be, then, that finding out what actually motivates people in joining your game is actually quite easy. You just ask them if they'd rather play (A) an extraordinary character doing ordinary things or (B) the other way around. There are three possible answers: A, B or "I could go either way, I'm in it to socialize with friends" (or something along those lines ...).</p><p>An "I don't know" shouldn't cut it, to be honest. Sure, talk it out, but if one of the three possible answers doesn't appear naturally relatively fast, it would hint (imo) towards a motivation that hasn't anything to do with gaming. Just something to be aware of, I guess.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkXnXit22xBKV8y1MBU6AKwl-KCslKdTe3CRHQ8cUXtHpDIVsOz8Mt6TFsDjhyQu8e0OtXpdgqHM1nFo2RAEGiCkrZUpnjgEztIsOW5IrCdwX4-Mat3qmaSRs0mQ24TDdWwMdvRvbbnjuHgwet2c0hgBPeU7z4W-Y4H4O2MwzVERq9wEAeA10F6hF9/s400/Wrong_01.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="400" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkXnXit22xBKV8y1MBU6AKwl-KCslKdTe3CRHQ8cUXtHpDIVsOz8Mt6TFsDjhyQu8e0OtXpdgqHM1nFo2RAEGiCkrZUpnjgEztIsOW5IrCdwX4-Mat3qmaSRs0mQ24TDdWwMdvRvbbnjuHgwet2c0hgBPeU7z4W-Y4H4O2MwzVERq9wEAeA10F6hF9/s320/Wrong_01.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just saying ... [<a href="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/81981/99829641-d6766100-2b5c-11eb-9d0d-efaa7e45cd1b.gif" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">One more piece of the puzzle ...</span><br /></p><p>Still not where I wanted to be with this, BUT another important piece, imo, as we will need to talk about what different kinds of role-playing games are out there and why that matters immensely in terms of player motivation. What we got to explore in this post helps shining a light on some of the distinctions.<br /></p><p>That said, being aware of the axis described above should be useful in itself as it should help you in finding an understanding about why we play the games we play and why some will work for you and some won't just because of some design choices that aim to please a ecrtain type of player.</p><p>By accident or consciously doesn't matter, if you think about it. Sometimes it's just a designer's raw preference that resonates with likeminded people. What does matter, however, is that is not "all the same".</p><p>I hope I was able to make my case here and that you guys enjoyed reading this. What do you think the implications are? Did it change your perception about your preferences? Thoughts and opinions are, as always, very welcome. <br /></p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">------------------------ </span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">If you enjoyed the above, you might like the blog anthology series I started publishing on drivethru. You can get it here and it definitely supports the blog to drop by for <a href="------------------------ Still hustling this one: You can check out a free preview of Ø2\\'3||, that rpg I wrote, right here (or go and check out the first reviews here). I'm (still, but not for long) doing a sale on the game proper ... If you already checked it out, please know that I appreciate you :) It'll certainly help to keep the lights on here! I'd love to hear about that, too. Just look at that beauty ... ------------------------ " target="_blank">the pdf here</a>.</span><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">AND I'm still hustling this one: Y</span><span style="font-size: small;">ou can check out a free preview of </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ø2\\'3||, that rpg I wrote,</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/358976/O23--PDF-Collection--Book-Preview-for-the-Game" target="_blank">right here</a> (or go and check out the first reviews <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353636/O23--RolePlaying-in-a-Dystopian-Future" target="_blank">here</a>). I'm (still, but only until end of June) doing a sale on the game proper ...<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you already checked it out, please know that I
appreciate you :) It'll certainly help to keep the lights on here! I'd love to hear about that, too.<br /></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4p6oL65ZUA8SZGG5UMb4TsEOJiwlqaCP5rrzB2Qg2-Z7kuEmLvvFdkQhvpUHUIKFJ8Ol73AwzypbJLqQ04KxnV2y8RsumKx-1n9sdeJKefDjjNJhQB8DoeMJo0L-joKFGPkA0WyrIDoM/s1466/O-Dummy_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1466" data-original-width="1466" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4p6oL65ZUA8SZGG5UMb4TsEOJiwlqaCP5rrzB2Qg2-Z7kuEmLvvFdkQhvpUHUIKFJ8Ol73AwzypbJLqQ04KxnV2y8RsumKx-1n9sdeJKefDjjNJhQB8DoeMJo0L-joKFGPkA0WyrIDoM/s320/O-Dummy_1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just look at that beauty ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLNcxxPeaNp_o7bkhZCUO16Ynr8dWCpP1On8ZIdfRcSmBxcrp17jdOjFY8GGTcPUL-j4Y55LrKokaXpEfjS28yk7nYfFyDcTo2xtRTn7s-A2IQaVorYevp_K9mKzdEwzNRuPoBDU9DpY/s1169/CheatCollection01_TEST.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLNcxxPeaNp_o7bkhZCUO16Ynr8dWCpP1On8ZIdfRcSmBxcrp17jdOjFY8GGTcPUL-j4Y55LrKokaXpEfjS28yk7nYfFyDcTo2xtRTn7s-A2IQaVorYevp_K9mKzdEwzNRuPoBDU9DpY/s320/CheatCollection01_TEST.png" width="320" /></a></div></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">------------------------ </span></span></span></span></div><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* I have to figure out how tactic, card and puzzle games figure into that, but I think they might just be something else entirely, leaning towards boardgames and such.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">** Okay, here is yet another dimension to this: it is known that many D&D campaign fail when the characters becoem to powerful. Mostly that'd be because the DM didn't shift gears along the power curve and challenged the more powerful characters with something adequate. But in a sense it shows how players who like to play ordinary characters in extraordinary circumstances, actually don't like it when the game turns that around after a couple of levels. Anecdotal evidence, for sure, but nonetheless. It fits the pattern, doesn't it?<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <br /></span></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-3241446705776700802022-05-05T22:01:00.002+02:002022-05-05T22:01:14.662+02:00The Disoriented Ranger talks: Gaming Culture (Blog Anthlogy 1)<p><i>Yes, <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/395562/The-Disoriented-Ranger-talks-Gaming-Culture" target="_blank">this</a> just happened. Something I had announced just got published over at OBS, just a little differently to what I'd thought would happen: we are still celebrating the 10 year blog anniversary. Somewhat. I'll give you the tour ...</i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">It'd make one book, he said!</span></p><p>If you have been around in the last 10 years, you know I didn't write many posts. But when I did, it'd often end up being something lengthy. I like it that way and if you dare to look, there's a lot to look at (and not all of it looking back, ha!). So I scanned what I'd done in the last 10 years, collected all of it, sorted what I'd like to see collected, started compiling what I thought would be the first chapter ... and ended up with 130 pages for that alone, with five more to go.</p><p>So I stopped and thought: that'd make a nice pdf for a start of a small series.</p><p>Next I had to go deep, see if it holds as a standalone. It is the most general of the six collections, and talking "gaming culture" can be a bit tricky, so caution came natural. After going through this carefully, I think we are good here. I talk commercialisation, community work, social aspects of it all, some econimics, some talk about publishing. Always highlighting some aspect that interested me at the time, but altogether quite a lot to think about, I guess.</p><p>Next was layout and some light editing. Now this exists, with the rest well prepared and ready to bounce.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2aaMR-h7-AB5Znd1Aj6AMrStAnMiwFNMZ6PMddEV8a4zUAYDJLLAEugBUQgU3pjJeyeAZ4zeVIvCL1NwCDCI0hTeG68CA87rvUvN5-DOSRJTFQPm8w2XOUB_rk2y7n8ifc0G9Agx6rp_UlQECjXOlVLPIoEGeOD7Ak4eKHVfeWEIk5ZGiXNNX2LG/s1703/Cover_Test_ANTH01_FinalOBS.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1703" data-original-width="1200" height="415" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2aaMR-h7-AB5Znd1Aj6AMrStAnMiwFNMZ6PMddEV8a4zUAYDJLLAEugBUQgU3pjJeyeAZ4zeVIvCL1NwCDCI0hTeG68CA87rvUvN5-DOSRJTFQPm8w2XOUB_rk2y7n8ifc0G9Agx6rp_UlQECjXOlVLPIoEGeOD7Ak4eKHVfeWEIk5ZGiXNNX2LG/w292-h415/Cover_Test_ANTH01_FinalOBS.png" width="292" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/395562/The-Disoriented-Ranger-talks-Gaming-Culture" target="_blank">Find it here!</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">Why bother?</span></p><p>Well, if you ask yourself that question right now, I probably shouldn't try and convince you. So I won't. In my mind this was always something I did for me. I put ten years into this blog, and it's only a little extra work to make the transfer to another medium (pdf) and only a little bit more beyond that to get a PoD. And I really want that book. Or rather, those books (as there will be two now!).</p><p>Who knows what the internet will be in ten years from now? Or whenever my kids will be able to read it? We don't know. As a matter of fact, having something in print seems to be a good option right now.</p><p>It also always bothered me that old posts are only read by spam bots. So there is that. Having the texts compiled the way I did, allows a different approach to the topics I discussed and allows for different context. I didn't organize those posts chronologically, I went for something more cohesive, hoping the sum of the parts create surplus value. We'll see.<br /></p><p>For now, I'm happy this first step is done. I hope you'll enjoy this first compilation. And if you are a long-time reader, there's no better way to show me appreciation for my work here by checking this title out and giving it some love. Goes for all, of course :)<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">What's to come</span><br /></p><p>You might have wondered. I'm still very close to finishing writing on be67 ... that'll need some editing and layout after that (hopefully all happening this month). Art is in the works. We are good there. It'll be summer, but the pdf will be out asap. PoD would be great for July. I'm working it.</p><p style="text-align: left;">On the side I'll keep doing the anthologies. Here are the other parts:<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Part 2: D&D and the OSR <br /></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Part 3: Musings about DMing <br /></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Part 4: Storytelling Advice <br /></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Part 5: DIY & Gamedesign <br /></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Part 6: Theories in Action</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p>I guess I can manage a new one each month ... Then I have to start getting real about that module THE RISE OF ROBO-HITLER. Everything is in place for it and I should get started properly about it in August, aiming for a December publication. Some blogging as well, I guess (that second part <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2022/03/how-our-motivations-to-play-rpgs-hints.html" target="_blank">about player motivation</a> will be up next week, I hope!). And I've got a couple of other surprises down my sleeve.<br /></p><p>We'll be busy here at Disoriented Ranger Publising!</p><p>I'll also offer some one shots on roll20. Probably via MeWe? But if here's interest, just drop me a comment and I will keep you informed.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Feels like a new chapter?</span></p><p>Well, it is, in a sense, a logical step to publish some more, especially when I get an opportunity to actually make all of this happen. It's been coming a long time, too. And I still need to write and publish <i>Lost Songs of the Nibelungs</i> (but that I want to be the best I can make, and there's still some way to go for that).<br /></p><p>I'll give it all my best shot and I hope you all are along for the ride.<br /></p><p>Check out <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/395562/The-Disoriented-Ranger-talks-Gaming-Culture" target="_blank">that book</a>, it's just a buck and good readin', too.<br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-67120803122810787572022-04-12T17:02:00.001+02:002022-04-12T17:02:36.626+02:00How Computer Games ruined Leveling Up for RPGs (Intermission to the Player Motivation Series)<p><i>That part two about motivation is still in the works. It's going to be interesting, but also means some work, so it'll happen. It'll just take the time it needs. Easter, maybe. Anyway, now this occured to me while writing on be67 (and had been a lingering thought for a while, tbh), so I thought I should address it here in the blog as king of an intermission to the <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2022/03/how-our-motivations-to-play-rpgs-hints.html" target="_blank">Motivation series</a>, since it relates). The thesis is, of course, hyperbole. But there is some merit to it, so hear me out. Oh, and I'm all over the place with this one, so buckle up ...</i><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Where does that come from, 'to level up'?<br /></span></p><p>If anything, characters having levels they can reach through gaining experience points was innovative design at the time D&D originally came out. I'd even wager that it'd been an original design of D&D, at least in pushing the idea to it's limits. I'm guessing here, but it seems plausible that the war games D&D was based on bore the seed of this idea to some extent. Although the term isn't used in Chainmail, for instance, which is one obvious precurser of OD&D. <br /></p><p>OD&D itself has an illuminating passage:</p><p></p><blockquote>"It is also recommended that no more experience points be awarded for any single adventure than will suffice to move the character upwards one level." <i>(OD&D: Men & Magic, p. 18) </i></blockquote>Close, but not quite it. In general, they'll be speaking about 'gaining levels' or 'advancing a level' in all the old D&D books I could get my hands on (OD&D, AD&D 1e, D&D RC ...). <p></p><p>So the concept of 'gaining levels' is OD&D, for sure. How that was
conceived is not public knowledge (nothing I could find by researching
it online, that is). OD&D doesn't say 'level up' in any satisfying way shape or
form. Same goes for B/X and AD&D 1e (1977). When D&D
gaming culture seeped into the first computer games and consoles able to do anything with the concept,
gaining levels became a successful trope and the SNES Super Mario RPG
from 1996 already uses 'level up' casually, so it's already an idiom
then.</p><p>It's interesting, isn't it? The term 'to level up' just appeared in the context of gaming* and made it's way into pop culture without anyone questioning it or even thinking about it twice. It's just ... there. Loaded with meaning. How come?</p><p>Your guess is a good as mine. My best idea is the popularity of Tolkien that lead to D&D to begin with (and why the game has hobbits!), because The Lord of the Rings, as we all know, has one of the most famous stories about character advancement out there: the change from Gandalf the Grey to Gandalf the White!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJbe1KT8t0yL6SI-JC1lo8Mqe9uCyP93GF8X53JhoEckuJLSoHTSDLh8K4RUd8uryf4S5K-grf_Cqy4CIn_-fC2H7hQlHUOuDKKPNJZ-IddHJWzzj7ssWa5p8uzZhfFFNbQmOERcfbAdhxNrr16mo1ye1zuSOvcmddjZvd7rsac1sXLELqNq1jpdn/s662/Gandalf_XP_Milking_01.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="662" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJbe1KT8t0yL6SI-JC1lo8Mqe9uCyP93GF8X53JhoEckuJLSoHTSDLh8K4RUd8uryf4S5K-grf_Cqy4CIn_-fC2H7hQlHUOuDKKPNJZ-IddHJWzzj7ssWa5p8uzZhfFFNbQmOERcfbAdhxNrr16mo1ye1zuSOvcmddjZvd7rsac1sXLELqNq1jpdn/w407-h245/Gandalf_XP_Milking_01.jpeg" width="407" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original Leveler? [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F1d%2F05%2F3e%2F1d053ea849bdc1ee37b735134aca95ad.jpg&f=1&nofb=1" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Aragorn levels up as well, actually, but not in the middle of the story, so it only counts a bit. The thing is, however, that character growth in LotR can be seen as a growth in power, which neatly applies to that famous shift from war gaming to playing individual characters in a skirmish context, which in the end lead to D&D. And that went viral (as much as things could go 'viral' in the 70s).</p><p>Furthermore, (fantasy) war games would already offer units with 'experience' as the differing characteristic (Warriors, Veterans, Heroes, stuff like that). So it's not a stretch to assume that all of that came together to form the idea that the limit of playing one character should allow for that character to advance over time ...</p><p>As I said, all guesswork. Fact is, the idea of leveling up originates in D&D to the degree that it was the source for all further innovations in that regard. And since D&D never, imo, explored the concept to its full potential, peak popularity of the term should be located with computer and console games as that's how most people today understand it. That comes with implications, of course.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Leveling Up in early D&D is BORING!</span></p><p>To gain a level in D&D wasn't understood as getting more powerful as soon as a certain XP limit is reached. On the contrary, from OD&D onwards all the way through to AD&D 2e there was an extra effort involved to actually gain that level when the xp for it are collected. It was all about playing the class properly or even getting teachers for certain skills (an idea we even can find in obscure places of the D&D RC).</p><p>As soon as one fulfilled all the criteria, the new level is gained. D&D also had a barely visible meta structure where gaining a number of levels should lead to a shift in gameplay (name level shifts to domain play which eventually leads to high level play ... but where that second shift is will stay a mystery, since it's never explained properly).</p><p>Barely visible, as it wasn't understood completely when the design was conceived (is my guess), which lead to people just playing the first phase and declaring that as the 'sweet spot' because the game starts to fall apart if the shift to the next phase isn't done properly (if you don't shift focus around levels 6 to 9, you still play the same game but it just isn't as satisfying a gaming loop anymore).</p><p>As I said, underdeveloped design. Level titles had been another great idea, but all of it was more about describing how the gaming world perceives a character and that has NOTHING to do with what a character experienced or gained. It is given to the character, but it carries no meaning that deepens the connection between character and player. Or only the meaning the GM is able to instill, which might very well end up being nothing.</p><p>If I have one main criteria when designing rules, it would be that a rule that isn't used doesn't work and needs changing. That's how I feel about leveling up in D&D. You gain HP, some powers, sometimes you hit better by +1, sometimes your Saving Throws improve, but most of it is marginal and, considering the range of levels the games offer, takes way too long to achieve.</p><p>Now consider computer games: you gain a new level instantly with a flashy animation of sorts, you get to chose some benefits for the character and (when done well) all of it seems "meaningful". You achieved something and get an award for it with a little celebration and then we move on with the game. Sometimes you'll even get new items (or item upgrades or pets) just because you leveled up and it's not even questioned where they come from (things just 'manifesting' is another one of those computer game tropes). The fact that you also get more powerful is almost secondary to the emphasis on offering some form of individual customization.</p><p>It's a very different approach altogether, but arguably the more succesful design. If a player knows the concept from playing computer games only, a Gamemaster will have a hard time explaining how and why D&D is different. And that leads, more often than not, to disappointment. I have seen this way too often. Character of a new player levels up in basic D&D and they look at me with eager anticipation what's going to happen next. They want bells and whistles and when I tell them they get 1d6 more HP (or whatever) they usually end up confused, asking "That's it? I played 4 sessions of this game to get ... 2 more Hit Points?". I agree. It doesn't meet modern expectations.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nD3-p0TmUx1pVg3fDXVnw2Ougv7QLFz7icP91MJ8lM0rzP8kR9YKYqCrQFMcn9-MEikW_EOn_7p61RF4EgqzQUEptIV-8T5OrhWYczBAz6efXGSwCAba6ky-UWtUTH-DRnsewRJfsdIdTkf4ohxbobCSn9aHszriU3V-vJV34mC4Ksd916OUzr72/s498/goku-dragon-ball-level-up-anime.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="498" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nD3-p0TmUx1pVg3fDXVnw2Ougv7QLFz7icP91MJ8lM0rzP8kR9YKYqCrQFMcn9-MEikW_EOn_7p61RF4EgqzQUEptIV-8T5OrhWYczBAz6efXGSwCAba6ky-UWtUTH-DRnsewRJfsdIdTkf4ohxbobCSn9aHszriU3V-vJV34mC4Ksd916OUzr72/s320/goku-dragon-ball-level-up-anime.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://c.tenor.com/0pmPIX08hQUAAAAC/goku-dragon-ball-level-up-anime-gif.gif" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>If nothing else, D&D (and other rpgs going by the same premise) using an underdeveloped system for leveling up basically forced designers into copying popular computer game design choices, which lead to neglecting the aforementioned meta structure and ultimately developed into a very bloated version of that first phase with lots of little powers characters can earn between levels. In 5e characters start with the classic D&D equivalent of 3rd level and never really advance beyond Name Level, even if they advance higher. The game doesn't shift gears anymore.<br /></p><p>I'd say that's just as bad design as the original design is underdeveloped. But did it ruin leveling up for D&D?</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Innovation should have split, maybe?</span><br /></p><p>Computer games took the ball and ran with it, arguably shaping not only popular culture, but also changing what players like to see in a game. Not expect, but actually like. Leveling up is a fun experience in most succesful computer games I know. So much fun, in fact, that the concept ended up being a familiar trope in mangas and anime. It's even used in management circles to express progress ... The term is known and used, is what I'm saying.</p><p>The question is, does it translate to rpgs?</p><p>Well, in parts it does, in parts it doesn't. Depends on the stories you are telling. Or rather, on <i>how</i> you are telling your stories.</p><p>I can see three design approaches here:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Using computer game concepts basically 1:1 (which we see all the time now with the big brands, especially in the advent of twitch streams and the necessity to design games with an audience in mind as well)</li><li>Dismiss the concept entirely or at least down to an echo of the original system (levels mainly as flavor, basically, or hybrid systems where you gain xp but buy benefits and powers and it doesn't translate into 'levels')</li><li>Innovate anywhere from the point of diversion (peak OSR was exploring that, imo, but didn't gain enough momentum to have a lasting impact other than <a href="https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/15/15505.phtml" target="_blank">ACKS</a>) <br /></li></ol><p>Personally, I have nothing against making the D&D gaming experience as playful as computer games can be. be67 will feature concepts like that quite excessively, as a matter of fact (as you might have guessed, I started writing the chapter on character progression when the thoughts above occured to me).</p><p>What makes bad design, imo, is not the imitation of what's popular with computer games but doing so without understanding the original design to begin with. Add market incentives like popular twitch D&D games (or rather, theater play doing a theme park impression of D&D for an audience that has no idea what D&D is or don't care) and you'll end up with games full of design choices distorted by lazy corporate greed.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZAnq7LxaBEGn10-fG9ONDIgzSlgunjcDGOJEfAd7ow8riHn2fwQwd0kZgh1xnnEbdbXVHyll4tJpn-QszdOMKtxZbCWqAQYRAloZ_LFwMzbmFzr7ik9lGDSyU65T-6Gq_y_EPpdv3iOkR9Fq76rpol9AD9UrjLs6OG0gbvUv-CNOmW2q_izLrCPc/s304/Greed_01.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="166" data-original-width="304" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZAnq7LxaBEGn10-fG9ONDIgzSlgunjcDGOJEfAd7ow8riHn2fwQwd0kZgh1xnnEbdbXVHyll4tJpn-QszdOMKtxZbCWqAQYRAloZ_LFwMzbmFzr7ik9lGDSyU65T-6Gq_y_EPpdv3iOkR9Fq76rpol9AD9UrjLs6OG0gbvUv-CNOmW2q_izLrCPc/s1600/Greed_01.jpeg" width="304" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a 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" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table>To be totally fair, why should big players like WotC care if you are able play their game for years? The game needs to carry the illusion of functioning for the first couple of levels and should be fun enough to summon the resemblance of its manifestations in popular culture. You can be like Sheldon playing D&D, even buy the t-shirt. Doesn't need to be deeper than that. If that. They are basically milking D&D tropes for money by morphing it into something akin to World of Warcraft.<p></p><p>On the other hand, dismissing the system altogether or going for a hybrid system works but means missing out on one big dimension role-playing games have to offer. Still, very much viable. It leads to shorter campaign cycles for those games (down to being nothing more than one-shots), but that can be a benefit as well. Actually, as far as scope goes, there's lots to explore going from the basic premisses D&D formulated back in 1973, not just campaign play.</p><p>And yes, I assume we are still exploring the implications of that first game.<br /></p><p>As for the innovation part ... well, that is a loaded proposal, isn't it? Computer games are dominating to a degree that a direct comparison makes role-playing games look bad. Computer games you can play all the time, any time if you pay the moneys for it. You don't need others or can reach likeminded others easily. It's also a market so powerful that lots of money is spent on research and design (although with making money in mind, not necessarily with creating "good" games). Novelty is high with already decades of products worth exploring and more to come.</p><p>Actually, if things aren't taking a turn for the worse, we are about to see some genuinely mindblowing technological advances in the near future with ai in vr and ar ... That'll be that. For individuals, it is better gaming if it is considered to be the same.<br /></p><p>So one could argue that the window of opportunity to have some meaningful innovation in all thing rpg is closed and done with, which leads to the question "Why even care?". Especially when the popular kids start defining what the game is and that would be something like "analogue computer gaming".</p><p>Which is where we end up with the original premise: computer games ruined leveling up for rpgs, because exploring where that would have led if computer games wouldn't have interferred, might not even be beneficial for the hobby at that point. It's gone too far, so it's ruined.</p><p>That said, this ain't my conclusion yet ...<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Conclusion</span><br /></p><p>For the big finish, I'd say we go and look at this from a First Principle perspective, asking: what can leveling up in a role-playing game do for you? The simple answer would be it supports the campaign arc of a game in a way that makes progress palpable by being part of an important overall structure:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Encounters that accumulate to<br /></li><li>Sessions that accumulate to</li><li>Level Ups that accumulate to</li><li>Campaign Phases (name level & epic level gaming) that accumulate to</li><li>The Campaign</li></ul><p>The original design offered campaign play for years on end. To make that work, every aspect of this needs to work flawlessly to elevate the gaming experience to the next higher part of the structure. You leave something out (or not working), the upper parts will fall short (the shortest form where you are still actually playing would be "Encounters that accumulate to A One-Shot).</p><p>But leveling up carries another important aspect of the game. This is the part where it connects to the Motivation Series: while all other parts of that hierarchy above are basically offered to the players by the game, leveling up is the only one that directly alters their characters in a way that allows them to manipulate the game on the system side of things. Characters get stronger and grow as a system response and not as something developing out of the narrative. It's where players can tinker with their character's system response, if that makes any sense.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9oqyNuyX4cmcZ0PBSAZP8lUGRS6VySENIE0tHqzM6H4LssJK-515J5O325RkgTxFtlme3ER5PtB-Ttp1zAquk0bSqX1vLcbla7isHBinc3g4qayzE2jae4_BzEwDfOKSCjA5rpUmNjragIqB8keI2dH4ATRKA6rlhh8OdeXHtmX8DSseuup2BKMFX/s255/Choice_01.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="255" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9oqyNuyX4cmcZ0PBSAZP8lUGRS6VySENIE0tHqzM6H4LssJK-515J5O325RkgTxFtlme3ER5PtB-Ttp1zAquk0bSqX1vLcbla7isHBinc3g4qayzE2jae4_BzEwDfOKSCjA5rpUmNjragIqB8keI2dH4ATRKA6rlhh8OdeXHtmX8DSseuup2BKMFX/w352-h273/Choice_01.jpeg" width="352" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meaningful choices do matter ... [<a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ0XZSr6nB3pGabfstWND4A1E8i_v3A0AJKwA&usqp=CAU" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>What I'm saying is, if that's done well, it motivates players to invest the huge amount of time it takes to play an original campaign. And we can learn a lot from computer game design in that regard.<p></p><p>However, computer games work in cycles way smaller than what a proper D&D campaign would need, which has us end at an impasse, of sorts, as creating the demand for visually stimulating novelty-impulses in faster and faster cycles is another well working feature of computer games. So what's the take away?<br /></p><p>For me it would be that if designers would not have bowed to popular demand and instead kept working on the original design, we might have now a proper representation of role-playing games in popular culture. Integral part of that would be a design for leveling characters up that helps carrying the social structure role-playing games need to have long campaigns.</p><p>Computer games had some neat ideas in that regard, but since playing computer games mostly seek way faster satisfaction cycles mostly for individual players (or with other players being abstracted to digital entities), it doesn't translate easily AND misses dimensions playing as a group in meatspace would add.</p><p>That means, for all we could learn from computer games (which is a lot), they also undermined role-playing games so profoundly that, paradoxically, the only thing that really could help role-playing games right now, would be to totally distance them from popular gaming culture. Make it a distinct experience, it's own thing. Put an emphasis on the social aspects of the game and give people some additional value they wouldn't gain from playing computer games (personal interaction and growth, for instance).</p><p>To go that way means designing and marketing role-playing games decidedly differently.</p><p>Because computer games ruined leveling up for rpgs ...</p><p>So what do you guys think? You see what I'm seeing? </p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">------------------------ </span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">Still hustling this one: Y</span><span style="font-size: small;">ou can check out a free preview of </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ø2\\'3||, that rpg I wrote,</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/358976/O23--PDF-Collection--Book-Preview-for-the-Game" target="_blank">right here</a> (or go and check out the first reviews <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353636/O23--RolePlaying-in-a-Dystopian-Future" target="_blank">here</a>). I'm (still, but not for long) doing a sale on the game proper ...<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you already checked it out, please know that I
appreciate you :) It'll certainly help to keep the lights on here! I'd love to hear about that, too.<br /></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4p6oL65ZUA8SZGG5UMb4TsEOJiwlqaCP5rrzB2Qg2-Z7kuEmLvvFdkQhvpUHUIKFJ8Ol73AwzypbJLqQ04KxnV2y8RsumKx-1n9sdeJKefDjjNJhQB8DoeMJo0L-joKFGPkA0WyrIDoM/s1466/O-Dummy_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1466" data-original-width="1466" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4p6oL65ZUA8SZGG5UMb4TsEOJiwlqaCP5rrzB2Qg2-Z7kuEmLvvFdkQhvpUHUIKFJ8Ol73AwzypbJLqQ04KxnV2y8RsumKx-1n9sdeJKefDjjNJhQB8DoeMJo0L-joKFGPkA0WyrIDoM/s320/O-Dummy_1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just look at that beauty ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLNcxxPeaNp_o7bkhZCUO16Ynr8dWCpP1On8ZIdfRcSmBxcrp17jdOjFY8GGTcPUL-j4Y55LrKokaXpEfjS28yk7nYfFyDcTo2xtRTn7s-A2IQaVorYevp_K9mKzdEwzNRuPoBDU9DpY/s1169/CheatCollection01_TEST.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLNcxxPeaNp_o7bkhZCUO16Ynr8dWCpP1On8ZIdfRcSmBxcrp17jdOjFY8GGTcPUL-j4Y55LrKokaXpEfjS28yk7nYfFyDcTo2xtRTn7s-A2IQaVorYevp_K9mKzdEwzNRuPoBDU9DpY/s320/CheatCollection01_TEST.png" width="320" /></a></div></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">------------------------ </span></span></span></span></div><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* It was used earlier in social sciences to express a shift in social class towards a higher class, but meant that it leveled upwards in a hierarchy. Arguably, 'to level up' in a gaming context means upping ones level ... Or so the distinction is made.</span><br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-53970658631332763632022-03-27T18:50:00.003+02:002022-03-27T18:51:17.410+02:00be67 Teaser: Full example of Combat in a Sixties Grindhouse Universe<p><i>So before we go into analysing motivations to play a bit more, I got to finish another important part of the rules for be67: there is a complete example of how combat works in the game and as of today, it is written. Since (I assume) lots of people reading this blog are familiar with the D&D RC or some clone of it, I thought it'd be a nice idea to share the example with you for reference and with some context, where needed. I think it is a good representation of how this will resolve at the table and can give you an idea why and how it produces a different playing experience than what you'd expect from a D&D game while using the same rules and principles. If nothing else, you might enjoy it for the story it tells ...</i></p><p>First things first, here is the character sheet of the game:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimnsBum37ygUyTi8iwPu4MItlbqfpnoeQ2irc3KXxjmPntV4Q3B6xlZ7TU6q-YrIFe4k9hnATK0ecK-0xXzTLETk1c_hhXlJ-62oPF0PA-FonCTnNbQm6mlB3v0CdnuKqjUNIBD47wI1HT96LFXSpS85We8FNrOo-s3GrHuUAB1wQALFW5kfVHgez_/s2339/be67_CharSheet_FINAL_04.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2339" data-original-width="1654" height="709" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimnsBum37ygUyTi8iwPu4MItlbqfpnoeQ2irc3KXxjmPntV4Q3B6xlZ7TU6q-YrIFe4k9hnATK0ecK-0xXzTLETk1c_hhXlJ-62oPF0PA-FonCTnNbQm6mlB3v0CdnuKqjUNIBD47wI1HT96LFXSpS85We8FNrOo-s3GrHuUAB1wQALFW5kfVHgez_/w501-h709/be67_CharSheet_FINAL_04.png" width="501" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Open in new tab for more details ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>As you can see, all of it is D&D. Where it diverges, it does so to enhance it's themes. xp are mostly awarded for damage instead of for treasure, that's the main one. But the Token economy the game presents is important in that it allows to factor in two major features a "modern" game needs to address, which are, of course, guns and vehicles. Therefore, AC is opened up to be more flexible, if you spend the Tokens and they aren't countered and using machinery will give a character Vehicle Tokens to do even more in a round of combat (more damage, more movement, more protection, all depending on what you are using).</p><p>Long-time readers might be familiar with some of the ideas here from taht other game I'm writing, Lost Sogs of the Nibelungs (which is still happening, I assure you). If you'd like to see some more details, check out <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2018/04/lets-write-labyrinth-lord-gaming.html" target="_blank">this post about be67</a>. It explains the basics (some of it revised now, but it still will give you a more than complete picture). Echo and other little details explained <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2020/05/be67-round-up-post-revision-basicexpert.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /></p><p>With the above and the example I'm about to share, you should get a pretty complete picture, so here we go (unedited, as of yet):</p><p>
</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b></b></span></span></p><blockquote><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Example:
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Violet
Flemming (The Spy), </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Sam
O’Leary (The Saboteur)</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
and Joel Maddox (The Outlaw) are attempting the assassination of a
streetgang boss that dabbled in Voodoo enough to pose a problem for
some Californian fey because Joel owed them </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">big
time</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
(long story).</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">They
decide for a low effort drive-by shooting. Joel is the driver, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Violet</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
is the one with the rifle </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">riding</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
shotgun</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
Sam is in a hide-out </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">across
the street</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
observing th</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">at</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
dive the gang uses as their headquarters.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">T</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">he
GM calls for Initiative when Sam informs the others </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">via
phone box</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
that the gang is preparing their choppers to leave and Joel </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">puts
the pedal to the </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">metal</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
to get around the corner into the street the bar is in. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">They
need to move fast now.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">This
fight has </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>5
Combat </b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>U</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>nits</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">:
Violet, Joel and Sam, 5 gang members (one Unit) and the </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Voodoo
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Gang
Boss.</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Initiative
is rolled and declared. Joel ends up with the lowest Initiative (</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>3</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">),
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Violet
(</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>7</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">)
is faster than the gang (</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>6</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">),
but not as fast as the boss (</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>9</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">)
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">or</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Sam,
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">who
is the fastest</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
(</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>12</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">).
Since Sam is in hiding and the car is not yet in the street passing
the bar, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">this
is handled as a </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Surprise
Round.</b></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Violet
had already stated that she’d hide the gun until the last moment.
The GM says it’s a tough one to call, since all the gang can be
aware of is a car speeding around the corner and in their general
direction, so the Saves will have a penalty of 3. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Neither
the gang nor the boss make their </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Save
versus Supernatural</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
regarding </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Joel’s</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
intentions. However, the boss had also been faster than Violet, so he
is allowed a </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">second</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
Save to see if </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">more
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">danger
is afoot. A 19! Their eyes meet as the car shoots around the corner
and he sees the death in hers ...</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Next,
the Actions are declared </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">in</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
order from slowest to fastest:</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(<b>Joel</b>,
Initiative 3, 2 Tokens, 3 Vehicle Tokens) Joel’s <b>Free Action</b>
is driving the car fast and safe past the bar while bringing Violet
into a good position to shot. He gives Violet <b>1T Aid</b> and <b>1T
Damage</b>, uses <b>2VT for Movement</b> and <b>1</b><b> VT for Armor
Class</b>, cowering behind the wheel for cover.</span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(<b>The
Gang</b>, Initiative 6, surprised) They keep getting ready to hit the
road, completely unaware.</span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(<b>Violet</b>,
Initiative 7, 3 Tokens, 1 Vehicle Token) Violet’s <b>Free Action</b>
is her Attack (since her cover is blown), she is using <b>2T for
Armor Class</b>, <b>1T Aid</b> for Joel’s driving and uses the <b>1VT</b>
she got as additional <b>Damage Die</b> (it’s a drive-by shooting,
after all … the GM allows it).</span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(<b>Jamal
The Boss</b>, Initiative 9, 3 Tokens) Jamal’s <b>Free Action is
Casting a Spell </b>on Violet to confuse her. He spends <b>2</b><b>T
for AC</b> ducking for cover (just in case) and <b>1T Movement</b> to
draw his gun while shouting at the Gang that shit is going down.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">(</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Sam</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
Initiative 12, 4 Tokens) Sam </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>skips
his Free Action</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
He wants to be on top of the situation next round if this goes
sideways. He gives Violet </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>1T
Aid</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
for her Save versus Supernatural (the Spell Jamal is preparing) and
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>1T
Damage</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
just to be on the safe side. The remaining </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>2T
go into Countering</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
Jamal’s ducking for cover completely. He describes his support and
counter as “Shouting at Jamal from across the street and giving him
the finger”.</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Example
(cont. </b><b>from p. XX</b><b>):</b> Initiative is resolved from
fastest to slowest. Sam skips his Free Action and uses his Tokens to
hinder Jamal from taking cover and supporting Violet’s Save versus
Supernatural (by shouting and giving Jamal the finger). Since he is
the fastest, no one can counter his Combat Actions and it works out
as described.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Next
up is Jamal. The Spell can’t be countered with Combat Actions,
since it’s a Free Action, so this happens unchallenged a well.
Violet feels like she’s getting lost in Jamal’s eyes and starts
hearing drums and ecstatic singing in foreign voices in the distance.
To avoid the effects of the spell, she’s entitled a Save versus
Supernatural </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
has Sam’s support, so she rolls 1d20+1d4 … an 18 and a 3! So she
shakes it off and lifts her rifle to take her shot while Jamal is
checking out who strange guy across the street is and why he’s so
mean to him. Doing that, he totally forgets to jump for cover (no
additional AC), but he manages to warn the gang and gets his shotgun
ready for next round.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Violet
is next, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">but
since Joel’s driving roll is necessary to get her into position
(and might fail at that), Joel has to resolve his Free Action first
(driving the car as fast as possible past the bar).</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Joel
has a DEX of 13 and a bit of a past as a Demolition Derby driver that
brings a +4 to the Skill Test </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and there's
another 1d4 Aid from Violet as well</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
so the roll is 1d20+13+4</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">+1d4</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
versus a difficulty the GM declares to be 30 … </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
ends up rolling a 3 </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">with
the d20</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
a 4 with the d4</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
which leaves him </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">6</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
points short (3+13+4</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">+4</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">=2</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">4</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">).
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Not
good, but no one is offering to sacrifice Funk for this, so the group
accepts this as being a failure.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
GM declares that Joel miscalculates the turn, overwinds the steering
wheel, botches his gear shifting and ends up rolling down the street
towards the bar with a stalled motor. Violet’s shot will get a
-</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">2</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
as well, as this, if nothing else, annoys her as hell.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Still,
this might work out </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">after
all</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
them </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">still</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
having surprise, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">so
next is Violet with her </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">pistol</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
versus Jamal’s AC of 9</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">She
gets to roll 1d20 </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">with
a +3 for her high DEX, a </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">+1d4
due to Joel supporting her (he at least steers her enough into
position to get a proper shot) </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
the -3 for Joel being an idiot driver</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
Her d4 turns out to be a 1, but the d20 is critical, a 20! </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">And
she is on a roll, as the d12 for Echo is a 12, which leads to the
second Echo Roll (a d10) and ends the streak with a solid 8. That is
another 20 to her </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">result
of 21 (20+1+3-3), all in all a brutal 41.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">There
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">was</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
much rejoicing at the table.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">After
a critical result like that, a lot is happening, so the GM starts
with the 20 and its Echo results: the 12 is the death sentence </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">and
also comes with an extra attack</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">.
Jamal is gone for good. Since he had his declared Actions already,
the Voodoo Priest doesn’t even get a chance for his Dead Man’s
Ten. The 8 has Violet in the highest possible, so she receives Double
XP for </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">learning
something there</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">,
</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">earns
a permanent +4 circumstantial bonus against streetgangs. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">She
also gets to describe this fatal blow and all gang members in sight
have to make a Morale Check with a penalty of 4 to not flee in
terror. It even leaves her with a Nickname (the group is undecided
between “Voodon’t” and “Voodoo Chill”) and she gets to have
an additional 1d6 with her next Initiative, with enough time to have
a victory dance as well. The GM makes a note that the fey will give
her a special little something for the beautiful work she has done
here. A death so beautiful, generations to come will tell its tale …</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">Anyway,
next for the Damage proper, as there are xp to be had for it. Her
Small Ranged Weapon Mastery is at d6, Sam had spent a Token to raise
that, so for this hit it is a d8. The h</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">e</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">ight
of the result determines the number of d8, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">so</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
that’d be 6d8 with her result of 41. But she’d used </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">1</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">VT
for an additional Damage Die, so she rolls 7d8 for </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">35
points of</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
damage. Jamal was a 5HD+2 Voodoo Priest with </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">21
Hit Points, which means 14 Points are left as Environmental Damage.</span></span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
player’s description: “So while Joel is driving like an idiot,
working hard on making this mission a failure, a great calm comes
over Violet as she lifts her pistol and focuses on that priest. That
spell does nothing to her. If anything, it helps her focusing. Time
slows down and she sees the paths of the bullets before they leave
the barrel. Almost leisurely, she empties the gun into the guy. The
giant bar window in the background explodes around his convulsing
body and I’d say she even hits some neon sign behind the window,
adding sparks to the whole scene (the GM allows it). But the kicker
is that the Voodoo gangster is standing right next to one of those
bikes and the tank is hit as well, which makes the bike go ‘BOOM’
and engulfs him in burning oil. So now he’s also burning and
stumbling towards his gang before he falls down twitching. He’s not
screaming anymore, as his lungs are burnt, but the black smoke rising
above the burning body looks like the faces of some damned souls or
something because he’s a Voodoo Priest, you know, and there is a
wheezing sound no one can explain … That should do it.”</span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And
indeed, none of them make their Morale Check, they all flee in
terror.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">The
player also announces that she’d use her second attack to blow up
one of the other bikes as well, at best one in the middle so that an
explosion could have them go boom as well. Since this actually
resolve the whole Combat, the GM decides that no more rolls are
necessary </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">for
that to happen. Joel panicky restarts the car with Violet screaming
into his ear to get moving while emptying another magazine into the
row of motorcycles while Joel is making a more subtle exit. T</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">he</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">y</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
accelerate past the bar </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">while</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
the bikes start showing some flames </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">from
the hail of bullets</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">
and as they make for the corner away from the bar, all of the bikes
explode in a ball of light and smoke while Violet is having her
victory dance in the car.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }</style></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">It
earns Violet the INSTANT KILL and the CINEMATICS AWARD (see
Character Progression, p. XX). Fun was had.</span></span></p></blockquote><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"></span></span></p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }</style></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyCGB2LtDKGhRGuFn9NlukPYvatd_i2MJO6lmFG4SzNAbgGeYwg2AgjvNxYduiyH4dFVs94PueFWv2UBT7Kb3QonhRtQK35WoPm-Museet0iMEVRjdBBpJwk3GiPjnRJI6fxnfWfAJgdbh1d0HLQKTowPO7fStS3pqqLmAD3efYW9pMWpVGnEqJxwx/s460/Victory_Dance_01.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="460" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyCGB2LtDKGhRGuFn9NlukPYvatd_i2MJO6lmFG4SzNAbgGeYwg2AgjvNxYduiyH4dFVs94PueFWv2UBT7Kb3QonhRtQK35WoPm-Museet0iMEVRjdBBpJwk3GiPjnRJI6fxnfWfAJgdbh1d0HLQKTowPO7fStS3pqqLmAD3efYW9pMWpVGnEqJxwx/s320/Victory_Dance_01.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fun was had, indeed ... [<a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e7/90/54/e79054a95f03d2b854dd4fa2dc42216f.gif" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>So now you know why I call it a "Retroclone Mutant" ... it is the D&D RC but with a twist (my revised house rules, basically). Players will get awards for spectacularly bloody murder and grindhouse-worthy theatrics in what plays like an adult sixties urban fantasy setting. It'll also feature 7+ new classes with some tools to do your own and rules to integrate existing classes into the game as well as rules to alter existing modules and gaming materials into be67.</p><p>If that tickles your funny bone, this will be a treat for you. For sure. It's a bit more complex than your average "old school" D&D, but not more so than, say, proper AD&D would be if played RAW. I like it that way. I know I'm not alone.</p><p>Anyway, that's it for today. I hope this will generate some interest for the game. As always, I'll be happy to get some feedback on this, so what do you guys think?</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">------------------------ </span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">While we are at it: Y</span><span style="font-size: small;">ou can check out a free preview of </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ø2\\'3||, that other rpg I wrote,</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/358976/O23--PDF-Collection--Book-Preview-for-the-Game" target="_blank">right here</a> (or go and check out the first reviews <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353636/O23--RolePlaying-in-a-Dystopian-Future" target="_blank">here</a>). I'm still doing a sale on the game proper ...<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you already checked it out, please know that I
appreciate you :) It'll certainly help to keep the lights on here! I'd love to hear about that, too.<br /></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4p6oL65ZUA8SZGG5UMb4TsEOJiwlqaCP5rrzB2Qg2-Z7kuEmLvvFdkQhvpUHUIKFJ8Ol73AwzypbJLqQ04KxnV2y8RsumKx-1n9sdeJKefDjjNJhQB8DoeMJo0L-joKFGPkA0WyrIDoM/s1466/O-Dummy_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1466" data-original-width="1466" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4p6oL65ZUA8SZGG5UMb4TsEOJiwlqaCP5rrzB2Qg2-Z7kuEmLvvFdkQhvpUHUIKFJ8Ol73AwzypbJLqQ04KxnV2y8RsumKx-1n9sdeJKefDjjNJhQB8DoeMJo0L-joKFGPkA0WyrIDoM/s320/O-Dummy_1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just look at that beauty ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLNcxxPeaNp_o7bkhZCUO16Ynr8dWCpP1On8ZIdfRcSmBxcrp17jdOjFY8GGTcPUL-j4Y55LrKokaXpEfjS28yk7nYfFyDcTo2xtRTn7s-A2IQaVorYevp_K9mKzdEwzNRuPoBDU9DpY/s1169/CheatCollection01_TEST.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLNcxxPeaNp_o7bkhZCUO16Ynr8dWCpP1On8ZIdfRcSmBxcrp17jdOjFY8GGTcPUL-j4Y55LrKokaXpEfjS28yk7nYfFyDcTo2xtRTn7s-A2IQaVorYevp_K9mKzdEwzNRuPoBDU9DpY/s320/CheatCollection01_TEST.png" width="320" /></a></div></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">------------------------ </span></span></span></span></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-67707477844314944412022-03-20T12:44:00.018+01:002022-03-20T13:39:30.393+01:00How our motivations to play RPGs hints towards what we should play (and why that matters) Part 1<p><i>The blog is 10 years now and I have mostly been talking about gaming philosophy and design. The way I see it, I tried to explain (to me, if for no one else) what this hobby is. At times I tried to go a step further, I think, and aimed for some more substantial, more 'usable' content, building on the established insights. I would argue that writing and publishing games and modules was/is one way to do just that: applying what I had learned filling this blog with words. I feel I am at an impass right now, where what I did here should come to an end (of sorts) and my new focus should be on publishing ... And then I realized that I hadn't been giving this blog a chance to grow into its next stage: if I feel I'm done exploring, I should start doing something new instead of mapping. </i></p><p><i> Here is Part 1 of an attempt, as this will be a long one again ...</i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Preface: where to go, and from where?</span><br /></p><p>With knowing what motivations keep players engaged and how that may relate to different kinds of role-playing games or styles of play, we should be able to make some conclusions about what players we should seek for certain games or what new games might work with existing groups.</p><p>That's the premise of this post.</p><p>To do this with any kind of benefit, we need to take a close look at what motivates people in general, which (naturally) heavily leans into the psychological. If you are a reader of this blog, you know I dabble in these topics. I am, however, at best somewhat well-read on those subjects (in general) and bring some extensive experience to the table, as far as role-playing games are concerned. I'm not a scientist. Not even an academic, actually (I'll spare you the Elon Musk quote I keep telling myself in that regard).</p><p>So, this will be what it will be. As usual. I'll quote sources for the bigger claims, but in general, as per what I wrote in the beginning, I've thought about this a long time and should be able to make my argument without bigger meta-texts.</p><p>To get a complete picture here, we also need a firm understanding of how many different <i>types</i> or role-playing games there are. Maybe even, how different styles of play with one game can draw different crowds. Although I'd have to say that, from a design standpoint, if you play a game other than within what the game offers, you are playing something else just claiming you are playing said game, which circles back to the original questions: what kinds of rpg exist and why are they different.</p><p>If we manage to get a grip on all that AND manage to work out some significant relations between the two categories, we got a stew going ...</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhG0wbj_egPY37HgbeHniQdHkoTAZqOSBYboJdjBXME_7ZGkkzpnHfJs1WcIio069swbA4EgWj4bDFYFY_XDKdZNnxyqofLC8Xxc6GXTxZsLXM9FrmSLJDIkV6Zus8xQc-8Pz9O-c9INV9B62acJ5e1wbTUpVVDvGKVimN_F2EXDuFSEGIdwkS8PNzW=s385" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="385" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhG0wbj_egPY37HgbeHniQdHkoTAZqOSBYboJdjBXME_7ZGkkzpnHfJs1WcIio069swbA4EgWj4bDFYFY_XDKdZNnxyqofLC8Xxc6GXTxZsLXM9FrmSLJDIkV6Zus8xQc-8Pz9O-c9INV9B62acJ5e1wbTUpVVDvGKVimN_F2EXDuFSEGIdwkS8PNzW=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.g37SUR7w02uAQSToIRPwYgAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>What helped conceiving the idea for this post was a yt video about how personality affects what computer games we want to play. I thought the video somewhat lackluster in that it basically states that your preferences somewhat correlate with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits" target="_blank">The Big Five</a> ... Yeah, no shit Sherlock.</p><p>If you are more assertive, you like competing with others, if you are more creative, you like creating shit, if you are more neurotic you like more weird shit. And so on. Not necessarily ground breaking, unless you've never heard of The Big Five (find the video <a href="https://youtu.be/gvjVP56r0BA" target="_blank">here</a>).</p><p>The vlogger also claims that others did some profound research on the topic and shared a link to a survey (<a href="https://apps.quanticfoundry.com/surveys/start/gamerprofile/" target="_blank">here</a>) that'll give you some fancy label (Bard, Gardener, Architect, etc.) after you shared your preferences ... It's quite short, as far as surfeys go, and from what I could gather from others doing it, the results had been mixed or (very generally) accurate. But it ended in an "if you liked this, you might like this" kind of scheme and after thinking about it some more, I came to the conclusion that I don't trust their effort.<br /></p><p>For one, the gaming industry at large is way more about how to make a player base dependant than about their motivations. They want you addicted to computer games, end of story ... and a very different set of psychology (addictive, dopamin producing gaming loops, that kind of design). Their approach is so different and sales related, that it really doesn't apply in what we are looking for (in other words, the motivation big corp is looking for is somewhat lesser in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs" target="_blank">hierarchy of needs</a>, might even be unhealthy and subverting it in order to gain a buck).</p><p>Think about it: consumption is our weakest impulse, or say, our weakest state. If you are doing things, you'll consume less. Or even the other way around, once you stop consuming, you'll start being active one way or another.<br /></p><p>Here's my takeaway from that video linked above (or another vlogger? can't remember). He (or someone else) said at one point that he has more computer game backlog than future, and that's ... concerning, isn't it? Especially considering that it won't stop a gamer from buying even more.</p><p>I mean, I'm no stranger to the problem. I own too many books, computer and role-playing games. Way more than I'm likely to have use for within my lifespan. Pretty sure I'll keep buying them and I'm writing some more, just to add to the pile. The difference is (or so I keep telling myself) that I actually work with the material ...</p><p>And I'm a collector! That's really important, right? Right?! <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4UBoGxXc89PoqVoGwrBXtMCAJe9tJVefMoyfdFSoq8icmPZArgkJxvqFlsWG8nEuXfl4cgikQj1IaMVlXSVUO-TC7jfAgtR5M6ArRBrZ5XcCFRY_Y022SwGZ9PMKodk1ODsCmT2KldJ4qj03UEHfCbwDNhkK-BJLD388HcFoXPzk1ZI822TLkXSJp=s460" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="460" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4UBoGxXc89PoqVoGwrBXtMCAJe9tJVefMoyfdFSoq8icmPZArgkJxvqFlsWG8nEuXfl4cgikQj1IaMVlXSVUO-TC7jfAgtR5M6ArRBrZ5XcCFRY_Y022SwGZ9PMKodk1ODsCmT2KldJ4qj03UEHfCbwDNhkK-BJLD388HcFoXPzk1ZI822TLkXSJp=w421-h404" width="421" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still like coming home ... [<a href="https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/a0Q0W9O_460s.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Anyway, I digress. Role-playing games originally came with the premise that all you'll ever need is that one game, which is completely not what you'd want to sell as a product, if you try to earn money with it. That premise still holds somewhat true (although it's constantly subverted and undermined), and playing role-playing games can have honest-to-god benefits for those engaging in them (as do computer games, btw).</p><p>It's the reason for their popularity, I'd wager, and it's our approach for mapping possible motivations to engage with the hobby.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">We need to talk about what we are not talking about ...</span><br /></p><p>Alright, as established in the preface, we aim to look at "healthy" motivations and how those are satisfied by playing certain kinds of role-playing games.<br /></p><p>By way of exclusion, however, we should start by pointing out motivations that might apply but tend to be based on unhealthy impulses and are therefor to be avoided, or at least not supported.<br /></p><p>Here's why one propably shouldn't play role-playing games:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>out of BOREDOM</li><li>out of OBLIGATION</li><li>out of ADDICTION <br /></li><li>as a form of CONSUMPTION</li><li>as an outlet for DISCONTENT</li><li>...</li></ul><p>Not sure if this list is exhaustive (it's close, I think), but the main theme here is that you shouldn't just play for reasons that have nothing to do with playing the game, so it should be able to bring the point home. External factors will always try to intrude a game one way or another. People have bad days or bad cases of ego or are in a slump for one reason or another. It happens. It's just, when it is the SOLE motivation to participate, it will create problems down the road.</p><p>Bored players might get bored by the game or engage in something else, obligations might change, addictions might interfere with the game (switching from, say, coming to drink and play, to just drinking and ignoring the game), the novelty necessary for consumption fades or the antics grounded in a persons general discontent starts hurting others (a good example here might be the attention whore that uses the game as a platform to present themselves, another one would be someone trying to live out some extreme desire that way).</p><p>Again, I could go on, but the point remains that all of those might motivate all players to one degree or another one time or another, but if it's the sole motivation (or ends up to be, as those things might change over time as well), it's no good for the game or those involved. <br /></p><p>Since people with unhealthy motivations like that are usually not that aware of it, it's a group effort to work out solutions how to handle it. However, that might be fodder for another post*.</p><p>What we should talk about, now, are healthy motivations to play role-playing games.<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">5 is a good number ... </span></p><p>What could be considered "healthy" motivations? In general, it is obvious to assume that all of them will be somehow related to some form of personal growth. To go with Maslow again:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7R7Z0yirY-FdOYA4ahSn0VzYkX0JkvXL-iEI14Kzu9wEVi34KGjr4gHLiFFei0iyPyOjvfa1WHTyUP6aElCchrOjxv5fmZYaAVqxxCKvSdKPmysUfDNv841TlbCS1RtZpuVV6sPdw0KYWYzpMWqAAYD7JwjeLfc6VPosm02UqUIeNEXKbRYtNreIA=s593" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="593" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7R7Z0yirY-FdOYA4ahSn0VzYkX0JkvXL-iEI14Kzu9wEVi34KGjr4gHLiFFei0iyPyOjvfa1WHTyUP6aElCchrOjxv5fmZYaAVqxxCKvSdKPmysUfDNv841TlbCS1RtZpuVV6sPdw0KYWYzpMWqAAYD7JwjeLfc6VPosm02UqUIeNEXKbRYtNreIA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ideally, you should be in the upper half** [<a href="Furthermore, it is important to stress that in order to have the game resulting in growth, we need to recognize said potential and make it available by providing a gaming experiences correlating with the motivation." target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>What we individually seek for growth would be related to the Big Five linked above, so this is about circumstances first, and then defined by preferences. Still, I'll be making an abstract leap here, not directly linking the motivations with The Big Five.</p><p>For one, all five are manifest in all of us, with the mean being in the average and the interesting extremes quite rare. We also can be in conflict with them (or our surroundings are in conflict with how they manifest in us) and they change with age. So while it is possible to get a snapshot of an individual's personality with a test, it is not necessarily a convenient approach to motivate said individual to play (correlation needn't be causation and all that).</p><p>Because that's the thing with growth: it is what we think we need to develop our personality in a direction, something we <i>feel</i> necessary. Not what we are (or the result of a test), but what we want to become. Hence, as far as motivations go, I'm thinking of them as offerings, as invitations to play. A bit like the unhealthy examples above are signs that show someone plays for reasons other than playing (looking closer at those 'bad' motivations, I'm pretty sure you'll find some form of deficiancy or even trauma that makes the motivation manifest ... that's just not necessary to determine if it helps the game or not).<br /></p><p>So here are possible motivations for playing role-playing games (as far as I can see):<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>DOING something meaningful (mainly socialicing with others for a collective experience ... leveling up, campaign play, those things)<br /></li><li>LEARNING something meaningful (collecting experiences & testing approaches to reality)</li><li>COMPETING meaningfully (negotiation, tactics & strategy)<br /></li><li>BEING someone meaningful (exploring who you are or aren't & why)</li><li>CREATING something meaningful (a game, an experience, a story)<br /></li></ul><p>See? It's about what a DM/group/game can offer that potentially triggers <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation#Types_of_motivation" target="_blank"><i>intrinsic</i></a> motivations to engage. I'd be willing to bet that there are people looking for all five and that there are groups with games that allow for the full spectrum (although quite rare!). However, more often than not people will only be interested in parts (those interested in BEING someone would maybe not have much fun with playing a more tactical game or with people coming with a COMPETING mindset, for instance).</p><p>They all intermingle, of course, but the main point here is that those motivations are so distinct and necessitate flow states so differing that it might need role-playing games with just as differing design approaches to keep players properly motivated.</p><p>But before we can tackle that, it needs a bit of an excursion about the science of "fun".</p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Motivation = Flow State = FUN</span> <br /></p><p>First of all, as soon as I start going down these roads, someone gets ready to point out that we are "just playing for the fun of it". As in: we don't have to think too hard about it, we know what it means to have fun. End of argument ... or is it?</p><p>Actually, what it is, is called a "<a href="https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/rhetological-fallacies/" target="_blank">rhetological fallacy</a>". Several, to be a bit more precise here. For one, it is a Sweeping Generalisation to assume all fun has the same cause (playing=fun), but one could also argue that it also describes the fallacies of the Undistributed Middle (by basically saying fun=fun) and it is also, and I quote from the page: Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (Claiming two events that occur together must have a cause-and-effect relationship. (Correlation = cause)) or, to play is to have fun ... </p><p>You see what I'm hinting at? Fun can be several things, is actually derived from several very different things, and can definitely had for the wrong reasons. Those "unhealthy" examples I wrote about earlier? There are people that will have FUN destroying your game or making someone else unhappy or pushing others aside to have the undivided attention of the group or ... I could go on.</p><p>I'd go as far as saying that you'd need to surround yourself with people that have the "same understanding" of what fun is, but how helpful is that? It directly leads to questions of "why are you playing" or "what games do you like", as if that was conclusive enough (it usually isn't, really). So going with motivations is a good bet, imo. It's easier to say what interests you enough to make a commitment.</p><p>How's that, though?<br /></p><p>There is one approach to this that makes the most sense to me, and that'd be that we are looking for activities that help us experiencing something that is called a "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)" target="_blank">flow state</a>". It describes a phase of perception that is so dissolved in an activity, that we can "lose ourselves in it", or in other words, moments where our consciousness is reduced and we experience immersion.</p><p>Now, the conditions to reach a state like that can be summoned as follows:<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilDUNuNplhw7kbx7OGIBzaPh8igfgS0QxSVCwjwHQHelBMiLfStEp_Q9DuYdY3-HNlIZFxDBuC3OWiMY8qpqlo79GUTapA6gU5cmNFBM5jie7DRraxZC72CKiMXfdEcBaJ-to1pd-yzwgr5jDZ4NM408jdm-qG8e0i-LDnZTbTZ-0ymjpx6K3BUDUN=s300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilDUNuNplhw7kbx7OGIBzaPh8igfgS0QxSVCwjwHQHelBMiLfStEp_Q9DuYdY3-HNlIZFxDBuC3OWiMY8qpqlo79GUTapA6gU5cmNFBM5jie7DRraxZC72CKiMXfdEcBaJ-to1pd-yzwgr5jDZ4NM408jdm-qG8e0i-LDnZTbTZ-0ymjpx6K3BUDUN" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Challenge_vs_skill.svg/300px-Challenge_vs_skill.svg.png" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table><p>What it says, is, that when your skill level is high and matches the challenge level, you can experience a flow state (which also implies continual growth, as you'll see). If your skill is higher than the challenge level, you are either in control, or, if the challenge level is really low, you are relaxed.</p><p>However, if you are not as skilled as you could be, a low challenge will result in boredom. Why boredom? My guess would be that "high" in that regard must mean a limitation you have reached and are aware of (as in "highest possible at the time", while medium means you are aware that you haven't reached said limit, and that would make a medium challenge "boring" as it only matches the state you already reached but will not grow your skill.</p><p>I think the rest explains itself easily (also I don't see medium skill to medium level explained here ...). Apathy describes a state where offer (the challenge) and motivation (a skill to use) don't match to the point of disinterest. Low skill level versus high challenge is way more intimidating than facing a medium challenge, but both are daunting. Medium skill versus high challenge level, finally, is arousing in that it describes the tension that the challenged is aware that their skill might not be enough, but they have a chance to still overcome.</p><p>Frustration, then (missing on the chart, but one wonders ...), would be when arousel violently turns into anxiety due to the forced insight that one's skill is way lower than expected. That's just me guessing here :D<br /></p><p>Btw, notice how the word "fun" never enters the equation?</p><p>Anyway, ideally we move in the realm of medium to high challenges with medium to high skills. That'd at least guaranty a somewhat pleasant experience (none of the words in that spectrum imply a negative experience). If all involved are high level, a bit of low challenge to keep things relaxed might work as well, if the dose is kept low or there is a good reason for it (high level skill playing with low level skill, for instance).</p><p>One can easily see how players with a high skill level could help adjusting the difficulty level for those players with lower skills or how highly skilled Gamemasters would be able to establish the skill level of their players ...</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuNzejT6ekoAFnwKLmtpBLGJN31LrjIdoaJvU8Ck2l6PvoIK-2EiCYJiRLSXsG0L-zrvhxob7aL0isF6llSqgZnQjjvALM3grlGQa6b0mTVfT_COTKuePBOVgdphUZrQAkUNl8LEYu9Vg7nlPT8IbZ_xtIxutEXnbiOwUaH6et5FWcvRpd4nAuy0Fc=s932" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuNzejT6ekoAFnwKLmtpBLGJN31LrjIdoaJvU8Ck2l6PvoIK-2EiCYJiRLSXsG0L-zrvhxob7aL0isF6llSqgZnQjjvALM3grlGQa6b0mTVfT_COTKuePBOVgdphUZrQAkUNl8LEYu9Vg7nlPT8IbZ_xtIxutEXnbiOwUaH6et5FWcvRpd4nAuy0Fc=s320" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For the wife ... [<a href="https://www.askideas.com/media/41/Awesome-Ninja-Skills-I-Has-Dem-Funny-Squirrel-Meme-Picture.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>That said, the flow state is where it's at. From experience I would say no flow state will last for an entire session. I'm not even sure that it would be something to seek, to be honest. But I know that it can happen several times in a game, sometimes even with all involved at the same time. And those are always the moments where you get better at "the game". <p></p><p>At this point we have two of three aspects down that describe how motivation manifests. It needs something you want to get better at (the skill***) and a desirable emotional condition that can be achieved while you are getting better (the flow state). What we've not been talking about so far, would be how that connects with the five "good" motivations described above. Why have skills related to "gaming"?</p><p>Well, for one, the skills aren't "for gaming" necessarily, but should be generally applicable instead. Just like shown in the list above, playing role-playing games could allow for several areas of growth through playing that are connected, but also describe strong motivations on their own. Another good description of the mindset necessary for this kind of intrinsic motivation would be the japanese philosophy associated with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai" target="_blank">Ikigai</a> (basically about filling your life with meaningful activity).</p><p>So that third aspect is about having or cultivating a mindset for growth. Not "just" playing to play, but seeing (or at least assuming) that there is meaning to it. There's even some neurological science to this that shows how we can "hack" our brains to produce dopamine from "just" doing things: you basically learn to work towards a goal through stress with completion being the gratification ... you can strive just on that without extrinsic (often unhealthy!) factors.</p><p>You see, the science behind that is actually quite solid, even from yet another scientific angle. A good introduction into the topic can be had in <a href="https://youtu.be/SwQhKFMxmDY" target="_blank">this interview</a> with Dr. Andrew Huberman (Huberman Labs) and I had written about it (in a somewhat different context) in <a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2021/02/another-exorcism-of-thoughts-who-are.html" target="_blank">this post</a>.<br /></p><p>There you have it, your recipe for "fun". As a last thing I'd mention that there is the concept of "group flow", since we are here talking about people playing a game in a group. Mass psychology has a couple of twists to it, as we act somewhat differently in a group than we would alone.</p><p>I decided not to go into it, since it is easily enough explained with what musicians, for instance, do and my argument would be that if the motivations align, it'll produce the desired effect following the same principles described above. For now I see no benefit in going down that specific rabbit hole beyond mentioning that there is something to that aspect as well.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">That's already lots of words ...</span><br /></p><p>The next post will be about looking how those 5 intrinsic motivations interact with each other as well as recognizing and utilizing different types of role-playing games. It should close with some words on what we could do with categories like that. Just not in this post. It is a lot to digest as it is, I guess (I thought about making this here two posts to begin with, but I couldn't decide where to make the cut, so here we are).</p><p>Only if we on the producing end take our hobby serious, we can make meaningful contributions to it. For that, we need to take a close look at what we have here, define it and go from there. Map it, then formulate ways to navigate it. I think intrinsic motivations are the way to go, in all dimensions of this (me writing this, you reading this, we playing this ...). I hope I was able to contribute to that a bit.</p><p>As I said in the beginning: I've done a lot of mapping here over the years and it started to feel as if I'd seen enough to believe I've seen it all. Which I haven't obviously, but there is a point where you need to use a higher resolution to get somewhere new. I'm still feeling my way towards that.<br /></p><p>So what do you guys think? What's your take on how the five motivations I pointed out interact? I have an approach for that in mind (a quite surprising one, I hope, but working very well), and it should be interesting to explore it ... but I'm, naturally, curious to see what people think as well!<br /></p><p>Also, what benefits do you guys see in this approach, if at all? Better marketing? Better designs? Would it help asserting the quality of role-playing games out there? Could it be used to usher in a new appreciation for the hobby? What are your thoughts?</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQTz3bC4NS1-5VOnZxWGijV8A1lgiva5Oe2k6uQHa1ZRrWUUgFlKq56dv-tq66vghyOWEKKr_guBDKHK2M5qYnPdXFvIC1B8I7OUFewW0br2I02wdsdhFoTJKZTVv6t-agMC7Kmt0iYWplLDt_mEVZ5oN388ZaskEiEj_IjHj0Wa7iw7qTCwKOTSsg=s640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="391" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQTz3bC4NS1-5VOnZxWGijV8A1lgiva5Oe2k6uQHa1ZRrWUUgFlKq56dv-tq66vghyOWEKKr_guBDKHK2M5qYnPdXFvIC1B8I7OUFewW0br2I02wdsdhFoTJKZTVv6t-agMC7Kmt0iYWplLDt_mEVZ5oN388ZaskEiEj_IjHj0Wa7iw7qTCwKOTSsg=s320" width="196" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Different flow state. Ha! [<a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/97/07/fa/9707fad4abb38cbefde68cd5a72fb2a2.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">------------------------ </span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">Tooting my own horn a bit: Y</span><span style="font-size: small;">ou can check out a free preview of </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ø2\\'3|| </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/358976/O23--PDF-Collection--Book-Preview-for-the-Game" target="_blank">right here</a> (or go and check out the first reviews <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353636/O23--RolePlaying-in-a-Dystopian-Future" target="_blank">here</a>). I'm still doing a sale on the game proper ...<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you already checked it out, please know that I
appreciate you :) It'll certainly help to keep the lights on here! I'd love to hear about that, too.<br /></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4p6oL65ZUA8SZGG5UMb4TsEOJiwlqaCP5rrzB2Qg2-Z7kuEmLvvFdkQhvpUHUIKFJ8Ol73AwzypbJLqQ04KxnV2y8RsumKx-1n9sdeJKefDjjNJhQB8DoeMJo0L-joKFGPkA0WyrIDoM/s1466/O-Dummy_1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1466" data-original-width="1466" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4p6oL65ZUA8SZGG5UMb4TsEOJiwlqaCP5rrzB2Qg2-Z7kuEmLvvFdkQhvpUHUIKFJ8Ol73AwzypbJLqQ04KxnV2y8RsumKx-1n9sdeJKefDjjNJhQB8DoeMJo0L-joKFGPkA0WyrIDoM/s320/O-Dummy_1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just look at that beauty ...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLNcxxPeaNp_o7bkhZCUO16Ynr8dWCpP1On8ZIdfRcSmBxcrp17jdOjFY8GGTcPUL-j4Y55LrKokaXpEfjS28yk7nYfFyDcTo2xtRTn7s-A2IQaVorYevp_K9mKzdEwzNRuPoBDU9DpY/s1169/CheatCollection01_TEST.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkLNcxxPeaNp_o7bkhZCUO16Ynr8dWCpP1On8ZIdfRcSmBxcrp17jdOjFY8GGTcPUL-j4Y55LrKokaXpEfjS28yk7nYfFyDcTo2xtRTn7s-A2IQaVorYevp_K9mKzdEwzNRuPoBDU9DpY/s320/CheatCollection01_TEST.png" width="320" /></a></div></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">------------------------ </span></span></span></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">*Well, that sounded a bit more dramatic than it needed to. I had all those players. the girlfriend playing out of obligation, the party guy who thought this was just another form of party (and played along until he one time brought way too much beer to the game and started to get drunk on his own as everyone else was there to play). I had the player who just came to be passively entertained (as if he was seeing a play, I guess ... he was always surprised when I asked him if he wanted to do something). I had the players that started out of boredom and moved on quickly after that and I even had the players will some unhealthy impulses they tried to vent in the game ... None of them stayed, and it almost always ended with some drama, but in my experience it's all just trial and error and a solid group can take a curveball or two like that. Still, knowing is half the battle, right?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">**There is a possible therapeutic dimension to playing role-playing games. It can help with self-actualisation, socialisation and so on and so forth. Trauma, even. That's just a completely different ball-park and I'd wager that you do not just need to be a great Gamemaster to pull that off, but you'd also need some form of certified training to even go there. Maybe (and that's a big maybe) a solid rpg group can give a kid a feeling of belonging and self esteem has even a good possibility of manifesting, I think. But if it needs therapy, you shouldn't assume you could be the cure JUST by playing a game. You'd have to bring more to the table than that. That said, I might add that it is a great educational tool and role-playing has been used successfully in therapy. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">***I could easily off script here and lose myself in how this is a great argument for why it not only needs "player skill", but how it is unavoidable, a necessity even. I won't. Or rather, I did that already in another post (<a href="https://the-disoriented-ranger.blogspot.com/2016/07/narrative-flow-vs-player-skill.html" target="_blank">here</a>), defining player skill as: </span> </p><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: x-small;">So what is player skill? As a consequence of the argument I'm making here, it is using player communication with system and DM to inform a narrative beneficially towards the goals all participants formulated in the game they are playing by narrowing down the narrative options to a manageable scale.</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Read the post for details :) </span></p><p><br /></p><p></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617677799085549365.post-77342413195754989912022-03-03T16:22:00.003+01:002022-03-03T16:26:41.960+01:00Introducing The be67 Bubblegum Barometer & talking state of the blog<p><i>Hey folks, it's been a while ... Mainly due to us moving to greener pastures (will miss Leipzig somewhat, still, we had to get going), but also because our internet moved waaaaaay slower than we did and that resulted in me not being able to do any proper blogging last month. Also other things I had to put some work in. It had been a tough couple of weeks, all things considered. I'm mostly pretty plastered (moving out with renovation, moving in with lots of new furniture and some renovation, some bureaurocratic shenanigans, taxes and so on and so forth). Hence the update here on the blog only today, with some extra content from the upcoming Retroclone Mutant be67 ...</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhoHXqnlJsCO8PA4xyATI8Cgh8QP7e-zL96joXWDeum-vXk-eDV4AyqEKpjNoeZczNDfaxIhfcJlcePjhOK-z8-k30XbMwPxsDHAYOA0_5KbikxK_ZSmIEPcqdnjQrXWzC4z5uF4e6nnNNuixiVunXj4YvmHfni56fbLFbmQHVusmgHtdUuPICCxKn2=s474" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="474" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhoHXqnlJsCO8PA4xyATI8Cgh8QP7e-zL96joXWDeum-vXk-eDV4AyqEKpjNoeZczNDfaxIhfcJlcePjhOK-z8-k30XbMwPxsDHAYOA0_5KbikxK_ZSmIEPcqdnjQrXWzC4z5uF4e6nnNNuixiVunXj4YvmHfni56fbLFbmQHVusmgHtdUuPICCxKn2=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most days, these days ... [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.4HVArovG_hlSe2OwwVnq0AHaFi%26pid%3DApi&f=1" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;">So, where's be67 at?</span><p>It's coming along nicely, I'd say. 75 pages so far, I hope to get this finished enough to allow for some editing in two weeks or so. Then layouting and getting the pdf live. After that test printing and getting the PoD version out there as well.</p><p>Since I'll be doing nothing else but this from now on, I'm somewhat confident to have both available early April, the pdf maybe even a bit earlier. I'll offer and coordinate some one shots via MeWe, I think. Any interested parties here on the blog and without MeWe account should drop me a comment here (moderation is on, so if you want to share contact information, just add that it's not for publication and I'll delete the comment instead). </p><p>Other than that, writing the game forced me to take a closer look at some of the aspect I more or less handwaved in our house campaign. This game will be a RETROCLONE in as much as it's very closely related to the D&D RC:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Race as Class, but with a tool to build your own Classes<br /></li><li>Descending AC, but made flexible to accommodate gun fights</li><li>Differing xp goals for Classes, but offering an explanation why it needs to be so</li><li>Differend combat matrices according to Base Classes</li></ul><p>It's all there and very much following how I understand the game. It will be a MUTANT in as much as I heavily houseruled aspects from other D&D variants (Ardui, HackMaster 4e) into the game and made it my own by:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Keeping basic combat, but adding A LOT to make this the bloodiest D&D clone out there</li><li>Taking the principles of earning xp, but made something else entirely out of it (combat will, for instance, result in grindhouse effects that'll earn a character or even the group extra xp).</li><li>I'll offer rules to simplify bookkeeping and shortcut aspects of the original game I'm not that fond of (in the best tradition of OSR game designing)</li></ul><p>... and so on. I hope it'll not only end up being the book I use to play the game I love, but that it'll also be a treasure trove of ideas for you guys to enjoy and use! </p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Introducing: The Bubblegum Barometer (example from the book)</span></p><p>This game needs proper rules for gun fights, naturally. D&D doesn't lend itself to it easily, I found. The rules are a bit too static for it, especially if you aim for something more ... cinematic.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgK65T4ornKnnDubovMM0xxMsfMu8LQdJEM5d87b13aCajyCxX9sP8s2AZHq95wZ3o-uoI_EW6N_GTg5RBnbNFJj9fRY8n9vmSIKxjOvi2jAO1qA6ADIMqXDFw9cGp6mcSzYfJ389qYcCarJWWfoZblDnbv8LJV1Tsry49wprzK_rYpriAlHKAt6xou=s320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="320" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgK65T4ornKnnDubovMM0xxMsfMu8LQdJEM5d87b13aCajyCxX9sP8s2AZHq95wZ3o-uoI_EW6N_GTg5RBnbNFJj9fRY8n9vmSIKxjOvi2jAO1qA6ADIMqXDFw9cGp6mcSzYfJ389qYcCarJWWfoZblDnbv8LJV1Tsry49wprzK_rYpriAlHKAt6xou=w375-h211" width="375" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like this infamous firefight ... [<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.giphy.com%2Fmedia%2FDZNjNusF9Xb56%2Fgiphy.gif&f=1&nofb=1" target="_blank">source</a>]<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It needs more movement and flexible AC ... and keeping track of ammunition will definitely slow down the game as soon as lots of shooting with lots of shooters is involved. We found solutions for all of that, one of them being the so-called Bubblegum Barometer (mainy because I like how that sounds), which allows to bridge lax bookkeeping of ammunition with some movie drama.</p><p><i>Note: the text I'm about to share will reference Damage Dice and it means that in be67 characters don't do damage as per individual weapon, but have differing Damage Dice according to Weapon Category. For instance could a character have a d6 for heavy weaponry and then deal at least d6 damage with said weaponry. There is more to it (could be more d6 due to a good roll or even a higher die due to getting some help), but that's the basic idea ...</i></p><p>So here's the excerpt from the book:<br /></p><p>
</p><p lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></p><blockquote><div><p lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">AMMUNITION (optional rule)</span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">We are willing to offer some
concessions regarding the strict documentation of ammunition. For
one, this is about playing the equivalent of ‘bad’ (but ‘good’!)
movies, so events like reloading or situations where characters are
‘out of ammo’ should follow narrative purposes more than those of
a quasi-simulation of combat.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Thinking
of this as an extended exchange of blows should help getting the
idea, but having a character punch a hole into a zombie with their
bare fists will do that too. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>be67</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
isn’t about the weapons one uses but more about the damage they do
with what they got. Different set of implications altogether, as
should be obvious at this point in the book.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">That
said, there is nothing hindering you from making the bookkeeping
mandatory for ammunition, we’d just recommend </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">being</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
lax about it, if for no other reason than combat being complex enough
in other areas and adding ammunition to that would slow things down
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">considerably
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">while
taking</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
away some of the fun, in our opinion).</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">H</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ere
is another aspect to this that’s worth considering: combat rounds
are exchanges of bullets, but decidedly not just one shot per Combat
Unit </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">per
round</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Bullets are flying around, like, all the time, sometimes just to
Counter someone’s Combat Action, sometimes just to open a door.
There’s no </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">good
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">way
we could come up with that would manage to take all of that into
account … so we discarded the notion.</span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">We will, however, offer a
compromise of sorts. Add some drama, if you will. We call it</span></p>
<p align="center" lang="en-US" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The Bubblegum Barometer
(The BB)</b></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(and
hope you all get the reference). </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">For
that, the GM needs to </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">take
into account if the characters had an opportunity to load up on
ammunition (or made a habit out of mentioning </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">doing
so</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">).
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">If
the situation is unclear (that old argument ‘But my character would
have …!’), a Funk Test should be allowed to establish the grade
of preparedness a character brings to a gunfight </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">instead</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Funk+d20
vs. Difficulty</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">).
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Decided
through dice or judged by GM call, the BB should be the guideline</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">:</span></span></span></p>
<br /></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>>20 </b><b>(unprepared)</b>
– immediate use of the BB (+4) & every round after that (adding +1each round)</span> </li></ul></blockquote><blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>20 to 24 (somewhat loaded)</b>
- immediate use of the BB & every round after that (adding +1
each round)</span> </li></ul></blockquote><blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>25 to 29 (properly
prepared)</b> – use the BB every time ammunition-heavy Mode is
used & add +1 to each time after the first</span> </li></ul></blockquote><blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>29<
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>(</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>loaded,
</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>they
brought spares & extras)</b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
– no immediate problems, they are loaded (no
rolls necessary in this fight unless Character shares ammunition
with someone else)</span></span></span></li></ul></blockquote><blockquote>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }</style></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">T</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">o
test the BB now, the GM takes the D</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">amage
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">D</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ie
(DD)</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
of the weapon a character </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">used
that round</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and rolls it </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">after
all Actions are resolved</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
to find out if </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the
next round</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
is the last round the character has ammunition (roll 1DD vs.
Difficulty). If the result matches or is lower than the BB Difficulty
(</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">which
is </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">at
least 1, otherwise </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">modified
</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">as
indicated above), the character is running low and will be out of
ammo </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">end
of</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
next round unless they do something about it.</span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }</style><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Changing
weapons will start the BB at 1 again, for instance, but other
characters might supply as well. If ‘loaded’ characters share
their ammunition, they </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">start
to count as ‘properly prepared’ from then on. If those ‘properly
prepared’ share ammunition, they are reduced to being ‘somewhat
loaded’ from then on. Sharing ammunition while being ‘somewhat
loaded’ or lower, will raise the BB +1 immediately (and
additionally to the +1 per round). Characters will run dry fast like
that.</span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en-US" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Beyond that, enemy interaction
(through disarming and whatnot) and Critical Failures will have
weapons destroyed or lost, regardless of the ammunition carried.</span></p></blockquote><p lang="en-US" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }</style></p><p>And that's it: if it isn' established, a roll decides if you are running out and how fast (close to what you might know from games like <i>Macchiatto Monsters</i>, if I remember correctly). Characters will have a round to react (or are at least able to shoot one more round) and ammunition is properly limited in a meaningful way, as far as combat tactics are concerned.<br /></p><p>And if you read this carefully, you might have gotten a glimpse of what else is in store, like weapon modes. It's a wild little system and, if our play-tests are any indication, a blast to play ... You'll see :)</p><p>I hope this whetted your interest a bit.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So much for posting at least 3 times a month ...</span></p><p>Yeah, that didn't work so well last month. But I'll make up for it. I might have to, as I finally took a chance and made this little enterprise a project of self-employment. The opportunity arose and I took it. Now I'm publishing full time, we'll see how it goes. For one, I have no excuses to slack here on the blog.</p><p>But I'll not just talk about the products I aim to publish this year or in the future* (although I hope there's interest for that as well). It'll still be about game design (I'm still building on lots of games, you know) and maybe I should experiment a little with additional content. Maybe establishing some sort of Campaign setting?</p><p>Not sure.<br /></p><p>For now I wanted to let you know that things will be happening here on the blog and with <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/11431/Disoriented-Ranger-Publishing" target="_blank"><i>Disoriented Ranger Publishing</i></a> in general.</p><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRo1CFDL1T8zNEWD0vM7DTYOT_Yt2_4iEdxO3bJIELhAxE2vfb375llVXkc5MRo1nAGX3SYRW_b9T5iHrJjxeN0ng9s1aIALoRqjYTSecHb1Ngw7TY3WuRzSPEVrvCj-Z04DWSTv7VcZER-PuDryWGqkCaqhycMzKqwfzti8bTb81p0EK1g3CQe_53=s846" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="846" data-original-width="846" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRo1CFDL1T8zNEWD0vM7DTYOT_Yt2_4iEdxO3bJIELhAxE2vfb375llVXkc5MRo1nAGX3SYRW_b9T5iHrJjxeN0ng9s1aIALoRqjYTSecHb1Ngw7TY3WuRzSPEVrvCj-Z04DWSTv7VcZER-PuDryWGqkCaqhycMzKqwfzti8bTb81p0EK1g3CQe_53=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Faf%2F9e%2F11%2Faf9e117b7f1cf64d88caf15b17c570d0.jpg&f=1&nofb=1" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p style="text-align: center;">------------------------------------</p><p>While we are at it, that module I wrote and published 5 years ago (<a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210754/Monkey-Business-Digital-Edition?src=hottest_filtered" target="_blank">MONKEY BUSINESS</a>) isn't PWYW anymore. I thought long and hard about that, and to be totally honest, I came to the conclusion that the PWYW selling modell, for all it's benefits, isn't really supported at drivethru. PDFs need to cost to have any worth as far as the marketing tools available there are concerned (no 'medals' unless pdf units sold, for instance). So it's 2 USD now, which still is a steal, considering all the material you get for that. The good reviews justify that as well ... People I don't know liked it, it seems. Good enough.<br /></p><p>As it happens, drivethruRPG has a sale right now and Monkey Business is among that. 30% off. It's an even better deal :)<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">------------------------------------</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* As you might be aware, it's <i>Reflected Digressions</i> (collected essays), <i>be67</i> (Retroclone Mutant) and <i>The Rise of Robo-Hitler</i> (adventure module for be67/LL/MF) for this year.<br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Jens D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394303166081684904noreply@blogger.com0