It's never 'no', it's 'how'

Players all the time will look for ways to do things that are outlandish, and are completely out of left field. They will look at you from the front of the GM's screen, and will smile as they glance at their sheet and their fellow players.

"Can I use my Acrobatics to grab the propeller's rod, then run around and around to generate lift?"

The natural reaction is to roll your eyes until they generate an electrical arc, then say with a deadpan retort 'No'. People will get upset, the player will try to say that the +27 they have should allow them to do this feat. But ultimately, you knew the answer was no, and they were able to save the wrist strength on rolling the dice.

These sort of things take control away from the players, even if we know going into the situation that it is going to be a futile attempt. One of the biggest things about TTRPGs is the amount of 'freedom' players have. They are known for being a great escape from the boring, 9 to 5 monotony of the real world. This escape for many is the chance to do things that they would be unable to do. Some want to get swole, grab a sword, and take on 5 to 6 Orcs at once while weathering a sea of blows. Others want to wield arcane magics or serve a deity that blesses them with ultimate power. By itself, the very idea of these capabilities achieve a high level of choice to the characters.

When a player asks you a question you are sure you know the answer to already, avoid saying 'no', but 'how'.

How are you going to pull this one way door open?

How is your Fireball going to cook a row of chickens perfectly with zero error?

How will your character use their excellent Acrobatics skill to turn the propeller on the airship?

This does two things: It gives the illusion of choice, and it also keeps the level of narrative control in the player's hands consistent. Nobody likes being told no, and when it comes to something that is supposed to be an escape, it hurts even more. Players should be allowed to experiment and experience the pain of failure for their characters. In some moments, such an action as the propeller example above in a way make sense. It's a desperate attempt in a life or death situation. It adds tension, and the GM only had to ask how.

While the player is rolling their dice to determine how well they were unable to accomplish their task, you should use this time to plan an explanation that will make their attempt powerful. Players love to hear how well they do, for better or for worse. The key to delivering bad news is doing it with flare. It makes you feel more alive, and it lets your players know that you care.

Roll20 Marketplace Review - Greytale's Dungeon Items

I have spent more money on the Roll20 Marketplace than I frequently care to admit. Some nights, I lay in bed and think about the dollars that have went into various tile sets while my wife shows me paint ideas for our house.

This money has went to both good and bad items, however there is one provider on Roll20 that has given me the most bang for my buck: Greytale's Dungeon Blanks. I have purchased almost every set from the Roll20 page for Greytale's, and I find that everything that they have released is spot on 100% perfect. Every set has instructions on how to use the pieces in regards to sizing and how certain pieces will interact with others.

The biggest draw to me has been however the amount of customization that is possible with each set. The Blanks in particular have a great deal of mileage on them, and my players that play in my online games can attest to seeing Dungeon Blank Set #2 for almost every dungeon. Each piece if clear of any what I call 'identifying mark's. You will find no furniture baked into the tiles, no blood spots or even statues. Each piece is just the base terrain, which for me is a huge draw to the set. I like to do my best on making sure every dungeon is different, and having tiles that allow me to have a literal blank slate to work with is great. They offer a cavern set, which is amazing and speaks for itself.

Art wise every set is top notch, the furniture packs they offer are done in the same art style as the tiles which allows them to blend as if the entire set was done as one large piece. This seems like common sense to many people, after all it is probably done by the same artist. But a lot of sets in the Roll20 Marketplace under the same author have various styles, or colors that are off hue from one another. It is a real struggle to find good sets for dungeon layouts, and even harder to find them at acceptable prices. For me, Greytale covers both of these.

If Greytale's people ever read this, I do have one bit of feedback for you: release sets faster please! I still need to pickup the newest set as of this writing, Greytale Dungeon Blank # 4, but I can tell looking at it that I will enjoy using it. My players will enjoy the sight of ramps, and enjoy the change of scenery from the other 3 sets.

If you want to check out these sets for yourself, follow this link here to head to the Roll20 Marketplace and take a look at the sets!

Handling a Rules Lawyer at the Table

At some point in the life of a GM, there has been that one player whose knowledge of a system is infallible. They studied it, played it since they were but a mere child, and are ready to remind you of every little discrepancy in the rules even if it hurts their fellow party members. They can end games and ruin friendships, but most of all they can make the game a no fun quagmire for the GM.

Handling this sort of player is a true test of social skill, requiring a bit of a backbone as a GM. Before you even consider approaching them on this, look at a few factors:

-          Are the players verbally or visibly upset when the Rules Lawyer starts to grumble?

-          Is the Rules Lawyer only speaking up when it is in their favor?

-          Most importantly, is the Rules Lawyer hurting your enjoyment of the game?

If they tick any of these options above, then you need to take action immediately. If you let it linger, it will hurt the game in the long run and people will drop out. Worst of all, if it bothers you the most, it can hurt the quality of the game resulting in a massive degradation of player enjoyment that can be difficult to come back from.

Turning the negative energy the person at the table is generating into a positive one can be difficult. Often times many will understand if you tell them to bring any rules questions up after the game with you, in order to keep the table moving and play time unbroken. However, there are a few who will take this as a way of silencing them, being unwavering in their dedication to the written word of RAW (Rules as Written). The best way to handle this is turn that negative energy into something positive for the whole table. Let them know that you could use their expertise and knowledge in areas such as Skill Resolution, which is often times a section that many players are unfamiliar with. Have them help the group out by providing basic handouts on commonly misunderstood rules that can slow a table down if they get out of hand. Using the person as a tool instead of a hindrance is a great way to turn their energy into something that benefits all, and can help take a burden off of your shoulders!

It is sad to say however that there are many who will try to abuse their standing knowledge of the game for their own goals, or to harm other players at the table. Trying to speak with them can prove futile as they continue their old ways, or worse, start to become distraught at the table. These players should be cut from the roster and a replacement found, if possible. It is the hardest thing to do as a GM, but think of the game and your enjoyment. Think of the time and energy everyone else, including yourself, have put into the table. Will it sour some grapes? Yes, but in the long run it is worth a bit of heartbreak for a long term relief of knowing you can enjoy your own games.

Remember at the end of the day: The GM’s word is law, and for good reason. Never be afraid to back up your feelings or decisions.

In Defense of Group Character Creation

Oftentimes GMs will have their players create the character they need for the game at home before they arrive to the table for the first session of play. Arrays and point buys have eroded the need for ‘GM confirmed’ rolls for attributes and there are so many systems out there that allow for easy character generation for most major systems. Making the character before the game saves a session of time, but what is the cost of this convenience?

I have always felt that by having characters generated before the game starts, we lose out on a chance for our players to appreciate the setting. Watching over their shoulder while they consider their choices allows you to both make sure you are providing an adequate challenge, but you can also help strengthen their bond with the setting. Offer suggestions from the handout (if there is one) about how certain classes can tie in with existing organizations. Talk about the terrain and certain events while they create which can give them ideas as to what would be strong in the campaign. Talking about a setting will churn thoughts among your peers more than simply placing it on a piece of paper. Speak with a tone that shows you care about what you created and you can easily encourage your friends to think about their in-character choices.

With everyone in the same room, you also allow for the group to synergize better with one another. You have an easier time filling class roles, and people can work together to create a bond that works in-character for the campaign. Probably one of my biggest gripes is when players come to the table with multiple characters rolled ready to go when I ask them to roll at home. It gives of a feeling of caring only for the game portion of the campaign, not the setting itself. It’s a nice gesture in order to make sure roles are established to avoid shortcomings, but it feels hollow unless they have a good back story for each.

Newer players will always benefit the most from group creation, with veterans helping them determine the direction they should go for the idea the new player has in mind. Many systems that offer a lot of complex choices also suffer from the Ivory Tower gaming theory where certain options seem appealing, but are useless. These options are traps for new players who only know the basics, and can deteriorate playing experience in later sessions. The group experience can also make sure that the player’s character is in line and 100% correct for game time to help keep the game time flowing smoothly.

The best reason though to create characters as a group is the bonding aspect of it all. Knowing what design process went into each character, interacting with each other by providing suggestions and support for character ideas and themes, all of this can result in a greater experience at the table come game time.

Dungeon Cartography: The Tomb

Almost every campaign out there has featured at some point the party going head first into a forgotten tomb, ripe with treasures of the past and dangers of the undead variety. These places are often almost unrecognizable from a stereotypical surface dungeon, and generally are well stocked with period correct currency and magical potions that do what the potions down at Fantasy Drug and Bar do.

Tombs should be a section of the world that are a doorway to the past of a certain kind of people. They should be a place that helps establish a regional setting around it and inform the players about the people who once lived in the lands around it. If anything the fact that a tomb is around proves that the region has multiple historic layers. This heritage can be expressed in many ways that both affects the players on a mechanical level and on a personal level.

The easiest thing one can do to make a tomb immediately echo its age is any currency the players find is 'unique'. Gold coins of a different shape, weight, or even with other metals on their face are one of the easiest ways to bring this about as it gives the players something 'liquid' that they will feel they can take advantage of. It provides a doorway in-character for anyone in the party with street connections or metalworking experience to flex their skills. Suddenly what could of been 50 gold pieces is now something that may need to be smelted down and sold as bars, of could even be given to a private collector or a museum. One could even go farther and argue that it gives the party rogue/'face' a tool in which to barter with common men and women, arguing the rarity of the coin doubles the value. If a DM is feeling adventurous, they could instead make all of the currency in the tomb be crafted from Electrum, a metal alloy that is essentially 'unrefined gold'. During ancient times it was known for being more durable, and easier to craft and obtain than straight gold, but also had poor conversion costs globally with silver being deemed 'superior'. This sort of metal could be a great role-playing opportunity as the players would need to find a way to refine it, or even sell it off as is or in an ingot state. A DM could even go as far as using the sudden talk and appearance of this 'lost currency' as a mini adventure, bringing forth followers of the ancient ways who wish to meet those who sullied the good name of a local tomb.

Within the walls of a tomb it should be noted that more than wealth would be present. Taking a note from the Egyptians, many tombs were stocked with everyday goods such as bowls, utensils, clothes, and furniture. These objects were buried alongside the body throughout the tomb in order to help with the afterlife, and later were replaced with statues known as shabti, which were said to help the person in the afterlife by doing work for them. Many tombs had multiples of these statues, some numbering into the hundreds! For the players, such statues could represent past gods, or could even be clever traps that spring to life and attack would be robbers. Tapestries and paintings on the walls could tell tales of the person located in the tomb, their past deeds, life, and even how they will live in the afterlife. These can be either extremely simple for DMs who like to generate as they go, or they could be complex and tell an even deeper tale of how those in the past were viewed in society based on their actions.

While tombs are often explored because they have been 'sealed for many years' or just happen to be where a plot device is located in order to proceed with the main quest, a DM willing to give his players a challenge could also have the tomb be inhabited with more than the undead. Wild animals from the surrounding countryside could find an easy, dry, and warm home in the halls of the once sacred burial grounds, leaving proof of their lair by means of animal bones and dropping. Other tomb robbers such as small packs of highway men or aspiring adventurers sick of the everyday peasant life could be found stumbling along the corridors, in various states of cooperation with the party. The intrusion of such life should also affect the state of the wealth and items in the tomb. Past robbers could of taken the items out of a chest, but left the odd looking coinage due to weight and time constraints. Dead bodies with more recent goods on them could be found in hallways and within areas where animals live, providing possible hints of traps ahead or dangers abound. One could even branch out of the tomb and have tunnels poorly dug from outside of the tomb used as a way in for especially dedicated tomb robbers that were unable to break the door's seal. This tunnel could lead to a bandit hideout, or even to another tomb nearby.

Many tombs in fantasy lore are filled with traps and dangers that help keep the riches and valuable goods inside free from the hands of robbers. Often these traps are one shot in nature, but are often deadly. They provide the party rogue with the challenge of disabling these obstacles in order to allow safe passage. A good change of pace for a tomb if one finds their players to be expecting traps around every corner is to hide the traps in more than just triggered effects. Statues that animate upon life entering a room or touching them, gems that turn into poisonous vipers upon leaving the burial site, even cursed weapons are all good alternatives to the basic arrow or blade trap. For those who enjoy the classic style of traps that are more concrete, room flooding devices can provide quick tension for the party and force them to either quickly disable the mechanism or be sent running out of the tomb with what they have so far. Dried mixtures of poison could be covering key sections of the tomb, such as the lid of the main sarcophagus or the handles of doors. These poisons could be lessened in effect with age, only implying minor penalties on the player affected hours later after the initial delve, a reminder of the acts they had just committed.

Layouts of tombs throughout the period of human history have usually been a few rooms connected with varying lengths of tunnels. Even the Great Pyramid, despite its scale only has a few rooms inside of it. Small tombs in an adventure setting often get blown through within minutes of game time, so a DM must make them bigger and more like a traditional dungeon or ruin. To help keep with the theme of a tomb setting, it is important that one makes the rooms themed to the time and the person being buried. One could have multiple rooms dedicated to past family members complete with paintings, ashes in urns, or even their bodies in open air coffins. Rooms full of cheap offerings from people once ruled over, providing the party with an even bigger historical window into the past. An early room of the tomb itself could be out of place, upon further inspection revealed to be a break area for workers who dug or constructed the place. A central great hall with large statues of the person entombed there complete with now extinguished fire pits could serve as a central point of the tomb. Passages could be so small that only smaller races can enter and exit, meaning that the party needs to either employ magic to shrink down to enter, or risk sending one or two members in to see what lies beyond. Some passages could be collapsed and blocked to the party unless they wish to hire diggers or employ magic to clear the area.

For many people the above suggestions are common place, and when reading probably think to themselves 'well yeah, all of that is cool and most tombs have them'. Unfortunately it is easy to forget that tombs themselves are cultural in significance and often play a role that is far greater to the people living near it during their time of construction than we think of today. They are generally symbols, tokens of thanks and good luck in the afterlife to those who lay within. Many tombs in games could be re-labeled as a ruined building or a castle, and only have the monsters within possibly be the only connection to its once tomb designation. As a DM, having a strong tomb with many echoes to the past brings immersion to the game world and provides a sense of depth for the players. For more open minded Dms who like narrative changes, it can even provide hooks for players to use to help establish their character backgrounds. With a strong historical view into the past players could claim that they share ties with such past cultures, using it to entrench the murderhobo into the local history.

Hopefully someone out there will take a few queues from this and implement them to great success! :)

The Final Warning: Avoiding Outright Player Death

It happens in almost every game, the point where a character decides that it is time to slam a mug of poor choices down their throat and run face first into a wall of pain. Of course some parties avoid having situations where the final outcome of their actions leads to death, but instead they fall victim to the dice which can take someone from hero to zero with the flick of the wrist. A trapped door, ambush, monster of unknown origin that sprays them with acid, all sorts of situations can pop up. For many death is a sudden thing that leaves the player questing for a printer or a second character sheet. There are no second chances unless the players provide it, and often the DM will even consider the death a 'solution' to a bad plan or a foolhardy player.

For myself, I never hand out death immediately unless it is in a tense battle. Even players who are playing kick down the door characters are going to get one 'freebie' from myself when they encounter a situation they either stumbled into or purposely charged into. There are better ways to handle suspense and to convey the danger of a situation than outright murdering a player the first time they make an error or act like an idiot.

I have found that the first method that really pushes the message home is targeting their equipment. If I roll the damage on an attack and see the total damage will bypass their current HP and leave the total so far in the negatives they can't be Cure'd back to active duty, I will hand them enough damage to bring them in the high single digits and then roll the damage over to gear. The player instead of finding themselves wiped off the planet instead are forced to limp out of battle, while making saving throws for a few pieces of gear either in their bags or in their hands. It is a first and final warning of what they are dealing with, and the players can see that the creature is wielding abilities that can quickly turn a battle against them if they press against it. This method is best used when creatures use attacks that hit from a distance or can hit multiple targets. In my Escargo game, the players stumbled upon an artificially created Fire Elemental for the first time at Level 1. It was guarding a door silently, and when the players entered the room it turned to look at them. Unlike most elementals, these are giant floating metallic eyes that have three - four rings of fire circling them in a constant vortex. They hover several feet off the ground and can set things ablaze by moving by them as long as they have an active ring. The players stood there for a moment, and the ranger decided to take a pop shot at it with his bow. The arrow flew through the air and struck home, dealing a minor amount of damage.

The elemental sprang to life as one of the fiery rings flew across the room and slammed into the poor ranger, exploding and causing reflex saves all around.

The resulting damage was somewhere in the 20's for the poor ranger who had failed his reflex save. I knew that killing him outright because of a first time encounter with the elemental was out of the question, so instead he took enough damage to drop him to 4 HP, and then he was forced to roll saves against magical fire on his bow and a few items in his bag. His bow cracked and was snapped in half by the bow string being too tight for the stressed wood, and the fires licked him enough that a few items in his bag melted or caught fire briefly. Immediately, the ranger ran and the party followed, hopefully to return another day.

This method is very effective against high speed, low drag players who like to kick in every door and proceed to Spin to Win. It usually causes them to fumble and sometimes causes them to re-think how they handle situations (which your party can be thankful for).

Aw hell who am I kidding they just go back to brainless hack and slash mode anyways.

For this style of player a second method is useful: the setting and situation. Many times a character will stop and take heed of upcoming danger when they pass through the doorway and get hit in the face with the smell of the corpses littering the ground of the room. Seeing the bodies of previous foes, especially fresh ones, can pass a sense of danger on quickly which for some will cause them to immediately double back and force the party to huddle for discussion. Other characters might also be inclined to quickly run forward and stop the aggressive character from entering the room. This is also effective with traps that reset themselves, such as arrow traps or magical traps.

When it comes to sudden ambushes with the ability for the party to flee, having the threat appear and take out an innocent NPC such as an animal or a men-at-arms is enough to cause players to get the hint and proceed to exit stage left. It shows the creature is here for business, and is willing to target anything in its path without reservation. This is effective with encounter roils more than anything else as players generally have a feel if a certain system favors placing danger on the high or low spectrum of the roll. Some players will gauge how the creature is encountered as a method to determine if they can stay and get some easy XP from the beast then move on, or if they need to keep going.

At the end of the day it all depends on what style of game is being run and how the players and the DM expect situations to unfold. The above methods work best for  games where equipment is easy to replace and everyone involved is on the same page in regards to the seriousness of the threats. With most of my games being lighthearted in nature, the above has worked wonders and has even lead to a few laughs.

Give it a shot in your next game, it might work for you!

How Escargo Express turned my love with Tabletop RPGs into a bonfire

Since early September I have been running a game on Roll20.net with a small group of five players using the Castles and Crusades Game System (check it out here.) I am no stranger to running games online, but this one has been special in several aspects which has re-kindled my love for tabletop RPGs big time.

This is the first time I have used Roll20.net, which is turning out to be an enjoyable experience. The site provides you with everything you need to have right out of the gate to run any kind of game. At first I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the options and was considering running back to OSU-GT, but then I found the ability to search through the site for any kind of token or object to drop on my map. I was immediately sold, and we have been using every aspect of the site for our game since. Several of my players have taken to messing around with the formatting code and creating wonderful character sheets as their journal entries, and backed them up with creative macros that allow them to roll dice on the fly. Roll20.net has built-in voice and video support however we do all of our voice chat through TS due to limitations brought forth by several players connections and computers. You can disable both of these through the site under your personal options when in a game.

Introducing a new system to an entire group has never before went this smooth, even with Castles and Crusades which is an extremely easy  and straight forward system. We have one player who is fairly new to tabletop RPGs and after a session or two he has mastered most of the basics, surprising myself and others with creative thinking and innovative use of his class abilities.  In the past I have introduced C&C to groups of people who have played other systems (mainly 3.x based systems) and it has somehow flown over their heads due to how simple the system is. No feats, no skill points to allocate, it made them freeze up as they tried to decide what their character would do in game. The idea that they would need to say what their character did and justify how they would use their attribute rolls only for past character accomplishments was mind boggling to them. It really drove home for me how many people actually play the character sheet instead of the character itself.

The days approaching the next session I have wished were shorter so I could load up that Roll20 game and lead them through their quest. Very few games both online and at a physical table have resulted in me having every session be one I look forward to. In the past I have had sessions where we have ended on a sour note which has carried a bit of a terrible mood over to the next game. The group I am playing with here however, while they have had a few lover's quarrels, has been amazing and able to move on in game. They are creative, great role-players who have embraced what they know about the setting and ran with it. The sandbox world I have given them is being explored thoroughly, using their resources to the limit and building character connections with NPCs and other PCs in the group alike.

Man I am just really happy with how this group has handled this sandbox world. The majority of my games I usually give the players a starting section and a bit of a purpose in life. This game they are owners of a small delivery company that is stationed in a large city state known as Alibag. What makes Alibag special is that it is for them, one of the only two remaining large scale concentrations of civilized life in the known area. The surrounding landscape is still recovering from environmental disasters brought on by both man and otherworldly forces, which has plagued the realm with an invisible force known as Mana Burn. Yes, this is fantasy Fallout and Mana Burn is radiation, but the players love it and have ran with it since session 1 with zero prodding. When the players get a job for the company they plan everything out, talk with the NPC about every detail, grab the goods, complete the task, get the gold, and then find another job. What blew my mind was that they constantly check on older clients to make sure they are okay and to let them know that Escargo Express is there to serve them. Past groups generally never keep contacts open with past NPCs and blow them off, seeing only forward. By far though the best aspect of this group is how they don't mind the wacky stuff I have tossed at them. Underneath their barn, they have discovered on accident a spaceship that is massive in size, that has been used by a band of drug runners to smuggle meth during the midnight hours around town. The entrance to this ship was found by following a hole that was dug through one of their stalls for their horses. This ship is extremely large, and is built in Metroid style where certain areas can only be accessed later on through either extreme ingenuity or special equipment such as better Mana Burn suits to protect from the dangerous radiation. It is a giant homage to Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, and the players have loved it and have made plans to extract whatever riches they can from the metallic husk.

Even with the business, they have followed up on leads and rumors of old dig sites and ruined bases outside of the city. Dungeon crawls have been a thing they have freely done on their own, with almost no prodding from myself. It has been a huge challenge for me to on the fly design the dungeon as they explore using a small set of notes that explains encounters, dungeon aesthetics, treasure, and traps (I will cover this method of mine in a later post). For the party the dungeon crawls have had one major purpose: cold hard cash. They understand as a business all profit is good profit, so they have taken to finding it in any place possible.

Overall I am hoping this game goes on for a long. long time and I am ready to do what it takes to keep it moving into the future. I have had games at the physical table bring about the same feeling, but for some reason this group just slams that button down harder than other groups have. My opinion on this is because every character is driven by something more than just money and are there for more than just 'to be there'. Most games you end up with 1 or 2 players who kind of herd the party from Point A to Point B. They make most of the calls and in general are kind of seen as the leaders. This group every character is wanting to do something different, which has lead to them having what can only be explained the craziest roller coaster of events happen.  Most groups break down when everyone wants to partake in something different or has a different motive but this group has adapted and realized that even though some of them are borderline evil, they know that at the end of the day it is a group effort and that the game can only survive if they work together.

As I finish this, I can't wait for Monday!