I was digging through some stuff on my computer and I found a link to an old PBWorks site that I was using over 5 YEARS AGO to document my thoughts and ideas about gaming.

It was still active (Wow!) so I logged in and found this article.  I present it as a "blast from the past".  Unedited by my current thoughts and sensibilities.  Let's see how it holds up...

Trust in Gaming

Why?

Two reasons.

One, its the right thing to do. When your friends come over to your house, they want to have fun. They don't want to take part in something that isn't enjoyable. If they wanted to do that, they'd go to work or mow the lawn. A game that doesn't follow these tenets just isn't fun.

Two, I dislike rules heavy games (AD&D 3.5 I'm looking at you!) and so I run my games fast and loose. Right or wrong, I like to think of my RPG sessions as a type of freeform jazz -- we start off in a direction and then we roll with it. I build a lot of randomness and freedom into the game. Anyway, when you play off the cuff, there's a lot of GM fiat. This makes some players nervous because they don't always know what is going to happen next. They don't know exactly how their powers work (Champions! You heard me!) If you try to run your games with these tenets, the players will trust that you'll give them a fair shake. It's a partnership where we are all invested in having fun and telling a compelling story.

I'm not perfect -- no one is -- but I try to run my RPGs according to the following tenets. I think that more times than not, I do a good job and I pull it off. It has taken me years to refine my GMing skills. I offer the following to anyone who is thinking about running a tabletop RPG game.

Tenets

Fairness/Equity/Parity

Try to give all characters equal screen time. This doesn't mean that if one character gets a magic sword, everyone gets a magic sword. It means that if one player gets a goody, the other players can rest assured that their goody will happen eventually. Everyone gets a turn. One player might get a special item, another player might get a sidekick, still a third might gain an enemy. In game terms, these are all equal (strange way of thinking about it, huh?) but they all give each character/player a time and a place to take the spotlight and excel.

Consistency

If the last time you fought orcs, they went down with one swing of your axe, then that had better happen next time. If it doesn't happen next time, as a GM you'd better have a good explanation of why (even if the characters and players aren't privy to it.) If you make a decision on the fly that turns out to be wrong or unbalancing to the game, take the time to discuss it with the players and explain why the rules have change. In advance.

Heroes are the Stars

In order to make a compelling game world, you have to populate it with interesting characters (NPCs). A world filled with nameless shopkeepers, guards, and barkeeps is a boring world. Having said that, no matter how wonderful that villain/anti-hero/druid/mage/etc. is he or she is not the focus of the game. The players are and their heroes are. Period. Not every villain needs to get away, not every sidekick needs the coolest magic item, etc. Let the heroes have the spotlight. If there's a legitimate reason why an NPC should have the spotlight (she's the only one who can pick the lock, he's the one who knows a contact in the city) have them take the lead (briefly) then hand the story back over. Besides, if your NPCs start interacting with each other, isn't that really like talking to yourself?

Be Prepared

This means that when gaming day arrives, don't be clueless about what is going to happen. I've already mentioned that I like to play it fast and loose, so what does "be prepared" mean to me? Well, I typically have a concept map put together showing the relationships between the heroes, villains, places and things. I have a rough flow chart showing the plot as I envision it. I'm open if the characters want to go in a different direction and I'm ready to improvise, but I have some resources to help me roll with it.

Listen

Consider the following: sometimes the ideas that your players come up with are better than your ideas. Steal them. Not only will the players appreciate the better plotline, they'll think that they are really tuned in to the scenario. "I knew it. I saw that coming."

Exempli gratia: Years ago I kicked off my first campaign with an adventure involving a wyrm (a giant flightless dragon.) The scenario involved a wyrm that was menacing caravans on a well traveled trade route. The heroes were hired as guards for a particularly valuable shipment. My ideas was that the wyrm was just hungry and was attacking the caravans as a ready source of horseflesh. Yummy.

Then I overheard my players discussing how the wyrm must be controlled by a mage. They had seen a pattern in the descriptions of the caravan merchandise that was lost/stolen (one I hadn't intended) and had reasoned that a mage must be responsible.

I quickly sketched a cavern complex, reasoned that the wyrm would have a "magic collar" that would allow the mage to control it, and whipped up a small group of brigands that would help the mage pillage the caravans. Presto. Instant improved adventure.

Award Excellence

When a player comes up with a great idea that moves the story along, when they immerse themselves in their role, or when they take the time to describe a clever combat maneuver. Try to say YES. If there's a good reason why you don't want them to succeed, then say NO, but have a good reason. If you want them to succeed, don't have them roll dice. Just narrate what happens and move on. If you have them roll, no matter how slim their chance of failure, it could happen. Just say YES.

Furthermore, when they do exciting and fun things, give them a payback. Give them a clue, item, contact, complication, etc. Something that says, "well done, here's another chance for you to shine." You can award them with "metagame" things too like experience points or FATE points. The point is, the award is positive feedback that says "keep it up, keep doing that." That's what you want from your players.

No Dirty Tricks/Character Death

Nothing will alienate you players more than a tricky situation that they can't figure out that eventually kills off their character. They invest a lot of time and energy into their in-game persona. Don't treat them carelessly. Don't kill off a character through a bad roll or bad design. Traps that kill unless the heroes spot them are a bad idea unless the heroes know that the place is filled with lethal traps. Kill off a red shirt to show them how deadly. I like FATE and Fudge because they have "taken out" as the final stage in the character damage track. This could mean that the hero is unconscious or otherwise disabled an not able to continue. Not necessarily dead.

Now if the players do something patently stupid. Kill their character. They're asking for it. If you adhere to a player-centric, story based game where the heroes often get out of tough spots by the skin of their teeth, some players will interpret this as weakness on the part of the GM. "I can do anything and he won't kill me." Wrong. If they are stupid, make them pay for their stupidity. They should have seen it coming. Being fair doesn't mean being a pushover. Just make sure that if a character dies it is either dramatically appropriate (my paladin died fighting the demon queen so that everyone else could get away and all the children would be saved from her clutches) or it is the players legitimate fault (you mean I can't jump off of a cliff? Oh, dragons are deadly. I probably shouldn't have doused myself in gasoline and then lit up a smoke.) Give them the chance to act in a rational fashion, if they refuse, it's their funeral.

Feedly is now my Reader

With the immenent demise of Google Reader, I must say I was totally bummed.  I have TAGS, TAGS and more TAGS setup in Reader and I've not found an easy way to move those.... until today!

If you setup THE SAME TAG in Feedly under your preferences, all your tagged articles COME OVER AUTOMATICALLY from Google Reader.

Awesome!

Feedly doesn't import the tags, but it apparently does read them from Google.

So, if you set them up over at Feedly, you'll see your stuff over at Feedly.

Just wanted you all to know!

Free Tavern Sign

Saw an old illustration here.

Did a little erasing and now it's a perfectly good sign for your old school tavern.  The party needs to meet somewhere after all...

Enjoy!

Pathfinder makes me TIRED

Good morning,

I am not trying to start a flame war or any kind of contest between systems.  I'm just posting to show how much of a grognard I am (I guess).

This chart which obviously took a lot of time to make and is quite excellent -- just makes me tired.

Go take a look.  I'll wait.

The chart is for the Barbarian class ONLY.  There are many, many other classes in Pathfinder.  Just the thought of trying to understand all of these feats/powers/thingies is overwhelming to me and my old brain.

Hell, these days spell descriptions in anything but Microlite20 are too much for me.  This is my kind of spellbook.  Heck, this is my preferred way to run a wizard.

I just want to make stuff up on the spot and try to maintain consistency.  I find that my players will remind me of decisions I made and I try to maintain a non-adversarial approach with them.  That works pretty well.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Totemic Paladin (S&W Appreciation Day)

Totemic Paladin

In my Queston Campaign, all those years ago, I replaced regular Paladins with a different type of Paladin called a "Totemic Paladin."

These Paladins had powers based upon their totem animal, rather than the standard list of Paladin powers.

Here is a list of Totemic Paladins and their powers:

Totem	Replaces "Lay On Hands" 1/day	Replaces "Immune to Disease"	Replaces "Dispel Evil" 1/day	Replaces "Detect Evil" 1/day
Bear	+(Level/3)d6 in Unarmed Combat (round up)	Immune to Exposure and Harsh Weather	Fear (MU 4)	Strength (MU 2)
Dragon	Breathe Fire in a cone, 1d6+2 pts/level	Immune to Fear	Dispel Magic (MU 3)	Pyrotechnics (MU 2)
Gryphon	Can glide safely to the ground; up to 10' fall per level	Can see 10x further than a normal human; can see at 100' what a normal human sees at 10', etc.	Fly (MU 3)	Levitate (MU 2)
Hydra	Regenerate up to 2 HP per level, per day, when  reduced to negative HPs	Can wield 2 weapons, gaining +1 to hit and -1[+1] to AC	Confusion (MU 4)	Mirror Image (MU 2)
Snake	Neutralize Poison (C 4) (1/day for every 5 levels)	Immune to Poison	Sticks to Snakes (C 4)	Snake Charm (C 2)
Tortoise	Age at half normal rate	-2[+2] to AC	Protection from Normal Missiles (MU 3)	Shield (MU 1)
Wolf	Darkvision (60')	Move of no less than 9 regardless of Encumbrance	Haste (MU 3)	Speak with Animals (D 2)

Created with the HTML Table Generator

You could certainly make up your own variants following a similar pattern.  Enjoy!

Birthday Dungeon (Room 1)

The adventurers began in a Y-shaped room at the bottom of a dark, damp spiral stair.  To the right was a cobweb choked corridor ending in a stout wooden door.  To the left, a more traveled passage ending in a black iron door.

At first, the players were exceptionally eager to strike out in one direction or the other.  Not wanting them to be surprised later (and to build a respectable amount of paranoia) I stopped them and asked if they were just going to "walk across the floor?"

This froze them and they discussed their options.  "We should check the floor."  "How?"  They looked at their equipment and determined that the Wizard had a 10' pole.  They also determined that the Elf and Dwarf could see in the dark and that they'd be good front-line explorers.

The party dilgently worked themselves across the floor toward the wooden door to the right.  In doing so, they scraped at the cobwebs to see what was behind and under them.  They didn't start with torches lit because they didn't want to ruin the Elf and Dwarf's dark-vision.

Under the webs on the floor, the group discovered an acid-ruined dagger.  It was blackened and blunted, covered with a crust of gray grime.  Their paranoia rose again and they began to wonder if they had found an acid trap.  Cautiously they explored further and found no additional acid and no cracks or openings where acid could pour forth.

Satisfied, they listened at the door and heard no sound.  They discovered the door to be unlocked and they pushed it open...

Birthday Dungeon (Prelude)

Now that the party is over and I've had a chance to put everything away (not really) I've decided to recap the adventure for your reading pleasure.  :)

INTRODUCTION

I started out explaining the game to the players.  They are all 6th to 7th graders and are all friends from school.  The oldest player confided in me straight away that he didn't know if he was going to like this.

:)  I thanked him for giving it a try and I dove into the rules.

I handed everyone a character sheet and I told them that this wasn't necessarily their character, but they needed to follow along as I explained things.  They nodded and were very attentive.

I began by explaining that they should name their character and that all self respecting characters have a portrait.  :)  I pointed at the five miniatures I had selected and identified each one by class; fighter, wizard, dwarf, elf, hobbit.

I told them that sometimes bad things happen in the game and that to avoid this "bad thing" they might need to make a saving throw.  I showed this area on their sheet and explained that they would use the d20 (black die) to roll.  I also described each die type in turn.

NOTE: my "training" dice are all color coded.  Makes it easier on the kids.  :)

• d20 - black
• d12 - yellow
• d10 - blue
• d8 - red
• d6 - green
• d4 - white

I read their "Armor" value and pointed out the chart at the bottom of the page.  I told them that some characters had bonuses that would modify their "to hit" roll.  I went through a couple examples.

I talke about their "Hit Points" and how they would do damage to monsters.  We looked at the We used a battlemat, so I restricted the characters to a certain number of squares of movement.  They could attack/move or move/attack.  No penalty to moving and missile fire or spells.

Then I talked about equipment.  Told them to be creative.  

I explained the back of the sheet and how at the start of any combat they would get the chance to draw a stone out of the pouch.  They could use the stone during that battle, or if they saved it -- they could draw first out of the pouch -- thus increasing their chance for a better stone.  This worked well.  The wizard really took advantage of this and was rewarded a couple times with good spells -- Burning hands especially.

Then I told them that they had recruited a group of farmers to go along with them.  They weren't brave adventurers, but they'd help them fight to rescue Ehlissa.

Finally, I shared the tips on the back of the sheet --

• Work together as a team • Think about what you might do if you were there – what would you look at?

What would you touch? What might be dangerous?

• Try to visualize the place you are in • Ask questions.

• Ask for more information. • Think about how you might use your equipment • Don’t be afraid to run away if a monster is too powerful, you might be able to find a tool or item that can help • Remember, its only a game.

If your character doesn’t make it, you can always make up another one some other time. • Have fun!

Then I read the start of the adventure.  We dove right in!

Here's an example set of character sheets -- these are setup differently than during the adventure, but I let the kids keep their characters.