Video Game Review: "Zork" (1977)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to a legendary game that is both one of the pioneers of interactive fiction AND that also ranks as one of the greatest computer games ever!

You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

A seminal computer game, in Zork, the player takes a nameless but intrepid adventurer down into the twisty and confusing realm of the Great Underground Empire in search of loot.  Sound familiar?

Zork allows someone to singlehandedly play an Old School Dungeons & Dragons-esque text adventure.  Unsurprisingly, winning requires using your head and a bit of luck to overcome terrible monsters and difficult puzzles.  Roughly contemporaneous with the Choose Your Own Adventure  (CYOA) gamebooks, this game was also an amazing and groundbreaking piece of interactive fiction that created its own genre.  As with CYOA, Zork is written from a second-person point of view, in present tense, creating an inherent role-playing element.

Aside from the clear influence of Dungeons & Dragons, there's also hints of Tolkien (e.g., the elvish sword that glows when danger is nearby), Jack Vance and classical mythology.  While there were no graphics, Zork's minimal yet intelligent and witty prose brought the game to life with the power of the player's imagination, as with any good book (or tabletop RPG):

Zork (an MIT nonsense word that's slang for an unfinished program) was written between 1977 and 1979 by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling, members of the MIT Dynamic Modelling Group.  Inspired by Colossal Cave Adventure (1976), the first adventure computer game, and using the same conversational and humorous tone and dungeon crawling format, Zork was a significant step forward in terms of technology, story and gameplay.

The game proved hugely popular over ARPANET (the precursor to the Internet) and a professor encouraged the co-authors to offer the game to the general public.  The original program was so large that it was split into three games for the commercial release:  Zork I: The Great Underground Empire, Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz, and Zork III: The Dungeon Master.

The Zork series went on to become some of the top selling computer games of the 1980s!

Without mincing words, Zork is quintessential Old School: a challenging game, there's no hand holding and the player needs to use their brains and to carefully read the text to spot clues.  One wrong move can produce an instadeath.  Old School!

In addition, the terrain is complex and there is no automapping function- back in the day, you had to use paper to figure out by hand where the heck you were!  Old School!

Moreover, just like an Old School RPG, there are no limits to what the player can attempt.  Experimentation is implicitly encouraged and is sometimes the best path to finding the solution.  Old School!

This game isn't for everyone but if you are looking for a classic dungeon crawler that will test your mind six ways to Sunday, "Zork" might be right for you.

RPG Design: Vancian Magic

This week, I wanted to discuss a hallmark of Dungeons & Dragons, Vancian Magic.  The phrase refers to the distinctive magic system created by the late Hugo Award winning author Jack Vance, first and most famously used in his Dying Earth series:

In Dying Earth, spells are complex formulae that must be memorized beforehand and that instantly produce a specific result.  Furthermore, a wizard is only able to memorize a limited number of formulae, and, once cast, the formulae is erased from the wizard's mind (which is why Vancian Magic is also called "fire and forget magic").  As illustrated in the story "Mazirian the Magician":

"They would be poignant corrosive spells, of such a nature that one would daunt the brain of an ordinary man and two render him mad. Mazirian, by dint of stringent exercise, could encompass four of the most formidable, or six of the lesser spells.

...

Mazirian made a selection from his books and with great effort forced five spells upon his brain

...

The mesmeric spell had been expended, and he had none other in his brain."

In effect, spells become limited resources, such as torches and arrows.

This system is unlike magic in many other fantasy works, where sorcery is often slow and ritualistic or innate or just unexplained.  However, Vancian Magic works well for Dungeons & Dragons, with its wargaming roots and resource management aspect, where Magic-Users often function as mobile artillery and spells serve as ammo.

Of course, Dungeons & Dragons doesn't adopt Vance-style wizards wholly, since the latter use swords (gasp!).

Personally, I like Vancian Magic in D&D: it's distinctive and flavorful, easy to understand, internally coherent and very old school (at least at lower levels) since it forces players to think about how to maximize limited spells, as well as how Magic-Users can contribute to the party outside of just wielding magic (e.g., torch bearer, interpreter, investigator, etc.).

Certainly, there are more flexible and equally creative RPG magic systems, such as Ars Magica's, and Vancian Magic certainly doesn't fit all genres or play styles.  However, Vancian Magic does fit D&D-style games and D&D-type campaigns.

There's also the mini-game of picking spells and guessing what might be useful.  This is a bug for some people, but a feature for me since it's also very old school.  Pick the wrong spells for the adventure and it might be time to roll a new character!

However, for my rules set, Sorcery & Steel, I decided to use spell points rather than Vancian Magic.  One reason for this was as a part of reducing demand on the GM's bandwidth.  Specifically, I've eliminated look up tables such as this:

Another reason for using spell points rather than Vancian Magic is because I wanted a magic system that was more internally balanced.  For example, in 1e AD&D, while Sleep and Push are both Level 1 spells, it is hard to argue that they are equally powerful.

At the beginning of this post, I said Vancian Magic is a hallmark of Dungeons & Dragons.  By "hallmark",  I mean that, IMHO, a rules set that doesn't use Vancian Magic is no longer in the orbit of D&D.

That's why, when I replaced Vancian Magic with spell points, I stopped referring to my project as AD&D house rules and, instead, as a new rules set.

Music Review: "Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You" (2011)

Happy Halloween!  In honor of All Hallows' Eve, I wanted to give a shout out to perhaps the creepiest music video I've even seen, "Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You":

"Just do as we say"

This wonderfully hypnotic and melodic yet super creepy song is the brainchild of Gotye (a pronunciation respelling of "Gauthier", the French cognate of Gotye's given Dutch name "Wouter"), a Grammy winning Australian-Belgian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter.  Known for his creative and unusual compositions, Gotye taps into his dark side with this unsettlingly yet catchy song.

Adding tremendously to the sinister atmosphere of the video are the visuals which were animated and directed by Greg Sharp and Ivan Dixon at the animation studio Rubber House.  They remind me of weirdly experimental music videos from the 1980s, like "Self Control" (1984) by Laura Branigan.

In addition, the cult in "Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You" therein are pretty much poster children for your typical evil cult.  Also, the bit where the true face of the cult is (literally) revealed sends chills down my spine.

In fact, this video should be watched for inspiration by Keepers before running a session of Call of Cthulhu!

RPG Design: Alignment (Part III)

Over the past month, I've been discussing arguably the hottest mess of all RPG topics, Alignment.  I covered the development of TSR-brand Alignment, how other RPGs chose not follow TSR's lead and how TSR-brand Alignment (which is supposedly objective) is in fact highly subjective.  In addition, as previously mentioned, there's a clear tension between Alignment and other parts of the D&D rules set (e.g., GP=XP).

Alignment does have some small value by providing introductory players a guidepost in terms of how to role-play their characters.  However, most players quickly grasp the basic concepts of role-playing and move beyond this point.

Moreover, Alignment, as narrowly defined by Gygax, usually raises more issues in actual play than it solves. For example, when the party has both "good" and "evil" characters, intraparty conflict is likely. While intraparty conflict has existed since the beginning of the hobby, not every group enjoys PvP.

Alignment can also produce shocking results during actual play.  For example, it is under this aegis that I've seen more than a few very experienced gamers who believe in Alignment as RAW argue that since, in the official D&D universe, there are whole species that are irredeemably evil, behavior that would otherwise be labelled sociopathic is not only justified, but to be encouraged.  The most (in)famous example of this is murdering children of "evil" species in the name of "good".  Even in the source literature, I'm pretty certain that Aragorn, or any other ostensibly "good" character, would never murder defenseless kids, even it they grew up to be villains.  However, you know who did?

In addition, on more than one occasion, I've seen supposedly "good" characters perform acts that most people would consider "evil", merely for convenience, such as murdering unarmed prisoners.

Furthermore, the whole notion that entire species are irredeemably evil is problematic.  For one, if everyone has a TSR-brand Alignment, the logical consequence is that there's no free will.

My rules set, Sorcery & Steel, follows the majority of Old School games and simply leaves in-game morality up to in-game play.


One might argue, "What's the big deal?  It's all just make believe!"

I would certainly concede that no imaginary creatures are actually harmed whilst playing RPGs, nor am I making any kind of moral panic argument.  Certainly, one can play an evil character if they choose.  However, being actually evil while calling yourself "good" it breaks verisimilitude for me.

From a Doylist point of view, in my humble opinion, Alignment mostly exists to justify the Murderhoboism in Dungeons & Dragons and those games to which it is a close antecedent.  In other words, it exists to paper over the fact that PCs in those games are incentivized to be mass murderers as a result of how experience is awarded.

Literature Review: "A Wizard of Earthsea" (1968)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to a work that is both one of greatest fantasy novels AND one of greatest young adult novels, Ursula K. LeGuin's "A Wizard of Earthsea."

The first entry in the Earthsea Cycle, "A Wizard of Earthsea" is the origin story of Ged, the titular character and perhaps the greatest magician of all time in Earthsea.  However, this tale is set long before he becomes dragonlord and Archmage and the reader follows Ged, also known as Sparrowhawk, from simple village child through his training at wizard school on the island of Roke up to his stunning victory against a fearsome creature of undeath.

What starts off as a coming of age story turns into an epic quest that spans a good chunk of this brilliantly realized and wonderfully original fantasy world that reflects the author's clear love of history and anthropology.  Just her innovative system of magic is a great achievement in and of itself.  Indeed, LeGuin pulls off a scale of world building that many consider rivals Tolkien's Middle Earth and Herbert's Dune.  Except she does it in a mere novella!

However, although LeGuin does a marvelous job of creating a rich background and history to Earthsea, what's even more impressive is that she tells a fundamentally human tale of ambition, pride, childish foibles, courage and maturity.  It is easy for a reader to see a bit of themselves in both Ged's missteps and triumphs.

Although widely regarded as a classic of young-adult literature, LeGuin writes with a sophistication that challenges anyone and infuses the text with poetic wit and sensibility.  For example:

“It is no secret. All power is one in source and end, I think. Years and distances, stars and candles, water and wind and wizardry, the craft in a man's hand and the wisdom in a tree's root: they all arise together. My name, and yours, and the true name of the sun, or a spring of water, or an unborn child, all are syllables of the great word that is very slowly spoken by the shining of the stars. There is no other power. No other name.”  

Here the author herself reads from part of the book and discusses a bit of the impetus behind it (forward to 10:55 in the video):

We shall not speak of the horrific Sci Fi channel adaptation.

RPG Design: Alignment (Part II)

Two weeks ago, I covered the genesis and early development of arguably the most controversial of all role-playing topics, Alignment.  Starting from cosmic teams with "Alignment languages", TSR-brand Alignment then expressly baked morality into the rules set and encouraged GMs to penalize PC behavior that was, in the opinion of the GM, "out of Alignment."

In the official D&D universe by 1977, Good, Evil, Chaos, Law and Neutrality are "objective" and definite (e.g., they can be determined via magic)... and a Player's failure to adhere to a GM's subjective interpretation of an ostensibly "objective" belief system could be severely punished.  Consequently, it is not surprising that Alignment has been a disputatious subject ever since.

By contrast, many other contemporary Old School games, such as Tunnels & Trolls (1975), Traveller (1977) and RuneQuest (1978), do not have any kind of officially defined and/or rules enforced in-game morality.

However, things were about to get weirder for TSR-brand Alignment.

In the same year that Holmes Basic Dungeons & Dragons (1977) was released, TSR also started releasing the first of the three core books of 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, the second of which  (The Player's Handbook (1978)) featured an even more complex Alignment scheme than Holmes Basic:

With the exception of 4th edition, this nine-fold system has mostly remained in place for Dungeons & Dragons ever since.

Beyond merely adding four more Alignments (Lawful Neutral, Neutral Good, Neutral Evil and Chaotic Neutral), Gygax further raises the stakes by stressing in PHB that, according to him, Alignment are meant to be mostly set in stone:

"Changing Alignment:

While involuntary change of alignment is quite possible, it is very difficult for a character to voluntarily switch from one to another, except within limited areas. Evil alignment can be varied along the like axis. The neutral character can opt for some more specific alignment. Your referee will probably require certain stringent sacrifices and appropriate acts - possibly a quest, as well - for any other voluntary alignment change. In fact, even axial change within evil or good, or radial movement from neutrality may require strong proofs of various sorts.

Further voluntary change will be even more difficult. Changing back to a forsaken alignment is next to impossible on a voluntary basis. Even involuntary drift will bring the necessity of great penance."

More so than Holmes, Gygax pushed the ideas that 1) in-game morality could be objectively defined and 2) failure to meet these standards should be punished.

One might argue that Alignment is represented in SOME of the source literature (e.g, there are "good guys" and "bad guys" in LoTR).  However, the problem is that the line between "good guys" and "bad guys" is not clear in ALL the source literature.  Most notably, R.E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian is not a nice guy- he murders many, many innocent people, usually because of greed and/or because he's being aggro.  Due to authorial fiat, most of the Cimmerian's sociopathy occurs off-page.  When it occurs on-page, Conan's misdeeds are cast in the most sympathetic light possible.  For example, in The Frost-Giant's Daughter (1932), where our protagonist is clearly a would-be rapist:

"[Conan's] sword fell into the snow as he crushed her to him. Her lithe body bent backward as she fought with desperate frenzy in his iron arms. Her golden hair blew about his face, blinding him with its sheen; the feel of her slender body twisting in his mailed arms drove him to blinder madness. His strong fingers sank deep into her smooth flesh; and that flesh was cold as ice. It was as if he embraced not a woman of human flesh and blood, but a woman of flaming ice. She writhed her golden head aside, striving to avoid the fierce kisses that bruised her red lips.

"You are cold as the snows," he mumbled dazedly. "I will warm you with the fire in my own blood — "

With a scream and a desperate wrench she slipped from his arms, leaving her single gossamer garment in his grasp. She sprang back and faced him, her golden locks in wild disarray, her white bosom heaving, her beautiful eyes blazing with terror."

And, when mapping Conan's behavior on his ostensibly "objective" nine-fold Alignment system, instead of Chaotic Evil,  Gygax calls this guy "Chaotic Neutral (towards good)" in The Dragon #36.

Yeah.

History: Dave Arneson (1947-2009)

I would be remiss this week not to give a shout out to the person who provided the "Spark of Life" to tabletop role-playing:

The self-styled Cheeky Mage!

Born on October 1, 1947 in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Dave Arneson grew up with a lifelong love of games and gaming, joining the Midwest Military Simulation Association (MMSA) when he was in high school.  There, he met David Wesley and was introduced to the latter's Braunstein game scenario (1967), a proto-RPG that was a wargame first set in a fictional German town where players could act in non-military roles (e.g., town mayor, banker, university chancellor, etc.).  Inspired at least in part by Diplomacy (1959), Braunstein's open-ended rules allowed the players to attempt any action, with the results determined by a neutral referee.

These concepts influenced the development of Arneson's Blackmoor campaign, the direct precursor to Original Dungeons & Dragons (1974).  

In 1969, Arneson and some friends attended GenCon II, where he met Gary Gygax.  The two hit it off and collaborated first on Don't Give Up the Ship (1971), a Napoleonic naval wargame, and then OD&D.

After Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) was formed to publish OD&D, Arneson worked for the partnership and its successor, TSR, Inc., before leaving due to differences of opinion in 1976.

Later, when Gygax, in a highly incorrect interpretation of copyright law, attempted to avoid paying Arneson royalties by re-writing OD&D and removing Arneson's name from the front cover (the resulting work was 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons), the latter brought the first of five lawsuits against Gygax and TSR in 1979.

All of the lawsuits were settled to Arneson's satisfaction and then sealed with confidentiality agreements.

After OD&D, Arneson worked only sporadically on RPGs, most notably when he wrote up the Blackmoor setting for Judges Guild in The First Fantasy Campaign (1977) and when he returned to TSR for the "DA" (Dave Arneson) series of modules set in Blackmoor (1986–1987).  However, he mostly focused on areas of personal interest in his later years, as a business owner (Adventure Games) and as a teacher, first special education and then game design.

Still, any reasonable person would agree that the RPG hobby owes a considerable debt to Messr Arneson.  Beyond his specific design and mechanical innovations (e.g., dungeon crawling, campaign play, advancement (i.e., experience and leveling), etc.), Arneson was the one who had the clearest vision that a new role-playing tradition (parallel to murder mystery nights, comedy improv, etc.) was being created, rather than a mere incremental change to wargaming.