Movie Review: Willow (1988)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to yet another film that I thought was totally awesome as a kid, but, with hindsight, doesn't look as shiny, George Lucas' foray into High Fantasy, Willow:

Willow has a somewhat meandering plot wherein a girl with a special birthmark is prophesied to bring about the downfall of the evil sorceress Queen Bavmorda.  Consequently, Bavmorda imprisons all the pregnant women in her realm.  Nevertheless, this baby Elora Danan, is born and smuggled to safety, eventually ending up in the care of our titular character, Willow Ufgood.

Willow is a simple farmer who dreams of becoming a sorcerer and is tasked with finding a safe place for Elora Danan.  Along the way, he meets rogue sellsword Madmartigan, a couple of brownies (who are the comic relief), Princess Sorcha (daughter of Queen Bavmorda, who does a heel-face turn) and Fin Raziel (a good sorceress polymorphed into a possum).  Also, armies clash, swashbuckling happens and dark sorcery must be averted!

Much like Star Wars, Willow is a mishmash of different ideas and inspirations, some of them painfully obvious in hindsight, such as Star Wars (Madmartigan is pretty much fantasy Han Solo) and the Lord of the Rings (the Nelwyns are pretty much Hobbits with the serial numbers filed off).  However unlike Star Wars, in Willow that mishmash never really comes together, unfortunately.

This film also suffers from an underwhelming performance from lead actor Warwick Davis, who fails to solidly anchor this ambitious project with his often hammy and wooden delivery.  And the tone of the film wildly swings from super kid-friendly to really grim dark.

Still, there are also plenty of positives.  Val Kilmer brings the necessary rock star qualities to Madmartigan and the rest of the cast is filled with good character actors.  The cinematography, action sequences, production design and costuming are good to excellent.  The VFX look dated now, but were good for the time.

So, if you are looking for an ambitious but flawed epic fantasy film that's still a fun romp, this might be up your alley!

RPG Focus: REIGN (2007)

Previously, I have focused on 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and on 6th Edition Call of Cthulhu, two old favorites that have been highly influential upon my own developing rules set, Sorcery & Steel.  This week, I want to take a look at another game that has taught me many lessons in RPG Design, REIGN:

Right off the bat, I'm going to say that I love REIGN to bits.  That might seem a bit odd since REIGN  utilizes a number of New School ideas and mechanics.  However, I am not against New School games that are designed well and I played in a REIGN campaign for a couple of years, followed by GMing my own REIGN campaign for a couple more years.

REIGN is a low-powered fantasy game powered by the One Roll Engine (ORE), a count success dice pool system, with applicable stat and skill determining the size of the PC's dice pool.  This is not anything revolutionary.

However, what sets the One Roll Engine apart is that, rather than looking for a fixed target number, "successes" are based upon matching sets of dice.  As a result, as the name suggests, you can determine success, speed and degree of success all in one roll.  Furthermore, the same system can be used for static, dynamic and opposed rolls.  ORE does have a learning curve but, overall, this makes the game run very quickly and smoothly.

Another thing that I really like about ORE is the stripped down skill list that still covers 95+% of what PCs might encounter during an adventure (i.e., skills are broadly applicable).

There are lots of other things that a would-be RPG designer can study in this game as well, including using a strong authorial voice throughout the work, effective flavor text, really well-balanced mechanics and character advancement, an interesting and effective approach to Linear Fighters, Quadratic Wizards, etc.  One really does get a lot for their dinero!

So, if you are a fan of RPG Design or simply want to check out a neat rules sets, you can do a lot worse than REIGN!

Culture: "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" (1949)

Fundamentally, most tabletop role-playing games seek to tell thrilling yarns about heroes triumphing in the face of great odds.  So, this week I wanted to give a shout out to the seminal work of comparative mythology, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces":

Written by legendary mythologist Joseph Campbell, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" is a hugely influential study that combines modern psychology with comparative mythological analysis.  Building on work from earlier scholars, Campbell found heroic legends from all over the world and from many different periods of time shares many similar elements of plot, structure, theme and symbolism.  

This begged the question of why heroic legends possessed so many similarities, despite being separated by great gaps of space and time?  Campbell's tremendous insight was that the reason for this universality was that these heroic legends were reflections of and expressions of elements of the collective unconscious of humanity.  According to Campbell and legendary psychologist Carl Jung, the collective unconscious produces "archetypes," which form the basis of many myths.

Furthermore, Campbell was able to break down these heroic legends into a basic narrative pattern which he called the monomyth or "The Hero's Journey", which he summarized as follows:

"A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man."

The concept of "The Hero's Journey" has been widely acclaimed since the 1970s.  Moreover, Campbell's ideas have been adopted and adapted repeated in popular culture, perhaps most famously in Star Wars, but also in many, many, many other works.

“In the three decades since I discovered The Hero with a Thousand Faces, it has continued to fascinate and inspire me. Joseph Campbell peers through centuries and shows us that we are all connected by a basic need to hear stories and understand ourselves. As a book, it is wonderful to read; as illumination into the human condition, it is a revelation.” - George Lucas

A Call to Adventure!

So, if you are a fan of mythology and want to learn and understand more about the hows and whys of heroic legends, check out one of best written books of the 20th century!

RPG Design: Dice Pools

Earlier this year, I highlighted the issue of Core Mechanics in tabletop role-playing games.  This week, I wanted to discuss a type of Core Mechanic that became hugely popular beginning in the late '80s/early 90s, Dice Pools:

Binomial distribution: a characteristic of all dice pools

As tabletop role-playing game mechanics evolved beyond those of Original Dungeons & Dragons (1974) and similar games, a number of games began to utilize Dice Pools as their Core Mechanic.  By "Dice Pools," I mean that each die used to determine task resolution is considered individually.  There are two major types of dice pool system that are used tabletop role-playing games: 1) fixed target number dice pool systems, and 2) count success dice pool systems.

In fixed target number dice pool systems, the dice are added together and compared to a target number.  One of the most popular fixed target number dice pool system is GURPS, which is mostly a 3d6 target low system (but sometimes a 3d6 target high system).  There's little difference between fixed die target number systems (ala D&D, BRP and similar systems), save that the former, like all dice pool systems, produces a binomial distribution, whereas the latter produces a flat distribution.

Dice Pools have been around since relatively early in RPG history (e.g., Traveller (1977)), but what really caused hoopla in the hobby was success dice pool systems, which became a killer app.  In count success dice pool systems, the dice are individually compared against a target number to determine whether or not a "success" occurs.  Then, the player must reach another target number of successes to determine whether or not the character was successful at the task.

The most famous games with count success dice pool systems are probably Shadowrun (1989), and White Wolf Publishing's seminal Vampire: The Masquerade (1991), the first entry of  the Storyteller system.

Depending on the number of dice in the dice pool, count success dice pool systems can be faster and more streamlined than fixed die target number systems, especially fixed die target number systems with lots of modifiers to the fixed die.  Also, count success dice pool systems can be used creatively from a design point of view (e.g., botches, exploding dice, etc.)

And, it can be immensely satisfying to roll a giant handful of dice!

However, the drawbacks of count success dice pool systems are many.  First of all, they don't bonuses and penalties easily, as the math when changing the target number or the number of dice is often non-obvious or at least requires a bit of crunching.  Consequently, this increases the difficulty for GMs of adjudicating these variables on the fly, which can lead to unexpected or unwanted results.

Also, if the dice pool is too small, the results may be too grainy for modifiers to work properly.

Furthermore, from a physical standpoint, large dice pools (10 or more dice) usually slow the game down considerably as hunting for successes becomes increasingly time consuming.  Also, the chance of dice rolling off the time or otherwise becoming lost also increases.  These can even be issues for medium-sized dice pools.

So, count success dice pool systems can great or not so great in practice, depending upon the implementation.  Probably the most clever and fastest  count success dice pool system that I've seen is the One-Roll Engine (ORE), which uses a dice pool of d10s equal to the character's Stat and Skill similar to that used by Storyteller system.  However, rather than calculating a "success" against a fixed target number, ORE uses a matching system, which produces some interesting results.  If you're a fan of count success dice pool systems, check it out!

Literature Review: "The Quest of Iranon" (1921)

This week, in honor of H. P. Lovecraft's birthday on August 20th, I wanted to give a shout out to another classic yarn by the greatest of Weird Fiction authors, "The Quest of Iranon":

"Long have I missed thee, Aira, for I was but young when we went into exile; but my father was thy King and I shall come again to thee, for it is so decreed of Fate. All through seven lands have I sought thee, and some day shall I reign over thy groves and gardens, thy streets and palaces, and sing to men who shall know whereof I sing, and laugh not nor turn away. For I am Iranon, who was a Prince in Aira."

Written on February 28, 1921, and first published in the July/August 1935 issue of Galleon magazine, "The Quest of Iranon" is a mythic and romantic fantasy tale written in the style of HPL's literary hero, Lord Dunsany.  In this short story, the titular character, a golden-haired youth, wanders far and wide, singing and telling wondrous tales of the lost city of Aira, where he was prince.

However, few truly appreciate his stories, and Iranon moves on from place to place.  In his travels, the bard meets another disenfranchised lad, Romnod, who joins the party.  Years pass and Romnod ages normally, while Iranon remains exactly the same.  

More years go by and Romnod passes away from sleep apnea.  Iranon continues on his quest alone, finally encountering an old shepherd who reveals the truth of his past.

For those who only know Lovecraft for his Cthulhu Mythos, "The Quest of Iranon" is quite a departure.  Like "The Doom That Came to Sarnath," this story is part of HPL's Dream Cycle, a pre-history/alternate dimension that can be entered via dreams.  As such, it is a heartbreaking story about an earnest but possibly naïve search for perfection and for a place where people truly understand and appreciate beauty, song and art.

Consequently, this tale is somewhat autobiographical, as Iranon's quest mirrors Lovecraft's own situation: the outsider filled with childish dreams and unrealistic fancies who never truly managed to grow up, despite growing old.  In addition, Iranon, like Lovecraft, is never acclaimed or recognized during his lifetime.

So, if you are a fan of Lovecraft, and are keen to read a beautiful, tragic and poignant tale with a  mythical and dreamlike narrative, check out "The Quest of Iranon"!

RPG Design: Initiative

Last month, I discussed the importance of encounters in tabletop role-playing games.  This week, I wanted to focus on an important part of designing a rules set for encounters, Initiative:

As the term is used in role-playing games, "Initiative" simply means that an encounter has devolved into combat and signals Initiative when during combat each participant may act.  In many RPGs, beating your opponent at Initiative (i.e., attacking before your opponent) is, unsurprisingly, highly significant.  Consequently, rules for Initiative are a popular topic for discussion and analysis.

Most  Old School games use them to structure combat as turn-based play.  For example, in B/X Dungeons & Dragons (1981) uses 1d6 by side each combat round.  More specifically, each ‘side’ in the encounter rolls a single six sided die. Whoever wins the roll is allowed to take their actions first, along with everyone else on their side. Once the winner’s turn is over, the other side takes their turn.  If the combat continues for another round, rinse and repeat.

Original Dungeons & Dragons (1974) DOESN'T ACTUALLY PROVIDE rules for Initiative!  However, it's implied that one is supposed to follow the rules in Chainmail (1971), which also uses 1d6 by side each combat round.

Of course, 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons uses ridiculously incomprehensible and overly complex rules for initiative (set forth in the Dungeon Masters Guide on page 61), with way too many special case rules.  In practice, most tables get around these difficulties with house rules (including the late author, Gary Gygax).

However, there are many ways that Initiative can be handled, such as Savage Worlds' (2003) non-standard resolution, using a deck of cards instead of dice.  Players and NPCs all draw a card from a standard 52 card deck. Initiative is then decided from high value to low, with ties being resolved by reverse alphabetical order of the card suit, such that spades beat clubs, etc.

This is a big problem if one doesn't have a deck of cards.

Perhaps the most interesting Initiative system I've seen in a Traditional role-playing game is the one used in the One Roll Engine, which splits the declaration and resolution of actions.  Declaration goes in reverse order of Sense ability score (i.e., the highest Sense score gets to listen to what everyone else is doing before making their declaration).  Then speed of resolution is determined by the "width" of a roll (i.e., the number of successes).

w00t!

However, Initiative gets weird when a game gets rid of the turn-based assumption, as is the case in some New School games such as Dungeon World (2012).   Dungeon World DOESN'T ACTUALLY PROVIDE rules for Initiative... but, unlike Original Dungeons & Dragons, this is on purpose...

In the *World games, players just take actions WHENEVER THEY FEEL LIKE IT!  These means that players can take multiple actions in a row, if they want.  Furthermore, because there's no initiative system, nobody is guaranteed a chance to act.  Consequently, if there are shy players in a group, they'll get pushed out of the picture by the more aggressive/outgoing players. 

This changes the role of GM from referee to that of babysitter.

Anyway, for my rules set, Sorcery & Steel, I adopted a variant of B/X's approach.  Quick, simple, and with enough variance to keep things interesting.

What's not to love?

Movie Review: Gladiator (2000)

This week, I wanted to take a look at the film that's kicked off the latest round of Historical Epic and Sword & Sandal romps, "Gladiator":

First of all, I want to state up front that calling this movie "historical" has to be taken with a gigantic asteroid of salt!  Anyway, "Gladiator" follows the rise and fall... and rise of the fictional Maximus Decimus Meridius as he transitions from general to slave to the titular gladiator.

The film begins with the final battle of the Marcomannic Wars, which ends with a decisive Roman victory by Maximus while Emperor Marcus Aurelius watches.  Afterward, Marcus Aurelius declares to his son, Commodus, that the latter will not be Emperor (NB- this didn't happen in real life) because the former wants to dissolve the Empire and to restore the Roman Republic (NB- this didn't happen in real life).  However, rather than enjoying his much longed for peace, the Emperor instead enjoys being smothered to death by Commodus (NB- this didn't happen in real life).

Maximus is not down with this regime change and attempts a coup d'etat.  However, wily Commodus  remains one step ahead and Maximus ends up a slave after his family is murdered.  The former general is sold and trained as a gladiator and proves to be unstoppable!

Meanwhile, Commodus decides to host a massive and hugely expensive series of gladiatorial fights to distract the populace from the failings of his rule.  As the A #1 hotshot, Maximus and his friends are off to Rome.  This sets up a collision course between the two men that can only be settled with cold steel on the hot sand of the Colosseum!

While it won Best Picture at the Academy Awards (robbing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon IMHO), "Gladiator" basically just a fun popcorn flick.  The movie has excellent action scenes, high production values and a wonderful score.  Additionally, it deserves credit for reinvigorating the Historical Epic and Sword & Sandal genres and increasing the public's interest in history generally.

However, director Ridley Scott again shows his inability to elevate source material: when he has a great script, he can produce a great movie (e.g., Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Black Hawk Down, The Martian).  When the scripts are not great, his films are stylish and visually stunning but not much else.  This is the case here, as "Gladiator" is ultimately a vapid tale filled with forgettable characters. 

So, if you're looking for a ripping Sword & Sandal yarn, this movie is just fine.  But if you're looking for a somewhat more historical take on ancient Rome, the HBO television series is much, much better in every other category.

Thirteen!