RPG Events: TotalCon 2017

Last week, I attended this year's TotalCon!

Short for "Total Confusion," TotalCon is New England's largest game convention, with hundreds of scheduled events over four days, including role-playing games, live action role-playing, miniature games and board games.  After a long period in Mansfield, MA, this year's convention was held in Marlborough, MA, but it was still a great time!  Some of the highlights for me included:

• Playing B1 In Search of the Unknown!

B1 In Search of the Unknown is both the original teaching module and is one of the most widely played RPG adventures of all time, being included in a number of printings of both the Holmes and Moldvay Basic D&D Sets.  Written for introductory DMs and players, B1 is a traditional dungeon crawl filled with tricks and traps to spur the minds of beginners.  A number of the rooms are deliberately left blank by Mike Carr, the author, to encourage DMs to think about dungeon design.  Whether this DYI approach is a feature or bug depends on your point of view.

While I've owned B1 for years, this was my first opportunity to actually play the module.  As an  exploration of a dangerous and weird locale, B1 is fun and still a challenge even for veteran players on the lookout for trouble.  Also, while not a meat grinder per se, a few of the PCs still died in the name of loot!

Old School!

• Playing with Frank Mentzer!

I started with the Mentzer Basic D&D Set and so it was awesome for me to actually play in a game with Messr Mentzer himself as DM.  He was kind, warm and gracious but he did, however, put a quick end to the hero worship stuff ("Just call me Frank").

The Mentzer Basic D&D Set is even more clearly written and even easier to understand than the Holmes and Moldvay Basic D&D Sets, making it ideal for younger audiences, such as myself back in the day.  Consequently, the Mentzer Basic D&D Set is still one of the best introductions to role-playing.  In fact, there was a player at our game who'd never done any role-playing before and Frank was able to get her up to speed in a flash!

I told Frank I spent quite of bit of time in the intro adventure to his Basic Set trying to save poor Aleena the Cleric, to no avail.  He replied that it was a deliberate design decision to bring home the point that 1) adventuring is dangerous business and 2) that RPGs are fantasy (not real life).

The adventure itself was a hugely fun time, a riff on  L. Frank Baum's Oz stories (not just the Wizard of Oz, but the later tales as well).  Frank also filled the session with many great stories about the early games of gaming and of TSR!


So, if you ever find yourself in Massachusetts at the end of February and have the urge to game, you should make time to come to TotalCon!  After 31 years, they are still going strong.  This is a well organized and run convention, with friendly and helpful staff, and it's always a blast to attend.  Plus, it's relatively inexpensive, so you get a lot for your $$.

Subject to unforeseen circumstances, I'll be there again next year!

Literature Review: "The Book of Three" (1964)

While this blog is primarily focused on Sword & Sorcery, I am carving out an exception for this most beloved of all High Fantasy and Young Adult works.  So, this week, in honor of Lloyd Alexander's birthday on January 30th, I wanted to discuss the first book in my favorite fantasy series when I was growing up, "The Book of Three" from "The Chronicles of Prydain":

By "favorite," I mean that I liked in grade school the Chronicles of Prydain more than any other fantasy work, including the Lord of the Rings.  To me, it was far easier to relate to being and empathize with an Assistant Pig-Keeper than a hobbit or a Dúnadan ranger.  Now than I'm older, I appreciate and respect LoTR better but Prydain will always have a dear place in my heart.

Speaking of both series, Messr Alexander has sometimes been accused of ripping off Professor Tolkien's Middle Earth works but, in fact, both Prydain and Middle Earth draw inspiration from a number of the same myths and folktales, most notably the Mabinogion.

"The Book of Three" begins with an orphan named Taran who is on the cusp of manhood and who yearns to become a great hero.  Unfortunately for him, he's stuck on a remote farm that's also home to his guardians, retired soldier Coll and the great wizard Dalben.  Taran is rather full of youthful arrogance and more than a bit bratty and naïve, which sounds more than a bit like this guy:

While Taran is grousing and daydreaming, Coll puts him in charge of Hen Wen, the oracular white pig.  Unfortunately, that same day,  Hen Wen runs away, despite Taran's best efforts, because she is realizes she is being hunted by the Horned King, the war leader of the Dark Lord Arawn!

Taran heads after Hen Wen to try to get her back and runs smack dab into his hero, the High Prince Gwydion!  An unexpected adventure ensues and, on the way, he meets various companions, faces darkness and danger, encounters extraordinary beings and learns that "being a hero" is rather different from his daydreaming.

"The Book of Three" an epic story of the struggle against a Dark Lord but is also filled with understandable and memorable characters facing very human problems.  Like Ursula K. Le Guin's wonderful "Wizard of Earth Sea" (which I discussed last year), "The Book of Three" creates a brilliantly realized fantasy world yet the writing is also sophisticated and the characters are grounded.

Messr Alexander is able to retain the fairy tale elements whilst also giving us characters who feel pain and yearning.  The best and most touching part of the book, IMHO, is at the end when maturity begins to dawn upon Taran, who, when asked about what reward he would like, chooses to leave childish things behind and merely wishes to return home.

For lovers of fantasy and young adult literature, "The Book of Three" and, indeed, the rest of the Chronicles of Prydain are must reads.  The Chronicles of Prydain was the first American fantasy work to win the respect of British critics and is arguably the first series of fantasy  novels.  It is also one of the first works of children's literature that presents an ongoing, multi-part story that unfolds over many years.

As a quick introduction, here is the The Chronicles of Prydain segment from the excellent recent Lloyd Alexander documentary:

RPG Game Play: Plot v. Sandbox

A couple months ago, I discussed the importance of the group putting a "social contract" in place, preferably before play begins.  This week, I wanted to focus on a key part of that discussion, determining what type of campaign that everyone wants to play: Plot v. Sandbox.

By "Plot v. Sandbox," I'm referring to how and to how much a particular campaign is scripted in advance by the GM, whether that is metaplot, side quests, other events, setting, factions and NPCs (and their goals), etc.  This is a major area of fun and creativity for many GMs, myself included.

In terms of "Plot v. Sandbox," every campaign falls somewhere on the spectrum between purely plot-driven games/campaigns (whether that's certain pre-printed modules (*cough*Dragonlance*cough*) or certain New School games (e.g., a story game) or whatever) and pure sandbox campaigns (when the GM simply populates an area, and where if there's a story at all, it's emergent from actual play).  A number of Old School modules and products are widely regarded as sandboxes, and often the loudest proponents of sandbox play are the grognards.

On one extreme, if the GM takes active steps to keep the players on his preferred metaplot, this is often referred to "railroading".  Some players may enjoy the ride but railroading is frowned upon when the GM takes away the players' agency.

Can you hear Tracy Hickman's dice hitting the table?

On the other extreme, if the players in a sandbox are unable to drive the action and simply wander around aimlessly, I like to call this a "desert".

I specifically wanted to highlight this issue in this blog post since it's no fun if the GM invests significant time and energy to set up a campaign and the players decide to do something completely different but it's no fun if the players are forced to follow the GM's whims.

There's no one right answer for all groups but any answer that's fun for the GM and the players may be the right answer for that group.  And it is usually best to work out this issue in advance as part of the group's social contract.

In my own games, my players are prefer to leave control of the narrative to me.  So, I usually come up with broad ideas and a handful of plot points and improvise the rest based on the PCs' decisions.     I try leave choices up to the players as much as possible.  The NPCs have their own things going on and will succeed unless the PCs decide to intervene.

If the PCs decide not to interact with something I've planned, it's not a big deal.  I can usually recycle part or all of it at a later date.

Let me know what works for your games!

Movie Review: "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" (2010)

[NB- this post is a slightly revised version of one that I published earlier]

春節快樂！

As we are in the midst of the 15 days to celebrate Chinese New Year (aka Spring Festival), I wanted to give some props to my favorite Chinese action mystery film, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame:

Set in Tang Dynasty China, at the beginning of the reign of Wu Zetian (武則天), the first and only Chinese empress to rule in her own name, the country is rife with plots and intrigue against the throne.  After a couple of officials spontaneously combust (the titular flame), the Empress releases her old foe, former imperial magistrate and rebel Di Renjie (狄仁傑, the titular character), from prison and orders him to get to the bottom of this baffling mystery.  This, of course, is easier said than done, not only because of the tangled schemes of the Empress and other political factions, but also because Di's own assistants, Officer Shangguan Jing'er and Officer Pei Donglai, have interests that are not entirely aligned with the good detective's.  The result is an excellent series of twists and turns where you're not sure who's playing whom.

Like Guy Ritchie's excellent Sherlock Holmes films, to which it is often favorably compared, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame is a multi-genre reimagining of a classic character, who in turn is based on the actual Di Renjie, a celebrated Chinese official.

Directed by the acclaimed Tsui Hark and with a large (by Hong Kong standards) budget, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame is a lavish historical thriller that works as both a detective movie and a martial arts flick.  The set and costume design are gorgeous, while the story is breezy fun with just the right amounts of suspense, spookiness and mysticism.  And with the legendary Sammo Hung as action director, you know the fight choreography will be top notch.

Leading a stellar cast, the great Andy Lau plays the titular detective with intelligence, wit, and aplomb.  Furthermore, to prepare for his role in the film, Lau studied criminal psychology, which adds to the verisimilitude as Detective Dee conducts his investigation.  In addition, giving the detective a strong cast of characters to play against elevates the work: Detective Dee's verbal jousts with the Empress, played by Carina Lau, Andy's wife, in her first film role in four years, are some of the best scenes in the movie.

All in all, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame is an excellent film.  If you would like to watch a Chinese martial arts film or historical drama with unexpected depth and superb execution, you could do a lot worse than this gem.

Movie Review: "Dragon Blade" (2015)

This week, as we are in the midst of the 15 days of celebration for Chinese New Year, I wanted to take a look at the entertainingly bad Chinese historical adventure film "Dragon Blade" (2015):

In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that man has no control; even over his own will.

This is a work of historical fiction, with a strong emphasis on "fiction".

no killing rule

childish

surprisingly no bad

twists and turns in the plot

Jackie Chan plays the captain of the Han Chinese government's Silk Road Protection Squad (even though there was no such thing), John Cusack plays the Roman general of the "Black Eagle Corps" (even though Roman military units were not organized into corps), and Adrien Brody plays the son of Marcus Licinius Crassus, who murders his father to become Consul of Rome (even though that's not how Crassus died or though Consul was not a heretitary position).

there are also many, many, many other liberties taken 

it's a Chinese imagining of Ancient Rome, like the portrayals of Native Americans in old westerns.

one of China's most expensive films

cheesy hammy overacted

terrible editing

And so begins this ripping yarn that masterfully combines an epic dark fantasy narrative, ridiculously awesome action and philosophical musings!  An adaptation of the best-selling manga with the same name, "Berserk" follows a young mercenary named Guts as he (literally) carves his way through a low fantasy world reminiscent of late medieval/early renaissance Europe.  This unfortunate place is plagued with constant warfare and endures a level of everyday violence and brutality that makes Westeros seem like Disneyland!

Confusingly, this anime starts with an episode in the manga's Black Swordsman arc then quickly shifts back to the manga's Golden Age arc, where Guts is recruited by the brilliant and charismatic leader of the Band of the Hawk mercenary group, Griffith.  The viewer follows the Band of the Hawk's rise to glory among various blood-soaked battlefields, while Griffith plays a devious and equally deadly game of political machinations.

In addition to enough blood and violence to trigger a moral panic, Beserk features an amazing soundtrack that, fittingly, highlights or underscores the narrative.  Furthermore, the narrative is filled with excellent character beats, such that even minor characters get some surprising depth.  This more than makes up for animation quality that is average, at best, for the time.

In the Golden Age arc, Guts and the Band of the Hawk face danger, betrayal and demonic shenangians at every turn.  Fortunately, Guts possesses effectively unlimited willpower, a zero [expletives] given attitude, and arguably the coolest sword of all time!  This sucker is so huge it makes a daiklave from Exalted look like a kid's toy!

Really, the only major flaw to "Berserk" (1997) is that it ends on an epic cliffhanger... which was addressed by the new series "Berserk" (2016) currently airing in Japan, that picks up immediately afterward!

RPG Design: Core Mechanic

新年快乐! (Happy Chinese New Year!)

This week, I wanted to talk about one of the most important parts of a tabletop RPG's design: the Core Mechanic.  By "Core Mechanic," I mean rules covering general task resolution (e.g., combat, investigation, negotiation, etc.) and reactions (e.g., surprise, morale, etc.), rather than related sub-systems (e.g., damage, initiative, etc.) or unrelated sub-systems (e.g., advancement, encumbrance, etc.).

Not a core mechanic

Any discussion of Core Mechanics should begin with the ur-RPG, Original Dungeons & Dragons (1974).  OD&D uses d20 target number roll under to determine hits in combat (the "Alternative Combat System" aka THAC0) and a collection of rules for reactions, such as d20 target number roll under (Saving Throws), d6 target number roll under (Surprise) and 2d6 look up (Monster Reactions).  Additionally, as mentioned before, there are simply no rules for large areas of task resolution, with each table addressing this situation in their own way through house rules and/or role-play (for some, this is a feature rather than a bug).

These gaps, however, begin to be filled in with Supplement I: Greyhawk (Thieves Skills use d100 target number roll under and d6 target number roll under, Open Doors uses d6 target number roll under) and by AD&D, include many wonky rules, such as Chance to Know Spell.

Having so many disparate rules is a drag, both figuratively and literally, since they consume large amounts of the DM's bandwidth and/or slow down the game with multiple look up charts.

Unsurprisingly, while D&D was becoming more complex, a number of other Old School RPGs chose the opposite approach with more streamlined rule sets, such as Traveller (1977, mostly 2d6 target number roll over) and RuneQuest (1978, mostly d100 target number roll under).  This more simplified design approach has won out, with most New School RPGs employing a universal Core Mechanic, most notably 3e and newer D&D (d20 target number roll over).

I've spent a fair bit of time grumbling about various aspects of New School RPGs, but this is one area that I feel is a definite improvement than back in the Ye Goode Olde Days.  By streamlining the Core Mechanic (and often other parts of the rules set as well),  gameplay speeds up and GMs can focus on more rewarding parts of the game.

...and we liked it!

For Sorcery & Steel, my rules set, I've adopted a universal Core Mechanic (d20 target number roll under) to steamline play while not stepping too far away from its Old School D&D roots (descending AC).  While starting as a set of AD&D house rules, Sorcery & Steel has become its own thing.  However, I want to keep its DNA recognizable while fulfilling my other design goals.

Literature Review: "Beyond the Black River" (1935)

This week, in honor of R.E. Howard's birthday on January 22nd, I wanted to discuss one of my favorite Swords & Sorcery yarns, the classic Conan the Barbarian tale "Beyond the Black River":

Although a ripping Sword & Sorcery tale (with gory action, savage imagery and fell magic), "Beyond the Black River" is also unusual and noteworthy for a Conan story in a number of ways.

Firstly, the viewpoint character for much of this tale is a young man named Balthus (likely the author's self-insert) who has travelled to the very edge of the civilized world to seek his fortune rather than everyone's favorite Cimmerian murder machine.  This allows us to see Conan from a somewhat different perspective.  Anyway, unfortunately, this is the worst possible time to visit Conajohara, the newest province of the Kingdom of Aquilonia carved out of the lands of the Picts, since an irate sorcerer named Zogar Sag is uniting thousands of Pictish warriors to wreak bloody vengeance!

Taking along his new sidekick, Conan discusses the rapidly deteriorating situation with Governor Valannus, and Valannus decides their own hope is to find the sorcerer in the jungle beyond the Black River and terminate him with extreme prejudice.  Accompanied by a dozen handpicked rangers, Conan and Balthus head off on their kill mission into the heart of darkness to prevent an apocalypse now.

As in Francis Ford Coppola's acclaimed retelling of Joseph Conrad's acclaimed novella, the plan quickly goes off the rails for Conan and Co, and young Balthus finds himself fighting for his life!

Much death and mayhem ensues.

“Civilization is unnatural. It is the whim of circumstance. And barbarism must ultimately triumph.”

One of the major themes of Conan's tales, the struggle between civilization and barbarism, is front and center in "Beyond the Black River."  Indeed, it drives the action since the two are in actual direct conflict.  However, there's a philosophical level as well: This is an unusually moody and reflective Conan story and the normally taciturn barbarian waxes at length about on the topic.    

For example, in his opinion, this latest Aquilonian land grab is dangerous and foolhearty and the barbarian explains to Balthus, "you Hyborians have expanded as far as you'll be allowed to expand."  There are signs of impending disaster, just like Aquilonia's last attempt to colonize barbarian lands, the southern marches of Cimmerian.

In another unusual move, Conan also reveals something of his past, that he was one of the reavers that sacked the fort-town Venarium, even though he hadn't reached 15 winters.  Testosterone practically oozes from the pages.

Another interesting point about "Beyond the Black River" is how much it resembles tale of the Old West, another great love of Messr Howard.  In fact, remove sorcerer Zogar Sag and the other supernatural elements and this story reads much like Howard's westerns, with the Picts standing in for Native Americans.

All in all, "Beyond the Black River" is one of Messr Howard's finest works, filled with both classic pulp action and melancholy philosophical ruminations.  It provides arguably the clearest picture of Conan, both in thought and in action.   Every fan of Swords & Sorcery should take a look!