RPG Events: Roll20Con 2018

Like last year, I again attended this year's Roll20Con!

FYI, Roll20 is a website that hosts a bunch of tabletop role-playing games that are played online (a ka virtual tabletop).  Roll20 is notable because it provides a set of tools (e.g., online dice roller, text chat, dynamic character sheets, automated  shared maps with character and enemy tokens, triggered sound effects, etc.)

The Roll20 interface also includes integrated voice chat and video chat, but, frankly, their implementation is pretty pants, and in every game I've played on Roll20 (including Roll20Con 2017 and 2018), we used Discord instead for voice chat.

Compared to last year, Roll20Con 2018 was poorly managed (after an initial notification a few months ago, Roll20Con didn't follow up with potential GMs until a few weeks ago.  Consequently, there were far fewer games.  Nevertheless, I did manage to get into some interesting games, most notably "Forget Me Not".

"Forget Me Not" is a one-shot modern scenario for Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition from the 'The Things We Leave Behind' anthology published by Stygian Press.  This book is labelled "mature content" and boy is that an understatement!

Without getting into any spoilers, let's just say that "Forget Me Not" is really dark, even by Call of Cthulhu standards.  It was interesting to play but it's also helpful to remember that, with scenarios like these, gameplay is more about the journey than the destination.

RPG Game Play: Social Contracts (Part II)

A couple years ago, I discussed the importance of setting up a Social Contract with your gaming group.

This week, I wanted to go into greater detail as to some topics that you might want to include in your Social Contract.

While the specifics of a Social Contract will vary from role-playing group to role-playing group based on preferences and personalities, here are some basic issues that are applicable to most groups.

• Playstyle

A major issue to settle before starting is the play style of the group.  If a player wants to be a fantasy swashbuckler and their character gets quickly killed because the GM is running a realistic and historically accurate campaign, there's a disconnect that should have been cleared up by the Social Contract.

Nowadays, I run a beer & pretzels Old School game and our group uses a lot of light-hearted humor and plays casually (e.g., talking In Character is not emphasized).  We play cooperatively (no PvP) and, as GM, I'm willing to change a decision if someone makes a compelling argument that doesn't break the story.

• Attendance

Obviously, it's impossible to game if people don't show up.  Furthermore, it's rude to keep others waiting.  So, it's helpful to cover what happens if someone can't or doesn't show up, including what happens to their PC (e.g., does someone else get to play the PC?).

Life happens and being late or missing a session is inevitable and alright but I tell my players that they need at least to inform me in advance when they will be late/miss a session.

• Mature content

Obviously, not everyone is looking for a game that features mature content and/or mature themes.  For the sake of harmony, this should be sorted out in advance.

I run a PG-13 campaign, so stupid jokes are welcome but explicit language is frowned upon.  So, dropping an F-Bomb is an easy way to be permabanned.

• Character Death

As I mentioned earlier, Character Death can be a touchy subject that people don't want to think about.  So, it's wise to get ahead of the curve before it comes up in actual play.

• Environment

People's definition of what constitutes an acceptable environment can be different, so it may be necessary to set rules on smoking, alcohol, using other people's dice, bringing and consuming food and drink, etc.

If problems do arise with a group, the best thing to do is to address them head on and the worst thing to do is to be passive aggressive.  It's important to be respectful of other people's opinions and feelings, but sometimes the GM does need to make a tough decision and to be decisive for the benefit of the rest of the group.

Movie Review: Spartacus (1960)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to the film that set the standard for every big budget Sword & Sandal movie that followed, "Spartacus":

Produced and headlined by legendary actor Kirk Douglas and directed by the legendary Stanley Kubrick, "Spartacus" is loosely based upon the historical figure of the same name and events of the Third Servile War (73–71 BC).

The film opens with the gifted but rebellious Spartacus sentenced to death for attacking a guard in a hard labor mine but spared after Roman businessman Lentulus Batiatus purchases the fiery slave for his gladiatorial school in Capua.  There, he becomes a skilled combatant and meets his love interest, Varinia.

Once day, two powerful Roman nobles and their wives visit the gladiatorial school and demand a pair of death matches.  One of the nobles is the general and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus, who would later form the First Triumvirate with his rival Pompey the Great and his political and financial client Julius Caesar.

The death matches upset the gladiators, who rise up and kill their handlers, and soon the rebellion engulfs southern Italy.  Spartacus leads his new slave army to early victory over the Romans, but betrayal forces a decisive showdown with new legions led by Crassus.

A thoughtful film, Spartacus isn't a ripping Sword & Sandal yarn.  Some of the proselytizing is heavy-handed, but the political scenes are handled deftly, as are the battle scenes.  The acting style is also a product of its time.

Overall, the film was a critical and commercial success.  Winner of 4 Academy Awards, Spartacus also ended the Hollywood blacklist when Kirk Douglas demanded that screenwriter Dalton Trumbo be credited under his own name and President-elect John F. Kennedy crossed American Legion picket lines to view the film.

So, if you're looking for an Epic in the old Hollywood tradition (Spartacus has a cast of over 10,000 and a 3 hour 20 min runtime, including overture and intermission), this may be the film for you!

RPG Game Play: Campaign Basics (Part II)

Two weeks ago, I discussed some of the basics applicable to running all RPG campaigns.  This week, I want to touch on the types of RPG campaigns.

By "types of RPG campaign," I mean the genre, background and feel of a RPG campaign, rather than the mechanics.  Of course some GMs, for a variety of reasons, just focus on running a campaign and purchase a commercial product, of which there are many.

So, how does one choose the type of an RPG campaign to run?  This decision is usually driven of the preferences of the GM (and, for some New School games, the Players).  There do seem however to be three common and effective types of RPG campaigns:

• Sandboxes
• Adventure Paths
• Relationship-Maps

The three types are of course not mutually exclusive and all of them can work (for different kinds of storytelling and approaches to RPG play).  Furthermore, many campaigns combine elements of some or all three types, but many times one of them is dominant, because of the preferences of the GM and/or Players.

• Sandboxes

Last year, I touched on Sandboxes as a style of Game Play, and now I'd like to look at them again in terms of campaigns.

In a sandbox campaign, the GM creates an area and populates it with NPCs, events, monsters, etc. and the players choose where they want to go and with whom they want to interact.  It is a form of emergent storytelling, where the narrative develops as play happens.

As Old School as it gets, Sandboxes go back to the beginning of the RPG hobby (e.g., Blackmoor), and some of the best known examples are the classic modules B2 The Keep on the Borderlands and X1 The Isle of Dread.

Sandboxes can be a good starting point for novice GMs because they only need to create the area in which the players will adventure, and the campaign can be expanded as necessary

• Adventure Paths

What is nowadays called an "Adventure Path" (i.e., a series of interlinked adventures featuring pre-scripted events) has been a popular mode of campaign play since DL1 Dragons of Despair (1984) kicked off the Dragonlance Saga (which many Old School gamers consider to be the beginning of the end for TSR, as it was a decisive step away from Sandbox play).  In an Adventure Path, the plot is directed by the GM.  For example, DL1 states:

"Events

As opposed to encounters, which take place in specific areas, events take place at specific times. They may happen anywhere unless stated otherwise. The first event begins your adventure, then each follows at its stated time in the sequence below."

Adventure Paths can also be a good starting point for novice GMs because they limit the number of things with which the Players can interact.  However, they can also devolve into a railroad, stripping Players of agency.

Adventure Paths continue to be produced today, such as many Pathfinder products (e.g., Rise of the Runelords).

• Relationship-Maps

These campaigns are typically Player-driven affairs, most often seen in indie games, such as Fate, Smallville, Apocalypse World, etc.

In a Relationship-Maps campaign, many or all of the background details of the campaign are determined by the Players, usually in the course of Character Creation.  This is a type of Player Narrative Fiat.

Since the Players come up with most or all of the campaign background, Relationship-Maps campaigns can be low or no-prep for the GM, who primarily focuses on knowing the rules set well and managing the group's Social Contract.

TV Review: "Adventure Call" (2010-2013)

This week, I want to give a shout out to a hi*LAR*ious recurring sketch on "Limmy's Show!", "Adventure Call":

"Limmy's Show!" was a surreal and bizarre Scottish comedy sketch show broadcast on BBC Two Scotland, written and directed by Brian "Limmy" Limond.  In "Adventure Call," Limmy played Falconhoof, the host of a premium-rate call-in show, wherein callers attempted to work through a dungeon crawl similar to the all-time great text adventure game Zork, whilst being charged an exorbitant fee per minute.

The first thing that strikes most viewers is Falconhoof, who's dressed up like a Ren Faire reject.  He's quirky but plays it straight, and has to deal with all manner of strange and/or angry callers, which produces much of the humor.

Additional humor comes from the game itself, which is, like Zork, quite challenging, with players needing to say the right thing at the right time and featuring Permadeath!  Old School!

Here's my favorite sketch:

"Kill Jester."

RPG Game Play: Campaign Basics (Part I)

Ever since Dave Arneson created Blackmoor (aka the First Fantasy Campaign), wherein he pioneered, among other things, the concept of Character Advancement, GMs (and now some players) have been creating their own game worlds and settings.  So, this week, I wanted to talk about some of the basics of running RPG Campaigns.

By "Campaign," I mean an ongoing set of adventures or a continuing storyline, typically set in the same game world and nowadays often involving the same PCs (unless there has been Character Death).  As a result, running a campaign is usually more challenging and demanding for a GM than a one-shot adventure, since the GM needs to know more and in greater detail about the background, the locations, the NPCs, etc.

While it's true that some New School games encourage cooperative world building and shared narrative fiat between GMs and players, the majority of games and campaigns still follow the traditional GM-led model  (i.e., the GM is primarily responsible for developing and running the campaign).  So, this post will focus on the latter, (i.e., the role of the GM in running the campaign).

So, in terms of general advice for running a campaign, probably the first thing for a GM to keep in mind is that, regardless of how much you prepare, something is not going to go as expected, whether it's because you made a mistake, your players killed the NPC that you intended to keep as a recurring foe, your players left the location/plot you oh so carefully prepared, or whatever.  Thus, being a good GM requires at least a little improv ability (i.e., being able to handle curve balls and to think on your feet).

For novice GMs, a good way to reduce the likelihood and scope of the unexpected is to run dungeon crawls.  In fact, one of the reasons that Messr Arneson put his first adventures underground was to expressly limit what the players could do.

Additionally, GMs shouldn't be overly attached to any particular plot, NPC or whatever or concerned that the PCs didn't interact in the GM's desired way.  It's always possible to recycle material into a later game session or future campaign.


Secondly, the GM should take some time to know the applicable rules set.  Constantly looking things up will disrupt the flow of a game session.  Also, it can be disheartening to find out that you misquoted a rule.


Thirdly, the GM should prepare enough to feel comfortable.  Some GMs spend hours getting ready for a game session, while others do literally no prep.  For myself, over time, I've prepared less and less, partly because I usually use rules with which I'm quite familiar and because my improv skills have improved.


Fourly, the GM should be on the same page as the players regarding expectations.  Here, the group's social contract is key.  Also, remember to keep in mind that the goal of playing RPGs is to have fun.


Of course, there are many other things that can play a part in running a campaign, if you can get down the above, you should be starting from a good position!

Board Game Review: "7 Wonders" (2010)

This week, I want to give a shout out to one of the best board games of the past decade: "7 Wonders":

7 Wonders is a strategy, building and resource management card drafting game wherein players assume control of one of seven ancient cities, each representing one of Antipater of Sidon's original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Mausoleum of Helicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia.

There are three decks of playing cards (called a "Age cards"), that are unsurprisingly only played in one particular Age of the game.  The Age cards represent different types of structures that the player can build to provide a resource and/or a mechanical benefit.  In addition, some structures are tiered to unlock further structures and/or mechanical benefits.

Furthermore, the each city has a different game board (called a "Wonder board") with different powers and resources that can affect a player's strategy.  Games are for 2-7 players and the player with the highest total of victory points at the end wins.

Winner of the prestigious 2011 Spiel des Jahres Kennerspiel, as well as numerous other awards, 7 Wonders is well designed, fast paced (turns are resolved simultaneously and the game can be finished in less than an hour) and deceptively challenging: While the mechanics are simple (pick a card each turn),  the strategy and scoring are not.

At the beginning of each Age, each player receives a hand of 7 cards, dealt randomly, from the corresponding Age deck.  After picking a card, the players passes their remaining hand of cards to the player sitting to the left (or right depending on the Age) and receive the remaining hand of cards from the player sitting next to them.  This means players know what cards they are passing on and can influence the receiver's options in the next turn.  However, since players will be passing cards to the left twice and to the right once, they have more influence on the left neighbor than the right neighbor.

There multiple potential paths to winning, although some may be more efficient than others for a given civilization.  Players must decide which strategies and resources to focus on and which to ignore.  However, it's not always clear at the time what is the optimal choice or the what is value of a particular choice!

So, if you are looking for a fast, fun, challenging and replayable strategy board game (especially if you are a history buff), this may be the game for you!