tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65781252332919155322024-03-15T20:12:35.393-05:00Hack & SlashHome of the Quantum Ogre, Agency, Theory, and Fun-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comBlogger164125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-65468580600149847492024-03-04T07:00:00.002-06:002024-03-04T09:15:47.976-06:00On Sinless Art<p> I just want to share some of the art from the project. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNaXWoQJhjXh0eo6lyYnK8QZUCrcuz5UCMVWS6NQJxuYK6mTVq_O4QtDoCosotAwwon1Qb-tb8vfl01PxnmNTxju2yH4pisSztNp7rfeW0wR9V-QH8caJxQIvcKP8t22LT8Lkrap_6jFFSNbiKRzOQugTAIgLjnX46TWOaoU-1_oyZED8ByYr_Y88BTk0G/s3300/cards2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNaXWoQJhjXh0eo6lyYnK8QZUCrcuz5UCMVWS6NQJxuYK6mTVq_O4QtDoCosotAwwon1Qb-tb8vfl01PxnmNTxju2yH4pisSztNp7rfeW0wR9V-QH8caJxQIvcKP8t22LT8Lkrap_6jFFSNbiKRzOQugTAIgLjnX46TWOaoU-1_oyZED8ByYr_Y88BTk0G/w494-h640/cards2.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjoomnqH11xjY-YtjP_zpDYhs3Cq4_vpBRsdvnbGIMwzNqjRzwjtZDXyQakk5_xhTX2LTfo6iZalXwcaMvQiTU89yQTF9wwN7bAuJ3IWFDGmc9ZgJrpqd3eA0WSormQvlcR0nvMgPkDUzDylebSxp9VdqXlQbqolfcYbQn7ufZlU7DDEEsCTFLJju4BTK/s3300/archmage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjoomnqH11xjY-YtjP_zpDYhs3Cq4_vpBRsdvnbGIMwzNqjRzwjtZDXyQakk5_xhTX2LTfo6iZalXwcaMvQiTU89yQTF9wwN7bAuJ3IWFDGmc9ZgJrpqd3eA0WSormQvlcR0nvMgPkDUzDylebSxp9VdqXlQbqolfcYbQn7ufZlU7DDEEsCTFLJju4BTK/w494-h640/archmage.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5IRF5aSc_C4irAV6r7QlTQnMb5u5SaZ29YcQgXuH6iZYSWALw6PHFgn8bGZatSSbiIDEhRWtRwvsm7c_ySoHNOzgDDstpzsN5yOj7xBLySf3tZcnejaZ9930vAmcSRrXxBsMMTU9qBYvaESikvbwdfgkwfCcgFzs9NuRM6O0j5vGa8lIrk1nIVFiABpX1/s3300/combathackernb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJPNrKdUmyyJI5-XENVQWwILW05brmf5hin0UuZf9B6iyxR-JcBZjCMYsoZz3TmpHosqCfELl1l_S-JGctkuQX6LFKK-aT_GKyWLTxcxNnsX2Eo46z7gHV1EjcT9wmrK1Bdxs1WortO9HfUHCz_s7LroSNzefERwWcCtCrDM59JVxZAg2VHGxRt7oK02j/s5100/Page37-382.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="5100" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJPNrKdUmyyJI5-XENVQWwILW05brmf5hin0UuZf9B6iyxR-JcBZjCMYsoZz3TmpHosqCfELl1l_S-JGctkuQX6LFKK-aT_GKyWLTxcxNnsX2Eo46z7gHV1EjcT9wmrK1Bdxs1WortO9HfUHCz_s7LroSNzefERwWcCtCrDM59JVxZAg2VHGxRt7oK02j/w640-h414/Page37-382.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Get your own copy: <a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/472142/Sinless">https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/472142/Sinless</a></p><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p><p><br /></p>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-36833607267383829822024-02-28T07:00:00.472-06:002024-02-28T15:35:25.457-06:00On Dice and Mechanics<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCLLPTHvTgpC0F8kw-e7_chRH-tDdb0JQua3ehXQ1uIAwzKhgvqAylDmF19FjokudyrYeBK_yxAV4CFMj4hMGt2ygq9jYZnU3byrwoqufKvVEFNihANzK84RaZWE2eSJWFry0huckH54bndUGudT6LzIk9cDo1EoQ5vXEr_K92ozwVR17UgsO7h-xMej4/s4961/Krieg%20Defender.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2361" data-original-width="4961" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCLLPTHvTgpC0F8kw-e7_chRH-tDdb0JQua3ehXQ1uIAwzKhgvqAylDmF19FjokudyrYeBK_yxAV4CFMj4hMGt2ygq9jYZnU3byrwoqufKvVEFNihANzK84RaZWE2eSJWFry0huckH54bndUGudT6LzIk9cDo1EoQ5vXEr_K92ozwVR17UgsO7h-xMej4/s320/Krieg%20Defender.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>So, obviously a D&D clone uses a d20 right?<p></p><p>We know there are certain expectations for certain types of games. Cyberpunk uses a d6/d10 system with edge case weirdness. Shadowrun uses giant pools of d6's. Blades in the dark, old savage worlds, d6. </p><p>But there are problems with those systems. For me; I mean, knock yourself out. </p><p>Cyberpunk uses exploding dice which create weird dead zones in success chances. This is not a big deal. Shadowrun had this cycle of design, where huge pools always succeed -> add limits -> limits are dull ->add edge, and now you're using hero points. Which again, ok, fine.</p><p>I mean, they <i>are </i>fine. But I felt memories of when I <i><b>enjoyed</b></i> d6's. Original Shadowrun picking up a ton of dice. Song of Blades and Heroes where every choice is a tactical risk. Warhammer 40k, when saving on a 2+. </p><p>I'm not a statistician. I had too many semesters of calculus at 6:30 in the morning in a basement to want to love number play-doh. I'm not afraid of math. But, you know, it's not particularly intuitive for me. <i>I wasn't setting out to create some radical new design</i>. I wanted something understandable, scalable, and most of all fun. I wanted it to <u>work</u> during play.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimaUcGIdotN3GFLVWzkG0VVoQFeFS-XDOZKomGlzAdDkWrmtC5prvBuOOnOTHp2wEZo8wcGyNU4tBnJDaL-OkWhxGA72s35W8xXTZg5b1MqiIXwWFPxmSUTHLWniM7st95VoVV9Ttr1-GMy6eKVgvkEdh89lW6l-ofxVMsQ_Cc_44zs4abEHwQmIN8AjM3/s1097/reviewcomment.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="1097" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimaUcGIdotN3GFLVWzkG0VVoQFeFS-XDOZKomGlzAdDkWrmtC5prvBuOOnOTHp2wEZo8wcGyNU4tBnJDaL-OkWhxGA72s35W8xXTZg5b1MqiIXwWFPxmSUTHLWniM7st95VoVV9Ttr1-GMy6eKVgvkEdh89lW6l-ofxVMsQ_Cc_44zs4abEHwQmIN8AjM3/s320/reviewcomment.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The normal process of seeing Sinless<br />and then opening and reading Sinless.</td></tr></tbody></table>This system was playtested and iterated. I started with the idea of attribute 'pools' that drain during combat. When you use a die from your pool, you lose access until the next round. You also used these pools to defend. Reasonably quickly it got wonky. So we condensed the pools to four, four types of attacks, four types of defenses. Pools built from attributes.<p></p><p>Understandable: I ran a <i>lot</i> of 3e Shadowrun. I have an A4 sized page that is separated into three sections: All of the target number combat modifiers, all of the target number matrix modifiers, and all the target number magic modifiers. In tiny-teensy print. Front and back. It's in a box right now, but I'll gladly take pictures next time I run across it. </p><p>So variable target numbers are right out. </p><p>Gear is a huge, part of the fun is the shopping! Cyberpunk character creation is a shopping spree for gamers. It's fun!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_sc09bRqA4E-jQ41dUcerqzbptQZoj2icM1-TfniCL3mwup7KsTN8Sm69Svb3vuS4ZOWRbKa3FkVOIvNNpHCIhAP3Ol-cEPFc-kB5u1Vdk37L1RxTyoQGWNStAGwSSj8_l4UBxsqstZ3ndjLZglrVzwtbj-LDh5ZX-9RAC-NcpXG3VBHRuKKGq97Zkq6/s4961/goliath%20highwayman.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2361" data-original-width="4961" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_sc09bRqA4E-jQ41dUcerqzbptQZoj2icM1-TfniCL3mwup7KsTN8Sm69Svb3vuS4ZOWRbKa3FkVOIvNNpHCIhAP3Ol-cEPFc-kB5u1Vdk37L1RxTyoQGWNStAGwSSj8_l4UBxsqstZ3ndjLZglrVzwtbj-LDh5ZX-9RAC-NcpXG3VBHRuKKGq97Zkq6/s320/goliath%20highwayman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I wanted gear to be involved in the core of play. This would be twofold: mitigating the mechanical importance of gear to the game, and involving gear in the core mechanic.<br /><p>Players roll a number of dice equal to their skill plus the relevant gear feature.</p><p>Just in the realm of guns, that's some great design space. Guns with similar accuracies can vary the other features an—oh, got excited there for a second. Did you know I'm a game designer?</p><p>So let's talk about the scope of the mechanics. We don't want something that caps out. I like to run and design games that can last for 100+ sessions. I want solid feeling of advancement without it growing out of control. </p><p>So the player gets to distribute both their expertise and money across the desired features.</p><p>They roll dice versus a static target number, more successes is more good.</p><p>About that target number though.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Stable Targets</h3><p>Look, I <i>ran</i> Shadowrun for a decade. It was a <i>lot </i>of work. So I took every step possible to reduce the work on the Agonarch (the person running the game) in <i>Sinless</i>.</p><p>Operations are organized into tiers. Veteran runs have a target number of 4+. Professional runs have better trained opponents and more expensive security measures with a target number of 5+, and Prime runs have military security and the highest levels of response and training for a difficulty of 6+. </p><p>This caused more than one person pause during development. But keep in mind</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMTZg5ACcUc3foNDf75GVnnD0LfMQLxT1NxGDSgGoelbqAyjb6iAaFR5HBxemwGtDMpY6qKNAdathwRCMBrnBj832iAyVfGX2k1do0sEx4CFsvTcWKrZ8iAtPpkudnetDZKz5wFEfG7y4eJ7a9rbYdb4RJ0HGsTJSiXhM77crdXHK-sVC4tflHyH5n015/s879/martial%20artist.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="879" data-original-width="701" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMTZg5ACcUc3foNDf75GVnnD0LfMQLxT1NxGDSgGoelbqAyjb6iAaFR5HBxemwGtDMpY6qKNAdathwRCMBrnBj832iAyVfGX2k1do0sEx4CFsvTcWKrZ8iAtPpkudnetDZKz5wFEfG7y4eJ7a9rbYdb4RJ0HGsTJSiXhM77crdXHK-sVC4tflHyH5n015/w319-h400/martial%20artist.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>we're developing a game. If you can suspend your disbelief about the uplifts, magic particle, spirits, and cybertechtronics, but "things are harder when opponent is more powerful" is the straw, then I got nothing for you.<p></p><p>Look at how it works for the Agonarch. It decouples length and opposition from difficulty. Players don't have to slow down to recalculate target numbers. Agonarchs can use the same statistic block and the opponent will be challenging to the players. And it works remarkable well with rolling between 1-XX d6's to accomplish a task. </p><p>Your average uplifted bear mercenary after character creation should get 1ish successes on a prime run on a roll with 8 or 9 dice, or 4ish on a veteran run. (I did a bunch of math, but we don't need to get too far into that now).</p><p>That's for the things they do. You know the Punching guy is going to take <b>Cybertechtronic Combat</b> at 6, the Shooting are going to take <b>Firearms </b>6, hackers will have <b>Computer: Hacking</b> at 6. You want them to be competent. </p><p>But you don't get tested on only the things you do well on an operation. </p><p>Characters improve by spending experience to boost attributes to increase pool sizes, and increase skills up to 6.</p><p>Once you reach certain kismet (experience) thresholds (10/20) they can select boons. Boons like, Raise a skill from 6 to 7. Or raise a skill from 7 to 8. Or gain pool resilience.</p><p>Oh, right, let's talk about the pools.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>Going for a Swim</b></h4><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWo-2zsbzJNVoo1WE6F0AuVF3O8oXgUDN7eObsaISqoPq-DCHDUOprRmGgwmNiCLybkYIouEA7fol-7Cvyr3LfgajPfT5J1AG2PxcCoR9NsXhmr4GUJrJftvcwfnhAqzth0Vb35kMLwAR8Z5_HJRq93qL5yoAVqjFAU5iOfb4LAtz4OH0gpSu_cp_BGok/s891/detective.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="891" data-original-width="688" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWo-2zsbzJNVoo1WE6F0AuVF3O8oXgUDN7eObsaISqoPq-DCHDUOprRmGgwmNiCLybkYIouEA7fol-7Cvyr3LfgajPfT5J1AG2PxcCoR9NsXhmr4GUJrJftvcwfnhAqzth0Vb35kMLwAR8Z5_HJRq93qL5yoAVqjFAU5iOfb4LAtz4OH0gpSu_cp_BGok/s320/detective.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><br />What I <i>really</i> like about Song and Blades of Heroes is that <i>you</i> decide your relative power and risk. Each unit has an activation threshold. You can roll between 1 to 3 dice, and if you have 2 failures on a roll your turn ends. Look at that decision tree! Do I roll three dice and activate my easy to activate unit and risk a turn end, or do I make some 1 die rolls to activate some non important units. <p></p><p>So the same pools the characters use during combat to attack are the same pools they use to defend. They spend as many dice from their pools as they <i>wish</i> up to the limit of their skill ranking + gear. </p><p>This is an engaging decision: how far will I extend myself? what are the relevant threats to my pools? Can we focus certain types of attacks to drain prime opponent pools? How many dice can I penalize an opponent with my actions? It creates a constant variable player controlled risk/reward mechanic in combat.</p><p>E.g. You can charge to allow you to spend Brawn pool dice to add additional distance to a double move, which allows you to neutralize their firearms advantage if you get within range of the opposition. This is the same resource that allows you to soak damage. </p><p>There are not many modifiers, but you can get bonus and penalty <i>dice</i> rather than numbers, leading to contests over battlefield resources (Cover, network access nodes, and ley lines).</p><p>The combat cadence is similar to Warhammer 40k. Attacks hit, successes are added to weapon damage, target chooses to dodge and soak. Resolution is quick.</p><p>Pool resilience are dice that never get exhausted from the pool. This tiered system of acquiring mutually exclusive rewards at these at thresholds and certain mutually exclusive choices during character creation means we avoid the GURPS problem of point based character improvement all ultimately converging at high enough power levels. </p><p>Certain effects and tech can grant rerolls, and mechanically there's a rock/paper/scissors going on between magic/electronic/physical attacks and targets and their respective pools/vulnerabilities.</p><p><b>Beyond the fight</b> </p><p>That just creates a bunch of interesting choices in combat, but that's not all. </p><p>The game contains a series of frameworks that provide a structure for the players to gather information and plan out a heist in whatever way they wish. </p><p>There's a reason <i>Leverage</i> and <i>Blades in the Dark</i> use 'flashbacks' to handle jobs. That is entirely too narrative for me. The <i>joy</i> is sitting there watching the players plan the operation for 3 hours. I didn't want to address the problem by ignoring it.</p><p>The problem in those old games was I had to do all the work to set the parameters and scope. Well, the frameworks do that for you. They are descriptive, not prescriptive. They are tool, not a directive. There is information about the target site. Players have a limited opportunity to gather information from their assets and skills, and then can use that information while they plan. The process is explicit, their use manifold, and most importantly, fun in play. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5cQmoHPconEXxaRGWErATms_g40974aHlMM03aTaBqv9r-z8HvyLmXzIiOPcryLArsE4UH_PDDWaPx2uNwLDGwv0i5vvf-1xP4I83hIIHh3f_oFqy2WSLHfJTQ6Xb5A2s5jnlNANiocQmxyzFn1d4O0JFWPwpzLPWykK8jou7s_aFji6onDwdTsAp77L1/s3300/77l.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5cQmoHPconEXxaRGWErATms_g40974aHlMM03aTaBqv9r-z8HvyLmXzIiOPcryLArsE4UH_PDDWaPx2uNwLDGwv0i5vvf-1xP4I83hIIHh3f_oFqy2WSLHfJTQ6Xb5A2s5jnlNANiocQmxyzFn1d4O0JFWPwpzLPWykK8jou7s_aFji6onDwdTsAp77L1/w309-h400/77l.jpg" width="309" /></a></div>That's not the only way frameworks are used: how to handle character infiltration before/without triggering a fight, Information about how to price contracts the players sign to do operations, how to neutrally arbitrate the players getting targeted by opponents for kidnapping or capture, an entire exciting method of resolving car chases, bricolage to upgrade the van to make a plan come together and more!<p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Memento Mori</h4><p>Is it perfect? Almost certainly not. I'm sure someone will rapidly find <i>Sinless's</i> <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/20sidedblog/104355460412/breaking-dd-35-the-peasant-rail-gun">Peasant Rail Gun,</a> but it meets all my criteria. It's fast in play, encourages tactical as well as strategic thinking, and is rich in design space and character growth and development potential. It's also pretty stable, easy for people to understand what their chances are, and the mechanic can be extended to resolve situations that aren't covered by the rules. (<i>You got a lotta nice pools over there buddy. Shame if something would happen to those. Yeah, a real shame</i>.)</p><p>I wasn't setting out to reinvent the wheel. I'm not claiming anything in this mechanical system is particularly novel. You get two actions and a reflex action on your turn, for crying out loud. It's pretty straightforward stuff. But it's fun as hell. </p><p><a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/472142/Sinless">People think it's pretty cool!</a> </p><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-25768915269085895322024-02-27T08:00:00.044-06:002024-02-27T14:46:56.218-06:00On the Walmart Peeper Toucher and the arrival of Cyberpunk<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Iio2ov38AVtJoaFMJNsZKcWrLdtsWS-BxEzZ7eMfNK4tmLuB4qgnLs0AapKqZWJHO0aoK49kJ2kJBRCzSdQ9YLmRFXLScNDxjlm5u-Q2Urjlp5CJZYwnjJXfg6jv6VsBQwJyi24jITVGJDeRQaNF7GQeS3jV0sY-Ko1O8TZ9JGNyHzh88mDJtPCoJwia/s1197/cvft.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Iio2ov38AVtJoaFMJNsZKcWrLdtsWS-BxEzZ7eMfNK4tmLuB4qgnLs0AapKqZWJHO0aoK49kJ2kJBRCzSdQ9YLmRFXLScNDxjlm5u-Q2Urjlp5CJZYwnjJXfg6jv6VsBQwJyi24jITVGJDeRQaNF7GQeS3jV0sY-Ko1O8TZ9JGNyHzh88mDJtPCoJwia/s320/cvft.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>I watched a video where a Walmart peeper toucher was chased through the store and shot with an electric gun. The body-cam showed the officer take the Walmart peeper toucher to the police station jail cell inside the Walmart.<p></p><p>Inside the municipal police station cell located inside Walmart ("save money, live better"), the subject refused to identify himself. He was forcibly restrained and has his face scanned, after which he was identified and charged.</p><p>I watched this body-cam footage last Tuesday.</p><p>Cyberpunk isn't about the future any more.</p><p>So <i>how the hell do you write a cyberpunk game in the age of cyberpunk?</i></p><p><b>Cyberpunk in the age of Cyberpunk</b></p><p>First, I looked at the history of using 1d6 in board games, tabletop games, and wargames. I looked at the ones that worked, and took lessons from the problems of the ones that didn't. </p><p>I then developed a simple, scalable, core mechanic that creates lots of interesting choices in play. I'll be sure to talk about that, the math, the design, and more in the coming days. But you can't make a good game if you don't have a solid foundation.</p><p>Next, I wanted to make a game I wanted to play. Chrome & Sorcery games have (and continue to have) a very traditional "Narrative Driven" Mid-90's Storytelling style. Adventures contain characters watching key players perform important actions while they follow a relatively linear and strict plot. The setting and presentation allow gamemasters to run games that tell 'stories' by funneling characters through missions.</p><p>Now, it's not that I don't like narratives. It's that I like them to be emergent, not dictated. I want to find out the story when running a game, and let dice tell stories. </p><p>So very explicitly, Sinless is a different 'style' of game with a familiar form.</p><p>I like base builders and tactical combat, and must have spent about, I dunno 4,000 hours playing chaos wars on my Powerbook 420c. Taking over a city, building up a base, and carving out sections of a map as a tactical role-playing game works for me. </p><p>So we developed and expanded this gameplay loop. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbjQxawKlROApBZEOOeeA6snTKHWXT1yWI0X4tqvFf8Q2KJFqiBvHqoL7av7T-cNiTnJuUNGW0eNOGJjVOPUSFF_mLB_aIzxPtcT2obYu0tX_CedktzKZrUKmh0ZyJ9wZ_cG9zCn8oLeZ_LXe7j4o8Ps2tGMz-hSEiKyGWzA1Ox7w7UUeDTzbcueePHOm/s3300/pg76.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbjQxawKlROApBZEOOeeA6snTKHWXT1yWI0X4tqvFf8Q2KJFqiBvHqoL7av7T-cNiTnJuUNGW0eNOGJjVOPUSFF_mLB_aIzxPtcT2obYu0tX_CedktzKZrUKmh0ZyJ9wZ_cG9zCn8oLeZ_LXe7j4o8Ps2tGMz-hSEiKyGWzA1Ox7w7UUeDTzbcueePHOm/w494-h640/pg76.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><p>Sinless is a very focused game.</p><p>The core rules contain only the information (and world-building) you need to complete and repeat this loop in the year 2090. </p><p>You are sitting down to play a game with your friends, I wanted there to be an explicit game there.</p><p><i>But mr. game designer, you just made a beep-boop computer board game.</i></p><p>Yeah, I was here for 4e, man. I've been working and thinking about this stuff for almost 40 years now. </p><p>The game explicitly provide players agency to affect situations while their (mechanical) resources are under threat. This is <i>really engaging</i> for my playtest group. It creates emergent characters, drama, motivations. </p><p>In acquiring operations, they cannot help but be aware that if they are delivering guns somewhere, someone is going to use those guns. They are always being placed in situations where <i>they </i>have to decide to do something, even if that something is delivering the guns and getting paid. </p><p>There's a whole section of the gameplay loop devoted to the <i>consequences</i> of the choices they make during operations. These consequences and their direct impact mean that their choices are meaningful. To the players. It affects their characters irrevocably going forward. </p><p>I didn't leave people running games out of the loop. It has blown my mind after trying to run these things for twenty years, there isn't ever a simple and clear way to calculate mission payouts. That isn't a problem I'm going to hand someone who wants to run Sinless. The game provides <i>all the tools</i> GMs need to resolve situations that come up during the course of play. (Because <i>I</i> needed those tools, dig?)</p><p>People who run Chrome & Sorcery games want to make interesting choices about how to set up the game; not feel adrift, like they have to design a whole 'mission payout economy'.</p><p>And because players are running a brand, and engaging in liberating people from oppression while trying not to become oppressors themselves, there's a use for all that money. After all, there's a whole section of the game devoted to upgrading, attacking, subverting, building, and destroying resources in a city. </p><p>And of course those resources tie into how powerful the brand is which ties into how powerful the characters are, which ties into how effective they can be.</p><p>In practice it has proven quite compelling.</p><p><b>How is this game Cyberpunk</b></p><p>Cyberpunk isn't retrofuturism and chrome and pink and purple neon. Those are the trappings because Cyberpunk as a genera was created in the 80's. Sinless, the word, as in the idea of people without a system identification number, is pure William Gibson. The city on the cover of the Sinless RPG is tuned to the color of a dead channel. Dead channels don't even exist anymore. I literally grew up- it doesn't matter.<br /></p><p>Cyberpunk is about fucking late stage capitalism. It took the trends of the world, wall street, America, technologic advancement and posited, <i>what's the worst it could get?</i></p><p>And, you know, corporations took that personally.</p><p>So like all cyberpunk it's about the intersection of technology and humanity and how that changes us. The same technology used to enslave us will be the same power that can set us free. And like all good science-fiction the world of Sinless mirrors the issues of our current world through a hypothetical future.</p><p>All in the context of an engaging gameplay loop.</p><p>If you'd like to know more, there's a <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/472142/Sinless">190 page preview on DTRPG</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3h19cgo_7Yq2yQ_Mfis2d3kPAaGrK62ZdcTHtde88C4GwStZC_oCWudjcI5V4bv8-OB65ODjN_ibBA9NuFnv92ACMrq08F251BrHPjS-PgzJXWScUdBJizA-9Us1ufjKZ0bJoerF-N61Outo_tGgG3UlfrZtGQmzIJ2CE9-iiFrlpuF4ekby30GSRrYqJ/s2025/WOpO_-RD.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2025" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3h19cgo_7Yq2yQ_Mfis2d3kPAaGrK62ZdcTHtde88C4GwStZC_oCWudjcI5V4bv8-OB65ODjN_ibBA9NuFnv92ACMrq08F251BrHPjS-PgzJXWScUdBJizA-9Us1ufjKZ0bJoerF-N61Outo_tGgG3UlfrZtGQmzIJ2CE9-iiFrlpuF4ekby30GSRrYqJ/s320/WOpO_-RD.png" width="237" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-28564517237067958052024-02-26T08:00:00.010-06:002024-02-26T08:00:00.162-06:00On Sinless Released!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmIs0-JfjZZd-zWBzNhMVd5pyTq1ghCrvT9jujbLhTBZGGoPNWrzZSrtVPhqheVo_bBCB_UsJf5mYw3HPXIn80pCttd3KTdJ_-nslwdYBQCEkIqhK6M20uXcQYwsR2Ra75xU6jb8XbnHNbSJtVHsSDFeE5qAPB_hDaIpVxO4nasYysYGGTw1kdKPm8PcB/s1000/sinless%20cart.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="997" data-original-width="1000" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJmIs0-JfjZZd-zWBzNhMVd5pyTq1ghCrvT9jujbLhTBZGGoPNWrzZSrtVPhqheVo_bBCB_UsJf5mYw3HPXIn80pCttd3KTdJ_-nslwdYBQCEkIqhK6M20uXcQYwsR2Ra75xU6jb8XbnHNbSJtVHsSDFeE5qAPB_hDaIpVxO4nasYysYGGTw1kdKPm8PcB/s320/sinless%20cart.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Get the PDF here on DTRPG: <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/472142/Sinless">https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/472142/Sinless</a><p></p><p>Print on DTRPG and Amazon coming shortly.</p><p>Sinless is an original human-written and human-illustrated cyber sorcery table-top role playing game.</p><p>Magic has reentered the world. Some humans have been changed by these magical energies gaining new powers and strange inhuman fae-like features. Humans share this world with Synths and Uplifts. Synths are synthetic AI in "living" forms and Uplifts are animals given intelligence, mobility, and opposable thumbs by cybertechtronics and biogenetics. </p><p>Sinless takes place in 2090, a possible dystopian future, but not one without hope! Given enough time, ingenuity, and planning, characters can use their brand to help make a better world. Once they accumulate 1 billion Zuzu's (a secure crypto-currency controlled by the corporate court, based on the popularity of a posh dog) they will be recognized by the international corporate court and can found their own future, free of interference. </p><p>What will your players sacrifice to achieve their goals?</p><p>Sinless was designed to be played in sessions lasting four to six hours by 4-6 human beings.</p><p>Sinless is a true cyberpunk game about the sacrifices necessary to end human enormity, not military industrial complex propaganda in a coat of retro-futuristic paint. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjUGBXmF1xaSlAiqwLwLq9Fhk74arvUIsRLNiWsR6sp90i7rARuiKafS-OLqlLEsosS-1RZ0mbR2fdZYIti0_wzsIyk3bzQt3peYyQ4qCVD3AAgQNvbuSyjPBbubbnrjn0EgMDtthQNI4wk1-6kEGFJOCXcWlVWH5VXOnNuzgTKjGHudbpsG11XOiJJFay/s3300/11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjUGBXmF1xaSlAiqwLwLq9Fhk74arvUIsRLNiWsR6sp90i7rARuiKafS-OLqlLEsosS-1RZ0mbR2fdZYIti0_wzsIyk3bzQt3peYyQ4qCVD3AAgQNvbuSyjPBbubbnrjn0EgMDtthQNI4wk1-6kEGFJOCXcWlVWH5VXOnNuzgTKjGHudbpsG11XOiJJFay/w494-h640/11.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><hr style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="border: none; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">,</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-60008794031692830142023-07-18T12:24:00.001-05:002023-07-18T12:24:25.148-05:00On the OSR Christmas in July<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOL0e6RA7otYB6ylehwbi3Xu2QrpS2FE6QbBWAK5jRd6h7DU5ZgbijG1OUU_RFh0p5IdLcg1veeFUCQW9xhCMs7_duf7SrsqS1_WK6UBROIJ5fvg7sEW1yiO8jNAfF3ValQPnVDucNGtdzDmm1erSLumfrIzwClkdlzyCdvWrPQMf5Q4YyXIhq_1U0e9M1/s4000/tilogy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2667" data-original-width="4000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOL0e6RA7otYB6ylehwbi3Xu2QrpS2FE6QbBWAK5jRd6h7DU5ZgbijG1OUU_RFh0p5IdLcg1veeFUCQW9xhCMs7_duf7SrsqS1_WK6UBROIJ5fvg7sEW1yiO8jNAfF3ValQPnVDucNGtdzDmm1erSLumfrIzwClkdlzyCdvWrPQMf5Q4YyXIhq_1U0e9M1/s320/tilogy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Isn't it disappointing that only digital files are on sale at DTRPG?<div><br /></div><div>So I've dropped the prices of print copies of my books!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/394828/Bestial-Ecosystems-Created-by-Monstrous-Inhabitation-Public-Edition">Bestial Encounters Caused By Monstrous Inhabitation</a> is now <strike>19.99$</strike> 9.99$ in PDF, <strike>34.99$</strike> 29.99$ in Hardcover, and <strike>29.99$</strike> 19.99$ in Softcover!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348258/Artifices-Deceptions--Dilemmas">Artifices Deceptions & Dilemmas</a> is now <strike>19.99$</strike> 9.99$ in PDF, <strike>24.99$</strike> 19.99$ in Hardcover and <strike>19.99$</strike> 14.99 in softcover</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/297829/On-Downtime-and-Demesnes-Basic-DD">On Downtime and Demesnes</a> is now 4.99$ in PDF, <strike>19.99$</strike> 14.99$ in Hardcover, and <strike>14.99$</strike> 12.99 in Softcover. (<a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/297830/On-Downtime-and-Demesnes-5th-Edition">5e version too!</a>)</div><div><br /></div><div>I am moving next month, and paying rent twice is terrifying. So you get a deal! You get a deal! And You get a deal!</div><div><br /></div><div>Look, they are great books with quality work from everyone involved, and at the price points for Christmas in July, you can get some Hardcovers on the cheap. 25$ for all the PDFS, or and under 50$ for all the books in print. If you were waiting now's the time.</div><div><br /></div><div>The price drop on Bestial Encounters is permanent, but the others are just for this month!</div><div><br /></div><div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-75382273536231292092023-06-14T23:50:00.000-05:002023-06-14T23:50:00.631-05:00On the Changing Landsacpe<p> One of the following statements is true.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>There are ten million empty houses in the United States, and only around 900,000 homeless</li><li>Pods of orcas are organizing and attacking fishing boats off the coast of Spain and have already sunk three vessels, and caused thousands in damages.</li><li>Before GPT-4 was released, it was asked to access a website with a CAPTCHA test. It contacted a person on Taskrabbit to read it for them. The person jokingly inquired "You're not a robot are you?" and Chat GPT replied "No, I’m not a robot. I have a vision impairment that makes it hard for me to see the images. That’s why I need the 2captcha service."</li><li>There's a thought experiment in physics that claims that the reason all electrons are exactly the same is because it's all the same electron traveling through time.</li><li>The Southern Baptist Church kept a secret list of over 700 clergy accused of child rape and molestation for over 20 years and did not report them or take any action to remove them from their seats of power.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>I saw The Little Mermaid recently. I would never view this movie on my own. I view it as decadence, a symbol of our dying culture. We cannot do anything new. We can just make things we used to do bigger. The whole idea of live-action movies of cartoons just. . . turns my stomach—literally. When I think about it I get somatic stomach pain caused by mental illness. </div><div><br /></div><div>But I'm not a ten-year-old girl.</div><div><br /></div><div>She enjoyed it. I had many thoughts. Although Melissa McCarthy is a wonderful person and actress, I felt such sadness. It wasn't Divine, you know? Such a powerful and vibrant figure, given the ultimate tribute in animation, and then. . . just forgotten. Secondly, I'm an artist and there wasn't a single human stomach in that movie, just paintings of them. I have never seen Javier Bardem turn in a performance this terrible. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the plus side, Awkwafina was brilliant, easily the only authentic performance in the movie. and Halle Berry is an angel, given form. She, and her voice, even without computer-enhanced audio and video, are a brilliance that, when viewed, disperses our perception of time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Let me say again, my daughter loved it. It was made inside a machine. It wasn't filmed on a green screen. It was painted with digital light. I thought about Roger Rabbit when watching it. That was a ten-year experiment to blend the two. Was it presentient? Did Zemeckis realize a human face, tracked and marked, integrated into an animated kaleidoscope was the future of cinema?</div><div><br /></div><div>Look, you're no idiot. You clearly realize the gag is that all the items in the list are true. Actual factual what the shit is happening. One hundred years ago, Tesla predicted the internet, instantaneous communication and transmission of data. He lived from 1856 to 1943. </div><div><br /></div><div>He survived the robber barons, people who hoarded all the wealth.</div><div>He lived during a fascist takeover of a major world power</div><div>He lived through the influenza pandemic. </div><div><br /></div><div>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-</div><div><br /></div><div>The following things are coming, and they do not care what you think:</div><div><br /></div><div>Life extension is possible. The only obstacles are logistics. Within 100 years, we will be able to refresh RNA, and effectively make people immortal. <a href="http://science.org/content/article/two-research-teams-reverse-signs-aging-mice">They have already done exactly this with mice</a> this year in January. There is no physical reason these processes won't work on people. </div><div><br /></div><div>We will have the ability to uplift other animals—brain interfaces are already working,<br /> and people are doing extensive research into non-human communication. You had better fucking believe it will be front-page news the first time a person wants to marry their uplifted pet. This isn't a question of if, just when. </div><div><br /></div><div>There will come a period soon, of the all-knowing. There will be a point in history before which we did not completely understand the universe and a point beyond that. We are in the before knowing. </div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHeG2G5eaInIqz04mQzuFtoIuH375ShxaqW6AtL_ArBkmof2efgcWkB45XO8Le6bbG6_hx3A1ZpvNryKgkYd9Fz9uHFOTYMAsu3dDcInIRXoLzh9i7HijQ04ZQ7Ik3aoCDKr-25YWEnTb05T3BYC6NDk1YWPy2M2-5gNyz25kH1mW4YEHExMzjPc6Ew/s740/Phones-From-The-2000s-That-Show-There-Was-More-Innovation-Back-In-The-Day-Compared-To-Today-740x500-2_5eac4106090b1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="659" data-original-width="740" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHeG2G5eaInIqz04mQzuFtoIuH375ShxaqW6AtL_ArBkmof2efgcWkB45XO8Le6bbG6_hx3A1ZpvNryKgkYd9Fz9uHFOTYMAsu3dDcInIRXoLzh9i7HijQ04ZQ7Ik3aoCDKr-25YWEnTb05T3BYC6NDk1YWPy2M2-5gNyz25kH1mW4YEHExMzjPc6Ew/w200-h178/Phones-From-The-2000s-That-Show-There-Was-More-Innovation-Back-In-The-Day-Compared-To-Today-740x500-2_5eac4106090b1.jpg" title="Top of the line, circa 2000" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top of the Line, circa 2000</td></tr></tbody></table>All, human labor is obviated by AI. Maybe not today, but futurists that I've been reading predict that between robotics and AI, there will be no task a human can complete that a machine won't be able to complete better and more affordably within (<i>looks at watch</i>) 22 years. Possibly as early as 12 years. If it seems hard to believe, take yourself back to the year 2000 and tell yourself there will be over 20 million devices that every person carries on earth, more powerful than a current desktop computer that will respond to speech and be connected to the internet within 10 years. We will reach one billion AIs this year, with hundreds of billions predicted by 2030.</div><div><br /></div><div>You are free to think what you wish, but John Henry was a steel-driving man, and Kasparov was a chess grandmaster. It is only a matter of time measured in years, not centuries or decades. Years.</div><div><br /></div><div>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-</div><div><br /></div><div>I recently began playing Diablo IV. It's . . . well made. I do have fun when I play it. From moment to moment, it's fun. I have enjoyed my experience.</div><div><br /></div><div>But there's this. . . whole framework around it. It's got all the most modern design principles and choices (and I should know, I'm a game designer). And what it's designed to do is to manipulate people into spending more time and money than they intend to. <br /><br />I like it very much, but it reminds me so fucking much of a casino. Nothing exists to pull me out of the experience. Everything I expect is there. Nothing will disturb your attention. Look at how easy it is to access the store and spend money. Look at how easy it is to not look at the store and just play and play and. . . . .*</div><div><br /></div><div>It takes a lot from Path of Exile and Grim Dawn. But what it doesn't take is what makes those games fun, their intentional power spikes, secrets, and completeness. Those are games. Diablo IV is an amusement park. If you come back next year, it'll be different. That isn't to say it's not good. It's to say it isn't designed to be a game. It's designed to be a vampire that extracts your wealth and attention to profit. </div><div><br /></div><div>That doesn't make it not fun. It's surprisingly fun, even if it's a little rough around the rushed final itemization design. </div><div><br /></div><div>It does make it fucking insane. There will be no work for humans, and we are going to be able to live forever (excepting accidents until we can copy the brain (which is still iffy science).) and these people have devoted a hugely talented team of highly educated people to spend hundreds of thousands or even millions of man hours to create a 'toy' designed to extract millions and tens of millions of hours from millions of people for the profit of some small dicked asshole who's never worked an honest day in his life.</div><div><br /></div><div>You see the opportunity cost. Seeing it makes me feel insane. Thankfully I have drugs. Because I am insane, and without the drugs I become. . . an issue for society. </div><div><br /></div><div>Note that I haven't made a judgment. After all, Diablo IV is a 'great work'. It's just that all our 'great works' nowadays (the MCU, <a href="https://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/2020/12/on-gigagames.html">gigagames</a>, data collection for profit) are "not oriented to addressing the next hundred thousand years of human existence."</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe they could be is all. </div><div><br /></div><div>This weird era of arguments about culture wars isn't about the arguments. Like, scientifically, there is no aspect of any part of gender that is binary. <a href="https://www.realityslaststand.com/p/sex-chromosome-variants-are-not-their#:~:text=In%20humans%20there%20are%206,XXY%2FXXXY%2FXXXXY%20mosaicism.">There are TEN fucking karyotypes of gender chromosomes in humans, for example</a>. Do you remember XX? XY? Ten of those. Every conversation in public about gender is made by idiots full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. It's the same for everything: abortion debate, guns, and every fucking thing on the news put to engage viewers. They are all just systems of control. And they work on you.</div><div><br /></div><div>After all, it's your identity they are co-opting. They are trading in-group support for allowing themselves to be ideologically possessed. It feels good to belong! It feels good to be on a team! Go Team!</div><div><br /></div><div>I take the word of people for this. I'm unable to feel certain things. Like, I have never experienced loneliness. I have also never really experienced any sort of peer culture or pressure to conform. I just have no internal response to in-group/out-group dynamics as an adult. I don't ever inject an ego-driven concern about how behavior will be perceived. It's not that I'm not aware of it or that I can't think about it. Obviously, I think about how people will respond to my latest project or whatever. I just have no emotional impulse to belong to or avoid groups. It's one reason why everything seems insane to me. </div><div><br /></div><div>It isn't about the thing. Arguing about the thing makes you ideologically possessed. Rational humans are completely in agreement. Externals do not define human worth. All humans have infinite worth, arbitrarily. It's just a choice. We choose that because if we let externals define human worth, it soon becomes genocide or one of the many stops of bigotry or discrimination along the way.</div><div><br /></div><div>We imagined and agreed it was so, so it is.</div><div><br /></div><div>Human life can be whatever we imagine with it. All we have to do is all dream at once.</div><div><br /></div><div>Can we dream a little bigger, please?</div><div><br /></div><div>*<i>The best thing about the design of Diablo IV is how the most efficient way to progress in the game is by, uh, actually progressing through the game instead of grinding. It's driving the hardcore players/content creators crazy, which is just brilliant and amusing, and I'm glad I lived through it. </i></div><div><hr style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div><p></p>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-61125990316997575202023-04-17T15:02:00.001-05:002023-04-17T15:05:32.687-05:00On the Creative Crocodile Conundrum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Are modern gamers objectively less creative than old-school gamers?</div>
<br />
<a href="http://monstersandmanuals.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-am-i-thinking.html">Here</a> over at Monsters and Manuals, Noisms discusses some of the agency-sucking, mind-reading, poorly presented, 'Gotcha!' ideals that make up some of the 4thcore adventures.<br />
<br />
Noisms postulated a problem that could be solved creatively in a variety of different ways. A treasure hoard is on the other side of the room, with a channel in the middle filled with crocodiles.<br />
<br />
One of the posters responds:<br />
"<i>Conversely, any realistic solution to the crocodile problem is going to involve someone being fast enough or strong enough to do something at some point - it's also a skill check scenario (even if it boils down to the good old OSR dodge of the GM rolling a percentage chance - that's still a skill check, just a very arbitrary one).</i>"<br />
<br />
I do not think this point of view is uncommon—that the only solutions for problems are skill solutions. A short word about old-school play.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">A dice roll in an old-school game is only made when the outcome of an action absolutely cannot be decided by agreement or fiat.</span></b><br />
<br />
You don't roll to climb up to a ledge or a wall, get out of a pit, ride the horse up the mountain, tie up the prisoner, or jump off the horse; <b>YOU DON'T NEED TO ROLL TO FEED THE CROCODILES POISONED MEAT</b> <b>or have your unseen servant bring the treasure over, </b>you don't need to roll to climb over the channel, or to throw the bag across the channel or any one of a hundred different solutions.<br />
<br />
Some actual dice rolls may be required for some of the solutions—but they will most definitely not require only strength or speed. Sure, if you cast web or sleep, the crocodiles will get a save. Sure, if you have the ranger attempt to calm the beasts, they may get a reaction roll.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">A roll for discovery is different than a roll for allowing the player not to play</span></b>.<br />
<br />
I know the cliché of the young player looking at his sheet and going "There's nothing on here that lets me solve this problem" is a cliché because it occurs often, but the comment above got me thinking. It occurs a <i>lot—</i>personally—to me—in many of the games I ran. Players who only want to follow the main hook, players who wonder how they can tie someone up without the use rope skill, and even players who can only have relationships with NPC's if there are <a href="http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lcob">rules for romance</a>. (No, not my current groups)<br />
<br />
So are new school players just objectively less creative? Is it part of the generational issue of millennials having a fear of doing anything that's not explicitly permitted by authority sources? Why is the above sort of response so common? And really, as DM's, what can we do about their lack of creativity in problem-solving without holding their hands and giving them a half dozen ideas for solutions? Is this the same lack of creativity bemoaned by Gygax and Kuntz after the publication of classic D&D, or something different?<br />
<br />
<b>But thieves need to make a skill check to climb walls!</b><br />
<br />
No, they don't. Anyone can climb walls. Just like anyone can hide or move around quietly. Thieves can climb unclimbable walls or normal walls unreasonably quickly. They can hide in the very shadows themselves and move so quietly that you never hear them until the knife enters your back.<br />
<br />
Just because there is a resolution method for an action doesn't mean you need to use it—you don't make your players roll to kill unconscious opponents. <br />
<br />
<b>But if you don't make them roll, how will they ever fail?</b><br />
<br />
The problem here is that you want the game to be a railroad. You don't want your players to decide what to do or how to solve a problem; you want to call for a skill check.<br />
<br />
If you take off the safety rails and give them some freedom, you will be <b>astounded</b> at the bodies and rooms they forget to search and the actions they neglect to do. How many monsters or NPC's they leave on the ground unconscious to get up and get revenge another day.<br />
<br />
I've got a post up about treasure generation. I put the opportunity for about 50,000 experience, 45,000 of which is treasure, to give the party the 10k total they need to reach the second level. Why is that? <i>because they miss a full third or more of the treasure in the dungeon</i>.<br />
<br />
The fact is, if you don't lead them by the nose, player skill is a real thing they will need to have, and if they don't have player skill then they will fail. <br />
<br />
The whole skill system is a crutch because it allows them to fail without feeling personally responsible, among other reasons.<br />
<br />
<b>Then you're just playing a guessing game! The whole session becomes about "Guess what the DM is thinking"!</b><br />
<br />
If you <b>tell</b> the players what they need to know to solve the problem, they don't have to guess. They still have to solve the problem.<br />
<br />
<b>How come it's ok to use 'skill checks' for combat and not for something like talking to opponents?</b> <br />
<br />
Because at the table, I can't use my personal skill to swing an axe, but I <b>can</b> use my personal skill to convince a crocodile to let me pass.<br />
<br />
<b>W</b><b>ell, then how about I make my players lift something heavy when they want to bend bars, huh? Isn't that player skill?</b><br />
<br />
Nice strawman, but as above—if we cannot agree or decide by fiat that you can't lift the gate, then a roll is required isn't it? This is a situation like "do I hit the monster" that is best decided by a die roll. Of course it's a continuum. I may know that the gate is latched closed, and no matter the level of your strength you will not be able to lift it, but you might be able to bend the bars. <br />
<br />
<b>If you use your skill to talk to the crocodile and there is no skill roll, then the DM just makes a decision—But you don't have any control over the DM's decisions! Without the dice to protect you, you'll just be railroaded into guessing what he's thinking all the time.</b><br />
<br />
This is of course, another strawman—a misrepresentation of the actual process of play. The process of the DM making a decision comes down to discussion and agreement. <br />
<br />
What does the party know about crocodiles in a skill light system? <br />
The DM starts by asking if anyone is a druid or a ranger, but that's just where it begins.<br />
<br />
Here is the important part - <i>if anyone can come up with a reason that they would know something about crocodiles that is reasonable, then they do. </i><br />
<br />
Reasonable how? By table consensus, but as always, the DM has the last word. <br />
<br />
<u>If your problem is that the DM can be unreasonable—let me assure you that more rules is not a solution to that problem.</u><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">How many solutions can you create to the Crocodile Conundrum problem?</span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Originally published 10/7/11</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><hr style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="border: none; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div></span></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-25867866714906965182023-04-17T14:42:00.004-05:002023-04-17T14:51:24.715-05:00On Reader Mail, Table Talk & Communication<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>Evelyn writes in:</div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOy7Ej56W7k4QwmoUEDe1fECYSSa6y4F7aTQvNaCCGrHY79CMQxB_UDQ598abwt3-UZdE78voPogqv3FgciYZNLATbmH-yQg0ikv5CzZoLLNrtioUtyD8qR0Wu-Rhz1FxqLZihTwqEcg5A/s1600/pen_3_lg-1.gif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOy7Ej56W7k4QwmoUEDe1fECYSSa6y4F7aTQvNaCCGrHY79CMQxB_UDQ598abwt3-UZdE78voPogqv3FgciYZNLATbmH-yQg0ikv5CzZoLLNrtioUtyD8qR0Wu-Rhz1FxqLZihTwqEcg5A/s1600/pen_3_lg-1.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<i>In Pandemic, how the players communicate with each other influence
and change the game a lot; since the main challenge of the game is to
cooperate efficiently, I think communication is somehow part of the gameplay.<br />So I wondered how this applies to old-school gaming
and how you manage table talk, player vs. character talk, and
communication at the gaming table. "</i></blockquote>
<div>
How apt. This question strikes at the heart of gaming. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Gaming is <i>about </i>communication. Dice, stats, rules, all fall to the wayside in tabletop role-playing games behind the essence of "What do you do?"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I was browsing G+ and saw someone reference a <a href="http://jrients.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20Surfeit%20of%20Lampreys">Reintsian dungeon crawl</a>. It wasn't D&D or B/X - it was <a href="http://jrients.blogspot.com/">Jeff</a>. [1]<strike> (You can search G+ for the term here!) </strike>When talking about D&D, it is not the way combat or skills are handled that differentiates the game, but the communication style in playing it. <span style="font-size: large;">There is no question that communication is part of gameplay</span>.</div>
<div>
<h3>
How I manage communication</h3>
</div>
<div>
I am a proponent of Old School play. [2] In old-school play, the player is the person tasked with making choices. The idea is that the player puts themselves in the role of explorer, not that of an actor playing a part.<br />
<br />
I ended a game <i>in media res</i> last week. This week different players showed up. The old characters were gone, and the new players and their characters were there.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHLpeKT_-nWL8Yu921X-qMNyMV5x1tUNQvJMK8LM6G5pUpCLwzkelik-u1ovK7-A79aIxuQ9gpngS3DUw4A2NKY5xl51FJJ-LBKeUaYFhq-TN7IYtxMg2hyy-Z5wU4Bo9xf_HE4Cvinc0x/s1600/gaminggroup2.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHLpeKT_-nWL8Yu921X-qMNyMV5x1tUNQvJMK8LM6G5pUpCLwzkelik-u1ovK7-A79aIxuQ9gpngS3DUw4A2NKY5xl51FJJ-LBKeUaYFhq-TN7IYtxMg2hyy-Z5wU4Bo9xf_HE4Cvinc0x/s200/gaminggroup2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Drawing & Dragons for <a href="http://lotfp.blogspot.com/">LotFP</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My priority is not creating a naturalistic environment that reeks of verisimilitude. My priority is playing a fun game with my friends.<br />
<br />
Players always communicate as players and rarely as their characters, even when interacting with NPCs. Players discuss options as a group. As a general rule, anything they are saying takes time within the game and can be heard by people standing nearby. These are for the game purposes of encouraging focused play as a measure of player skill (planning quickly to avoid random or wandering monsters) and keeping play focused on adventure and not inter-party squabbles and rivalry (No discussing killing players or hirelings or other NPC's without consequences).<br />
<br />
When players take action, that action occurs. Occasionally when players have engaged in 'take-back' behavior, I will nominate a rotating party leader and enforce that until players begin to take responsibility for what they say. Other games (run by a particularly notorious narcissistic blogger who does not deserve a link) allow <b>no</b> table talk, assuming that everything said is constantly said and done.<br />
<br />
The communication structure in gaming is based on IIEE. (<i>Intention </i>(announcing the action), <i>Initiation </i>(starting the action), <i>Execution </i>(completing the action), and <i>Effect </i>(consequences of the action).) In my games, Intention and Initiation are conflated. Many players will attempt to state the Intention to bait the Dungeon Master for Execution.<br />
<br />
<i>This next part is so important.</i><br />
<br />
I bypass the Intention/execution end around by using player agency. "You have options A, B, and C. Here are the consequences of each. Choose."<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
E.g. "You may remain where you are, or you may step out into the hallway, but you feel fairly certain that doing so will place you in view of whatever fired that arrow, or you may attempt to move back, either fleeing or hiding behind party member B for cover."</blockquote>
Players are responsible for acquiring information about the situation themselves. There are two ways this happens.<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>They ask. I tell them.</li>
<li>They ask. I tell them the cost to find out.</li>
</ol>
<div>
90% of requests fall into the first category. It is <i>very, very </i>difficult to convince players to ask and clarify uncertainties before taking action. I repeatedly tell them they can ask me for information during play, as well as make sure I state what options and known consequences there are so they can understand what they don't know.</div>
<br />
<h4>
Consequences</h4></div><div>
<ul>
<li>There is little to no character development. Characters do emerge, but the game isn't about who these people are, it is about the choices that the players make.</li>
<li>Players are informed of their options and empowered. Since they know the possible consequences before making choices, the game seems very fair to all those involved.</li>
<li>Players have a lot of control over getting to do what they want to do each week. </li>
</ul>
<h4>
Notes</h4>
<div>
There were some more questions asked in the letter.</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<i>But I have noticed that the group table talk often short circuit some player's actions, choices, or initiatives. Like
a player is tempted to explore or interact with something, and the other
players chat in, and the player shies away or just does as the group suggests even if he or she was tempted to make a different choice.</i> "</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
<div>
Yes.<br />
<br />
This is a fairly standard group dynamic. Peer culture has a huge influence on behavior. It can be situationally addressed by (politely) telling everyone to shut up and asking the player what his action is without interference from the rest of the party. In general, however, this should be considered a positive thing. <b>You do have the power to say, "Discussion is over," and then ask for actions, free of input clockwise</b>. Or look at other game resolution options and systems that allow choices without input from all the players.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<i>Sometimes, it also feels like in-game communication limitations could
lead to interesting in-game situations. Like removing "on the spot"
decisions.</i>"</blockquote>
When you design a dungeon or adventure, that is literally a truth of what you are doing. You are designing it. There is a standard mode of play, but certain situations can create an 'on the spot' decision. The key is it should be a consequence of player action. Make sure that whatever is causing the timed situation is clear (a stopwatch, a count, etc.) and driven by player choice. Then they <i>are</i> on the spot. Again, it should be an intended design and not simply something is done to frustrate your players. </div>
<div>
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[1]<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Note that I'm <b>not</b> saying that system doesn't matter. Clearly, communication in Bridge is part of play, as it is in Burning Wheel. But we are talking about D&D, which is its own broad-spectrum thing. You can design an RPG about communication as a game-play element that makes it its own game. When speaking about D&D or the base role-playing experience, it is much like talking about poker. Even through the hundreds of variations, the structure of poker and the necessary elements of communication (tells, bluffing) remain the same, even if minimized to the point of irrelevance.</span></div>
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[2] <span style="font-size: x-small;">I've played new games, from Vampire to 4e to Dogs in the Vineyard to Microscope and more. My preference for old-school play is no statement on the validity of those other play styles. It was fun to play those other games! I imagine my assertiveness of the virtues of old-school play has caused people to assume that I'm saying something negative about those other games. When in truth, when played as designed, they can be fun! (I will admit, I want to add about 1000 caveats to that statement.) </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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Originally published 9/4/12</div>
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<br /></div><div><hr style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div>
-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-1621083382001429962023-04-17T13:32:00.003-05:002023-04-17T14:35:51.477-05:00On Reader Mail, Find Traps skill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A completely different Nick than yesterday writes: "<i>Do you use a "Find Traps" skill for your thieves? Reading your materials, I can't really tell. I know you favor description and discovery through interaction, so if you use it, how do you have it "interface" with that? I'm struggling with this bit myself.</i>"<br />
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How does find traps interface with player skill-focused play?</div>
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This is a great question, and part of the answer has to do with infinite play and what you wish to spend your time doing; the other part has to do with the purpose of a trap.</div>
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<a href="http://i.somethingawful.com/u/elpintogrande/april09/chest2.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://i.somethingawful.com/u/elpintogrande/april09/chest2.gif" width="320" /></a>What is the purpose of a trap?</h3>
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<u>The purpose of a trap is to make decisions meaningful</u>. If there is no risk from just walking around, opening chests, or exploring rooms, then those activities become flat and dull. If the only threat is monsters, then you've removed uncertainty from the game, making it flatter and less interesting. Traps should make the play of the game <i>more interesting</i>.</div>
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How?</div>
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<a href="http://wiki.ultimacodex.com/images/thumb/4/41/Chest.gif/450px-Chest.gif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="http://wiki.ultimacodex.com/images/thumb/4/41/Chest.gif/450px-Chest.gif" width="320" /></a>Traps should represent an unseen threat. Lurking in chests and doors, they are likely not visible. But in rooms and corridors, there should always be some sign of their placement. This sign should not always be obvious but should be visible to an alert party. I've written a <a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/p/artifices-deceptions-index.html">whole lot about how to present this</a>.</div>
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What do we wish to spend our time doing? </h3>
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The other question becomes what do we want to actually be doing at the table? Do you want players to describe in detail how they are approaching and interacting with chests? The fact is, with any simple object like a door or chest, the ways of approaching and dealing with it are <i>limited</i>. It is possible to create an itemized list of activities to do when approaching a door. Depending on the type of campaign and your players, this may or may not be an issue. It depends on what you want.</div>
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The secret you wish to know</h3>
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So, do I use the find traps skill?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib8qwmB0r6WmEhwOuk29RlxmIx1F10EoRocfBZFyWEp9XTfoFHvJsbYr64jePU-lZ2q5F1Gz_9uq2oREj_6SG1QqSP4RjxPUgF84UK5FaRnm-t9zAbmuUvSsMwAViUOKAHZK4fOYfrYhiA/s1600/ToHGraphic12.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib8qwmB0r6WmEhwOuk29RlxmIx1F10EoRocfBZFyWEp9XTfoFHvJsbYr64jePU-lZ2q5F1Gz_9uq2oREj_6SG1QqSP4RjxPUgF84UK5FaRnm-t9zAbmuUvSsMwAViUOKAHZK4fOYfrYhiA/s320/ToHGraphic12.jpg" width="192" /></a>I've found that it is hard to remember to do things. My general approach, is that all room and corridor traps are openly visible, and players either handle them manually in the game or suffer the consequences, as my traps and agency series. Openly visible means that there is some descriptive clue given to their purpose. I hid wall scythe blades in jagged shadows. Bodies on the floor is an option for easy detection, a side effect of trap placement in the description is more difficult to discern from the detection. For doors and chests, <i>if they ask</i>, I will simply tell them if the door or chest is trapped.</div>
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They frequently don't ask.</div>
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It is apparently really <i>really</i> difficult to remember to do that. </div>
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This works very well to put the focus squarely on player skill. I want to point out, that I only do this for searching for traps, not most activities, like packing, lighting torches, etc. Specifically, I don't assume players will hit in combat, a key pillar of play any more than I assume they are going to take the time to look for traps another key pillar of play. Standard D&D does not consider remembering to pack your sword as a pillar of play. There are games that do. Again, it depends on where you want to spend your time.<br />
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Most of the games I run don't even contain a search or find traps skill. The idea behind the original thief skills, was that they were <a href="https://www.necropraxis.com/2011/10/20/thief-magic/">semi-magical in nature</a>. So in systems that do have a find traps skill, I run it as either a Danger Sense skill, or allow it to be rolled as an additional saving throw to avoid the effects of traps. The same with locks, in most campaigns - <i>any normal lock can be opened by a thief. </i>It is puzzle locks, complicated vault locks, and other special tricks that Open Locks is expected to address.</div><div><br />
<i>First published 1/7/14</i></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><hr style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="border: none; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-87107102582581858832023-04-16T13:39:00.001-05:002023-04-16T13:39:52.415-05:00On Reader Mail, The Comprehensive Search Bypassing Play<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOy7Ej56W7k4QwmoUEDe1fECYSSa6y4F7aTQvNaCCGrHY79CMQxB_UDQ598abwt3-UZdE78voPogqv3FgciYZNLATbmH-yQg0ikv5CzZoLLNrtioUtyD8qR0Wu-Rhz1FxqLZihTwqEcg5A/s1600/pen_3_lg-1.gif" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOy7Ej56W7k4QwmoUEDe1fECYSSa6y4F7aTQvNaCCGrHY79CMQxB_UDQ598abwt3-UZdE78voPogqv3FgciYZNLATbmH-yQg0ikv5CzZoLLNrtioUtyD8qR0Wu-Rhz1FxqLZihTwqEcg5A/s1600/pen_3_lg-1.gif" width="320" /></a>'J' writes in again with another question.<br />
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"<i>One of my players wants to bypass the game-play by saying 'I search everything'. I've responded in the past by asking them to be more specific, but this isn't working well.</i>"<br />
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This sounds like a source of irritation to both the Dungeon Master, who doesn't want his work bypassed, and to the player who doesn't want to jump through hoops. This interaction can end up being very confrontational.<br />
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The solution is non-obvious. I never approach an interaction in a game by asking a player to do more. I maintain agency with this the same way I would with any action the player takes. I would describe the consequences of their choice and ask what they wish to do.<br />
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"<i>I search everything.</i>"<br />
"<i>Ok, it will take you nine turns individually, or three turns as
a group to thoroughly search "everything else". This will result in either three wandering monster checks if you search alone or one wandering monster check with a higher chance of a monster appearing due to the activity and noise if you search as a group. You may instead choose to specify what areas you are searching specifically to avoid having to do such an exhaustive search. What do you wish to do?</i>" </blockquote>
The consequences of actions are known, and the players can make an informed choice maintaining agency and receiving the expected result from their actions. As a byproduct, consequences for bypassing the Dungeon Master's carefully crafted rooms are maintained as well as the player not feeling as if they are having to jump through hoops.<br />
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'J' Replies:<br />
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"<i>Using your example with the random encounters, if the player does say yes to the random encounters, do you just roll and then they discover the loose flagstone behind the throne even though they did not mention the throne at all, let alone behind the throne?</i> </blockquote>
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"<i>That bugs me for some reason. I feel your method would speed play, but
at the cost of actual discovery. I feel it would be more rewarding for a
player to discover the loose flagstone if they thought to look behind the throne.</i>" </blockquote>
The rules of the game indicate that there are two levels of hidden.
"<b>Concealed</b>" and "<b>Secret,</b>" so the answer to the question depends on what
the hidden area is.
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If it's <b>concealed</b>, then any verbal description of saying they are going
to look at the area will discover it, as will any 'through search of the
room' trading time for risk. If it's <b>secret, </b>then searching the area gives the 1 in 6 (or 2 in 6 for
elves, or 3 in 6 for Dwarves (sliding stone) given in your example)
chance to discover.<br />
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It is more rewarding for them to search for it themselves. The risk of
having an encounter should be a fairly severe threat, so if they want
to search every room they will not make it far.<br />
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I think also, that this particular mechanic is vastly improved if you note that the detection of a room trap or a secret door does not in any way grant information on how to disarm the trap or open the door.<div><br /></div><div><i>Originally published 3/19/13</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><hr style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-64547641960198583202023-04-11T09:16:00.001-05:002023-04-11T09:16:54.618-05:00On Mace<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/040/200/074/f2579d5b2a15687173488aac503fb095_original.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.0.2&crop=faces&w=1024&h=576&fit=crop&v=1678525055&auto=format&frame=1&q=92&s=34654e1324f1d215d7f2c0a0f797755d" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/040/200/074/f2579d5b2a15687173488aac503fb095_original.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.0.2&crop=faces&w=1024&h=576&fit=crop&v=1678525055&auto=format&frame=1&q=92&s=34654e1324f1d215d7f2c0a0f797755d" width="320" /></a></div><br /> Sinless is just going great. Everyone is working, we've got people playing, the final parts are getting shored up; it's exciting.<p></p><p>Years ago, I noticed someone whose work reminded me of Halloway and the best of old-school D&D. Jeshields is an artist on Sinless. He lives in Alaska with his wife and more daughters than I can count (who are also artists), and he's recently decided to leave a graphic design job and illustrate full-time.</p><p>. . . </p><p>You cannot imagine the coup this is for old-school gaming. Anyway, besides illustrating for Sinless and plenty of other old-school products, he's running a Kickstarter for MACE, a book of useable monsters. It's a much more concrete book and should work nicely with Bestial Encounters Caused by Monstrous Inhabitation.</p><p>Check it out here: <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeshields/monster-and-character-encounters">MACE, monster and character encounters</a>. </p><p>I'm a backer at the highest level because it's the best work in the field. Already funded. Check it out before it's too late!</p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><hr style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="border: none; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-50432701837539443462023-03-01T13:57:00.003-06:002023-03-01T13:57:33.558-06:00On the Final 48 hours<p><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agonarchartist/sinless">Sinless has just been amazing guys.</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFDIXwUq3RCNa8F3criKe0iGvN0ebLVSkDoGs2l2pTBBSHD3oNOJUQ54eGQaUmvTrAQky_pWb5tqdhfZTGHy52TBSR1Er8XpAnCWLhuSH_iT4AX2AMIU0LLfzO0B1O_WEVo-H5M30ue6JjIpkH387ihU6yUM8hDIiAbwBHWHr3_IRNxS1s7ghn5CSxA/s1206/Sinlessweblogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="1206" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFDIXwUq3RCNa8F3criKe0iGvN0ebLVSkDoGs2l2pTBBSHD3oNOJUQ54eGQaUmvTrAQky_pWb5tqdhfZTGHy52TBSR1Er8XpAnCWLhuSH_iT4AX2AMIU0LLfzO0B1O_WEVo-H5M30ue6JjIpkH387ihU6yUM8hDIiAbwBHWHr3_IRNxS1s7ghn5CSxA/s320/Sinlessweblogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>If you haven't checked it out, you should back now. Campaign ends Friday. </p><p>It's around 700 people, which is enough for success you know? It's a big enough network. I couldn't be happier—and we aren't even done with the campaign!</p><p>Here's what you need to know.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Future support incoming. We are already working on a seminal adventure for Sinless.</li><li>SRD incoming. Open license planned. Looking to hire a VTT module designer.</li><li>Fast table play with cybernetic ninjas, sorcery, and uplifted pug detectives. </li><li>Integrated domain game.</li><li>All items, gear, vehicles, assets, illustrated.</li><li>A4 Hardcover</li><li>Bonus decks of cards for assets and chases</li></ul><div>It's just a good deal! Get in and get exclusive Kickstarter content. </div><div><br />If you want more information, I've got a ton of interviews, in text, audio, and video!</div><div><br /></div><div>If you've already backed, now is the time to annoy people on social media with it.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is and has been amazing and thank you for making something awesome like this possible. </div><div>-Campbell</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://gmshoe.wordpress.com/2023/02/27/qa-courtney-c-campbell-sinless/">Randomworld's Discord Text Interview</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Talking Crit (Video)</div><p></p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QEz3bhhh9EE" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><p>Mildra the Monk (Audio)</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7cCqxmEsjy8" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjjsuSsYbXzg_GJJflMx16Em2m8Jh_ImnJFJSoBMBQGYch2OrtoNyTPNkRURqELZXXUjEcU7_16igIfu7fy2VbawZSNrfXUMsI9dAd2t6FuFuz7ZJnhoF2kxTxZtoMIp9tCxR7BHb2GaRAFK110W7_lIdldXJjXRynsQKKZraqLbhh_V9J6roIR8u-mQ/s2667/carddraft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2667" data-original-width="2667" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjjsuSsYbXzg_GJJflMx16Em2m8Jh_ImnJFJSoBMBQGYch2OrtoNyTPNkRURqELZXXUjEcU7_16igIfu7fy2VbawZSNrfXUMsI9dAd2t6FuFuz7ZJnhoF2kxTxZtoMIp9tCxR7BHb2GaRAFK110W7_lIdldXJjXRynsQKKZraqLbhh_V9J6roIR8u-mQ/s320/carddraft.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh-lFLMQHnwwFOalDfupYOJbPs7Q0iqo3UboEglw5N4Be3pN17v8-Dhmt6d2d5Z1UaLmZfTUeVznSQAOJz1NJ69aq6YE2HxeY9IWcsvJW45rY2BJNs7A6mMfVBHqnkgLQ5RLdYEZEoHqinXGWf8GoyIxTEEsxslTGaD6Xc5vJgSFInDdJov7n-KEE69w/s3473/Vicious%20pistol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1651" data-original-width="3473" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh-lFLMQHnwwFOalDfupYOJbPs7Q0iqo3UboEglw5N4Be3pN17v8-Dhmt6d2d5Z1UaLmZfTUeVznSQAOJz1NJ69aq6YE2HxeY9IWcsvJW45rY2BJNs7A6mMfVBHqnkgLQ5RLdYEZEoHqinXGWf8GoyIxTEEsxslTGaD6Xc5vJgSFInDdJov7n-KEE69w/s320/Vicious%20pistol.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-15602660447556470932023-02-21T14:58:00.003-06:002023-02-21T15:04:01.646-06:00On Sinless Combat!<p> Sinless combat is so cool!</p><p>I remember, once, during a game of 4e Dungeons and Dragons, I had enough time between rounds to calculate every one's average basic attack damage (since all our encounter/utility cards were burned) and determine with statistical accuracy that we had 14 more rounds to go until we killed the boss. Sure enough, 14 rounds later, he was dead. </p><p>Can we conceptualize how many failures in that experience there are? </p><p>Sinless is not like that. Sinless combat is violent and terrifying. </p><p>The truth is, the weapons we have today, even toned down for a tabletop role-playing game, are ridiculous. A Vulcan Cannon fires 7200 rounds per minute.<i> That's 120 bullets per second. </i>The main limiting factor in its use is that the ammo weighs so much it can only fire for a few minutes. They were worried about the bullets hitting the ground, so they program them to explode in 4 seconds after a mile. </p><p>Full auto is a thing. It is very hard to survive if you are caught in the open, and someone shoots 30 bullets at you. Sinless is not a game about slowly removing opponents' hit points while they retain their full effectiveness. In an extended conflict, the Sinless are sure to lose. </p><p>Which is why they don't <i>do</i> that. </p><p>They prepare ahead of time and know the location and general power of the opposition. They develop a plan to obviate challenges like Vulcan cannons, accomplish their objective and plan an escape. And five out of six times, things go as planned. </p><p>That other time though, they miss something in the dossier, and there's an unexpected threat they didn't prepare for. Do you decide as a referee when this happens? My advice would be no. There are always more threats on a site than it's possible for players to prepare for. Sometimes they don't check for magical critters, and there aren't any magical critters there. That one time, they miss that and have a hydra pop up to cock their run.</p><p>I use operations to introduce characters, conflicts, and background information and later use that information to design future runs and create a changing campaign world. I'm designing a run generator and referee tools that allow you to do this with low overhead. </p><p>And after every operation, there's always fallout. Maybe someone got snapped by a camera. Maybe someone is seeking revenge. </p><p>Combat is about solving problems that you've prepared for. And the design of missions leaves plenty of room for surprises. What about people that are organized and plan well? Well, maybe they are ready to move up to the professional tier of missions. Like all classic play styles, players can choose their level of danger. </p><p>It can be a shift from people who are used to encounters designed to be fought and won. A well-run and planned operation isn't one that exposes the players to return fire. That said, characters in Sinless are quite competent and powerful, which means they have the ability to address "surprises" in the run. There's very much a fun dynamic in my playtests where the players are like:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjom3CBg8KfGtq-RWjSQK9sJbmci0pdhR-diVlKBD4k7Ax3P_bjg-f3cGqEQLosq2irLMP7G4_j0K_gt_oHLGrfA33vFPGzxeZnEaQqEhH8Mf_TW9FZnT8qrS2aSnAWkSC-jT9h4R10dJUCEGTak_yUeAh_7ZIyoJjZIeCirA8r0ySJ0Jr4SL68cs1SZg/s720/2mhjis.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjom3CBg8KfGtq-RWjSQK9sJbmci0pdhR-diVlKBD4k7Ax3P_bjg-f3cGqEQLosq2irLMP7G4_j0K_gt_oHLGrfA33vFPGzxeZnEaQqEhH8Mf_TW9FZnT8qrS2aSnAWkSC-jT9h4R10dJUCEGTak_yUeAh_7ZIyoJjZIeCirA8r0ySJ0Jr4SL68cs1SZg/s320/2mhjis.jpg" width="284" /></a></div><p>It's a great time. :-)</p><p>If this sounds like something that you might like to have at your table, be sure to <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agonarchartist/sinless/">back the Kickstarter now</a> to avoid missing out on exclusive Kickstarter content!</p><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-3700000552562908072023-02-15T13:48:00.003-06:002023-02-15T13:49:16.008-06:00On a Sinless update and the gameplay loop.<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agonarchartist/sinless" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="1206" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiogLGbmonisalrY6nhMlXIV1HhhoiZKbWUhQ6X7hDDdmSyGe8nosNDikkqLCYvvvWZTrbK5q4tUMc947fHQLX31ovt7CAovxllc_NwJ8YgWFUgHAr5P48nE5aEFAOziRLcKXAZqteTvYfpApLHgfc03QVN5J9vSrVM3NrbPgT61qMhdaFdVIBh1N41vQ/s320/Sinlessweblogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>Honestly, I'm so chuffed.</div><div><br /></div><div>I isolated and read a lot as a child, and when I imagined the future as someone who made these rpg books it seemed like a fantasy. It's amazing every day I wake up. And it's because of you, so thanks! I am grateful daily.</div><div><br /></div><div>What's really cool though, is the Sinless gameplay loop.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Focus on the Gameplay Loop</b></div><div><br /></div><div>In the tactical mercenary team game, there are two phases. The tactical mission, and the base/character building. You get new toys, you go on the next mission to play with the toys, and you get more toys.</div><div><br /></div><div>But in an role-playing game?</div><div><br /></div><div>It's not limited like those spaces. It's not the Argo or the Avenger. How to increase the scope without chaos?</div><div><br /></div><div>Enter sectors and resources. Each sector is a conceptual downtown space, laid over a map like a point-crawl, rather than a consistent physical measure of distance. And each space has a variety of resources which are things like "apartments", "casinos", "power stations", "media outlets," et. al. The full list is in the rules document available to backers.</div><div><br /></div><div>These resources are general categories (e.g. factories) that turned into specific resources in a sector. (e.g. Westfork Chemical Processing). Players can take over resources from their owners using sector actions. Players can blow up and demolish resources from their owners. Players can build new resources in empty spots.</div><div><br /></div><div>But it's even better than that.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of the sector actions available is "Do Crime". And while crime generates revenue, it also raises heat. In my Monday session, players raised the heat in their sector to 2 by doing crime, which gives a bonus to the amount of money all vice resources produce, meaning the bar they own made more money! (conversely, having no heat is a boon to business resources.)</div><div><br /></div><div>You can do enough crime in a sector to cause a crackdown. This causes a heavy enforcement presence and shuts down all resources in the sector. This is also a way to solve problems.</div><div><br /></div><div>The actions in the sector turn affect the operational turns (the uh, tactical crime operation). The actions during the operational turn affect the sector turns. This is explicit mechanically. e.g.</div><div><br /></div><div>"After the session, the players and Agonarch agree on a level of destruction (none, some, lots, total) and a level of influence exerted on a resource (none, minor, major, exceptional). Some destruction does 1d3 damage, lots of destruction does 1d6, and total destruction does 2d6 damage to the resource condition track. Minor influence grants 1 point, major grants 2, and exceptional grants 3. Heat is raised by 1 for minor changes, 2 for major ones, and 3 for exceptional/total changes."</div><div><br /></div><div>So at the end of every job, they get paid, and can use sector turns to raise more money, buy rare gear, purchase additional assets, build up their resources and take over new resources. Then they get a new job which is an opportunity to use all their new tools! Both assets and resources can provide bonuses during operations. One asset might allow you to plant bombs or guns in the operation site, others might affect all the guards or shut down digital defenses.</div><div><br /></div><div>So it's this nice loop during play. They finish a mission, get money and kismet to level up. They level up, and turn to the sector turn to invest/spend their money. They get a lot of new stuff (assets, gear, abilities) and progress during the sector turn. Then leveled up they look for a new job.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agonarchartist/sinless">It's kind of a hook</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div><p></p>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-18819366851671271802023-02-06T12:50:00.007-06:002023-02-06T12:50:49.691-06:00On Sinless<p> <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agonarchartist/sinless">Sinless is LIVE</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtHRZHk1Oe_y1S-9wcs6-2J8Lmazavqtr6W_K_DmrMMmbaAJ5Xfi9tSEWyuXO8-Sw-V2-w1TCGRvIM9CDD_d6M88XNkq28OEvfWSNZdpF7UjcaNq4axSOCA82XV3Cz0WQIB19rqdW94uU_ibvns3gC9MG_3gtgU4oHX0Iol9EjNE43ECWre2ObkKGbAA/s1206/Sinlessweblogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="1206" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtHRZHk1Oe_y1S-9wcs6-2J8Lmazavqtr6W_K_DmrMMmbaAJ5Xfi9tSEWyuXO8-Sw-V2-w1TCGRvIM9CDD_d6M88XNkq28OEvfWSNZdpF7UjcaNq4axSOCA82XV3Cz0WQIB19rqdW94uU_ibvns3gC9MG_3gtgU4oHX0Iol9EjNE43ECWre2ObkKGbAA/s320/Sinlessweblogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agonarchartist/sinless">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agonarchartist/sinless<br /></a><p><br /></p>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-24938186474640672222023-01-13T11:24:00.000-06:002023-01-13T11:24:08.121-06:00On the Sunless Citadel Stroll<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Sunless_Citadel.jpg#/media/File:The_Sunless_Citadel.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="The Sunless Citadel.jpg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/The_Sunless_Citadel.jpg" /></a><br />
I've played a lot of adventures. I've never been able to easily find out what happens in an adventure without playing it. I've always wished someone talked about the adventures that they've been through, not so much a review, but a commentary. This. . . is that.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Sunless Citadel</h3>
I had just moved to this city for the first time, and was back in college. I was working a terrible phone support job for an internet service provider, with weird and shady people. That redhead was named Scarlett, and that story is one for another time.<br />
<br />
I spent all my free time at work getting little dribs and drabs of information about the new third edition of Dungeons and Dragons on Enworld. It was going back to the dungeon. Any race could be any class. Dungeons & Dragons things were miraculously still being published.<br />
<br />
It was a heady time.<br />
<br />
I ran this module for a group of friends, as my first experience running third edition. It was a well-designed linear adventure. The part nobody remembers is that there's an evil tree sprouted from a stake used to kill a vampire, protected by an evil druid, that blooms two evil fruits with seeds that create twig blights.<br />
<br />
There's a couple of quick and minor encounters on your way into the valley, with enough distraction to lull the players into a sense of security. They checked for traps the first time, the second, and the third, but the fourth was a pit trap they walked into. Well done. The maps are pretty interesting and although very linear, they at least nod to creativity, expansion, and multi-level adventure.<br />
<br />
It's early in the life cycle, but the module clearly pushes a certain model of play, remember where the squares are, success is determined by checks (with a nod to some behaviors), and a strong board "game-like" feel and structure. It's easy to see how this eventually developed into the baroque Pathfinder, where the system itself handles all vagaries of play, being a precision model that answers all questions for the dungeon master. <br />
<h3>
<br />The Citadel Proper</h3>
Once entered, there's a magically locked door to the left, and the dungeon to the right.<br />
<br />
The magically locked door is a sequence of chambers that only give the slightest nod to options. They can have the key, The knock spell (which requires a third level wizard in this first level adventure) or they can succeed at a DC 36 (!) Strength check. It's unlikely anyone would have a +16 bonus to their strength at first level. At the end you find a troll and some treasure. <br />
<br />
Once you give up and go the way you are supposed to, you meet Meepo. Everyone remembers Meepo, he went on to some measure of fame. He only says two things:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<i>The clan's dragon. . . we've lost our dragon. The wretched goblins stole Calcryx, our dragon!</i>"<br />"<i>Meepo don't know, but the leader does. Meepo take you to meet the leader, Yusdrayl, if you make nice. Grant you safe passage, if you promise not to hurt Meepo. May be if you promise to rescue dragon, leader make nice to you, answer your questions.</i>"</blockquote>
<br />
After this point, every adventuring group in the world pretty much teamed up with Meepo. He walks you through the Kobold sector. You can kill everything in these ten or so rooms, or follow meepo to the boss.<br />
<br />
You could free some goblin prisoners on the way, but the adventure says you probably shouldn't. The goblins will lie and flee and double-cross players. See, the kobolds are the good guys and the goblins are the bad guys, and just go along with it.<br />
<br />
The kobold territory consists of "Down the 60' hallway". Once that immense distance is traversed, they meat the Kobold leader, Yusdrayl. She gives a quest, retrieve the white dragon and offers the key to the earlier area, and she lets you know about the evil guy downstairs. She is standing in front of an altar with some minor magic items on it, and I've seen more than one party turn on the Kobolds at this point. Many don't, which means Meepo accompanies them on the rest of the adventure.<br />
<br />
Even though there's a door that leads straight through to the goblin main encounter, they encourage you to go the back way, so you can adventure through the entire goblin section of the dungeon. The only way the shortcut is taken, is if the Kobolds are all killed.<br />
<br />
You have several fights against rats and detritus. To get into the goblin area proper, you have to assault a small wall down a caltrop filled hallway. Once you get past that, you find some prisoners, including a 2nd level Gnome Fighter/Cleric named Erky Timbers who's super eager to join the party.<br />
<br />
In a room adjacent to the main path, you can find the little tiny mini white dragon who likes it here. You'll have to fight him without killing him to bring him back to the kobolds.<br />
<br />
Did you know they intentionally understate the difficulty of dragons in 3.x so that fighting them would always seem tougher than equivalently difficult monsters? Think about that. Monte Cook designed the rules so that players AND the people running the game would be surprised when the monsters were way more powerful than they said they were supposed to be, because they are dragons. Why not list them at their actual difficulty level? The answer to that is so that the difficulty would be a surprise to anyone who relied on those levels.<br />
<br />
Then there are two large rooms that have lots of goblins in them (A 'main' encounter) with a shaft leading to Part II of the dungeon.<br />
<br />
All this is fun and fine for an introductory module. People like to succeed and feel useful. There are optional side areas, but the adventure leads you by the nose. On the plus side, the fight with the hobgoblin boss takes place with a giant eighty-foot deep shaft in the middle of the room. <br />
<br />
There's a lot of text, too much, about attacks of opportunity. Don't forget attacks of opportunity! Nobody wants attacks of opportunity. Certainly not these goblins. No sir! They'll flank, but not if they have to take those attacks of opportunity. Memento Aoo.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Down a Shaft to Part II of the dungeon</h3>
The grove level is also basically a straight line. You can go north and head into the—undescribed in this module—'underdark'. You can go east and north, or you can head south which loops around to east and north. You follow the module from there straight to the end.<br />
<br />
You fight some goblins, worms, one shadow, and skeletons; each area, another few opponents rush to kill you as you attempt to reach the 'boss chamber' at the end of the dungeon. After killing goblins guarding a gate, you stride forward into the penultimate encounter, and slay ten of the evil twig blights all at once, introduced two at a time.<br />
<br />
The evil druid boss has some conversation options, mainly explaining everything going on. When the conversation options are exhausted, he exhorts you to surrender. When you predictable refuse you fight the boss, the tree, some more twig blights, and a few adventurers who came here earlier and failed, becoming slaves to the evil tree. Maybe the players can figure out destroying the tree will free the captured adventurers by killing them, allowing you to defeat them without chewing through their hit points?<br />
<br />
It was fun, the fights in 3.0 were fun. It very much instilled the idea that dungeons are limited spaces and should be 'cleared' completely, extracting all the treasure and experience. I find that the games I play in are both more difficult and challenging in the sense that it's a lot less likely you'll survive a straight combat, and have enough and large enough spaces that exhaustively exploring dungeons doesn't occur.<br />
<br /><i>Originally published 3/1/19</i><br /><div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-20416503546621190212023-01-13T11:23:00.000-06:002023-01-13T11:23:58.491-06:00On the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh Stroll<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/U1ModuleCover.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="234" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/U1ModuleCover.jpg" /></a></div>
I've played a lot of adventures. I've never been able to easily find out what happens in an adventure without playing it. I've always wished someone talked about the adventures that they've been through, not so much a review, but a commentary. This. . . is that.<br />
<br />
The secret really is sinister.<br />
<br />
It's the first Dungeons & Dragons adventure I ever played. My father ran it for me, my mother, and my brother. I've run it a dozen times myself, and found myself again among the halls of the alchemists house in my adult life more than a time or two.<br />
<br />
It's one of the great reasons for its ubiquity. It's easy to put a 'haunted' house on a map. Let's take a stroll through the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Sinister!</h3>
This module is notable for being from "TSRUK", and contains a personal message from Don Turnbull.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So, American readers—if you find the text too flowery and florid or too plain and stilted, the structure of the language slightly unusual, the use of certain words apparently slightly offbeat, these are the reasons. Perhaps you will take solace in knowing that UK readers of all the other TSRª modules have the same reaction in reverse!</blockquote>
Is it an essential British trait that they would take a game about dungeons, and write an adventure about an old house up on a hill? The United States has no ancient buildings looming for a thousand years.<br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" />
The Dungeon Master is instructed on personalizing the town, making it a base of operations for the players. Name the council, develop them as individuals, draw a map, design an inn, create local gods.<br />
<br />
Then, there's the legend. The decrepit house sits up on the hill, once owned by an old alchemist around which nefarious rumors swirled. Now it's haunted—dilapidated and unwholesome. Ghastly shrieks and eerie lights emanate from within the dismal lesion marring the purview.<br />
<br />
Spoilers for a thirty year old module, but hey, right? The house is a base of smugglers, led by an illusionist. It has a remarkable clear description of how to present the module and the core mysteries, without giving away too much.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>It is paramount that the players are given no obvious clues, which would lead them to believe the house is not haunted; they must deduce the truth for themselves or simply stumble upon it. They might even wander around the house, finding a little treasure but never discovering what actually takes place there.<br />This module and the other two in the series are designed for thinking players. Those who tackle the adventures imaginatively and thoughtfully will not only obtain good rewards for their characters but will derive the satisfaction of seeing the various layers of the plot peel away as the real meaning of each clue is discovered. On the other hand, those who regard the House as nothing but monsterslaying territory will not only fail to unravel the secrets but will find their adventure dull and unsatisfactory; they may even lose their characters, for the smugglers, in the hands of a competent DM, should be more than a match for an unwary, careless party.</i></blockquote>
No munchkin hack & slash here! Only real role-playing.<br />
<br />
In all seriousness, This is a well designed module. There are multiple layers to this mystery and it relies on player choice and initiative to assess what is actually going on, instead of just killing stuff because it's there. It's the kind of adventure where combat (should) happen(s) because there's an actual conflict, not just because you see something to kill. It clearly supports all the choices, with outcomes noted in the finale.<br />
<br />
But that's not what you're here for.<br />
<br />
<h3>
What you are here for</h3>
<br />
You show up in town, ready for adventure. After taking lodging and shopping for a bit, you hear a legend about a haunted house up on the hill. If you decide to investigate, then you get introduced to a member of the town council, who has an interest in your decision to 'stamp out a local menace'. The council member makes no specific promises, but mentioned rewards—perhaps, say, something for doing a public service.<br />
<br />
When the party sets out, they are accompanied by a slew of townsfolk, urchins, and hangers on. Amusingly, they retire shortly after the house pulls into view.<br />
<br />
It sits atop a cliff, behind a 6' high stone wall, with a heavy ornate great. To the east is a well.with a softball pitch of a snake that has sleeping venom.<br />
<br />
The house is obviously two stories, although there is a secret third underground "level", leading down to the coast at the bottom of the cliff. The house is laid out in a chunky upside down T. The front door opens into a big central room, with a staircase going up to a balcony you can see, with hallways leading to the west, east, and north wings. It's a great vertical and non-linear space!<br />
<br />
While exploring, you'll find rats, goblins, and other vermin as you would expect in any kind of standing structure. Tracks for observant players show some frequent foot traffic. Let's explore!<br />
<br />
The stairs to the second floor hang over a passage to the east. These leads to empty and dilapidated rooms. To the west lies the library of the alchemist, a study, and a trapdoor leading to the basement trapped with a magic mouth that says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Welcome, fools -- welcome to your deaths!" followed by a prolonged burst of insane and fiendish laughter.</i></blockquote>
The passageway to the north contains two events of note, there's a beat up "withdrawing room" which I assume is british for lounge. In addition to detritus there is a chimney. If examined, you find a loose brick, concealing a small chest, along with a spider that sets down beside you. The default poison causing 'enfeebling' for 1-4 days, rather than any authentic risk.<br />
<br />
The other event of note is that when you take the first step to descend into the basement, there's a wicked howl of shrieking pain, triggered by a magic mouth.<br />
<br />
The upper floor is unstable, and more than one player character has died by falling to his death through unstable flooring. Another deadly chamber lies to the west, with an unassuming closet, filled with a cloak covered in deadly yellow mold.<br />
<br />
Upstairs to the east, lies unstable flooring and a very subtle clue, that I think frequently goes missed until later in the module. This is the room where the smugglers can see the approach of the ship and signal it. More interesting is Ned Shakeshaft, a prisoner who is actually an assassin. He's supposed to mislead them, in the interest of a merchant who profits from the smuggling operation.<br />
<br />
You can reach the attic, and get attacked by stirges as your reward.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Main Event</h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ0sCaCkLuQ3m-1PJf-lfqMMcT_5zvP5_LHj-1edvu7MPGY7dwmroWUxpBA344yZ7MzJOdguBtXoT3my98mbTxpokkjqX7WnIxq2vcPwSaYq-rxLMcMy-6R4TQHRyVn8YQ6jqHW0VRF-gD/s1600/ADD-1st-Edition-Adventure-U1-The-Sinister-Secret-of-Saltmarsh-760x976.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ0sCaCkLuQ3m-1PJf-lfqMMcT_5zvP5_LHj-1edvu7MPGY7dwmroWUxpBA344yZ7MzJOdguBtXoT3my98mbTxpokkjqX7WnIxq2vcPwSaYq-rxLMcMy-6R4TQHRyVn8YQ6jqHW0VRF-gD/s1600/ADD-1st-Edition-Adventure-U1-The-Sinister-Secret-of-Saltmarsh-760x976.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="976" data-original-width="760" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ0sCaCkLuQ3m-1PJf-lfqMMcT_5zvP5_LHj-1edvu7MPGY7dwmroWUxpBA344yZ7MzJOdguBtXoT3my98mbTxpokkjqX7WnIxq2vcPwSaYq-rxLMcMy-6R4TQHRyVn8YQ6jqHW0VRF-gD/s320/ADD-1st-Edition-Adventure-U1-The-Sinister-Secret-of-Saltmarsh-760x976.jpg" width="248" /></a><br />
<br />
Eventually the characters man up and brave the depths beyond the magic mouth spells, and head down into the basement.<br />
<br />
This leads to a very memorable encounter. There's a corpse on the floor in a suit of FULL PLATE MAIL! This is a great moment for your fighters, immediately before they die from the rot grubs infesting the body.<br />
<br />
There's a secret door in the wine cellar, and sooner or later the party will encounter the smugglers, which include their illusionist leader, along with several gnolls. There's a great illustration of the illusionist, hitting a party with the color spray spell.<br />
<br />
Having discovered the smuggling operation, the town council conceives of a plan, where you assault the Sea Ghost and end the smuggling operation once and for all.<br />
<br />
The party has a number of options for assault, giving them the opportunity to strike in the dark, or engage in open combat aboard the floating vessel. A terse, exciting, and possibly deadly battle occurs on the deck of the sea ghost. Looting the vessel lets them discover a slew of prizes, not the least of which is a pseudo-dragon looking for a Wizard to bond with, and the fighter thief aquatic elf "Oceanus".<br />
<br />
Once complete, a few days pass, until the council becomes curious why such primitive creatures as lizard men would seek the arms and armor from the forges of men? Is the town of Saltmarsh at risk of attack?<br />
<br />
I guess if you want to find out, you'd have to play Danger at Dunwater, but that is a different tale.<br />
<br />
<i>You enjoying these posts? I'm depending on you to keep writing them. Come make some requests and get a ton of free stuff over on my <a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash">Patreon</a>! Originally published 5/2/19</i><div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-41382285632238706612022-05-23T13:43:00.001-05:002022-05-23T13:52:26.804-05:00On Ecology Completed<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidX5BT-LCuSiVA3e3V4l_LGZIlCGVx6TtRhTq0ampJYPcFbTc_BDJJIbLQvgL1byf3cCr4dphOOldDnI_rv8J8p0FGoPn5eaChSXCnqP8PUvWN8ayNnXdvDad5220RhsNisU1i66PR2xsFvi7RY6t6vaNidH2NEKGKFapoJvF_N_TOcV9OeSTDnHrDg/s1000/BECMcovedigital.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidX5BT-LCuSiVA3e3V4l_LGZIlCGVx6TtRhTq0ampJYPcFbTc_BDJJIbLQvgL1byf3cCr4dphOOldDnI_rv8J8p0FGoPn5eaChSXCnqP8PUvWN8ayNnXdvDad5220RhsNisU1i66PR2xsFvi7RY6t6vaNidH2NEKGKFapoJvF_N_TOcV9OeSTDnHrDg/s320/BECMcovedigital.jpg" width="234" /></a></div>So that happened. <p></p><p></p><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/394828/Bestial-Ecosystems-Created-by-Monstrous-Inhabitation-Public-Edition">Bestial Ecosystems created by Monster Inhabitation is out</a>. <br /><p>I'm getting better at it. There was something off about the softcovers, so it'll be a few days on those. Amazon should go up by Wednesday if you'd prefer to get it from there. </p><p>I'm an artist by trade, and there's some ink thing? When printing you can't have something too black or everyone complains. I mean, they complain because the printer vomits out black ink all over the pages. The annoying thing is that the normal black I use in illustrations is 'too black' so I have to go through and set all the images to a Japanese newspaper standard from 20 years ago.</p><p>I don't <i>really</i> understand what's going on, because I haven't done their job. I conceptually understand you want to send a color profile to the printer, but I'm just plodding along trying to make my way through the process as best I can. </p><p>Oh, the book is so good guys. Tons of art. It gives me a sensation of brightness when I look inside because of the density of ideas. It's oh so very unlike any sort of monster manual than has ever come before.</p><p>Monster manual you say? Are you now realizing that the collection of <i>Player's Handbook</i>, <i>Dungeon Master's Guide</i>, and <i>Monster Manual</i> is complete? Did I write a trilogy of dark reflections examining the negative space of role-playing games? <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/297829/On-Downtime-and-Demesnes-Basic-DD">On Downtime & Demesnes</a> is a player's handbook, <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348258/Artifices-Deceptions--Dilemmas">Artifices, Deceptions & Dilemmas</a> is a dungeon master's guide, and <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/394828/Bestial-Ecosystems-Created-by-Monstrous-Inhabitation-Public-Edition">Bestial Ecosystems created by Monster Inhabitation</a> is indeed a monster manual. They are a reflection, commentary, and guide to the rules of classic fantasy table-top role-playing games from the back of the stage. They provide new insights and ideas that are designed to elucidate unspoken laws and refresh forgotten knowledge. </p><p>OD&D, AD&D, BECMI.</p><p>Pick up your copies today!</p><p>. . . </p><p>That. That's what happened at the beginning when I said, so that happened.</p><p>Gosh, so it was fun. It was also a lot of work. I'll be posting my thirty or so illustrations on my insta over the next few weeks. I got to meet with and work with some incredible people while writing these books. I had two major professional releases in the space of time I wrote these books. The <a href="https://www.froggodgames.com/product/tome-of-alchemy/">Tome of Alchemy</a> by Frog God Games and <a href="https://us.lotfp.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=64&product_id=86">In a Deadly Fashion</a> from Lamentations are both available in print. </p><p>It's . . .good? I don't feel any sense of stability, which as it turns out was symptomatic. Apparently I suffer from vertigo. This both explains why I always feel like I'm about to fly off the surface of the earth, AND all the walking into things. I'm going to be finishing the fulfillment of this Kickstarter over the next day or two, and then. . . </p><p>Well, I don't think I'm going to quit just yet. As long as I can manage to keep doing this I will. It is getting easier over time. I'm getting better at it. </p><p>Soon we talk about being free from Sin. You'll wanna be here for that.</p><div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div><div><p><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /></p></div><p><br /></p>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-13874053807552839662022-03-23T13:41:00.003-05:002022-03-23T14:35:05.596-05:00On a Future Coming<p> Hey all.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://d1vzi28wh99zvq.cloudfront.net/images/10583/390592-thumb140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="212" data-original-width="140" height="212" src="https://d1vzi28wh99zvq.cloudfront.net/images/10583/390592-thumb140.jpg" width="140" /></a></div>I've been busy writing. It turns out that when you write for a living, it's hard to write on a blog.<p></p><p>The good thing is, there's actual professional work coming out. </p><p>First, I've written a funnel and a reimagination of the <i>Palace of the Silver Princess</i>. The funnel is currently free and in playtest! Some people seem to think that it's too deadly, but I'm interested in your opinion.</p>Check it out for free here: <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/390592/The-OSR-Guide-to-Playing-5e--Module-Included-Playtest">Palace of the Golden Princess Playtest</a>.<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://us.lotfp.com/store/image/cache/catalog/inadeadlyfashioncoverdisplay-228x228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="228" height="228" src="https://us.lotfp.com/store/image/cache/catalog/inadeadlyfashioncoverdisplay-228x228.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>Also, books have shown up in the American LotFP store. Now you can get <i>In a Deadly Fashion</i> without paying 40$ shipping. It's not only a mystery but a guideline on running mysteries. Find out the terrible horror that awaits in the dark corners of macaroni fashion. Death is the new black! You can check out it here! </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://us.lotfp.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=86">In a Deadly Fashion</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's beautiful and I'm proud of it. </div><br /><div>I'm really glad to be working, and so I'd like to thank everyone for their support. It's touch and go at times, but it seems to be working out. </div><div><br /></div><div>This isn't all. <i>Bestial Ecosystems</i> is due back from the editor in about 7 days. It would have been earlier,<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglWhSVPSVD79fonTBoKKG_SKBV6O-V80fJJ5AZYS8mQ8C1EiBtvG3_fEA6cG7lZOfx7Y6bn0pAritv_nkNW7SiyfLkxJfdaan855Q06899745jr5BnMucjhoomfSdaJJVlOm0G-ENatEqWDhUhQ-nHO6dWrlXDemhgP16uI19FN6grVrbWdc96XVCGyg/s724/AD&Dsmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="526" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglWhSVPSVD79fonTBoKKG_SKBV6O-V80fJJ5AZYS8mQ8C1EiBtvG3_fEA6cG7lZOfx7Y6bn0pAritv_nkNW7SiyfLkxJfdaan855Q06899745jr5BnMucjhoomfSdaJJVlOm0G-ENatEqWDhUhQ-nHO6dWrlXDemhgP16uI19FN6grVrbWdc96XVCGyg/s320/AD&Dsmall.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><br /> but my editor got COVID. He survived (unlike the six million-plus dead worldwide) but the recovery process from COVID is lifelong. <i>Bestial Ecosystems Caused by Monstrous Inhabitation</i> (BECMI) is the final in my trilogy of books, <i>On Downtime and Demesnes</i>, and <i>Artifices, Deceptions, and Dilemmas</i>. The trilogy was a huge project, taking two years. And I'm left with beautiful books, filled with amazing art, forming a system-neutral players handbook, dungeon master's guide, and monster manual. It's so amazing and I'm so proud. <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/5597/Hack--Slash-Publishing">You can check out the first two here</a>, and be sure to check out the new one when it releases in print in two weeks. </div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, my current project is something else. I've had a jewel that I've loved since it came out, and the keepers have let it become ruined by apathy and greed. I realized that I could take it, and possibly make something wonderful out of it. Instead of complaining about what bad actors are doing, I'm taking steps to make a better world, by making a game about, well. . . You'll see. </div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks for checking in, and <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/390592/The-OSR-Guide-to-Playing-5e--Module-Included-Playtest">get in on that playtest</a>!</div><div><br /></div><div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div><div><p><br /></p></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-61840387326465078572022-02-21T09:00:00.004-06:002022-02-21T11:56:59.603-06:00On Why Bother<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>So, anyone that updates a blog regularly is a writer. Regular updates to a blog equate in word count to a novel or two a year. So what is it that makes us bother?<br />
<br />
I mean, if one were going to write for money, then there are plenty of more popular topics a writer could write on and possibly get enough views to use advertising, or even get a job for a major 'magazine style' website. So why write about D&D?<br />
<br />
What I am about to say, makes me sound like a mad man.<br />
I have no qualms about this, because we are all mad men here.<br />
If you were not, you would not have come here.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Old school style role playing is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamanism">shamanistic pursuit</a>. The realms we describe — all possible conceivable realms really — actually exist. In the real sense that they are a real place where real people live and breath.<br />
<br />
We can view these realms as if through a glass darkly. If we gather in a group and collect our ritual objects, then engage in our formal structure of play while remaining free of intent to influence the events based on our pre-conceptions, then the fog clears. Our ritual, our dice, act as augers to view other realms. Through this process we gain strength, wisdom, and join with the universal spirit of life. Our lives are enriched. We become connected to universal myth. </blockquote>So that's pretty much the reason why I do this instead of something else. <br />
<div><br /></div><div><i>Originally published 3/2012</i></div><div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-30387315356274430512022-02-21T08:00:00.002-06:002022-02-21T11:57:06.103-06:00On the So-Called Wilderness<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static.lulu.com/browse/product_thumbnail.php?productId=3464916&resolution=320" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="246" src="http://static.lulu.com/browse/product_thumbnail.php?productId=3464916&resolution=320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The seminal work on this topic is done by<br />
Victor Raymond in Fight On #2 & #3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It's Citizen Kane all over again.<br />
<br />
It says it <i>right on the cover</i> of Dungeons and Dragons Volume 3 of Three Booklets: "The underworld and wilderness adventures."<br />
<br />
"<i>The Wilderness:</i><br />
<i>The so-called Wilderness</i>"<br />
<br />
Those are the first five words Gygax wrote on the subject. Victor Raymond <a href="http://odd74.proboards.com/thread/786/wilderness-architect">makes it clear</a> that the phrase "The Wilderness" doesn't mean the actual wild, but all non-dungeon content—dangerous wilds and other civilizations and civilized areas—that the players might encounter.<br />
<br />
But what about the wild? The planes of fairy and the unknown? The mythical wood? The archetypical wilderness that threatens civilization? The line beyond which the cartographer writes, "Here, there be dragons."<br />
<br />
Nearly every adventure published for Dungeons & Dragons follows these hidden and archetypal guidelines in design, here we are just going to uncover them and make them explicit. Strap in.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Awareness</h3>
People are breathing all the time, yet aren't really aware of it. There's this fundamental underlying structure to role-playing games, an archetypical truth, that we all know about yet remain unaware about.<br />
<br />
Dungeons and Dragons is literally about taming the unknown. There's this central idea of a human narrative, where a person goes out into the unknown and retrieves knowledge and then returns. It's pretty central to the idea of us as a species, showing up again and again in psychology and fiction.<br />
<br />
The basic structure of any role-playing game, is that players have a character. That character exists in a literal limbo, until the Dungeon Master utters a setting. Once within that setting (right after play starts) areas are delineated as adventure locations. I am speaking in categorical terms. An adventure location may be a scene, a conversation with a non-player character, or a cave entrance.<br />
<br />
You are, sitting at the table, in possession a character, and several adventure options. You have an idea of your current (safe) location, which you leave to engage with the adventure option.<br />
<br />
The adventure is fundamentally about exploring these unknown spaces. What's in the cave? What does this person think? You uncover the unknown. Literally. The majority of Dungeons and Dragons play is exploring dungeons, which are represented as darkness or blankness and then are filled in as we explore. What's more, you are given a score for this activity; (or alternately the activity allows you to acquire a score). When you return successful, this score allows you to become a better explorer of the unknown.<br />
<br />
This is a fundamental human instinct. We go absolutely bonkers for frontiers. How exciting is the boundary between what is known and unknown! And here's a whole game where the entire structure of play is focused on rolling back the frontier!<br />
<br />
If you're wondering, <i style="font-weight: bold;">that</i> is why 95% of role-players are playing Dungeons and Dragons or some derivative thereof.<br />
<br />
Hell, Gygax figured it out, wrote down his excellent system of handling this from his seat of understanding, and then it was immediately misconstrued and lost, ignored by almost all, leaving us to discuss endlessly what's going on with hexes, and coming up with iterations like pointcrawls.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Archetypal Assumptions</h3>
<br />
A lot of this work proceeds from the excellent guidelines and overview provided by <a href="http://sandboxofdoom.blogspot.com/">Victor Raymond</a>. I encourage you to read his articles in Fight On #2 and #3 on this topic. For now, let's have an overview of his key points.<br />
<br />
<b><i>First</i></b>, the wilderness doesn't refer to the mythical wild, but rather <b>all</b> uncivilized AND civilized areas that are unknown to the players.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Second</i></b>, barring travel through the wilderness, a topic well covered in AD&D, other styles of wilderness adventure mentioned by Gygax include "<i>Exploratory Adventures</i>" and "<i>Clearing the countryside of monsters</i>"<br />
<br />
<b><i>Third</i></b>, <b>20 miles</b> is given as the amount of territory a stronghold can keep clear of monstrous influence.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Fourth,</b></i> don't treat the wilderness as generic. Think of it as a collection of <i>places</i> and <i>conditions</i>. No terrain is "Forest" or "Hills" It's old rotted oaks, with a matting of decaying leaves, or mostly bare hills, with steep sides covered in grass and moss.<br />
<br />
This is the core of his analysis that we are going to build off of.<br />
<br />
The first thing to note is that the idea of wilderness is adjacent to chaos. The original game had three alignments, because the original game was about the conflict between law, and the rise of civilization, versus chaos, the wilderness and the unknown. The players are almost universally lawful, because their very actions involve imposing order upon the world (by discovering new territory and killing monsters).<br />
<br />
That is the <i>Terminus Est</i>. Dungeons are pockets of chaos that exist within civilized lands (usually close enough to be within the 20 mile range of safety). The Wilderness is the chaos beyond.<br />
<br />
The third Original Dungeons and Dragons book outlines the entirety of adventure. You can adventure in the Underworld or the Wilderness.*<br />
<br />
<h3>
Apotheosis</h3>
So, what use is this?<br />
<br />
Concretely, D&D is a game, organized as a collection of procedures.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Designing a wilderness: </i></b>This is covered in the article by Victor, but needs little description. You can generate a wilderness yourself, or use phenomenal online tools, or use pre-existing maps. This topic is extensively covered.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Travel to a destination: </i></b>This is also very explicitly covered. This is where the wilderness rules for getting lost apply, wilderness encounter tables are used, and where hexmaps at a scale of 25-60 miles are useful.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>An Aside:</i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>This journey should often be structured as a <a href="http://recedingrules.blogspot.com/2014/02/wilderness-travel-challenges-update.html">resource management exercise</a></i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>in food, lives, and loss.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>Having unique systems for unique terrain greatly enhances this mode of play.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>(That link leads to the marvelous wilderness mini-games by Telecanter)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<b><i>Exploratory Adventures: </i></b>This is the process of discovering the lay of the land. This procedure is outlined in Volume 3.<br />
<br />
"<i>When players venture into this area they should have a blank hexagon map, and as they move over each hex the referee will inform them as to what kind of terrain is in that hex. This form of exploring will eventually enable players to know the lay of the land in their immediate area. . . Scale: Assume the greatest distance across a hex is about 5 miles. Turn: Each move will constitute one day. Each day is considered a turn. At the end of each day, the referee will check to see if a monster has been encountered. </i>"<br />
<br />
This assumes, of course, that the Dungeon Master is using a map with already labeled castles/strongholds. If that's not the case, the essential <a href="https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1367/50/1367508742810.pdf">CDD #4</a> <a href="http://kellri.blogspot.com/2008/07/cdd4-final-version-3.html">Old School Encounters Reference</a> places fortresses at about a 1 in 20 chance per hex.<br />
<br />
Essentially this exploration allows the players to both identify the terrain of the hex and informs them as to an outstanding features of the hex—is there a castle? a lair? a tribe of humanoids? It seems like the type of adventure for 7th-8th level players to engage in.<br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<b><i>Clearing a hex:</i></b> This process is clarified on page 24 of ODD.<br />
"<i>Clearing the countryside of monsters is the first requirement. The player/character moves a force to the hex, the referee rolls a die to determine if there is a monster encountered, and if there is one the player/character's force must remove it. If no monster is encountered the hex is already cleared. Territory up to 20 miles distant from a stronghold must be kept clear of monsters once cleared—the inhibition of the stronghold being considered as sufficient to maintain the monster-free status.</i>"<br />
<br />
What does this mean logistically? You have to clear the site of your castle, and out to four hexes in every direction (at 5 miles a hex). That's 95 hexes, for an average of 16 encounters. Here are the 8 encounter options presented for a forest hex:<br />
1. Men (30-300)<br />
2. Flyer (Ex. Rocs 1-20)<br />
3. Giant (Ex. Orcs (30-300)<br />
4. Lycs (2-20 werewolves)<br />
5. Lycs. (2-20)<br />
6. Men (30-300)<br />
7. Anmls. (Ex. 10-100 pixes)<br />
8. Dragon<br />
<br />
So, you can see that clearing 20 miles may present a bit of a challenge.<br />
<br />
This provides a core of wilderness play. It covers design, travel, discovery, and taming. A process for pushing back the frontier. acquiring territory, and moving into conflict with other fortresses and lords.<br />
<br />
As complete as this is, there is still something missing.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Avidity</h3>
What we have is not enough. We need more. What of the mythical unknown?<br />
<br />
One of the stipulations that Victor notes in his search for when the wilderness encounter table is used is that even though those 20 miles may be cleared, the wilderness always encroaches. So from 0-5 miles you roll city encounters. From 6-10 miles you might have level 1 dungeon encounters on the list. From 11-15 miles you might have level 2 dungeon encounters on the list, and from 16-20 miles you might have level 3 encounters.<br />
<br />
The other thing he notes is that dungeons, often, lie within civilized lands.<br />
<br />
So what we are left with is the idea that "exploring" and "clearing" the hexes just addresses the proud nails. What's left is suitably wild, though perhaps not of particular interest to name level characters.<br />
<br />
So in addition to having unexplored dungeons in civilized lands, and somewhat more controlled groups of monsters (maybe a gnoll raiding party numbering 20, versus the 220 gnolls the lords killed), you can also have pockets of mythical wilderness!<br />
<br />
This is where pointcrawls and zones (to avoid the genericness of area) come into play. The general idea is, much like the dungeon is an area of high resistance, so is the mythical wilderness.<br />
<br />
In each hex are four possible kinds of areas. <i>Bastions of civilization</i>, <i>rolling terrain </i>covered with wandering monsters—the local ecology—not power groups that are rolled for and cleared when clearing or exploring, <i>point crawls</i> which are mythical wilderness-style areas that are treated as areas of ineradicable wildness and magic. And finally <i>zones</i>, (usually at the many points of a pointcrawl) which are simply small maps (like dungeons and ruins) that are uncovered and cleared (though the possibility of restocking always exists). Zones are usually dungeons, but treating ruins, abandoned keeps, and small clearings, caves, and lairs as alternate zone types provides a lot of variety on the players end. Reference the video games Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 (or any of it's many spiritual descendants) for exceptional and creative use of zone wilderness design.<br />
<br />
Hexes fail when applied to finer terrain. This is the key insight behind the development of pointcrawls as a middle point between Zone style play and hexploration. It is simple. The 6 mile-hex is our minimum structure. Our atom. You can't subdivide it into further atoms without serious issues. So instead, we deal with the hex as having an interior structure made up of structures, people, and sites. <i>("Citadels & Castles”, “Ruins & Relics”, “Idyllic Islands” and “Lurid Lairs”.</i>) Once located within the hex, each represents a point, with the distance between covered by wandering monster checks, weather, and a <i>specific </i>one-line description of the terrain. <i>Voilà</i>! It's game structures all the way down.<br />
<br />
But how to maintain that sense of discovery? Where is the wonder and awe in exploring the wilderness. This idea must feed back into design.<br />
<br />
We must assume that even though the hex is cleared, that this has only eliminated major threats. Smaller, hidden threats, can still be present. Secondly, in addition to many landmarks being visible on the hypothetical pointcrawl, many should not be, and should only be locatable by actually visiting the location. The fact that the landmarks visible are not sequential (they have more to do with their location and visibility in the hex) means the path through the pointcrawl to them, as well as other features remain hidden to be discovered by the players during exploration. Finally, there can be both obvious and unobvious paths, much like secret doors, requiring either foreknowledge or wilderness expertise to locate.<br />
<br />
Further, this is what differentiates wilderness exploration from dungeon exploration. When you begin wilderness exploration, many landmarks are already visible, as opposed to all being obscured by the dungeon.<br />
<br />
The above outlines the core of the adventure within wilderness exploration.<br />
The following amazing resources are some of what I use in play and design.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8l15nXmXT3BSmdOaG1nRnVnbzA/view">CDD#4 Old School Encounters Reference</a><br />
<a href="http://city-of-brass.org/Travel%20ChallengesC.pdf">Telecanter's Wilderness Travel Mini-games and challenges</a><br />
<a href="http://city-of-brass.org/GeographicWondersE.pdf">Telecanter's list of Geographic Wonders</a><br />
<br />
*<i>It's important to note here, that by no means did Gygax exclude the idea of chaos being inimical to civilization. He also postulated exploring cities as adventure, because there are types of chaos that can lie beneath a veneer of civilization. As noted in the possible city and castle encounters, he included the unknown city interior as wilderness. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Also, I'm able to spend time working on these topics thanks to your support. If you liked this article and want to see me continue to produce content, please support me on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/hackandslash">Patreon</a>! Thanks for keeping me from starving to death!</i><div><i>Originally posted 2/2018<br /></i>
<div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-64529048360312420622022-02-21T07:30:00.004-06:002022-02-21T11:57:12.605-06:00On the Rules of the Game<h3>Aggressive Denial</h3>
It's hard to let go of your preconceptions. Like, it's giving up an addiction hard. I know this will be a bitter pill for some people, and others will find themselves amazed that it's still news. People will go to <i>aggressive</i> lengths to avoid facing facts. So I'm going to break it down as clearly as possible.<br />
<br />
A role-playing game is a <i>game</i> in which you play a <i>role</i>.<br />
<br />
Look, clearly you can define whatever kind of activity in whatever way you want. But if you're going to play a role-playing game it requires those two things. Here are the reasons that combination of things is special.<br />
<br />
<b>Tactical Infinity</b>. Because you are playing a game with human peers, there's no arbitrary limits.<br />
<b>Emergent Gameplay: </b>Because it is a game, outcomes are unknown and develop during play.<br />
<b>Group Cohesion In-group Valuation</b>. Because it is a regular activity engaged in with a peer group, task commitment increases the relative value of in-group experience.<br />
<br />
I know, that last one sounds complicated.<br />
<br />
Look, we form social groups. I'm not telling, I'm just saying, we do. And role-playing games involve a social group that often solves problems together. A group of people with shared interests that solves problems or engaged in problem solving activity together show stronger interpersonal relationships and stronger social identities. (<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0021-9010.88.6.989">Cohesion and Performance in Groups</a>) This activity thus leads to greater motivation, performance, life satisfaction, and better emotional resilience<br />
<br />
You know this in your heart, because you are reading a blog about role-playing games in 2019. You know that feeling I'm talking about. That "Oh god, isn't role-playing just wonderful" feeling we all have. It's specific and quantifiable. <i>ALL</i> players (everyone involved in the game, including the Dungeon Master, who is a player) engage for this valuation.<br />
<h3>
<br />It's got Rules! It's not a Cult!</h3>
<div>
Here is the line of demarcation. If everyone isn't playing-if one person is trying to manipulate other people or engaging in some passive-aggressive behavior to control or alter the natural outcome of a game, that isn't a group of people solving a task and increasing cohesion.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
See, believe it or not, all role-playing games have rules. Now am I saying you can't change the rules? No. Of course you can. The specifics of the rules are unimportant. The rules of the game are rules, and there is a procedure (and always has been). It's a game like chess or monopoly. It has rules.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I don't think that's a contentious statement. Some of those rules are social rules. A lot of these statements I'm making seem logical, until you recognize your own negative behavior as "magical exceptionalism" and somehow different. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
All of these are some variation of the same behavior:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>"I didn't think that death was fair, so I had the monster miss"</li>
<li>"I didn't want a player to die to a 'bad die roll'"</li>
<li>"I change the hit points of all the monsters because I felt that the combat didn't go on long enough"</li>
<li>"The player was wrong so I killed his character"</li>
<li>"I fudged the dice to make the game more 'fun'"</li>
</ul>
<div>
This argument is commonly misinterpreted. You do get to decide things as a Dungeon Master. You're not destroying player agency by skipping the last encounter check at the end of a long night. The game is open and depends on player consensus at the table.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The danger is in creating non-open <i>subjective metrics</i>. </div>
<div>
You can <i>of course</i> have rules that are hidden or rules that are not player-facing. But inconsistently deciding some rules change for subjective reasons-well, think about that in the context of any other game.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"<i>I don't care that you broke through as red rover, you go back to your side because I said."</i></div>
<div>
"<i>Well, now this is the hill, and I'm king of it."</i></div>
<div>
"<i>You can't go that way, the only way to go is into the forest!"</i></div>
<div>
<i>"That one doesn't count. I meant to fold"</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
David Sirlin has a book called "Playing to Win". It talks about Scrub theory. Basically the rules of the game are the way they are; creating some 'imaginary' set of rules that people are supposed to follow instead of the actual rules of the game impair that players ability to not only compete professionally, but truly know their own limits and take responsibility for their own successes and failures. As opposed to calling someone's tactics "cheap" because their legal play doesn't fit your own conception of what is "fair" instead of the reality of the game. (This isn't the full argument, his book is the full argument.)</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
His point is, by creating these safeguards from consequences people never get to experience their full potential. They can never compete at the highest level.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Role-playing isn't usually competitive, it's almost universally cooperative. That includes the Dungeon Master. Much like if I were to cheat at Arkham Horror or Pandemic it would reduce the meaning of playing the game as a group, the same goes for redefining the rules of an role-playing game based on subjective feelings. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The Secret</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
All roleplaying is procedural. If you're running a game and deciding things arbitrarily, that's a sign of an unskilled Dungeon Master. (Not that they know they are unskilled or will admit it, but they will talk about how hard it is to get a game together. This is serious Dunning-Kruger territory.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Let me explain. Much like in any other kind of game in the world, there is a sequence of actions. At no point does someone wave a wand and there's a free-form interpretative dance component to chess. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Role-playing games are the same way. Familiarity with some of these steps can make them pass instantaneously or invisibility at the table. Different games have different steps. But they are all procedural steps, there's no <a href="http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=50256">magical tea parties</a>. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A short example.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Players gather.</div>
<div>
Play begins.</div>
<div>
The Dungeon Master describes the scene. </div>
<div>
The players ask questions.</div>
<div>
The caller confers with the players.</div>
<div>
The caller reports the action to the dungeon master.</div>
<div>
The dungeon master reports the outcomes.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Depending on the setting, Wilderness exploration, Dungeon Exploration, or Downtime, various other procedures are described, as well as methods to switch between them. The players get a 'turn'. they must spend one 'turn' in six at rest. They can move X' a turn. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Let's not be aggressively stupid here. Let's say you want to add a procedure for having the players talk to each other at the camp to flesh out character relationships. Can't you do that? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Of course you can. Look at The Dying Earth (if you can find a copy) or my own <a href="http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/courtney-campbell/on-the-non-player-character/paperback/product-21094131.html">On the Non-Player Character</a>, if you'd like to see some of the ways you could handle something like that. But if you're creating new game procedures, you should <i>do that</i> and then present them to the players.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Because of the fact that role-playing groups form such strong bonds this boundary can get a little blurred. It's the line between engaging in an activity freely with your friends, versus acting in aggressive and passive ways to meet your needs at the expense of theirs. Often we take advantage of people once we grow used to them. You no longer think about their experience or the group experience being a priority, but rather in your individual superiority over it. You know better, so it's ok to invalidate their choices in the group experience. You cease to approach them as valued humans who are sharing your time. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Let's put it this way. If you're not willing to roll right out in the open and say "I'm ignoring or changing that roll because I don't want you to die." why not? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you only "prevent people from unfair deaths", then you've created a room full of people, ostensibly your friends, who have to figure out what you, personally, consider unfair. And when someone dies, it's because you decided, and not because it happened in the game. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The Hard Truth</h3>
<div>
People have a fear of confrontation and consequences. Players don't die to bad die rolls. That's a lie people tell themselves for comfort. The player is always in charge of deciding to put themselves in the way of that random die roll. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The reason people railroad and subjectively change outcomes due to whim is all about fear. What if things really matter and they don't go the way I want them to?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Well the truth is things really matter, and they might not go the way you want them to. Just deciding which rules to follow when they are convenient, that's something that allows you to feel safe. And it's at the expense of the the other human people.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
My first adult player death was in Keep on the Borderlands, where they hired the evil cleric. The fighter backed out of combat seeking healing, and the cleric cast 'inflict serious wounds' killing the character. The players chose. They chose to hire the cleric, the player chose to put himself out of sight of the party. None of the specific particulars were in question because they followed the rules and procedure in the game. It wasn't what he wanted to have happen. It was hard to do. I was afraid.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I faced my fear and moved through it. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The people were successful in that campaign, not because I made them successful. But because they were. I didn't have a 'story' in mind, but I could regale you with tales of their adventure for days. A real adventure, risking real danger, and real loss.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
You see? No one is saying you can't decide things, or streamline some stuff, or whatever. What's happening is people who have been around the block know this as fear. As anyone can tell you, having something to lose makes life worth living. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Holy Schnikes it's good to be back. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i><a href="https://www.patreon.com/hackandslash">Join the team</a> if me being back makes you happy! Originally published 2019.</i></div>
<div>
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-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-38570766831412018152022-02-21T07:00:00.005-06:002022-02-21T11:57:19.646-06:00On the Explicit Procedure of PlayThis isn't about bad-wrong-fun.<br />
<br />
The discussion yesterday about behaviors we've all come across at the gaming table are not gaming problems. They are related to cognitive distortions. I get that "Cognitive Distortions" has a negative connotation, they aren't moral judgements.<br />
<br />
A common example of a cognitive distortion is "Parents should love their children." Some parents don't. Until that reality is accepted, suffering. Often we aren't aware of what these distortions are, and they can drive a lot of our actions as do things to stave off having to deal with that dissonance. An easy way to avoid this type of pain is try to control or manipulate a situation so that you aren't given evidence that contradicts your beliefs.<br />
<br />
When this isn't possible, you experience emotional trauma. This goes through a variety of phases, though the order and severity varies on education, culture, and experience. In order for us to get rid of the cognitive distortion (e.g. "Life should be fair."), your body needs to go through processes to rebuild a new mental conception that matches reality: Anger, bargaining, denial, depression, and acceptance of a more accurate model of reality (e.g. "Life isn't fair"). These phases are what allow the brain to, in a quite literal sense, rebuild itself around its current conditions.<br />
<br />
This is, I think, very basic, very well accepted knowledge. We expect families to teach rituals on how to cope with change, but frequently that doesn't happen. Cognitive and/or dialectical behavior therapy teach these skills.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Quantum what's?</h3>
None of the ideas are wrong. High lethality? Great! Go for it. Want to make a game less lethal, change the rules. Low magic? Sure! Come back as a cartoon? Great idea.<br />
<br />
It's never about the specifics. It's not about railroads, or quantum ogres, or fudging. It doesn't matter what specific kind of game you do at the table. Yet still role-playing horror stories exist. It's all about human beings, and getting their needs met at the expense of other people.<br />
<br />
When people go into therapy, it isn't some philosophical problem or existential angst. Universally it is specific, often sentinel event overloading their support systems ability to cope. Loss of job, breaking up with a boyfriend, becoming homeless, et. al. You have to look at the specific problem and break it down. It's not how to solve the problem-these are people, like you. Telling people what to do doesn't work, you know? You are there to provide insight. Part of this is an analysis of a person's interactions with other people.<br />
<br />
You look at the sequence of events and categorize each interaction as belonging to one of three interpersonal communication styles: aggressive, passive-aggressive, or assertive.<br />
<br />
Are you meeting your needs at the expense of other people? Are you avoiding confrontation? There's no right or objective answer, because these are people, they are full of messy squiggly bits and nearly all of their volume is empty space, their presence simply a projection of a vibration that lairs in a place we cannot see.<br />
<br />
So we have some baseline assumptions, foundational principals that we work up from. Everyone has infinite worth regardless of externals. Relationships should include ways for everyone to get their needs met without it being at the expensive of someone else. Interactions should be made with levels of confrontation that are respectful of everyone involved.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Cognitive Distortions of Dungeons & Dragons</h3>
<div>
Player death must meet some threshold of meaning, players should do what the Dungeon Master thinks they should do, A bad die roll is what kills characters; These are all cognitive distortions.</div>
<br />
There is a procedure for Dungeons and Dragons, and it requires a Dungeon Master who is a player, and characters managed by players of the game. The person running the game, at no point, should ever deceive, manipulate, or attempt to pressure or influence the people playing the game. The job of the Dungeon Master is to give helpful accurate information. Lying isn't in the job description. (<span style="font-size: x-small;">His responsibility to represent the game world might cause him to portray a character who lies, but his job is to represent that lying character honestly</span>.)<br />
<br />
The dungeon master can present limited information-the information the characters have access to. Mysteries can abound in your game world. There can be plots and intrigue aplenty. But the core gameplay procedures and loop of Dungeons and Dragons at no point involve any player manipulating another.<br />
<br />
<b>There is no rule in Dungeons and Dragons proscribing one person having authority over another person. </b><br />
<br />
You see, the Dungeon Master is a player. He manages the procedures and flow of the game. He creates the world, and acts as both an auger of a distant realm seen dimly through the ocular power of dice, a neutral judge of the results of game-play, and a designer who creates (hopefully interesting) situations for the players to encounter.<br />
<br />
Alignment has no authority to prescribe behavior, it's descriptive (and a palpable, detectable force, in the fundamental sense, within the world). The role of the Dungeon Master is one of servant, one who entertains, not via authorship but by facilitation. The rules are explicit about this: They say "The DM decides how these rules will be used in the game. . . and the final decision is the DM's" (B60) They don't decide what the characters will do. They have no authority over player's choices.<br />
<br />
Let's talk about that core gameplay loop.<br />
<h3>
Core Gameplay Loop</h3>
The minutiae of these vary from game to game, so I'll be very explicit here. This will allow you to assess what behaviors are explicitly part of the game-play loop, and determine which behaviors <i>are not. </i>This gives you insight and results in a better game.<br />
<br />
Obviously this is quite instinctive (being a model of existing and taking action in the real world), and these social norms make this flow of play transparent. But once you are aware of it, it gives you a framework to handle issues in communication and behavior.<br />
<br />
Pregame activities include one player designing an adventure and other players rolling up characters and purchasing equipment.<br />
<br />
Play begins with the Dungeon Master providing background for the players. This includes an objective or goal. Even if it's implied, the background information will indicate some specific change of circumstance that needs to be resolved. "<i>We are in a new place</i>." "<i>A dwarf caravan has disappeared.</i>" "<i>A house is haunted.</i>"<br />
<br />
This background will both communicate the narrative themes (which you can not think about or design, but they end up being there anyway) as well as providing players with an ability to contextualize your comments from shared cultural touchstones. It's difficult to communicate extremely complicated situations, so providing a similar frame of reference does significant amounts of work for the people engaged in the game.<br />
<br />
Finally, this leads us into our first game structure. Different games have different words for it, but it is easily conceptualized by the word "Scene." The characters are existing at some conceptual space in this imaginary world, and the background is our entrance to that conceptual scene. "You find yourself. . . " "You are standing. . . " "Before you lies. . . " et. al.<br />
<br />
Each player of the game is in control of one or more agents who can take action within the world. Note that "Role-Playing" is a term derived from taking the role of a singular unit on a battlefield. The player is still considered to be playing a game, just one in which he controls individuals instead of squads of soldiers. Almost immediately upon exposure to the wild the term was conflated with the idea of role as emotional experience and theatrical presentation. Even though this wasn't the intent, it is completely compatible with the play of Dungeons & Dragons and is a matter of taste. You are encouraged to interact as your character, while playing the game, though it is by no means required. Many people still play by saying "My character does. . . " or "My character says."<br />
<br />
It's important to note here that it is A) a game B) with explicit and implicit goals C) and you can succeed and fail within those goals within the context of the game. This is true of every official version of Dungeons and Dragons, though it is not necessarily true of other games. It's left as an exercise to the reader if this is related to the unrelenting dominance and success of Dungeons & Dragons.<br />
<br />
There are a few different games or modes that Dungeons and Dragons switches between, and each one has a separate procedure of play.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Exploration Loop</h3>
<br />
The most common is Dungeon Exploration. Frequently there is wilderness travel or handling activities in downtime. A lot of these are clearly procedural-I'm not going to walk through the combat rules, likely you already know them by heart. What's important is that the non-combat sections of the game are as procedural and game-like as the combat structures.<br />
<br />
But because these rely more on conversational social norms, rather than explicit discussion about procedural issues, it can create a lot of tension when miscommunications happen. Adding in one person trying to manipulate the outcome of game-play can rapidly create a dysfunctional situation.<br />
<br />
This is illustrated most clearly in examples of play from early editions of Dungeons and Dragons. Here's <a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/2012/06/on-what-of-red-herring-agency.html">an example</a> from the 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide. Here's a different sample of play from Basic Dungeons and Dragons.<br />
<br />
DM: "<i>After 30' you reach a round landing with two sets of stairs. One goes down and to the east, the other goes down and to the west.</i>"<br />
<br />
The environment is described, as well as any relevant activated objects or red herrings. Once the environment is described the gameplay proceeds via the characters asking questions. This is a two-way process of information gathering. The players can ask any questions they wish until they are satisfied.<br />
<br />
In this opening example the players don't have any questions, and the caller goes ahead and takes action. Taking action has four steps. Intent, Initiation, Execution, Effect. This is a social exchange between the Dungeon Master and a Player. The player states their intended action, providing a space for the Dungeon Master and the player to negotiate over the specifics of their action. This is the <a href="https://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/2014/02/on-deadly-difference.html">reduction of the Deadly Difference</a>, i.e. the difference between the players understanding of the situation and the Dungeon Masters. Then the player oks the initiation of the event, the event is executed and the result is presented, leading us back into our next opportunity to act. Frequently Intent and Initiation will be collected from the whole group and resolved effectively simultaneously.<br />
<br />
Here is the next play example containing the Intent and Initiation from Basic Dungeons and Dragons.<br />
<br />
Morgan:"<i>Fredrik looks down the east staircase and Silverleaf looks down the west one. What do they see</i>"<br />
<br />
And the execution and effect.<br />
<br />
DM: "<i>The parties torches mess up their infravision, so they can only see twenty to thirty feet. The west stairs go down ten feet and turn sharply south. The east stairs go down at least thirty feet. Also, Fred smells a rank, musty odor coming up from below.</i>"<br />
<br />
This process: Information gathering, Intent, Initiation, execution, and effect continues until one of the other modes of play is invoked. Within those other modes of play, player action follows a truncated version of IIEE. I hit the monster, picking up the die, rolling the die, rolling damage. Intent, Initiation, execution, effect.<br />
<br />
It's not white room theory. It allows you to explain in a concrete way why, for example, players never die to unlucky die rolls. The unlucky die rolls are consequences for a series of choices. It gives you insight into the specific roles each player has, not of their character, but there responsibility in the game. It clarifies why a referee has to be neutral and what that means—when performing the execution step he should be invested in determining the outcome objectively, because that's his role at the table. The players job at the table is to decide what she wants to do.<br />
<br />
This absolutely happens fluidly, often in a non-linear order because it's a game for fun that you play while hanging out with your friends. (e.g. "<i>Wait, I actually have fire resistance 5. That will change what I want to do.</i>")<br />
<br />
This helps clear up specific distinctions. It's why considering the last monster dead in a fight when it really has 1 hit point left is fine, but arbitrarily changing monster hit points based on your personal feelings of how long combat needs to last is a breach of responsibility as a player in the role of Dungeon Master.<br />
<br />
The first is an action taken out of respect for the time of other people, the second is capricious, subjective, and arbitrary and undermines the intent and initiation phase. "Don't change the rules during play" as it goes. This is why "Rocks fall, everyone dies" or "You get hit by a bolt of lightning" are inappropriate behaviors (those aren't called via the game systems, they are caused by the Dungeon Master being passive-aggressive—punishing the players while avoiding a confrontation by virtue of a misunderstanding of the servile nature of her responsibility).<br />
<br />
This framework provides a lot of clarity over where the problem really is in role-playing game horror stories. Psst. It's the people. <i>*ghost wail*</i> Whoooooooo--oooOOOOHhhhhhhhhhh.<br />
<br />
<i><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash">Giving me money</a> is the new hip trendy thing!<br /></i><div><i>Originally published Feb 2019<br /></i>
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<b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div>
<a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="background-color: white; color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="background-color: white; color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="background-color: white; color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="background-color: white; color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="background-color: white; color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="background-color: white; color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="background-color: white; color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span><br />
<br /></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-62444534599167550482022-02-21T06:30:00.002-06:002022-02-21T11:57:25.965-06:00On The Why of Red Herring Agency<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
All of these traps are predicated on the idea of <i>Agency</i>.<br />
<br />
What's that mean, functionally in play?<br />
<br />
When players have their characters walk into the room, they get a description of all relevant manipulable widgets. This way if they miss something, it is due to player choice/skill and not due to a die roll.<br />
<br />
This is a very engaging way of playing. Sometimes the experience is so horrible that people will think that other people should not be allowed to play this way! Why is that? Because if this is done poorly <i>it isn't fair</i>. After all, you just killed your players with no warning! Who would want to play in that game?<br />
<br />
Not me.<br />
<br />
Here is the problem I ran into when I started. I would describe the room, with all its relevant features. Then my players would avoid the rooms with burn marks, stains, pulverized dust - or only approach them in hazmat suits; and immediately start manipulating every object listed in the room. I didn't want to be unfair. I didn't want to leave anything out. Therefore, at first, everything was simple. <br />
<br />
What was the solution? Complex mechanisms and Red Herrings.<br />
<br />
When an encounter is designed, you <i>need</i> to leave some clues for traps and such. Do these clues need to be obvious? No. Do these mechanisms need to be simple? No. Does everything you put in the room have to be relevant? No.<br />
<br />
Remember, their interactions in the room take time. During this time you're rolling encounter checks. This is the <i>cost</i> of being thorough. Make sure that some of your encounters can threaten your players, so this is an actual cost.<br />
<br />
Some actual rules clarifications are useful. I allow people, when unsure of the environment to perform a thorough search. One person can search a 10' x 10' surface section per turn. When they search they get standard chances to detect secret doors. Knowing that the door exists does not automatically mean they know how to open it. I do not inform them of the results of the rolls. This turns the decision into an interesting choice. <br />
<br />
Read <a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/2012/06/on-what-of-red-herring-agency.html" target="_blank">Part II here</a>. . .<div><br /></div><div><i>originally published 6/2012</i></div><div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578125233291915532.post-34202629155833184322022-02-21T06:00:00.003-06:002022-02-21T11:57:33.726-06:00On The What of Red Herring Agency<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
Last weeks article is <a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/2012/06/on-why-of-red-herring-agency.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
How to avoid being obvious. There are three watchwords here.<br />
<br />
<b>Be Subtle</b><br />
<br />
<b>Be Complicated</b><br />
<br />
<b>Be Crafty</b><br />
<br />
Of course this requires planning your room descriptions out ahead of time. My model for this is the 1st Edition DMG.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>"DM:'The sacks hold rotten grain, so the cleric will go and help the magic-user as ordered. They find the refuse consists of castings, some husks of small victims of the spider, hide, bones, a small humanoid skull, and 19 silver pieces. Do you now fire the webs overhead?'</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>LC: 'Examine the skull first. What kind of humanoid was it? Can we tell?'<br />DM: 'Possibly a goblin. When you are looking at it more closely, you see that there is a small gem inside - a garnet.'"</i></span></blockquote>
<br />
And <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>DM:'First, the others checking the containers find that they held nothing but water, or ore totally empty, and that the wood is rotten to boot. You see a few white, eyeless fish and various stone formations in a pool of water about 4' to 6' deep and about 10' long. That's all. Do you wish to leave the place now?"<br />LC:'Yes, let's get out of here and go someplace where we can find something interesting.'<br />OC: 'Wait! If those fish are iust blind cave types, ignore them, but what about the stone formations? Are any of them notable? If SO, I think we should check them out.'</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>DM:'Okay. The fish are fish, but there is one group of minerals in the deepest part of the pool which appears to resemble a skeleton, but it simply - '</i></span></blockquote>
<br />
<b>Be Subtle</b>: This means downplay the things you mention. Mention them as if they are unimportant items in the room. There's a yellow cloak, some leather boots and a sword. Is the cloak covered in yellow mold? Do the boots hold a key? Is the sword rusted or magical? If you just described 10 other things in the room will the important thing stand out?<br />
<br />
It shouldn't. <br />
<br />
Walls aren't soot covered or covered in blood. Walls are stained, dirty, dark, filthy. The floor isn't covered in pulverized rock, the ground is sandy, dirty, or dusty.<br />
<br />
<b>Be Complicated</b>: The way into the secret room, isn't always in this room. Secret doors are not always two way. Your hints, maps, treasure maps and clues can be abstract. Mechanisms can be specific (You must lift up on the east side of the slab, the spider decoration on the iron chair in the corner must be lifted, the right eye of the frog mosaic must be pressed in 3 times.) For the uninitiated, here is <a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-skill-deconstruction-why-skill-light.html">Why This Is Not Pixel Bitching</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>Be Crafty</b>: This is, know what your players are expecting. Did you trick them with yellow mold once? So they are expecting gold or yellow things to be dangerous? Put a gold or yellow thing on a wall that when poked, triggers a trap. When the poke it with a stick, to test if it's yellow mold, they get hit with the trap! Don't design your encounters in a vacuum. Have a repeating feature in your dungeon, like round stones in the wall. Have one of the stones depress to deactivate a trap, and another that presses in to activate a trap. Then leave a map as a clue, but make the map vague and abstract. Engage your players, make them think!<div><br /></div><div><i>Originally published 6/2012</i></div><div><hr style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px; text-size-adjust: auto;" /><div class="Body" style="background-color: white; border: none; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 14.784px; text-size-adjust: auto;"><b style="font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;">Hack & Slash</b><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 13.6364px; line-height: 16.8px;"> </span></div><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Follow</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/agonarchartist" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitch</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="https://tinyletter.com/Hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Newsletter</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px;">, </span><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">Supp</a><a href="http://www.patreon.com/hackandslash" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 16.8px; text-decoration-line: none;">ort</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><a href="http://www.cancerresearch.org/giving-to-cri" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Donate to end Cancer</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VL50xkfF98F" style="color: #1d6485; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">5 Star Rating</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.3333px;">)</span></p></div>-Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02331863932906631618noreply@blogger.com