Back to the Past

Musings on Flashbacks in the Gaming Narrative

Lately, I’ve been thinking about narratives that work in books which could be used in RPGs. Most games tend to be pretty straightforward with play being in the moment. Things like cutscenes, flashbacks, and dream sequences can often seem more like the GM talking to himself, or like one player getting the spotlight for a longer period of time than anyone else. And you certainly don’t a want to use cutscenes to shift to the villain’s point in the plot like you might in a book or a movie, because you don’t want to give things away to your players. For the past few days, I’ve been thinking about flashbacks and the ways they can be used in games to strengthen the narrative.

One of the things I like about flashbacks is it allows character growth for players who may not be the best at writing backstories. Not everyone is like me and has a five-page character background, and although some GMs might not like that, I understand that not everyone is a writer. Flashbacks can help draw out portions of a character’s past during play which can give the player a deeper connection to the game and the GM some things for the player to use as hooks later.

There’s a game I played once that had an awesome mechanic to draw out these narratives from the players; I played it at a one-day gaming event and it left a lasting impression on me. 3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars is basically Starship Troopers the game, but what got me was the flashback mechanic. You could use a flashback twice each session; once to have a critical success and once to flee and not take damage.

This mechanic worked by telling the GM that you wanted to cash in on the ability to do either of these things during the battle. I think there were poker chips or another token that represented each use. Once you did this you had to narrate a brief flashback that explained why you’d be good at doing the thing that you were about to do. For my critical success, I narrated being a standout basketball player in high school known for my jump shot, and that was why throwing my grenade directly into the mouth of the bug-alien would succeed.

I’m not sure how this method could transfer over to games like my current game of choice, Pathfinder, but having players narrate their critical hits or critical failures in terms of a flashback could work. The difficulty then becomes monopolizing time. The problem with flashbacks is they often only include one person’s character. This can leave other players out in the cold if they aren’t short narratives like in 3:16. So how do we bring the whole party into that moment?

One way requires quite a bit of work on behalf of the GM. The flashback must be prepared ahead of time. NPCs that represent people that the player having the flashback might meet need to be premade so they can be handed out to the other players. This should allow the GM to include the entire group in the cutscene, but as mentioned it is far more work.

You could attempt a more fluid version of this, and as the player mentions people he interacts with during the flashback hand those sheets out to the other players. This requires some trust in the person telling their character’s history. They need to be able to come up with enough peripheral characters to allow the whole group to play along. And both methods require the player flashing-back to trust the other players won’t mess with their “moment.”

I haven’t personally used a lot of flashbacks in my games. Pathfinder isn’t really geared toward the way more narrative games are. It is something I’m looking to incorporate more into my play, though, and I hope my thoughts on it might allow you to do so as well.

In what ways have you used flashbacks or other cutscenes in your games? How have you incorporated these narratives into games that aren’t specifically designed with them in mind? In what ways do you keep all your players engrossed when one person’s character currently has the spotlight?

Your past informs your future. If today’s article has helped you expand your narrative tools, please consider becoming a supporter. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my Paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media. Please join us on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.

Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory

Using Loses to Help Advance Your Story

A lot of times when going to see a film people are expecting the happy ending. Except for maybe a handful of horror movies the villain doesn’t win. Empire Strikes Back is my favorite of the three original films because it leaves us with the villain out ahead. So why don’t we see the big bad actually being the victor in most games? Is losing that bad for the heroes? There’s an old adage about learning more in defeat than in victory. So can your heroes learn from a decisive loss to your antagonist?

I think it all depends on how you frame it. A loss shouldn’t be the end result of an entire campaign. But one or even multiple losses during the middle part of a game can often compel the heroes to do better. In the search for pieces of an artifact what if the big bad’s minions get there first and make off with some of the pieces. This happens often but in most games I find the heroes are always winning the day. But they still have a chance to defeat the villain before he can actually put the artifact to use, even if he has collected all the pieces.

One of the other hurdles I see is that many groups will fight to the death at every instance. Especially when a GM usually fudged die rolls or doesn’t allow character deaths, the players will just try and persevere. It often needs to be impressed upon the players early in a campaign that it’s ok to flee. Or even if the bad guy has the ability to kill the players he choose not to. Let them know that they would have died but he thinks their beneath him and so he doesn’t finish them off.

Capturing player’s is a difficult method of handing the party a loss. If we look at the end of Empire Solo’s capture is part of the party’s defeat. But in a game the player of solo would now be out of a character and that can be unfair. I find capturing important NPCs works better for this type of defeat so that the group still has some one to rescue but one player doesn’t need to make a new character.

The last issue is the sparing use of defeat. If the players feel like they are being stymied at every turn then they’ll feel like they have no chance. In wrestling the bad guy will often beat on the good guy for a while building up hatred in the fans. But the good guy needs to get a little back, even if he gets cut off again not to soon after. This is called the hope spot and you need to give your players hope.

The ebb and flow of the games drama can be seen in victories and losses. And it’s ok to have more losses than victories because if the player’s succeed in the end all that heartbreak will be vindicated. The question becomes what is the right win to loss ratio for your group. That’s something you’ll have to figure out for yourself. But if you can find the right balance you can really enhance your story telling.

I’ve used defeats in my game but how have you used them in yours? How many losses are you willing to give your players? How do you guide your players to a setback without killing them? What kinds of failures are your group able to handle?

Everyone likes a big win after any defeat. If the CRB has helped you find your success, please consider becoming a supporter. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my Paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media. Please join us on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.

Following Your Own Path

Ways of Making a Pre-Written Adventure Your Own

I am not now, nor have I ever really been a fan of sandbox games. Just because that’s true does not mean, however, that I believe a story must be a straight shot with immutable conclusions. There are many ways for GMs to roll with the punches of their players and make minor adjustments or additions to a game with a defined plot. Many veteran GMs have learned this fine art but I think it’s time to share some ideas with new GMs trying to find their way in the hobby for the first time.

The first way a world can be made to feel more dynamic is its people, so your NPCs are going to help make the game more interesting. Your PCs are going to latch onto all the NPCs you didn’t expect them to like and ignore all the ones you thought would tickle their fancy. This is a fact of gaming. So even when you are throwing in a character that’s only supposed to be met once, you have to be prepared to bring them back if need be.

In one of my games, the players met with a woman who runs the dockside area, kind of like a mob boss. They found a locket that belonged to her father in an underwater part of a dungeon and returned it to her. This was a literally supposed to be a throwaway part of the adventure. There was the possibility they may not even have found the locket or met the NPC. Upon meeting her they took an interest in her and as a side quest for the adventure they’ve run errands for her and we even roleplayed a whole shopping excursion where they wanted some items that only a black-marketeer could find.

I’ve also discussed my dislike for random encounters . But I do add encounters – especially during travel – that are placed to give the players a way to see what’s going on in the region they’re in. Many modules and adventure paths also add these one-off encounters that have nothing to do with the plot. You can expand on these and add other aspects to it to connect the characters past, making their previous actions matter.

As an example one of the Pathfinder adventure paths has an encounter with some boggards. The players are meant to defeat them but my players have a tendency to try and redeem anything that isn’t undead or an evil outsider, so they tried to make the boggards change their way and let them go. Later they encountered a few dead hunters that another group of boggards had killed earlier and this put the characters on a path to hunt down the boggards who wouldn’t change their ways.

A book earlier in the campaign they faced off against another group of boggards and a boggard “witch” escaped. I decided to add this character to the encounter as a recurring villain. Later, when the player went to save the hunter’s younger son who was going to be sacrificed to their dark god, they found this witch leading their efforts. She escaped again and has popped up two books later.

This list of NPCs that have become allies, acquaintances, and recurring enemies – there is a wererat my players hate – is a mile long. The one big rule is don’t force an NPC on the players. Let them pick the ones they like and make those ones a part of your story. A robust cast of characters from the unnamed shopkeeper, to the escaped minor villain, to the town guard whose barbershop quartet you are going to go see can become important characters. And, if need be, events can be made more personal if one of these friendly characters meet their demise by your villains.

Some GMs are afraid of character death, but really a dying character can be a great way to have a little fun and play with the script of the game. One of the characters in my game died and the player really wanted to play something else, so we came up with an idea. The character was resurrected but turned on his partners. He stole a few pieces of the McGuffin they were hunting down and might have kidnapped their paladin – the player was leaving the game. Now the players have a new challenge to overcome to complete their quest. It wasn’t originally a part of the game layout, but it makes the game something created by the character and their actions and not wholly what was written.

So there are plenty of opportunities to put your stamp on a game as a GM. Even if you’re running a module, there are points where you can veer off while still keeping the overall plot intact. Don’t be afraid to try new things, and most of all, don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

In what ways have you made a module your own? What characters did you not expect to become reoccurring that have? How have you adjusted your own stories to take into account the decisions of the players?

Everyone likes to put their stamp on things. If the CRB has helped you get that stamp ready, consider becoming a supporter. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my Paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media. Please join us on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.

That Which Has Come to Pass, and Yet to Come

It’s a new year, which means, for most of us, another year of gaming ahead. So as we put a close on 2017, I’m going to take some time to both look back and look forward; what my year in gaming was like and what I am looking forward to in 2018.

A Look at 2017

Although both of my groups took December off, we got a lot of gaming done this year. As a GM I finished book four and have almost completed book five in Shattered Star. Moving on was a little bittersweet as we had to remove one of the players from the game. His character had been around from the first session of the game but sometimes things just don’t work out. This leaves only two players left from when we started, and only one of them playing their original character.

For my second group, I began the Hell’s Rebels adventure path. This has been a lot of fun because we are also live streaming the game. One of the players from my Shattered Star game is involved and it’s been a lot of fun. Whereas Shattered Star is a traditional find the McGuffin dungeon crawl, Hell’s Rebels is a more social game and I like the two different play styles that each one asks for.

As a player, I have finally completed book two of Rise of the Runelords. This game is played with my Shattered Star group and run by the same player who is also in my Hell’s Rebels game. I’m incredibly excited about this because I’ve basically run through book one about seven times, and each time the group had fallen apart before we could make it to the end.

I played my first game of D&D 5E this year. I’m still not a fan of WotC for other reasons, but the game seems solid enough. I played a game streamed for one of the many cons where The Blackmoor Society does digital gaming. I probably won’t make 5E my home game system but I had a good time with it.

Ahead to 2018

2018 should see all my groups move ahead to the next book in their adventure. I am really excited to get into book six of Shattered Star. I have never completed an AP before so this will be monumental for both myself and many members of my group. There’s still a bit to complete in book five, but we should be done by the end of February.

My Hell’s Rebels group is on the final battle of the first book. I’m looking forward to streaming again. Book two looms on the horizon and I suppose I should read it to start setting up. I’m also going to be trying out a new way to work the AP’s extra mechanic – the rebellion phase – more into the roleplay of the game.

Book three of Rise of the Runelords: even though RotRL has been out since Pathfinder was a third-party setting for Dungeon and Dragons 3.5, I have managed not to spoil myself on most of the books. I cannot wait to delve into more of the adventure. It’s also nice that I get some time off of DMing and get a chance to be a player.

Outside of the three games that I’m already playing, I’m looking forward to trying out some other stuff. With the release of Starfinder last year, my main group is looking to try it out on off-days when we don’t have all of our players. I’d also like to play a few more non-D&D/Pathfinder games, although probably as one-shots. I’m earnestly beginning to work on some stuff for a new system that I’ll probably give a try at some point as well.

So my year has been good, and the new year looks to be just as good or better. What was your 2017 like for gaming? What are you looking forward to in 2018?

The CRB has grown this past year and looks to continue growing as we move onto new things. If you’d like to help us grow, please consider becoming a contributor. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my Paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media. Please join us on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.

Talk It Out

On Punishing Player's IC for OOC Problems

We’re gonna take a break from world building today because I’ve seen a particular conversation pop up no less than a dozen times between all of the Facebook and Reddit RPG boards I’m on. A GM has a problem with a player -- whether it’s their gaming style, one little habit they have with their character, or even something out of game like chewing on ice really loudly -- and they want to know how they can deal with it. The problem is that they don’t ask about dealing with the player, they ask how they can punish the player. And even when the petitioner doesn’t specifically say punish it seems that the first thing a lot of GMs will chime in with is how to punish them.

First off this isn’t kindergarten. You aren’t a teacher. Your players are not unruly five-year-olds. It is not your job to punish them. There are going to be problems, that is is the nature of groups of humans getting together. Not everyone is going to be able to handle every little quirk or idiosyncrasy of other human beings. But we’re adults now, for the most part, and the way we deal with these problems isn’t by taking it out on other people. What we should be doing is talking with them.

Now I don’t know where or when this started. It may have been before I started gaming but it needs to stop. A lot of times the problem is a juxtaposition of gaming styles. This isn’t insurmountable, but every time a GM laments that one of his players is a powergamer the first answer from a lot of people find a way to in game torture them, or to just stymie them at every turn. When a GM asked about a player who tried to find weird ways to make the rules get a job done even Chris Perkins tweeted back to just tell him that you won’t allow it. The problem is that this doesn’t solve the problem; it just causes new ones.

If someone did something wrong and you don’t say what it is they did but just go out of your way to stymie their every move it’s not going to change their behavior. I’ve seen it time and time again, it only escalates the situation. Now the player feels like you’re picking on them and their attitude sours, which leads to other undesirable behaviors. Instead of fixing the problem you’ve created new ones. If your answer to these new issues is more denial and in game torture then it just becomes a vicious cycle.

I’ve seen people recommend giving people a curse, killing their family, taking all their magic items, and many other petty acts of revenge to deal with a minmaxer, powergamer, or spotlight hog. The truth of the matter is if you resort to these types of tactics then regardless of what the player did you are now the bad guy. There are places where fighting fire with fire works, this is not one of them.

So how do we deal with these issues instead? It’s a pretty simple answer; a novel concept some may have heard of: we talk with them. If you have a player who likes to tool with rules to get interesting things done but steps on other people’s toes just talk with them. “Hey Bob it’s nice that you like to think outside the box, but when you have to spend 15 minutes trying to see if you can cajole thing A to do thing B it slows the game down for everyone. And really thing B is Tim’s niche so it would be nice if you could let him have his time to shine. I promise I’ll make sure you have some big moments for you too.” It really is quite that simple.

And sometimes the problem can’t be solved. The player is dead set in their ways and it’s going to be a constant clash. It’s ok to ask that person to leave the game. Or if that person is central to the group – friends with all the other players – it’s ok to say you can’t deal with it and remove yourself. Look, I know finding a gaming group is not the easiest thing in the world, but this is your free time. If you’re like me you have very little of it and having to deal with people who take the fun out of your free time is just something you shouldn’t do.

There are also ways to nip this kind of thing in the bud before it starts. Session zero, which goes around a lot, is super important for this. Not just for character creation but for talking with your players about what their expectations of a game are and what yours are. There are a number of questionnaires out there that will help you determine if what you are looking for in a game is the same thing your players are looking for. If you take the time to do this in the beginning there are usually fewer hiccups further down the line.

So in closing, don’t be that guy. If you have a problem talk it out.

How do you handle issues when they arise at your table?

Words are one of our greatest tools. Not only can we use them to solve problems but also to relate ideas to one another. If today’s words have hit home, please consider becoming a contributor to the CRB. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media. Please join us on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.

Long Arm of the Law

 Sheriff of Nestletop

This week we are going to continue with our slow building of the town of Nestletop. We’ve taken a look at one of the five founding families, the blacksmith, the tradepost, and the local tavern. Today I want to explore the role of law and order within the community. We’re going to look into how law worked in a medieval village and who represents the law in our small town.

The person who oversaw keeping the king’s peace in the time of the Normans was called a sheriff, a term we use to this day. But this came from an official position of the Saxons called a reeve, which was a senior official with local responsibilities under the crown. The reeve could be just about an official under the crown but was often a town or district magistrate. After the Norman conquest a reeve was appointed to every shire, and thus it was a “shire reeve”, which eventually got turned into sheriff.

During the reign of the Saxons, reeves were higher level court officials. When the Normans took to appointing their shire reeves they generally choose men from non-noble stock because they didn’t want to create an official with so much power they would become unaccountable to the king. They did, however, have to balance this by appointing men with sufficient standing as to allow them authority over local landed and military aristocracy.

While the shire reeves could have authority over a few counties, the Normans used lesser reeves which they called bailiffs for the feudal manor. Basically, while the sheriff oversaw the county’s needs, the bailiff had the equivalent role for feudal landlords. The sheriff would take care of administrative as well as judicial functions, and on the manorial level bailiff would make decisions that could concern mundane field management and not just legal disputes.

But where does that leave us with our town? How can we apply this knowledge to Nestletop?

First, we have to take into account that, although Nestletop may be an official part of the large Theocratic nation – which I haven’t really outlined at all yet – they are so far away from any part of that civilization as to be pretty much independent. The town also doesn’t really have nobility. The founding families were rich but they were not actually noble houses. At best they are non-noble aristocracy, but for all intents and purposes the rulers of the town.

Even though Nestletop is small it does have laws as created by the town’s council. These laws in some way need to be enforced and so – in my mind at least – Nestletop needs a law man, or in this case a law woman. The position shall be elected by the council which has representatives of the five noble families, the townsfolk themselves -- in this case the blacksmith AbletonRedrun -- and a representative from the elvish community as well. It is the belief that since no one person, and not just the founding families choose the sheriff that she will be beholden to the law and not just to a single group. Sheriff is a lifetime appointment in Nestletop, or until the current sheriff seeks to retire.

Sheriff’s Office/Jail

The Sheriff’s office is situated on the same side of Nestletop’s dirt road as the Cracked Anvil tavern. It is the only two story building on the street as the top floor is actually the apartment in which the sheriff lives. The bottom floor is made up of one large room that houses both the actual office of the lawwoman and the two small jail cells against the back wall.

Being as small as it is Nestletop doesn’t see a lot of crime, and the cells themselves are usually empty. Occasionally a rough night of drinking will see one of the cells occupied by one of the townsfolk who needs to sleep it off. Sometimes if things come to blows between folk they’ll need to be separated, hence the reason for two cells even if they’re rarely both in use.

The main office is little more than an open space with a desk and a few chairs. There is a bench along one wall with iron rings bolted into the sturdy wooden walls to attach manacles. A large locked chest contains a few sets of leather armor and some weapons – mainly short swords and light crossbows – on the incredibly infrequent occasion the sheriff needs to deputize some folks.

Katryn Windthistle

When the position of sheriff was created as a life time appointment most folks expected it to be a human lifetime. The elves keep mainly to themselves as long as the townsfolk to break any of their taboos. Katryn Windthistle is one of only a handful of half-elves born to the intermarriage between the local tribe of elves and the people of Nestletop. Most half-elves prefer to spend their lives with their elven side of the family but Katryn has always felt more comfortable with the human side.

Katryn’s father was a well-respected foreman in the mines of the Merrick family, Her mother found the human village far more interesting than the forest in which she was raised. She fell in love and even married the human man living with him on the Urduth estate. Idrin, Katryn’s father, was not a young man and died of old age before his daughter even reached what constitutes adulthood for a half-elf. Katryn’s mother elected to return to her people but the young half-elf stayed in town with her father’s kin.

Katryn was never the miner her father was and did odd jobs around the various estates and even for the dwarven couple who ran the tavern and the owner of the tradepost. When the dust-up from the arrival of the smith AbletonRedrun happened she help talk down the Urduths, who were quite unhappy at the time. In her many years she had become friendly with the young members of all the households who were now coming of age and taking over for their parents.

When the old sheriff retired and a new one needed to be elected Katryn’s name was at the top of the list. Well-liked by all, the then-current heads of the families as well as the general populace, she was an obvious choice. The elves thought she would make an excellent liaison between their tribe and the humans, especially since the last sheriff always seemed to side with townsfolk in matters of law.

Katryn’s time as sheriff has so far had little in the way of incident, which is more a testament to her good nature and even hand than a lack of possible trouble. She takes it as a matter of pride that she’s never had to deputize any of the townsfolk for any reason. Beyond her duties as enforcer of the law, she also trains the militiamen that guard the pass in case of wandering monster or barbarian attack from the Great Plains the people of Nestletop once traversed.

Who in your town defends law and order? Do the local nobles deal with their own legal issues? Or do they hire a bailiff to oversee them? Is your town part of a larger county or shire where a true sheriff presides over matters of law? Or is your town like mine,  small and out of the way with its own system of laws outside the greater nation, with its own sheriff to deal with infrequent infractions of jurisprudence?

Like the long arm of the law, the CRB reaches across the shire of the internet or bring you creative ideas. If today’s article has given you pause for thought please consider becoming a contributor. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media. Please join us on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.

Tips for the Novice Game Master - Guest Article

I’m on vacation this week so I thought I’d let another voice grace the pages of the CRB. Today’s article contains some thoughts to share with a novice GM that come from a man who has run many games for me; a friend since high school, a great gamer, and a fellow writer. Without further ado I give you the words of V. Peter Collins:

TIPS FOR THE NOVICE GAME MASTER

by V. Peter Collins

“The essence of a role-playing game is that it is a group, cooperative experience.” – Gary Gygax

So says the heralded father of roleplaying. That group experience  is typically divided into two very specific, well, roles: the players, they who inhabit the heroes within the game’s story, and the game master – known as Dungeon Master, Storyteller, and half a dozen other game-specific monikers – whose job it is to provide the foundation on which this group experience is built. There are arguments for and against the GM being the more important of the two jobs, but one thing is for certain, it’s the one that requires the most diverse set of skills to pull off successfully. This can make the learning curve pretty steep for some. What follows are seven tips to give the first time or novice GM a leg up, and maybe help an experienced ‘master improve their bag of tricks.

1 – Full Frontal Background

           The first stage in playing an RPG is deciding what to play, which includes what system to use, such as Pathfinder, D&D, GURPS, or any of the multitudes of gaming systems out there. This can be the GM’s choice alone, or a decision made by the entire group. Once it’s time to create characters, it is essential that the game master inform the players of the specifics of the story environment in which they will be playing. Are there any house rules? Are there going to be special exclusions or inclusions of any of the major components? Is there going to be an augmentation to something previously established? Which source books are allowed and which aren’t?

           It’s easy to tell a group “We’re playing Pathfinder, using Lands of Conflict” and let them set off to make characters. But what if you decided to incorporate aspects of other campaign settings, such as Aquatic Adventures? The players will need to know that or you might end up tossing a group of land-lubbing adventurers into the middle of an ocean battle that neither players nor characters are prepared for. Or, if you decide that Elves were nearly extinct, that information would be critical for anyone wanting to play an elf or a character whose background is tightly interwoven into elven culture.

           An additional consideration is letting players know what sort of characters other players have made. This is optional, certainly, but can come into play if two players have made nearly identical characters. It can also come into play if have built backgrounds that are diametrically opposed, creating in-game tension that can potentially do more harm than good.

2 – “No” Is Not A Dirty Word

           Before there is a party and players become invested in the wellbeing of other characters, all players are out for themselves. This isn’t a bad thing; strong focus by a player during character generation can lead to truly excellent characters. However, sometimes players want something for their characters than can cause an issue with the ‘Master’s overarching plan, doesn’t fit the feel or genre of the game (such as a light sabre in a high-fantasy game), or the player is a classic Min-Maxer, trying to milk every loophole and reinterpret rules to grant their character an advantage that can jeopardize game balance. Sometimes, the GM has to simply say ‘no’.

           While it is important to help players make characters that they are happy to play, it’s ultimately more important to service the campaign as a whole. I once ran a Mutants & Mastermind game in an sci-fi/space setting with a player whose character could duplicate himself with a mental link between each duplicate and also teleport vast distances. This very quickly led to a scenario where the character was literally in all game-related places at once, upsetting the balance of the game so that all of the other characters became unwitting support for this one character. The players eventually complained that they all felt bored and unnecessary in the game. Even though the rules technically allowed for this, I should have imposed some sort of restriction on this particular concert of abilities in order to retain game balance, which would have allowed for a more positive experience for the rest of the players. This directly ties into point 7 coming up.

           On the other side, try not to squelch the imagination of your players too hard. There is a balance to be struck, a line where you have to decide if a player’s desires during character generation will serve the one character at the expense of the other players, or the story itself.

3 – Know Your PCs

           A typical Game Master spends a great deal of focus on the story being told and the non-player characters involved in the telling. One classic oversight, however, is not being fully cognizant of the player characters and the full extent of their abilities. A rogue with a significant Charisma bonus against minotaurs, for example, will change the way your players react to a minotaur encounter, which can change the experience from what the game master intended. Conversely, not being aware that a paladin is acutely weak against druidic magic can put that paladin in an unfair disadvantage and diminish that player’s enjoyment of the game should they find themselves alone against some ne’er-do-well druids.

           On the other side of it, some players will try to get away with using skills, abilities, and the like that simply do not appear on their character sheet. Sometimes this happens by accident, such as if a player conflates two separate characters of theirs, and sometimes it’s a conscious choice of a player trying to gain an unfair advantage.

           The best way to avoid these types of situations is to review your player character’s sheets prior to each session. Also, take copious notes as the campaign progress. This awareness on the part of the game master can be critical for everyone’s enjoyment of the game.

4 – Flexibility

           The game master’s story, be it a pre-written module or one hand crafted by the GM, is the driving force for any given RPG session and campaign. That doesn’t mean players will stay on the page. In fact, it is a frequent occurrence that the tighter a game is plotted, the more divergent the players can take things. Unless you’re a mind-reader, have a PhD in psychology, or have some other means of predicting your player’s choices 100% of the time, it’s imperative for the game master to be mentally prepared for the eventuality that the players will take the game off the page.

           This was perhaps the first lesson I learned as a fledgling Game Master. For the very first game I ran, I wrote a highly detailed story and series of interactions that were going to lead the players through a mystery and into an exciting confrontation with the antagonists. The game never made it to the second paragraph. Once they party had formed, they decided to go in a completely different direction from what I had planned yet was completely legitimate within the bounds of the game and the story. I spent the rest of that session ad-libbing.

           Ask any seasoned role player or game master and they will tell you stories of how modules – pre-written and GM-created – were played out of sequence, sections bypassed, and whole chains of events mangled because the players fell on a play that simply bypassed what was anticipated.

           Another example of this is puzzle-solving. Just because there is a dungeon with a single door in and out doesn’t mean the players are going to go through it. If the alchemist of the party uses acid on the hinges, bypassing the trap on the lock all together, or the party decides they’d rather dig a tunnel beneath or around the door, just roll with it. This sort of spontaneity can often lead to exciting moments enjoyed by players and game masters alike.

5 – Respect The Dice

           This is an offshoot of point 4 above. If you’re playing a game that uses dice (and there are quite a few that don’t), then both the GM and players have made an agreement to respect the outcomes dictated by the rolls of those dice. This includes quick and final defeats of major antagonists like a dungeon boss (frequently to the GM’s anguish), or character death. Dice will change, break, or create pathways during a game just as readily as any player’s decision, and with a suddenness and unpredictability that is often shocking. These can lead to great moments – like rolling a critical success when attempting to save the life of another character, or moments of tragedy – like rolling a critical failure on a reflex save when you’re down to your last hit point and need to avoid an explosion. These types of moments are remembered and talked about long after the campaign is over, and are, as often as possible, best left to play out organically.

6 – Player As GM

           If you’re an experienced player and are trying your hand at sitting at the proverbial head of the table, one easy guideline is to remember the negative experiences you’ve had that were caused by poor choices of a game master, and choosing to avoid making those choices. Everyone’s metaphorical mileage will vary, but ultimately your insights as a player will give you a strong base from which to learn the craft of game mastering.

7 – It’s Just A Game

           At the end of the day, the goal of gathering with a small cadre of people over food, drinks, and character sheets is to have fun and enjoy the day and each other’s company.

           Game Masters can become deeply invested in their stories and NPC’s. Players can become emotionally attached to their own characters as well as other PCs and non-player characters alike, especially deep into a years long campaign. Interpersonal situations outside of the game can shape how players role play character interactions. Disagreements over rule judgements can – and will – occur. These all have the potential for creating truly intense moments.  If it’s clear that everyone involved in a gaming session - or more importantly a campaign - is not enjoying themselves, then it might be time to reevaluate things.

           Relax, enjoy yourself, the company, and have fun.

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Usually I give my spiel here about contributing to my patreon and what not but these words are not mine so we’ll skip that. Mr. Collins doesn’t have any current work for me to pimp but you can find him on twitter. You can also find the CRB on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter.

(Not so) Random Acts of Violence

Why I Dislike Random Encounters

So everyone has that one thing, or more than one, that irks them and I’m no different. Sometimes the thing you dislike might be unpopular opinion but you have to put it out there anyway. One of the things I absolutely can’t stand is random encounters. Just the very idea of them bothers the crap out of me.

Alright I’ve said it, so bear with me here why I explain why. I think very encounter should have purpose, even if that purpose is just to illustrate how dangerous a place is. If the dark forest is rife with evil fey I will prepare a dark fey encounter. It is not random. It may seem random to the players, but I know it’s coming. And the encounter exists for a purpose. If you’re travelling down a road known to have bandits, if you want an bandit encounter to show that the danger is there just make one.

I like to think of games I’m running as stories. When I read a book everything that happens within the book has purpose. Why are you going to waste a chapter or even a page on something that doesn’t mean anything? I hold that the same should be true for games. No encounter should be a wasted moment, everything that happens in the confines of the game should mean something.

And I get that some people like their tables for random encounters. But why make a whole table when you can just choose what you want to throw at your players? You can add the same things you would on your table to your game directly, just choose the ones that make the most sense. And If you’re one of those people who subscribe to the idea that encounters don’t need to be level appropriate then just add that CR 12 dragon as an encounter for your 4th level party to see.

One of the other things that bothers me with random encounters is when they come up too often. I say this is as a GM, not a player. When you’ve thrown your fourth or fifth random encounter at a party before they’ve gotten near anything that has to do with the actual plot it gets a little annoying, at least for me. But if you’ve got a 20% chance of an encounter and you keep rolling under that you end up with a string of meaningless encounters.

I never really cared for random encounters early in my gaming career but now they’ve become even more of an annoyance. Because most of my gaming is done online now doing random encounters is even harder. I have to have a map ready just in case. I also need to make icons and sheets for all the monsters I want to use on roll20 so I need to have every possible creature set up. This is another reason I just look at the random encounter table and set up a few of the encounters I think will emphasize that a location is dangerous.

Do you enjoy random encounters? Or do you prefer to plan everything out? Do you think random encounters mean something to a game? How do you prep for random encounters? Do you have spare maps laying around just to use for them? If you play online how is prepping for randomness different than at a live table?

The CRB is anything but random. If today’s article made you think about why encounters exist, please consider becoming a contributor. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my Paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

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One For a Penny

Trade in a Small Town

Last month we began the slow process of putting together a town piece by piece. In my first installment I spoke about the use of a foodhall/tavern as a center of social activity and laid out a tavern and its owner for our town. In the second piece I talked about the importance of the blacksmith to a town and wrote about our specific town’s blacksmith and his smithy. This week I’d like to talk about trade, both within the town and with outside sources.

Trade is ever important to a town’s survival. Towns would grow larger if they were on the path of an important trade route. But even small towns had to have a way for its citizens to trade with each other. Some towns would have a kind of general store, but more often they would have a kind of market where they would rent stalls to sell their wares.

Most towns, large and small, would have a trade day once a week. This was even a part of Roman culture when they had an eight day week – called a nundial cycle which you can learn more about here – where the eighth day was specifically a market day. Much of the trading in smaller towns wasn’t done with money as the peasants who traded were dirt poor and would exchange goods or even services that both parties needed.

Larger towns would have a fair which could last weeks and draw people from all over Europe to trade. Our town is both small and very far out of the way, so a weeks long fair is not something that is going to be going on for us. It is, however, something you should consider when making your own towns and their customs.

Most peasants grew their own food and had their own animals. These were usually smaller animals like sheep, goats, chickens, and pigs because larger animals cost too much to feed and care for. The items they would bring to trade were usually small things they would craft themselves during the year and the excess of whatever their crop was during harvest season. This allowed a farmer to grow a few crops and yet still have a variety of foods to choose from.

Harn’s Trading Post

The trading post in Nestletop is run by a man named Harn. It was run by his father, and his father’s father before him, and his father’s father’s father before that. The post has always been a family affair and that family is well respected.

Two separate areas constitute the post. The first is the actual shop where Harn sells goods he personally trades for. The second is a large open area which takes up the remaining of the side of the road that the post shares with the smithy. The open area is divided up into about two dozen stalls that can be rented on the weekly trading day to sell any goods you may have.

Harn’s payment for rental from the local farmers is usually a few of their wares. By keeping these odds and ends in stock it allows availability of an item if someone needs it outside of one of the weekly trading day, or if that seller is unable to come to market on a given week. This also means that Harn’s wares turn over frequently.

Anyone can rent a stall, and the elves who used to occupy these lands before the people of Nestletop came to settle make use of the post to trade as well. Occasionally some of the friendlier tribes of barbarians from the great plains will also come to trade. And although Nestletop is not on any major trading route, a caravan from the Divine Empire will traverse the plains to trade two times a year.

The caravan comes once in the spring and once in the fall after the harvest has come in. During the fall arrival Nestletop observes a week of celebration. There is a fair with food and drink and a week of trade which sees the townsfolk, the elves, and the foreign traders all come out in numbers. This is one of the few times when all the trading post’s stalls are rented out and the fair will sometimes need to spill over into the fields behind the post itself.

Harn Feedle

For a man with such a rough sounding name Harn is a very gentle soul. The name was his great grandfather’s, who started the post. Although his father went by Gwint, he felt that his son should keep the name of the post if he was to inherit it. Harn has always felt it an honor to be named after his grandfather and wears the name with pride.

The Postmaster is a small man, and slight. This is made even more obvious when he stands next to Abelton, the smith. The two are best friends and when business is slow Harn can be found in the smithy while Master Redrun works and the size difference is jarring.

Like Ableton, Harn is considered a fair and honest man. More likely to give one of the citizens a break then the smith is, but not the extent that he’d harm his own business much. A few of the townsfolk owe the Postmaster small debt, but everyone who has ever owed has paid in full.

Harn’s family came over with the original exodus from the lands of the Divine Empire. His great grandfather was a merchant of now small renown, but life in one of the larger cities was beginning to put a strain on him. With his wife having just given birth to their first son he wanted to be away from the bustle.

The Postmaster is one of the few people in town who has remained devoutly religious. Although he doesn’t push his views on anyone else, he does keep to many of the rites of the Divine Light. He keeps a small altar to the holy presence in the backroom of his shop. Occasionally when he’s had a bit to drink he’ll start singing hymns, which nobody would really mind except that Harn couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.

How do the people of your town trade with one another? Is your town on a major trading route? Does does being or not being on a trade route affect your town? Would you use Harn and his trading post or something like it in your town?

Like Harn’s trading post a bring my wares of the written word to you weekly. If today’s article has give you pause for thought please consider becoming a contributor. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my Paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

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Stoking The Flames

The Redrun Smithy

Two weeks ago we started building our little town. I decided that I would begin with what I believe to be the center of a community; the place where they gather to eat and talk. Although the tavern might be the social center of a town – at least my town – it is not always the economic center of the town. In small hamlets and villages like the one we are making here the blacksmith is usually the economic powerhouse of the community. Today we're going to take a peek at what makes the blacksmith so important in general, and who the smith in our town is.

When most people think of a smith the first thing that pops into their minds is the image of a weapon or armor maker. But for most small town blacksmiths, weapon smithing was, in truth, a small part of their business. Sure they would have to make a sword or two for the local militia, but most of the people they were crafting for were farmers. The main source of their income would be both crafting and maintaining household items.

Farming implements were of the utmost importance to a local community. A smith would craft and maintain items such as plows, shovels, and rakes. The smith also made other items that were often needed in the household like knives and other utensils. Keeping the house itself in working order was helped by the smith who made hinges, locks, keys, and probably hundreds upon hundreds of nails.

Horseshoes were a major part of any good smith’s repertoire, but few know that the local blacksmith was also the local horse dealer. The smith was considered one of the most trustworthy members of a community,  and usually with good business sense, so the locals felt that he would only purchase and sell the best horses he could find.  Although most games of D&D are set in the medieval or renaissance styled eras, it is interesting to note that the decline of horse transport contributed greatly to the diminished role of the traditional town blacksmith.

One other role the blacksmith played even as late as the 19th-century was general medical practitioner. Many people thought that the blacksmith had magical abilities due to their iron working and knowledge of metallurgy. Smiths practiced a form of medicine based on some parts science and some parts local superstition. The smith would perform general medical procedures including dentistry and in some places even practiced veterinary medicine.

All in all blacksmiths held high social positions in medieval and early modern societies, despite the fact they were laborers who worked with their hands. They were considered wealthy not because of what they owned but because of what they knew. Most smithing was a closely held secret passed down through families. And smiths were often powerful figures in their towns.

Redrun’s Smithy

On the other side of the one dirt road that makes up the town proper from the Cracked Anvil tavern sits the Redrun Smithy. The smithy is actually a few buildings connected together to form one larger shop. The small wooden framed building that actually faces the town side of the road is the shop proper. When the proprietor is not working in the actual smith – which isn’t often – he can be found here, making sure the wares he keeps in stock are neatly organized. Most of the stock items are household implements such as utensils and cups, and basic farming implements like spades and hoes. There is an abundance of different sized nails in numerous wood bins, separated by length and then thickness.

Behind the shop, facing away from the center of town is the actual smithy. The building that contains the forge only has three walls so that the room itself doesn’t overheat. Everything in the room seems to have its own special place with a flow that allows the smith to get from one place to another without being hindered, all the while keeping anything he might need in reach. Beyond the forge the most noticeable pieces of equipment are the anvil, a large work table, and the slack tub for cooling down pieces.

Against one wall is a board on which hang various tools. There are a dozen different hammers and tongs, as well as vices of all different sizes and shapes.  About a quarter of the wall is taken up by files with varying degrees of abrasiveness. There are also assorted other handmade tools, most likely for special projects the smith once had.

To the side and slightly behind the shop appears to be a stable of sorts. It’s mostly just a large covering with open walls and a few separate stalls, as well as a hitch for horses that don’t need to be housed longer term. The stable stalls include stocks for keeping the horse still while horseshoes are applied to their hooves.

Ableton Redrun

Ableton is the town smith. He didn’t arrive with the original in founders of the town but arrived maybe fifteen years ago. One of the founding families had a smith on their staff who serviced the town’s needs before Ableton came, but his business fell off – a sore spot between the current smith and the family – when Redrun’s smithy was opened. The burly man from out-of-town proved to be an master smith, among other things.

Master Redrun doesn’t speak much of his past, not because he’s trying to hide it but because it is incredibly painful for him. He has told the story once or twice and the petitioner of the story invariably buys Ableton a drink at the Cracked Anvil for dredging up the memories. Even with his unfortunate past the smith is a fairly jolly fellow and makes his customers feel welcome.

Ableton lived to the way to the south of the holy city on the northern border of the great plains. He was a smith in his hometown, married and with a young son. As happens on occasion a despot thought to build himself an army and make a play for a swath of the holy empire’s land. Master Redrun’s town fell to the invading force and his wife and son were killed. As was common for smiths, Ableton was enslaved and conscripted into the army to forge arms and armor. But the smith was smarter than most gave him credit for and he escaped.

With no home and no family Ableton sought to get as far away from civilization as he could. He remembered tales from travelling caravans of towns on the other side of the great plains, and through the Stonespire mountains. He took what riches he stole and made his way across the barbarian infested plains and then travelled the edge of the mountains till he found a pass. On the other side of the pass, in the foothills, was the town of Nestletop.

Since making Nestletop home Ableton has made a name for himself as a honest businessman and a reliable human being. Although the founding families still sit on the council of the town the common citizens all put Ableton forward to become a council member and protect their interests. He was welcomed by most and sits alongside the head of each founding family as well as a representative of the elves who live in the forests alongside Nestletop.

The Redrun smithy provides for most of the daily needs of both the farmers and the founding families. The Jaroth family uses him to peddle their fine horses when trading caravans come through town two or three times a year. He also provides a number of basic medical functions – including dentistry – although the town goes to the elven druids and shamans when they have more serious illnesses.

After losing his family Ableton has not sought to start another one, which has led to the conundrum of how to pass on his knowledge. Smithing has been handed down from father to son in his family for generations and he has many secrets to impart, but no son of his own to teach them to. As Master Redrun isn’t getting any younger in the past year he has taken on an apprentice. The boy is the son of one of the original farming families that made the trek to Nestletop, staking their claim in the very beginning. The youngest of eight children, the boy seems to have a keen interest in the art of the blacksmith and a mind sharp enough to grasp what Ableton has to teach.

So hopefully we’ve learned a little bit about blacksmiths and their role in a medieval village. I have to admit there was a ton of stuff that was completely new to me, but I was lucky enough to have a friend who is keenly interested in blacksmiths and smithing in general. And now we’ve added a smithy and smith to our town as we slowly build it up one piece at a time.

Who are the blacksmiths in your world? Do they do more than just forge weapons and armor? What is their role in your world’s societies? Would you use the Redrun Smithy and AbletonRedrun in your campaign world?

Forging a new piece of a town is like crafting a nail to build a house, time consuming but well worth it. If today’s article has stoked the flame in your creative forge please consider becoming a contributor. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my Paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media. Please join us on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.