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.

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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.

Giving Magic Flavor

What Do Potions Taste Like

I’ve touched on the topic of dynamic magic before; noting that one can make their world seem more real by using descriptions of how one casts spells. This kind of depth can be added to much more than just immediate spell casting. Although I’ve talked about it before with some of my groups, it dawned on me the other day while drinking some tea to help defrost, “I wonder what different potions taste like?”

Potions definitely have a flavor. When attempting to identify a potion – in Pathfinder at least – you have to take a little taste of it. Different potions will have differing flavors and that healing potion won’t taste the same as a portion of barkskin. I would imagine that something like a portion of healing might taste a little like kids cough syrup, and describing this to your players will help immerse them more deeply into your world.

Although the ability to determine what a potion is by tasting a bit suggests that all of the same types of potions taste alike, I’m not sure I’d like it if that were true. It might be interesting if the more scientific minded alchemists’ healing potions tasted like chalky medicine while the motherly witch has healing salves that taste like chicken soup. Making the flavors dependent on the one who brews the potions could add an interesting twist to identifying them.

Tasting something isn’t always about flavor either. Texture plays a big part in how we consume food. The aforementioned barkskin potion my feel like moss on your tongue while having a woody taste. A potion of haste might slide across your tongue and down your throat. And a potion of slow might feel like molasses and stick to the sides of your mouth.

Adding little things like the flavor and texture of potions can honestly be the difference between a memorable game and just a good one. What do you think potions taste like? Do the common ones like cure potions all taste the same? What is the flavor of a love potion?

Today we brewed up another bit of flavor for your games here at the CRB. If you’d like to throw some ingredients in the cauldron, 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.

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.

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

Sense Motive is not an Automatical Lie Detector

Just like magic has limitations, so too do skills. One of the skills that sees the most abuse is Sense Motive. Oftentimes people use sense motive as an automatic lie detector, or in some cases, even a means to read someone’s mind. However, the skill doesn’t really work that way; magic is often not even that precise. So how do we allow a player to use Sense Motive – especially if they’ve maxed out ranks in it – and still make it a skill and not perfect ability?

What many people tend to forget is that there is a big difference between knowing something is up and knowing what that something is. Sense Motive is really looking for non-verbal clues that reveal something about the character. Just saying  “you know he’s lying” honestly pays a disservice to the skill and the character using it. Instead, you should try explaining the ticks that the character sees, and because our character is not our player, talk about what they could mean, because your player may not know.

The Eyes are the Windows to the Soul

A lot of people believe that the eyes will give you away. Some say that when constructing a lie a person will look up and to the right. Others believe that someone can’t look you In the eyes when he is lying. The fact of the matter is that psychologists have done numerous studies on this and have found no connection with eye movement and lying.

Although there is no direct connection, not everyone knows that and that means the eyes can give something away. Bad liars tend to believe the statements about eyes – especially about not being able to look someone in the eye. They will often compensate by trying to stare at you for too long to prove that they aren’t liars. Many professional interrogators now use this as a means to spot a liar.

Studies have also shown that liars tend to blink more. Although the difference between the amount of eye fluttering between a truth-teller and a liar isn’t vast, it is there. Someone with a high sense motive may be able to tell when the subtle line of too much blinking been crossed.

The Face of Fear

Although it’s not foolproof when added to other factors, fear can be a signal of someone obfuscating the truth. Liars are often afraid that the person they are lying to will see through their lies and fear is often one of the clearer emotions that you can read on a person. But the reason I say this should be used in conjunction with other signs is that a truth-teller may be afraid that no one will believe they are telling the truth.

Words a Plenty

Liars will often use overly formal language. Whereas they might normally call their coworker Bob, they will instead call him “Mr. Smith”. Most people use contractions and would say “didn’t” but a liar will often say that they “did not” do something. Innocent people tend to adamant in their defense using hard words like “steal,” they don’t mince words. Liars will often soften the words they use and talk about “borrowing” things.

Liars can be caught, not just in the words they use, but in how they use them. When fibbing, a liar will tend to offer shorter responses. The feeling is that they believe the less they say the less likely they will be to make mistakes. In those short statements, you may also hear more ums, ers, and ahs as the fibber tries to look for the correct word to meet his crafted statement.

Now that you know some of the things your player’s character with the high sense motive might be looking for, you can try and weave these things into your description of what he sees. There are many other signs and a lot of research into proper methods of discerning the truth. But the ones I’ve put forth here have been agreed upon by a number of different studies.

One thing you may want to take into account is: What if your player fails his sense motive roll? Is he just unable to read his target? Does he see false flags in the cues given by the suspect? The biggest fear of a truth-teller in stressful situations is not to be believed, so you can play off this for interesting roleplay situations.

How have you used Sense Motive in your games? Do you just tell your player that his target is lying? What clues do you give your interrogator? What happens when they fail their checks?

Have I given you the sense that my motives are pure? If you’ve found this article useful 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.

The Fight In the Dog

Digging Deep into the Background of your Fighter

There was an interesting topic of discussion that came up this week on one of the Pathfinder Facebook pages I’m on. Someone wanted to expand the possibilities of the backgrounds he uses for fighters. A lot of fighters end up either being a kid off a farm who picked up his father’s sword and just walked off into the world or a trained military man. There are, however, a lot of ways to go in between, so today we’re going to look a little at bringing your fighter to life.

The first thing about fighting is that there are two basic types: those who are trained and those who are self-taught. The world can be a tough place, so learning to defend yourself is common among all walks of life. The untrained, for the most part, are thrown into situations where they are forced to fight or die, or at least be grievously injured. Anyone who’s lived in a rough neighborhood knows what that’s like. The trained more often want to learn how to fight instead of have to.

When coming up with untrained characters you also have to think about why they had to fight. You’ll find that most people who’ve learned to stand up for themselves on their own are poor or low on the social ladder. If you grow up on the wrong side of town you have to learn to defend yourself from thugs. Slaves or criminals may be forced to fight for the enjoyment of their masters. Those who live on the frontier may have to learn to fend off wildlife, bandits, or marauders.

The thing to consider about these self-taught warriors is also that their fighting “style” is really no style. It is usually a mish-mash of techniques that they’ve learned work through trial and error. While a trained fighter might be more focused – in game terms, taking specific feat lines – a self-taught fighter will know a little bit of everything. They will also usually have a ‘whatever works’ mentality which can probably be seen in their personalities as well as their fighting styles.

Trained fighters come in many forms as well. You’ll find that outside of the officers much of the rank and file of any military are – like untrained fighters – poor. Although not as highly trained as our modern military, soldiers of the day still went through rigorous training. Becoming a soldier, much like it is today, was often a way the poor thought they could elevate their station. You’ll notice a vast difference in fighting style between a foot soldier and an officer who went to military school as a child before gaining his rank.

Outside of the military, you’ll find trained fighters are more often well-off. It costs a lot of money to hire a tutor or to send a child to school. Now there will often be a child so naturally gifted that a teacher takes her on at no cost – and this is a common story trope – but generally, this is not the case. When deciding to make a character who’s trained in a certain style of fighting, keep in mind how she was able to afford to be trained.

Those who can afford training will have two options. The first is going to a well-known combat school. A teacher there will have many students, usually other noble born whose parents want to get them out of the house. The second is a personal tutor. In the Golarion setting, the Aldori Swordlords come to mind; each master trying to train the best student he can so his specific style may live on after he’s gone.

Trained fighters tend to be more orderly: for this attack there is this defense. To properly mount a battlefield defense all members of the unit must work in unison. This can also play out in a character’s personality – just like the untrained fighter – with the character being much more precise and deliberate.

So when creating your fighter’s background consider how he would get where he is when the game starts. Is he trained or untrained? How did his family’s status affect what and how he learned? How does his personality play into how he fights?

Many of us are self-trained GMs, the CRB hopes to add to your pool of GM knowledge. If you’ve found this article useful 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.

What Lies Beneath

Five Creatures (other than rats) You'll Find in the Sewers

In many urban adventures, the party eventually must head down into the depths below the city. They will slog through the sewers to continue whatever it is their quest needs of them. Sewers have some common monsters within them such as rats, wererats, alligators, and other vermin. Today I want to look at some other interesting things one might challenge their players within a sewer system. I present to you five things you’ll find in the sewers that aren’t bugs or rats.

Alchemical Ooze Swarms

The first of two oozes on this list, the alchemical ooze swarm combines two things that low-level parties find challenging. Creatures of the ooze type can’t “see” although they have blindsight which negates invisibility or concealment, they have no mind which makes them immune to mind-affecting spells, and they have an amorphous body making them immune to flanking and precision damage. Tiny swarms, on the other hand, take half damage from slashing and piercing damage, are immune to spells that target one creature, and cannot be tripped or grapple. Even being between CR 1/3 and 2 these creatures can be tough for a party that isn’t prepared.

Alchemical oozes would be found in the sewers around potion makers shops or magical institutions that teach alchemy. When these places eliminate the waste their experimentation creates the run-off which might mix in unexpected ways to create one of the four types of ooze swarm: Choleric, Melancholic, Phlegmatic, and Sanguine. These collections of slime are one of the many hazards of an unthinking alchemist.

Goblin Snake

Although not technically goblins, these aberrations have a goblin-like face on a serpentine body. Like goblins, they are in a constant search for things to fill their gullet and if forced to they can be deadly predators. Given the chance, however, they would rather subsist off of things that they don’t have to hunt and are known to eat anything that falls in their path; from carrion to straight up rubbish. A sewer system is the perfect place to have their meals delivered to them by an unsuspecting populace.

Eating all that refuse gives these creatures a fetid breath, which can send low-level adventurers into bouts of upheaval. They also tend to keep snakes as pets, which can make for a more interesting encounter using the goblin snake as a puppet master for a number of vipers. Goblin snakes don’t even need to end up a combat encounter. These creatures are cowards at heart and can be bribed, especially with magical knowledge, to be helpful.

Gelatinous Cube

The second of the two oozes on this list, the gelatinous cube is a classic monster that pretty much everyone has faced at one point or another. Its engulf and paralysis abilities, on top of the already mentioned ooze immunities, can make it a formidable opponent to low-level parties. The fact that you can walk right into it if it’s motionless can start a battle off on rather the wrong foot.  There are some variations from the classic, including the ebony cube (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/oozes/gelatinous-cube/gelatinous-cube-ebony/), which is not transparent but can dissolve metal and stone, and the electric cube (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/oozes/gelatinous-cube/gelatinous-cube-electric/), which is only partially transparent but has a stunning electrical attack.

Like many of the other creatures on this list, the gelatinous cube is a devourer. It lives off of organic material which can be found in quantity in most sewer systems. It will eat everything from organic refuse to the vermin that tend to congregate in a city’s waste disposal system. With the origins of the transparent oozes being a mystery, there are any number of reasons one could have found its way into this urban environment.

Otyugh

The otyugh is a creature that is actually best known for dwelling in sewers, as well as middens, cesspools, and toxic swamps. These creatures are often used as sewer cleaners in large cities such as Korvosa in Paizo’sGolarion campaign setting. Of the creatures mentioned, this is probably the most common to be found in a sewer, although its use among GMs doesn’t always reflect that.

Although both intelligent and usually indifferent to the plight of good and evil, otyughs will, however, defend their lairs if attacked. This creature can add both an interesting fight and a moral conundrum to an encounter. If the party is traversing the sewer then they are the trespassers and many people refuse to believe that the choice of diet and lair make the Otyugh anything more than a mindless scavenger.

Flail Snail

Our last creature is both bizarre and deadly. The flail snail is one of those oddball monsters that made you say, “what the heck?” when you first saw it. The ability to pull itself up on a long mucus rope and adhere to ceilings and walls made for a twisted visual. Its sticky or gooey trail of snot slime, as well as being able to retract into its shell, made it a challenge to many parties. But the one thing that really sets the flail snail apart is its shell’s ability to warp the magic that is cast at the creature.

Flail snails are omnivorous and will eat vermin as well as fungus and occasionally organic human waste. Although not the most likely to be found in a city’s refuse system, the dank sewers replicate their normal underground territory enough that the basically free food delivered in the form of garbage would be enough to keep one or even a whole group around. Like the otyugh, these creatures are often mistaken for mere animals, but they do have an intelligence and thousands of years of racial memory. Sadly, they have no means of verbal communication.

Next time you’re looking to spice up your party’s trek into the fetid reaches of your city’s waste disposal system, consider these creatures. But they aren’t the only things you can find there. Other than rats and other vermin, what kind of creatures do you like to include in your sub-urban adventures?

The CRB likes to bring you the unusual and the out of the ordinary. If you’ve found today’s article helpful for your games 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.

Following In Footsteps

Thoughts on Cohorts

This week on one of the Pathfinder Facebook pages there was an interesting question that got me thinking: A poster’s GM had apparently let him kind of adopt a young goblin. The player wanted to figure out what he could do, mechanics-wise, to make this goblin a pet. Now, I’ve never been a huge fan of extra characters granted by the leadership, which is odd because I love animal companions and familiars. So today I’m gonna talk about cohorts and as both a mechanic and a roleplay opportunity.

As I mentioned love animal companions and I’ve written about them before so I’m going to skip talking about that for a second time. But there are a few ways to get a cohort in Pathfinder, so let’s talk about those.

The leadership feat is the most common way to gain a cohort. The thing about the actual leadership feat is that it also gives you followers and some GMs, myself included, feel like this can get a little unbalancing. One player wandering the countryside with a small cadre of low-level NPCs can become quite daunting.  I try and push for followers to be left at home, in a keep, castle, or organization’s headquarters, as I’ve seen GMs lose their minds keeping track of all these people on the road.

Leadership can’t be taken till seventh level, and the poster mentioned was looking to take his goblin as a companion-of-sorts fairly early on. I pointed out to him one way of doing this and in researching for this article I’ve found two others. All of these methods give you just a cohort, which is handy, although one of them allows you to switch to leadership at seventh level and the other automatically switches, gaining you the noted followers.

The one I brought up – and I think the one I like best – is the squire feat. This is available at third level but only to martial-based characters, as you must have proficiency with all martial weapons. The squire himself must also be a martial class with proficiency in all martial weapons, although it does not need to be whatever your class is. The fighter class has two archetypes which are not really what I would call optimal but they could be fun for your squire. The weapon bearer squire and the pack mule could both make for an interesting hanger-on.

Much like the squire feat, the imperial knight feat requires martial weapon proficiency but also heavy armor proficiency. The base attack bonus of plus six means that at best you could take it at sixth level – only one level lower than leadership – if you were a full BAB class with a bonus feat available at sixth level. The one problem with this feat is that you can only take a human or a Halfling with one of a handful of NPC classes. This is offset by an initiative and armor class bonus because the cohort automatically gets the feat, imperial squire.

The last feat that gains you a cohort is interesting in that it allows you to have more than one cohort in the amount equal to have your character level. This is balanced by the fact that unlike a regular cohort from leadership, which can be at highest two levels behind you, and the squire from the squire feat (three), your recruits can only at most be up to four levels behind you. Although you do gain multiple minions, only one can follow you on an adventure -- which leaves the other ones back at home doing your chores, like crafting things for you.

Since these all count as leadership for the purpose of qualifying for other feats, you could also take the practiced leadership feat to give your cohorts and yourself some extra bonuses. The plus to your cohort’s will saves against enchantment is nice. The real benefit for you, however, is that they count as having all your teamwork feats to determine whether or not you would get the bonus from said feats.

So now that you’ve figured out how you are going to be gaining the services of a cohort it’s time to figure out how you interact with said underling. In the same thread as the one that sparked this idea, someone brought up the idea of playing it along the lines of Don Quixote. The squire would be a Sancho-like character who centers the over-the-top deeds of his master. This may work best with the imperial knight feat seeing as Sancho was a peasant farmer and that feat gives a commoner as a cohort.

You could also play it as student learning from the master. This would probably mean your cohort is the same class as you are, which may seem counterproductive to having a second character in the first place. Still, the idea does have some merit as a pupil learns to be a samurai – or whatever class you are – as you pass down the knowledge that your master had once imparted to you. The dynamic here could be very amusing as you give instructions during combat or other inappropriate time. The Student could also be a sidekick a la Batman and Robin.

One of my favorite ideas for a cohort is a chronicler. Your minion follows you around and writes the story of your adventures for you. This works best for bards, but rogues or investigators might work as well. A support class that can do party buffs or maybe debuff the bad guys but doesn’t really get into the mix of combat makes the dynamic of recorder-of-deeds make sense. This dynamic is best suited to a self-centered character.

So there you have it, ideas on how to gain and use cohorts. How often do you take a cohort of some type? What path do you use to gain your follower? What roleplay dynamic do you use for you hanger-on?

Much like characters who take the leadership feat, the CRB has many followers across social media. As loyal readers, your support is incredibly helpful, so 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.

From Zero to Zero in 60 Seconds

Thoughts on Sessions Zero

Over the course of the two plus years I’ve been writing this blog I’ve mentioned session zero dozens of times. Online I always suggest it to new GMs. Although I’ve talked about it over and over again I’ve never really put into detail what I think it is, how to utilize it, and why I think it should be used in every game.

So what is Session Zero?

At its core it is a game session before the first session of actual play where the players and GM discuss things about the game they are going to play. Personally I prefer an actual sessions sitting around a table to talk about the game. In my case the table is online but it’s the same principle. Instead of an actual session some people like to spend a few days or weeks talking on a message board or facebook page for their game, this doesn’t have the same appeal to me but it works.

What’s included in Session Zero?

Often times I answer questions about my player did this, how do I stop it? My player acts like this, how do I punish him? The thing is problems like this can be stopped from the beginning if you talk about expectations before play starts. When I GM, I like play games with heroes, I don’t like evil PCs and I prefer the players have the ability to work together. This isn’t everyone’s preference but the point isn’t that people should play that way, just that when I run Session Zero I make sure my players understand this.

Talking to your players in the beginning can solve problems later on.

This prologue session is also good for discussing rules. I don’t use a lot of house rules – two I can think off-hand – but a lot of people do. The thing is – especially in a new group where you don’t know the players well – not everyone is going to know your house rules. Sessions Zero is the perfect time to talk about it. Although I disagree, a lot of people nerf evasion to work a different way than in the book. If you don’t discuss this change a player may get upset when he reaches a situation where he thinks his ability should work one way and it suddenly doesn’t.

I also use Session Zero to talk about the kind of game we’re going to be playing. If it’s a home brew game this gives me a chance to lay out the overview of my world and where the characters will be starting. I run a lot of Pathfinder APs so I use this time to go over the information in the free player’s guides as well as any restrictions in character creation.  This is a way to make sure that the players have an understanding of the theme and scope of the game so they can make characters that fit.

I personally like to do character creation in sessions zero. Some GMs and players like their characters to be private, hidden backgrounds and ideas from other players. I find – and again this is personal preference – that making characters together helps players make characters that will be able to work together. I also find that it can allow players to make characters that are connected; siblings, lovers, childhood friends.

For me the first get together – this pregame session – is incredibly important. I find it has kept games cohesive for longer. I have run it for new campaigns with groups I’ve been playing with for years, as well as first time campaigns with new groups. Many people use it even if I have a different name for it. Some GMs add other topics of discussion to their Sessions Zero. But all in all I think this talk with your players, and hopefully some openness, is essential to a great campaign.

Do you use Session Zero? What topics do you like to discuss during that session? Who important do you find the session to cohesive game play?

Like Session Zero the CRB is here to give ideas on guiding your own games.. If you’ve found this article useful for your next horror game, 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.

Terror Rising

Fear Based Monsters

Part of the love of Halloween for many is the delight in being terrified. There is something about the adrenaline rush of fear that for some is almost intoxicating. I’ve spent this macabre season talking about some classic monsters that we love to fear, but really these creatures are feared because of their inherent danger. For some creatures, the fear itself is what they are after, or have been specifically designed to cause. Today we look at some of these creatures who thrive on the fear of man.

There are plenty of creatures that have the ability to cause fear. They have some kind of horrific appearance like most Qlippoth, or they just have an aura of menace, like most dragons, devils, and demons. Some undead just exude fear, such as liches and mummies. But none of these creatures really thrive on the fear they create, it is just a byproduct of their being.

Some creatures use fear as a method to hunt their prey. Not only does the terror they induce make their quarry easier to catch, they feed off of this fear as surely as they do flesh. The shadow mastiff and the wendigo are prime examples of these types of monsters.  Although I wouldn’t use the mastiffs as a main enemy, as minions used to hunt down the adventurers, a pack of these baying hounds can set the tone of dread for a good horror game.

Among the outsiders, there are many to whom mortal will flee in terror. Nobody likes death and thus the psychopomps are seen as particularly dread. When a psychopomp goes rogue it becomes a creature that thrives on bringing fear to the mortal realm. The creatures known as sahkil have a singular drive, to give all beings a reason to fear.

The true terror of the sahkil is not in direct combat, although they can be quite formidable. The best use of these creatures is to bring horror to those around the adventurers; twisting NPC minds from the ethereal plane making, these mortal agents become monsters in and of themselves. There are some low ranking sahkil you can use as foot soldiers but one of these a the big bad of a game can make a truly satisfying Halloween treat.

Sure undead and things from the outer planes are sure to give you the creeps, but no one expects to be terrified by foliage. Some plant life is more hostile than others and they need to feed on flesh to survive. If you’re looking to add some scare to your wilderness encounters, the tree with the human-faced bole called the quickwood, and the dark tendriled jack-o’-lantern both use fear to soften up their prey to devour.

There are those creatures that quite literally feed on fear. Anyone who has played Paizo’s adventure paths knows the company has a thing for one of these monsters; the will-o’-wisp. These creatures are not awfully hard to beat on their own, but when paired with a creature that can induce fear in its victims they become far more terrifying.

One of the other great masters of terror is the boogeymen. With an array of fear-based magics and attacks, once these dark fey get the party quaking in their boots, the fun really begins for them. Direct attacks from the boogeymen are probably best left till absolutely necessary. Hunting the party using its invisibility and gaseous forms while it keeps them from becoming well-rested with it nightmare spell is a great tactic before finally having the fear-eater swoop in for the kill.

One can escape fear by removing oneself from its presence. When that fear is in your mind, there is no place to run. There are reasons why movies like the Nightmare on Elm Street series are so distressing: We use sleep as a time of rejuvenation, and when are terrors invade our dreams it is a battle against our own minds. Much like the evil character, Freddy Kreuger, there are creatures in Pathfinder that can invade our dreams to destroy us.

A chaotic or evil mind can host a night hag who rides her prey’s dreams, slowly killing them over the course of days. Creatures with the nightmare template do the same, but if defeated in their prey’s dreams they may return again as ghosts to continue to haunt their victims. Some dreams themselves can be made real by a particularly vivid dreamer. Once these animated dreams leave their creator’s mind, they need to feed off the emotions of the living to stay “alive”.

There are plenty of other creatures that cause, exude, or feed off of fear in the Pathfinder universe. This is just a few examples from bestiaries one through five. When running your horror-themed campaigns you will want to use fear to its utmost effectiveness and these monsters can help you do just that.

What are some of your favorite fear-inducing creatures? How do you use these monsters to give your players the creeps? Have you used dreams and nightmares in your horror games?

They say the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. The CRB hopes it’s helped you bring a little fear itself to your game. If you’ve found this article useful for your next horror game, 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 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.

Building a Better Monster

Thoughts on Flesh Golems

Hello, boys and ghouls (there really needs to be an undead or monster to turn the word boys into but I can’t think of one offhand) it’s time to continue our month-long Halloween extravaganza here on the CRB. We’ve touched on some of the iconic horror monsters so far, including undead ofall stripes and the bestial creatures known as lycanthropes. This week we’re going to tackle another classic monster (and its relatives): the flesh golem.

The flesh golem in D&D has always been analogous to the Frankenstein’s Monster. Although not quite identical to the seminal construct from Mary Shelley’s book it does have enough similarities to fit our bill. Like “The Monster,” the flesh golem is a hulking hideous amalgam of body parts from various corpses, stitched together to make a grotesque whole. Brought to life by some forces humans find hard to control, science and magic both, it takes on a bizarre mockery of life. Although the monster in the book seems to retain some shred of intelligence and flesh golems do not, they both might fly into a rage when attacked.

One of the things I find interesting about flesh golems – and that a lot of people overlook – is the fact it requires casting animate dead to construct one of these behemoths. There is a saying that goes something like, "knowledge is knowing Frankenstein is not the monster. Wisdom is knowing Frankenstein is a monster." Since casting any type of raise undead spells is an evil act, any person who creates a flesh golem is most likely leaning toward being evil.

Just throwing a flesh golem at your players doesn’t really evoke the kind of horror I’m looking for when I’m running a horror game. Sure, they are powerful creatures, but power isn’t the only terrible thing. One of the ways I’ve used these monsters to terrify my players is by making some of their parts recognizable. There is nothing more likely to break a character’s morale than noticing the tattoo on the arm of the flesh golem belongs to one of their dead siblings. Or imagine staring into the face of your mother as the roiling mound of skin attacking you.

Admittedly a house rule of mine, seeing as Flesh Golems are created using the animate dead spell, I’ve occasionally attached a soul to them. I reason that the spell allows the soul to get sucked in along with the elemental that is the usual driving force behind such a monster.  When confronted with a golem that shows some occasional spark of humanity – albeit tortured – that can throw the players for a loop.

As a low-level adventure you could have the party hunting down a mad arcanist who is trying construct one of the creatures. The caster trying to build the thing is looking for very specific corpses to create his monstrosity and the players face off against his minions who are gathering the pieces. Whether he gets the exact dead bits he needs or has to stitch together his second choices, the players will face the doctor, his creation, and maybe even a right-hand man named Igor.

There are plenty of other constructs to use. Their usual immunities to a lot of magic, damage reduction, and spell resistance mean that they often require more than the tactics as usual. Scarecrows can be interesting at mid-lower levels, as can caryatid columns. The shatter weapon ability of the latter has led to some interesting times with my players.

Have you used flesh golems in your games? What interesting twists have you used to make the more horrific? Have you added any special house rules to your flesh golems? What other constructs have you used in your game, beyond the normal stone and iron types?

Much like creating a flesh golem the CRB hopes to stitch together some new and fun ways to do things. If we’ve helped you build on your existing campaign, 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 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.