Basic Fantasy RPG - Play Test Part III

Welcome back to part three of my Basic Fantasy RPG play through with my party of adventurers! As before I will detail what we did and where we deviated and played house rules.

As a recap the avid party had ended the last session battered and bruised having smashed open a door.

For this session the party had a new member, a human fighter. He was introduced as the parties fighter, who had drunk himself into a stupor in the pub where they learnt of the caves. Waking up the next morning under a table he found the party had left! He hot footed it across country to catch them up!

Our adventure picks up with the Fighter running into the caves, not lighting a torch and running straight off the edge that caused the rest of the party trouble! His legs wheeled in mid air for a few seconds before he plummeted straight down and took 1 point of damage as he hit the ground.

Picking himself up the fighter worked his way along the corridor a short way; as he edges round a bend the Dwarf Cleric comes sprinting past him (having taken a run up) and smashes through a door to the fighters left revealing 3 Kobolds. After a quick brutal fight of 3 turns the adventurers had finished off the Kobolds and were ready to explore some more of the caves.

Using the map they got in the pub they headed South along the passageway to a door that was marked as having a chest inside. The door, to their surprise was not locked and turning the large round black handle the door opened into a small room with a chest on one side. Suspecting a trap ... or a mimic ... the cleric smashed the chest with his mace, squeezing his eyes shut as he did so ... which turned out to be fortuitous as a flash trap blinded all the other party members for 5 rounds (they all failed their saves except the cleric who I narrated as having closed his eyes as he hit the chest).

While the others were blind the Cleric opened the chest and examined the contents (I won't say what was there as they may read this!) and whether he told them the truth or purloined anything is a matter of party debate!

After 3 turns with the majority of the party being blind I rolled to see if any random monster would appear....... a 6! .... the Cleric spotted the face of a goblin sneaking a peek around the door frame. Thinking on his feet the Cleric pretended to be blinded like the other party members. Falling for his excellent acting the goblin sneaked into the room around the adventurers. The Cleric pulled back his mace and took a mighty swing at the back of the goblins head ... just as the goblin bent down to look what was in the chest! (A quick ad hoc roll on behalf of the goblin had him miss the swooshing noise as the mace went over head by millimetres!), the return swing by the Cleric caught the goblin soundly and felled him in one go. The rest of the party recovered their vision slowly and were a little perturbed by the goblin corpse who the Cleric assured them had come from the chest.

The party decided that after getting battered and bruised they should probably block the doorway and rest in the small room.

(As GM this was a great opportunity to roll a d6 and see if anything else might come along!)
 1 6 later ........

The party were woken by the sound of scratching at the doorway, and a knocking. The mage knocked back on the door and all went silent. After giving the mage time to cast Shield on himself the party opened the door and the Thief poked out his head for a sneaky look. The Giant Crab Spider totally failed to surprise the thief (I rolled another 6) who saw it out of the corner of his eye and retreated back into the room as it scuttled towards him.

A single round of combat was all it took for the party to dispatch the spider with the Fighter and the Thief  hitting simultaneously. The Thief pinned it to the ground with an arrow dealing 9 HP damage, as the Fighter cleaved it with a two handed sword blow for 11 HP! Suffice to say the spider was dead, and the fighter, being standard fighter type got whatever meat he could off the spiders body and cooked it.

The night was worth a second roll to see if anything random happened .... another 6 .... the party had certainly stirred up a hornets nest of random monsters!

Hearing a noise from around the bend at the north end of the corridor the Thief put a lit torch on the floor and retreated slightly. Slowly a skeleton shuffled around the bend, stopping to gaze with black empty eye sockets at the torch on the floor. It then looked up, saw the adventurers and with a dusty cough attacked. A single round of combat saw the Mage cleaved down the front by the Skeleton before the Thief could smash it with his sword causing it to explode into dust, the clothes crumpling to the ground.

Note in the first session we had decided that hitting 0 then starts a counter. -1 HP per round (more if you get hit) and if you hit -10 then you are dead. The cleric managed to stabilise the Mage and they returned to their "safe room" (It hadn't helped much so far!) to recuperate a little.

After a little cave dwelling R&R the adventurers left the room to explore further north in the cave system to another section that seemed to indicate another chest. Entering the cavern the centre seemed to be solid stone. After searching for hidden doors the Thief managed to find the hidden door! He then said he wanted to search for traps.

As GM I did the roll for the search for traps behind the GM screen after a spectacular pass the Thief found a needle trap attached to the door. He then made his roll to try and disable the trap ... unfortunately in identifying the switch that would trigger the trap the Thief pressed it. After then failing his save spectacularly the party found they had a thief lying on the floor with a needle in his eye and turning green.

Technically failing the save vs poison would normally be death. However this is an RPG and not all poisons are deadly immediately. I allowed the party the opportunity to try and save their Thief. He dropped immediately to 0 HP and I asked what they wanted to do.

The Cleric came up with the brilliant idea of removing the needle and trying to suck out the poison from the Thiefs eyeball. Removing the needle was a simple enough task, I then had the Cleric roll to see whether he would manage to suck out the poison. Unfortunately he was a little over enthusiastic and managed to suck the thief's eyeball out into his mouth. (The Thief got dropped to -1 HP). The Cleric then executed his next idea which was to just cut the eyeball free to stop further poison spreading. He successfully cut the eyeball free (which the fighter pocketed for lord only knows what purpose!). At this point the Thief is now at -2 HP. The Cleric then made several attempts to tie off the fleshy bit that was pumping blood ... several turns later the Thief was on -4 and heading quickly towards their -10 permanent death. Finally the Mage stepped in and using their dexterous mage hands managed to tie off the flappy eye bits and stabilised the Thief.

After these shenanigans I gave the Thief a change to their attack bonus making it -1 to account for the loss in depth perception. I made this up on the spot as a reflection of the dire circumstances that had occurred.

After all this (and the party barely alive) they decide they are going to try and open the door. The parties one eyed thief picked the lock with what was a stunning display of lock picking ability, and then proceeded to temporarily blind himself by touching the chest and setting off another flash trap. The rest of the party had steadfastly shut their eyes before he got near the chest so they were all ok.

The party decided to cram into the tiny room the chest was in to rest up ... the Mage and Cleric however thought to check the door and found no obvious way to open it from the inside. Based on their luck so far they decided to err on the side of caution and retreat to the original rest up room to recover a little.

The night progressed and near morning (as near as you can tell in a cave system) the party could hear noises from the corridor ... yes I rolled ANOTHER 6 for random monster time!

Most of the party really wanted to roll over and try to go back to sleep in the hope this was all a bad dream. However the Fighter felt he hadn't hit enough things, so insisted on opening the door. The party felt they couldn't leave 1 character to go it alone so all piled out to find 4 Stirges flapping around the corridor.

As GM I had already decided if they didn't open the door the Stirges would fly off by morning. However once there was fresh blood in sight the outcome was never in any doubt and another fight ensued!

In the first turn the Mage, Fighter and Thief all had Stirges attach to them and start draining blood. The Mage missed his Stirge hitting himself in the face with his staff for 4 HP. The Fighter also managed to smash himself for damage, and the Thief managed to kill his Stirge. The Cleric took an almighty swing and nearly crushed the poor Mages head in. Several wild blows later the party had nearly killed themselves, with the Mage and Fighter both on 0 HP and quickly dying. The Cleric tried to stop the Stirges by hitting them and quickly accelerated the impending death of the Mage and Fighter putting them on -8 and -5 respectively. I rolled against the morale of the final Stirge getting higher than its morale, and narrated this as the Stirge having fed heartily and trying to flee before it died like its fellows. As it detached from the Fighter with a full belly the Cleric took a final swing and squashed it against the wall spraying blood everywhere.

The Cleric then set about trying to stem the blood on the Mage. I gave him a 50% chance which he passed first time. He then tried to help the Fighter failing on his first attempt and pushing the Fighter to -9 .... one last attempt ..... under 50% ... he just managed to stem the flow of blood and stabilise him!

The Cleric and Thief dragged the Fighter and Mage back to the "safe" room and wedged the door shut. The Cleric also suggested he may seriously hurt someone if they tried to open the door in the night ... or before a good long rest. The Thief thought this was a bit rich seeing as his "helping him" had resulted in the loss of an eye ... mind you he was still alive!

So there you have it. They are battered. They are bruised. They are minus an eye ... well technically the Fighter has it in his pocket but that doesn't help the Thief!

The next session is next week ... I really can't wait to see what turns up in the dungeon and whether they make it alive ... or even if they accidentally off each other!

--Edit - I was re-reading the rules and realised that random monsters appear on a d6 roll of a 1. I had however used a d6 roll of 6. Only realised that last night. They still were running on a 1 in 6 chance but wanted to point it out in-case it caused any confusion.

Basic Fantasy RPG - A PlayTest Part II

The last post on our first session seemed to be well received so I thought I would keep them coming as we have sessions, and feed back so that people can see how it runs, and where we deviate.

My original plan was to post on Friday after the next session, but the party have had to slide back a week due to previous commitments ..... drat that "real world" thing!

However to keep the posts coming I thought I would blog up some information around how we did character creation. The reasons we played it as we did and how it deviates from the base.

I'll start with the way characters are normally created in BFRPG (or my understanding of it!)

In BFRPG you have 6 basic character abilities (Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma). For each ability the players roll 3d6, add up the results, and assign the number to that ability; you do each ability in turn and assign whatever value you roll to it.

Once you have a value for each ability you then write down the bonus/penalty for each ability. This is based on the number assigned to that ability with the penalties/bonuses ranging from -3 to +3.

Your next step is to choose a race and class for your character. Races and classes may have minimum and maximum levels you can have in specific abilities, so for example to be a dwarf you have to have a minimum constitution of 9.

At this point you are probably thinking ... hang on my stats really limit what I can play, and with BFRPG having a load of supplements for classes and races this will stop me playing what I want! Don't worry the rules cover options to help with this ... I'm just following the basic flow for the moment so bare with me!

So you select your race and class, and you write down the special abilities on your character sheet. If you're a magic user the GM can select your starting spell or let you choose.

Your next step is to roll the relevant hit die for your class (different classes have different hit die) and add your constitution modifier (+ or -), noting it can't be below 1.

That is a lot of the character done and you probably only took about 10 - 15 minutes so far!

We now get to the good old starting money stage! You roll 3d6 and multiple the result by 10 or as I like to say stick a 0 on the end :)

Now you purchase your equipment, remembering to check what armour and weapons you're allowed to use (all covered in the one book available in soft back for a very reasonable price!).

You now note your armour class (you get to add your dexterity modifier to this).

You're now on the home straight to having your character complete! 

Your next step is to look up your attack bonus which is based on your level and class, and note down your save throws.

Your last stage is naming your character .. and your done! 

Ok so what did we follow and when did we break from the norm?

I'll start with rolling for the abilities. I appreciate the simplicity and speed of the system as presented, and in a way it does reflect the fact that in life we have to work with what we have. However for me I find it a little restrictive. The game does offer options to work around this including swapping some scores or assigning them where the players want.

These are excellent options but I still wanted a little more flexibility. After all we wanted adventurers! So we went with the following method.

Each player rolled 3d6 6 times, totalling up their scores after each roll and noting them down. They then did this a second time giving them two separate sets of figures. They then selected one pool of stats and threw away the other. Then finally assigned them to the abilities as they wanted them.

So for example Player 1 wanted to be a Human Wizard. They rolled:

13,13,12,15,6,12

and

15,10,7,10,14,10

They decided they preferred the first set of scores so selected those and assigned them as follows:

Strength: 6

Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 13

Dexterity: 12

Constitution: 13

Charisma: 12

One of the players wasn't sure between the two sets of stats they rolled. Their rolls were:

8,14,13,13,5,9

and

13,5,12,12,11,8

I noted down the modifiers these would translate to to help with the decision. The above stats translated to the following modifiers:

-1,+1,+1,+1,-2,0

and

+1,-2,0,0,0,-1

This helped them to decide to dump the second set of stats and to retain the first set.

In the end this gave us fairly balanced characters and by using the optional rule of the full shuffle they assigned them to ensure they met the minimum requirements of the race and class they wanted.

Interestingly of the 3 players 2 of them didn't drop their lowest score on Charisma. One put their lowest on strength and the other constitution. I genuinely feel that all the players placed their stats in a way that reflected the personalities of their characters, so the only one with their lowest score on Charisma really is the grumpy character of the party as that was how the player wanted to play them.

The only other deviation we did on character creation was as GM I allowed them each to select the max hit points value they could get, so if their hit dice was a d4 I gave them 4+constitution modifier.

Now you may wonder why we did this. All I can say is that after 3 Kobolds and a few wolves the party is looking pretty ragged and they may be close to a TPK!

Finally before starting the adventure we agreed the ground rules on player death. Everyone agreed that player death had to be a possibility. However we have gone for a modified version. So at 0 HP the character becomes unconscious. Each turn thereafter they will lose 1 HP till they hit -10 at which stage they have died. If the other players can finish the fight and stabilise them before this happens they can be saved.

So that's my more detailed information on player creation. This was the first time we ever did this and it was all done in about 30 minutes. It really is very simple .. oh and to help we also had 2 copies of the softback book so 2 players could consult tables of equipment etc. at the same time!

If you made it this far thank you for reading and I'll be back soon with an update on our first adventure!

Basic Fantasy RPG - a playtest

So. The other week I was on holiday. For some reason I got myself all excited over the 3rd edition Basic Fantasy RPG. A few texts later (as I was away) my friend had ordered it to be delivered to my house a day after my return.

Now often these things happen, you get them and they gather dust or look good on a shelf. However I was so enthused when I read it I managed to pass that enthusiasm on to friends. One who ordered all the books based purely on my enthusiasm.

A week on and we had session 1 booked in.

The plan.
Create characters.
Go into a cavern.
Kill some monsters.

Nice and simple to get a feel for the rules.

The big night arrived. I had got so excited I bought a set of dice for each player to use as well as 30 pencils....no time wasting on a broken tip...grab another!

Player generation went really smoothly. I used the book as reference and before the first hour was out all three characters were rolled and kitted up.

We have:
A human mage
A dwarf cleric
A elf thief

I had the players roll two sets of stat numbers and pick the ones they wanted to keep. Then assign them as they wanted.

So character creation was as easy and painless as the book felt like it would be. We didn't worry about encumbrance as they couldn't afford much!

The party started in a tavern where an old man was retelling his story of being attacked by a monster. After buying him a drink he offers them a map for a cut of the profits. The dwarf held him to 3 percent...better than nothing the man thinks and they shook on it.

Map in hand they set off the next morning on a three day hike to the cave entrance.

Remembering they had no food when they settled in for the first night they went hunting. As luck would have it they found a solitary boar. After slaying it they gutted it and sent back to feast.

During the night an ogre wandered close to camp but after rolling he was feeling friendly he just sniffed the air obviously smelling the guts off in the distance and wandered off.

The final day a hungry pack of wolves tracked the party. A wolf padded out to block the road. Realising there had been multiple howls the wizard thought to look behind them and spotted the other 3 sneaking up behind them. There was a brief scuffle that involved distracting 1 wolf with what was left of their boar jerky (I rolled he was chowing down on that for 5 rounds). They killed 2 wolves and seriously wounded the third. At this point the wounded wolf and the one who had fed on boar fled.

The party continued on to find the entrance to the caves. They entered and just as their map suggested a few feet inside was a 10ft ledge down with a rickety wooden ladder. The thief hopped on feet either side and slid down. The mage went next with a. Dex check and also nimbly climbed down. The dwarf was the final party member to confront....the ladder....

After a spectacular dex roll he panicked pushed the cliff and ended up balancing on the ladder as stilts. A second check saw him slowly begin to overbalance back. The mage decided to pitch in with a strength check. Unfortunately all he managed was to shove the bottom of the ladder causing the dwarf to fall ontop of him. 1 damage to the dwarf and 2 to the mage.

The party made camp and rested up after the traumatic start!

After a good night's rest they set off with lanterns lit. Having the map they could see all the hidey holes and an int check from the wizard had him spot what he thought was movement in a hidden part of the cave wall ahead. Pre warned the party leapt in front of the spot surprising the kobold hiding there.
They spent their free turn wagging their respective weapons in the air and looking impressive. The fight that then ensued was not pretty for the kobold.

Proceeding on and another int check from the wizard and be realises the cavern ahead has a ledge that could be a good ambush point....and kobolds love a good ambush. The wizard then decided to throw....yes throw....a candle onto the ledge...as it flies through the air it goes out, however I gave it a 5 in 20 chance..and rolled a 5...there was a grunt as the candle hit something...someone...

The dwarf being a stoic sort charges into the room to the far end where he can then run up the slope ontop of the ledge.

...ok I think the kobolds (that's what they were) are surprised, but they are ready to throw rocks at people so I'll give them a modified chance to hit the dwarf as he runs in front of them....natural 20...ok that's 1 point of damage from a rock to the head!

The dwarf charges on and summarily smashes a kobold with his mace so hard he separated the torso from the legs. His friend is a little unnerved and is summarily dispatched by the dwarf the next round.

The party re group and using the map head for a tunnel with a door. The thief has a shot at picking then locked but Ignis a type he hasn't seen before and isn't successful. The dwarf takes a run up and smashes it open only to be facing...kobolds (no one listened at the door)...

That was where session 1 ended...

We liked it so much session 2 is next week.

So we probably played a little fast and loose with the rules but on the whole we played it as they are written. The game flows well and as an RPG is great fun. I can't wait to see how the characters progress!

If you haven't tried it the rules can be downloaded in pdf for free. Grab it and have a look. If you like it the softback book cost me something like £4.22. That has rules spells monsters 4 races and 4 classes. There are more available free on the website.

Right. Next time I'm hoping will be more carnival of dreams updates!

Midderlands

So, you may not have noticed but I was a big follower of MonkeyBlood Designs Kickstarter the Midderlands.

After a fast start a slower middle and an amazing ending the Kickstarter funded. I for one can't wait to hold that book in my hands and see it complete.

I'm also hoping there will be more Midderlands content coming out. But I'm sure we will hear more about it in the coming weeks and months.

Now back to writing!

Completing an adventure

So. I'm so close to being able to playtest and release/publish the carnival of dreams that I can taste it.

However every step forwards also seems to have 2 steps backwards!I have a definitive list of what I need to do.

Pre generated character sheets are first on my list.
Then maps.
At this point it's time for play testing.
Commission the front page art.
Tidy up the layout and consistency.

Publish.....
Shout out to everyone that it is in the wild.

I figure it will come in at around 60 pages give or take. That's. A ruck load of information . Yes it's a one night adventure but the GM can use or ignore whatever they want. There is enough depth (I hope) to support less experienced GMs giving them lots to fall back on. For more experienced GMs, they can ad lib throwing in random NPC's and flexing the story to make it their own.

In the meantime while I continue on that I am waiting for MonkeyBloodDesign to start their Midderlands Kickstarter. Slated for 1st of July. Can't wait!

Till next time.

Is simplicity the key?

So. The other day I read a rather well known and popular systems SRD. I didn't get far into it before calling it quits. It looked way too much effort to be fun, and that was just to work out if I hit something. I closed it down and haven't been back.

Fast forward to today. I was playing in a Cthulu Black Hack adventure. Minimalist rules, but enough to really let you do what you want to do. The tension, the atmosphere all really build a fantastic game.

I have also in the meantime read some other OSR rule sets, or rules that people would put inside that sphere, and none of them filled me with the sort of dread the first SRD I read did.

So this evening I got to thinking, is minimalist rules they key. I'm starting notes on my second RPG adventure to publish and I think I want to follow those rules. Keep it small and tight, but let the players and GM expand it where and when necessary.

I'm still keen on the idea of a library of one night adventures. Simple to pickup and play, but with enough to them that they can be played more than once, and they will be intriguing to play through.

So there you have my musings, maybe if the simple systems got more limelight more people would see the beauty of the RPG and fall in love with the game style.

Workload and an old setting

Well. When I started this it was meant to chronicle my journey through my first ever indie published RPG. Since then everything seems to have gone pretty mental.

I am working on an adventure for a friends setting which is awesome. More on that when they have seen it and decided they are including it 😀

I have the first couple of pieces of art for the Carnival of Dreams which really set it off.

I have decided to run a new group with my local gaming group, with the first bits on that coming together. I have done a map, but I need to iron out some wrinkles before that's all ready!

At the same time one of the group has asked if we can re-visit a post civilisation downfall setting I originally started a year ago, but was mothballed when everyone sort of got caught up in real life. That one has some back story to it ... I'll post it if I can find where I put it!

In fact I just dug it out. So here for your perusal is the background history that my players asked for. I give you Re-Rio the setting.

Two hundred years ago the world was poised on the brink of greatness. Scientists were beginning to unlock all the key secrets around ageing and life. NASA had begun the first forays into space travel with key tests of a warp engine yielding positive results. 20 years on and ISIS had consolidated the Arab states under one united banner. The United States was still recovering from the economic shock of losing the Arab states oil and investment, being slowly bled dry financially as money was slowly withdrawn from their economy. Russia had moved back into a Communist state, as capitalism continued to fail to deliver food and jobs for the masses. Forced by starvation and anger at home all three major powers looked to direct that anger at external sources. The ensuing wars consumed most of the known civilised world. A computer virus known only as "The Peace Worm" had infiltrated key government systems for all three major super powers and disabled their ability to launch nuclear weapons. However their massive arsenals of conventional weapons soon laid waste to all major cities. With water purification plants and power plants targeted first the loss of power and clean water spearheaded a rapid decline in society as people turned feral fighting for the most basic of resources. Through all this some cities managed to hold onto the vestiges of science and technology. Hiding their books underground and coveting the scientists who could make things work. Rio De Janeiro managed to survive through the control of three strong families. As the politicians fled to underground bunkers the criminal overlords took control. 100 years full devolution of society was under-way. Keen to ensure their standard of living didn't decline the three main criminal societies met. No one knows the full details of that initial meeting, those have been lost in the mists of time. However there are some facts that are true to this day. The three families each took responsibility for one of the key resources (Food, Water, Energy). By doing this they ensured none of them had total power of the others, and all were reliant on the other families to survive. As the families moved forwards they consolidated their power base on the top of the old Rio Hill around Christ the redeemer. As the years passed and the families grew in number their need for servants also grew. To feed the supply of servants and to ensure they didn't get ideas above their station the families instigated the Delta project. From each generation the families selected members to be promoted into the servant classes. These were then sterilised to ensure they couldn't breed and create a new sub class. This also ensured that those in the slums always had the hope that their children, or their children's children would be promoted to the servant class with all the privileges that would entail. Each surviving city built walls to keep the wilds out. After 200 years no-one is really sure what the wilds are, but they do know they don't want them inside the walls! The surviving cities remain in communication with each other, however with all major forms of transport and the technologies that supported those gone they communicate via radio to share information. Just inside the walls are the slums. The shit pits of the city. If shit rolls down hill, and it does in Re-Rio, the slums are where it all stops. Large iron barred channels allow the shit and piss to run free of the city, the sewers and sanitation of the past long since collapsed or filled in to secure the city from everything outside. The shit pits are where the slums lie, and where most of the people who live in Re-Rio live and eke out their miserable existence. Each "layer" of the city rings the once great hill overlooked by christ the redeemer. Once a great symbol of Christianity but now a symbol of the Re-Rio uber religious Christian faction, who are police, judge, jury over all military matters. Above the slums there is a blank of no mans land. Long since scoured with flame it is kept barren as a sign of the split between the masters of this city and the poor. Several people have tried building houses in no mans land, only for swift retribution on them and their families from the Christian soldiers. Four roads lead up from the slums through no mans land to the next ring of inhabitants. This is where the servants live. Although basic they live in brick houses with basic sanitation (pipes that flow their piss and shit down into the slums) and heating that stops them falling ill and potentially passing on contagions to their masters. Upon being selected as a servant the lucky slummer is implanted with a cybernetic device called "the worm". The worm burrows into the slummers brain and integrates itself into their spinal column and nerve centres. This allows the masters from the families to deliver punishment to servants who fall below their expectations. It also acts as a tracker device that ensures that the servants never go where they are not expected. Above the servants quarters is what is called the Oasis. Ringed by a glistening white wall (kept pristine by hundreds of servants whos only job is to keep the wall clean). Although they hold the keys to technology that could replace the servants the families feel its good to keep them close at hand, to give slummers hope they may achieve something better, but once there to remind them that they are nothing more than animals there to do their masters bidding. Inside the oasis are multiple sprawling mansions with perfectly kept lawns and fountains. Each mansion is an individual palace constructed to the personal whims and fancies of the family who own it. A lot of their inspiration has been drawn from the archives that show the palaces of France and England when in their prime, with large ball rooms and huge chandeliers. Each main family mansion has what they call the key room. This is the most heavily guarded room in the mansion and allows access into the underground. Here the factories and facilities and labs that keep everything running, and the families in power are kept. Not much information is generally available on these locations. Slummers often tell myths of people being dragged off in the night and never seen again, but those are just urban myths... they hope. One thing is however certain. Re-Rios natural climate doesn't support the type of gardens and lands that the families have in place. Somehow they have access to some form of technology that allows them to keep the flowers blooming all year and the grass green. Behind the families is the ever present Re-Rio Church. No-ones sure if the church is behind the familes, or the families are behind the church. The church controls all the security and military style forces within Re-Rio. The religious order sends its warriors of the faith into the slums to protect them from themselves. Times are changing. Food seems harder to come buy. Brownouts are covering areas of the city and water doesn't seem to be as clear as it once was. The religious warriors are on the streets more, and the families are even more reclusive than they once were. However one thing is certain. Things are changing, powers are moving and no-one seems happy.

RPGs - That Player who hates them ....

So you mention playing RPGs and someone will often chime in with "oh I tried that and I didn't like it"..... now at this point I get a little stumped. But then I always loved doing RPGs.

It got me thinking, what could lead someone to not like an RPG!

How Many Times?

Like many things in life our tastes change as we mature. There may be some things that will stick with us all our lives, but there are plenty of things we didn't like when we were younger that we really dig when we get older! Sometimes people gave RPGs 1 shot and declared they didn't' like it and just like that it becomes set in stone. They don't like them and will never try again! Go on .. give it another try but bare in mind the following bits too!

The Genre

There are so many genres out there. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, Sch-Fi-Horror etc. that maybe they just played a genre they didn't like. Maybe if they tried with a totally different genre they would enjoy it? Check out all the different genres and see if you can get in on a game that your really intrigued by, or even better gets you really excited or passionate about playing the game!

The System

Just as there are many genres there are many systems. Sure lots of them share similarities in gaming mechanics, but it really is true that some people just can't get on with certain gaming systems. I'm quite agnostic, but I can see I wouldn't like a system that enforced minute detail. I prefer larger scale generic approaches to things. If you don't enjoy an RPG try some different styles of systems, you may find it was just the system holding back your enjoyment!

The Other Players

Lets be brutally honest. The group you game with is key. In a way you bare a little part of your soul to the people in that room. They get to see a part of you that no-one else will ever see. There is an almost sacred element to it. What happens on game night stays in game night! You have to not only be comfortable with the group, but comfortable enough to show elements of yourself and see others. You may not have really gelled or felt comfortable with the players when you first tried an RPG, so give it a go with another gaming group, maybe that will work for you!

The GM

Ok after the players there is also the GM. Are they out to play every little aspect of the system to try and foil you, or kill your character. Are they delaying the inevitable just long enough to really make it smart when the ogre crushes your skull. Different people enjoy different elements. Some people may enjoy an adversarial GM. Me, I like a GM who works with the players to make a fun enjoyable game. Again work out what would be best for you and make sure your getting in on a game with a GM who is going to suit your play style.

The Adventure

Ok we have the genre you like, you have a bunch of people you are cool with and a GM who wants to see you all be fantastic. But what if the adventure itself just sort of falls flat. Maybe it just doesn't capture your imagination. In my mind an average adventure is made or broken by the skills of the GM and the players round the table. They can make an average adventure awesome, and an awesome adventure mundane. But like it or love it, if you don't dig the adventure your on then your just not going to have fun. Discuss with the group what would be interesting to do adventure wise!

They Wore What?

Did everyone else turn up to that session in cloaks, swords belted to their sides and slightly crooked fake elf ears? You didn't feel comfortable with that? That's OK. There are plenty of RPG groups that don't go for the fully immersive style, but then again maybe it was the other way round. You flounced into the room and with a florid bow introduced yourself as Lorell the archer only to realise everyone else was wearing jeans and t-shirts ... that's OK too, there are plenty of groups who dig really getting into the whole scene. It is about what your really going to enjoy, so whichever style suits you, roll with it. But don't discount the game from a single bad experience.

I guess what I'm saying is ... if you had 1 bad RPG experience try and analyse why it wasn't working for you, and see if those elements can be addressed. You know, if you liked the group and GM but didn't really get the Fantasy vibe, maybe they would be happy to play a Sci-Fi campaign. Never hurts to ask, and ultimately RPGs are games, there to play and have fun.

So anyways that's what I think when someone says they don't like RPGs. Maybe next time someone says that we can all encourage them to have another go.

Adventure Creation Things you Never See: Horses

So, I'm currently on a mini break from writing Carnival of Dreams to produce another adventure. One of the things that continues to amaze me is the level of detail people will go into on RPG and adventure creation. Sometimes those little bits of realism are what makes the difference between the adventure world being believed or people struggling to accept it.

So in looking into this I wanted to find out about horses and carts, and travel times, distances and speeds. I came across this resource: http://www.lrgaf.org/guide/writers-guide.htm

What I noticed most was that this seems to be from a fairly reputable source, but also that the speeds the horses travel seem to vary from a lot of the RPG sources I could find. I found the paragraph on endurance interesting as people probably overlook weather conditions etc. as really effecting a horse. There are other items that reference the distance a horse can travel in a day, but often they omit their definition of day. Is it 9 - 5, is it sun up to sun down, all these things matter.

So there you have it, I spent some of today researching horses and some researching international spy techniques for identification of contacts, and all this for potentially a single line in an RPG to add some believably

So next time you play an RPG spare a thought for the poor soul who wrote it. They probably did a lot more research, thinking, and general writing and re-writing, than the finished product will ever let on.

The importance of proofreading

Well, after a slight hiatus from blogging I stumbled across something I thought was worth blogging.

When working on the basic information for a RPG I use a plain text editor just to get all the core information in place. I don't know whether this is the best way, but I do know that if there is a fancy widget to format tweak or do something else then I will end up procrastinating and playing with those rather than concentrating on the content.

So this evening I decided to give my document a quick initial read through. When I got to one section I found the quite interesting word "seethe" hiding amongst my text. It didn't take long for me to realise what I really wanted there was "see the" but I had somehow skipped the space, and the spell check had quite rightly allowed it through. Now on the face of it this is not a big thing, but it is the small things that make a big difference to 3rd parties reading your adventure.

Sometimes I can be reading something, and actually the content, the meaning, the ideas can be absolutely fantastic, but this can all get lost if someone leaves small errors in there. It massively detracts from the overall feel of a piece of work, which is a real shame. After spending days, weeks months or years crafting your masterpiece to allow it to fall over on something as simple as proofreading is a real shame, it can have a massive impact on how others perceive what you write.

OK by now you probably get the impression that I think that proofreading a document is a big thing, I certainly think it is a simple thing that can help your chances of people taking what you write seriously. But then there are also multiple steps (in my opinion at least).

Step 1 Read your document, read it slowly, read it thoroughly. Correct everything you spot.
Step 2 Do Step 1 again .. probably a few times.
Step 3 Now your pretty bored you are probably skipping bits you are 100% sure you have right so it is time to break the boredom. Break your work into different chunks and read them in a different order. Trust me it will help break up that boredom a bit!
Step 4 Get someone else to read it ... actually get a few people to read it. Or if you can afford it pay someone who does this professionally to read it.

Now you will have something that will be as bullet proof as you can hope to make it. Will there be mistakes in there still ... quite possibly, no-one is perfect, but it will be infinitely better for going through the process. I also find I often re-write bits while I'm proofreading as well so it is a win win all the way through.

Well there you go, all that just from seethe!

Basic RPG Map

I fancied a break so thought I would have a go at a little map. Not sure how well it has turned out but then I haven't really done a map in over 20 years.

Here it is in all its glory. The idea is a throne room ontop of a hill. Run down and derelict. A secret door leads back through a cave to a wizards tower which is hurried underground rather than towering up. A small alter to the right side and some stairs going down...No idea where.

If anyone wants to use it please do. If not we'll it is here for me to look back in years to come.

RPG Information Layout

So as I continue my first journey into indie publishing I am learning all the things we take for granted.

When I write and run an RPG for my eyes only then I'm more than happy to use little sticky notes (those small thin ones) to mark key scribbles in my pages and flick back and forth. However the more I try and get this first adventure (hopefully the first of many) ready to publish the more I find myself thinking how I would want to approach it as a third party who hasn't lived inside my head while all those ideas came to fruition.

The long and the short of it is I spent most of this evening cutting and pasting bits to rearrange the order.

Now I have something more like this:
Introduction
Background
How to create characters
Super Powers
NPCs
GM Notes
Adventure opening scene
Act1
Act2
Act3
Final scene

Each act defines the relevant locations, aspects, clues and hints and a ruck load of descriptions and GM hints.

I'm not sure if it is overkill for a one night adventure but I want to try and create something that can be played in many different ways and give GMs options to use material or ignore it as they please.

Only time will tell. As I say as long as I learn and hopefully someone out there gets to play it and have fun then it's worth it. I will take what I learn and any feedback and try and make making the next one a less painful experience!

Musings on what makes a good GM?

Well the title is a bit of a loaded question I think. There are plenty of people in this world who are prepared to tell you what's good and what's bad. There are certainly GMs that can make adventures come alive, and work a sort of magic over the room, and others who seem to struggle to get everyone bought into the adventure.

That all said the GM is only part of the equation. The players need to be prepared to help the GM as much as the GM should help the players. Everyone is investing time and energy into the game, and everyone should come out feeling like it was a positive experience. It is very easy for a GM to blame players for derailing their carefully scripted adventure, as much as it is easy for players to blame a GM for not putting on a good show.

So what does that mean for what makes a good GM? Well I don't believe for an instant there is a one size fits all. Some GMs benefit from plenty of preparation, whereas others will thrive off the ability to just ad lib and make everything more free form for the players.

So what would I say to budding GMs?

• First, never be disheartened, anyone can have a bad adventure/session and everyone has to start somewhere. 
• Dive in, find what works for you as a GM, look for compromises to allow for the best fit for you and the gaming group as a whole. 
• Don't believe you are God as you are the GM. Listen to everyone's ideas, be prepared to work with ideas you don't always like to help get everyone feel invested in whats happening. 
• Work with the group to find a style that makes the game enjoyable for everyone involved.
• Don't be proud. If something isn't working, change it!
• Try some different RPG rules and styles. Sometimes people think they will really like a setting or style only for it to just not feel right, so don't get stuck, just change!
• Expect the unexpected! You can plan for everything ... only for the players to find an all new way to send your adventure off the tracks! Be prepared to just go with it and see where it ends up!
• Most of all have fun! Your playing a game as much as the players so enjoy it!

Time allocation

Well I think I need to work on time allocation. I have specific tasks, but I am setting myself a date for having the Carnival of Dreams written up and ready to be play tested for 3 weeks time.

That is giving myself quite a tall order, but I have to get my head down and get it all written up and ready!

I have one, possibly two, people lined up to run it and feedback. If anyone reads this and would be interested just give me a shout. A free PDF copy of the entire thing once it is completed to any and all who help with play testing.

For anyone who is interested here is a brief summary.

I'm honing writing one off adventures to fill those gaps. You know the ones where not everyone turns up, or someone has a very last minute cancellation or someone new wants to just try an RPG.

To this end I'm starting by writing Carnival of Dreams, a simple one night adventure where Z list super heroes (with really quite rubbish super powers) seek a lost granddaughter in a Carnival.

I'm trying to put in as much detail and information as possible so any GM can pick and choose what they use and what they want to ignore. There are pre-generated characters (1 for each super power). The aim is after a quick read through the GM is ready to let people loose.

It is tongue in cheek, and just meant to be simple fun. There are (I hope) enough elements that the players can work through hints and clues, or just blaze through, all depending on what they decide they want to do on a whim.

I'll end this post with an example Super Power.

Sneezing

Cost: 1 Fate point
Use: Attack
Description: The hero wrinkles their nose causing a tickle to build. Closing their eyes they lean back before releasing a sneeze of epic proportions. Snot, mucus and the occasional tooth fly forwards covering everything not quick enough to get out of the way. Unfortunately their ability to control this is limited causing friend and foe to be smothered.
Effect:
For each character in front of the hero make an attack roll with a bonus of +3. Defendants use their Athletics skill to try and dodge out of the way.

Fail: The torrent of snot is wasted as the enemy nimbly avoids the attack.

Tie: Place the "my eyes" aspect on the target.

Succeeds: Apply damage as normal as the larger bogies slam home. Place the "everything is slippy" aspect on the target.

Succeeds with Style: Apply damage as normal as the larger bogies slam home. Place the "everything is slippy" aspect on the target with a free invocation.

RPG.....bike day

Well best intentions and all that!

I intended on cracking on with the RPG Carnival of Dreams. Instead I spent over an hour cleaning my motorbike wheels. A clean and chain re-tension later and she's good to go. But then it was motogp time!

Tomorrow I'm back into RPG. Nearly ready for play tests!

Stuck to my guns

Well ok sort of. I didn't boot up the machine and continue working. I did finish swords and wizardry and came up with my first idea that I really like.

I also had some thought about the next standalone RPG as well.

Other than that I sketched a little dungeon. Not perfect but a good start example.

Tomorrow I need to crack on. I'm really close to play testing!

Swords and wizardry

Well. Tonight I plan on taking a writing break. I'm going to relax and read the swords and wizardry rules. I am looking to write an adventure where they are the core rules. I can say no more on pain of sword!

I did have some ideas on my Carnival of Dreams while I was at it. My style is obviously different from the main but that's ok, that I hope becomes a selling point. My adventures can be run as standard but there is oddles more detail in there if the GM wants it. If not that's fine too! I only hope it gets played and people have fun.

Right I need food and time to read.

Tools

So to publish these days you need a pc and relevant apps. However like most RPG gamers my go to tools are pencil and paper. Pretty much all my first ideas and drafts are written down.

I'm guessing that in this world I'm not the only one who works this way.

While working on The Carnival of Dreams I'm fleshing out ideas for a second totally unrelated RPG adventure. I find it is good to have a break when working on something intensively. It also lets me throw out ideas then come back to them later on to try and sort the good from the bad.

Pen, pencil and paper. Still my first stop when getting out ideas.

RPG Gaming Systems

When I started it was D&D, Judge Dredd and Warhammer Fantasy. I got hooked back in on 5th edition D&D. Then I ran a little world of darkness adventure. I was proud of that one, brilliant world and back story.

After all of that I did some googling to see what gaming systems there are. I stumbled across the Fate Core ruleset. Originally I bought the pdf, but I liked it that much I bought the hardback copy.

At present the adventure I'm working on utilises the Fate Core rules. Ultimately I want to write adventures for different systems.

But as they say 1 thing at a time.

Well that's me blogged. Have great RPG fun everyone.