The Influence of Other Games

Ironically, it was my wife who suggested I find someone else's game to play in.  It's ironic because she would prefer it if I had no life at all beyond staying home and raising our two young daughters.  That's her calling, Dread Cthulhu bless her, reluctant some days as she might seem.  She suggested the idea because I've been working like the dickens to find interested, reliable, and available players for my own weekly roleplaying game.  Sometimes it works out, lately it hasn't.

So, that's what I did.  I went to a traditional (old school) RPG meetup at my not-too-far-away game store.  Didn't know what to expect, but I did know that any momentary trepidation was just the newness of the experience and needed to be overridden.  It was fun; it was different.  Different because it wasn't me behind the screen running the game.  I got a chance to experience Empire of the Petal Throne.  A fascinating setting.  And, if my wife doesn't strongly object, I'll keep coming back.

That difference is part of what made it important.  Besides having the opportunity to play and making contacts in order to fill my table at home, playing in another Dungeon Master's game gave me a fresh perspective.  Good, bad, or weird... games influence each other.  That influence keeps one's game world from remaining in a vacuum, giving it new life and energy.

Of course, sometimes it's better to resist outside influences, to keep our subjective vision uncorrupted.  After all, we don't want D&D to become too homogenous or standardized.  That way lies sanity - the opposite of madness.  And madness, if you think about it, is where many of us want to go - into that unknown abyss of black secrets and dreams, deep down within gaming's sorcerer-demon soul.  Nevertheless, all Masters of the Game will benefit from playing every once in awhile.

VS

Unexpected Encounters #2

The Mauve Sphere

This could be in a dungeon, tower, keep, ruin, fortress, cavern, wizard's abode, or even the wilderness.  Adventurers see a pale lavender ball, 1' in diameter, floating in the air about 5' off the ground.  There's a subtle glow about it.  When engaged in conversation, it slowly and silently drifts closer to whomever is speaking.  Simply touching a sphere does nothing, except provide a strange physical sensation.

The Mauve Sphere is an intelligent creature with almost no way of communicating with those not of its race.  However, this lavender ball is quite sociable and will stay near those who seem friendly, though it can only move at about half the rate of the slowest party member.  If one of them befriends an adventurer, then it will happily travel with him or an entire party.  Mauve Spheres who realize their traveling companions are in serious trouble will do what they can to either protect their favorite creatures or absorb a particularly devastating opponent (assuming they haven't eaten within 24 hours).

These beings have only one known attack: the magical absorption of a single creature into its sphere-body.  Witnesses claim that victims touched by a preying sphere turn black, then dark purple, then violet and keep getting lighter in hue until reaching the sphere's coloring.  Unfortunately, no one can say exactly how the victim gets inside the sphere.  Each occurrence is preceded by a lightning bolt explosion followed by a cloud of dust and ash.  The victim appears within the sphere for a few minutes before absorption process is finished.

Absorption occurs once per day, and not again until 24 hours have passed.  Mauve Spheres can go a week without nourishment.  They tend to pick their meals based upon the temperament and affability of those around them.  Generally, the most hostile in a group are chosen over others.

Mauve Spheres are born of another world; their semi-translucent pale lavender surface cannot be harmed by non-magical weapons... even magical weapons and spells result in minimal damage.  A dimensional weapon such as a phase sword is required to slay these glowing balls.

They carry nothing with them; any treasure to be had would consist only of their remains.  A sorcerer might pay a couple hundred gold pieces for a Mauve Sphere corpse in good condition.
___


Thanks for reading and commenting.  Let me know if you use such an encounter in your game!

VS

You can't put your wizard miniature in the same dungeon crawl twice!

Ok, first off, this is a brand new post.  Not one I transferred from the old new RPG blog.  So, the area around the text should be the same color as the actual blog background.  Yay!

Man, when is the New World Order going to take over and fix everything?  Shouldn't incompatibility be a non-issue in 2013?  Fuck the idea of Google or one giant corporation taking over.  No, that's not what I want.  That's not what 99% of us want.  However, I believe that an overriding system or authority or mandate will eventually manifest which saves our collapsing sociocultural infrastructure from being crushed by its own weight, as well as, blasting all the parasitic assholes which hasten our collective soul annihilation into space.  Who's with me!?!

Anyways, on to today's post.  It's an informal response to a blog post I read the other day:

http://jrients.blogspot.com/2006/09/how-to-awesome-up-your-players.html

I commented at the bottom of the author's post.  It has to be moderated first, but basically this is what I said (expanded upon here):  Not only is there no "one right way" to run a game, there isn't even a way that works 100% of the time for one group.  Things need to be changed up every so often or stagnation takes hold; ruining the game on a micro level and potentially ruining the entire hobby on a macro level.

Gaming methodologies require evolution or else they become prisons.  Even a nice, comfortable prison with curtains that serves your favorite kind of tea is still a prison.  Break out!  Do something different.  All those people railing against Jeff's blog post, as well as, those supporting him, will eventually have to alter their game's modus operandi or deal with the consequences.

Just as you cannot put your hand in the same river twice, a Dungeon Master cannot make the Player-Characters struggle throughout an entire campaign just to amass a couple hundred gold pieces or a measly +1 sword.  Not unless you want the fun to flag, the novelty to wear off.  The same goes for session after session filled with easily-won riches and power.  Where's the unexpected?  Do you know about the law of diminishing returns?  Once might be awesome, but the hundredth time means death for your campaign, DM.  Change things up before it's too late.

Would you want to see the exact same TV show (more or less) every year?  Hells no!  Even with a couple variations here and there, that would still get super boring, right?  I'm sure players feel the same way when each campaign begins and ends pretty much like the last one, and the one before that, and the one before that, etc.

So, how does an enterprising DM keep things interesting?  He shifts gears.  If the PCs were struggling in the last campaign, then spoil them in the next one.  If it was magic and artifact poor, then make this campaign overflowing with the stuff!  Did all the characters begin the game as lowly peasants?  Well, make them lords now!  Of course, a certain level of challenge must be inherent in every adventure.  That isn't what you're taking away - you, self-aware old school Dungeon Master, are altering the way your PCs are challenged.

It all comes back to non-standardization.  It's so easy to codify rules and settings and ways to run a game.  Create a mold that works and keep mass producing campaigns based on that mold.  Makes sense - maybe it even saves time... nevertheless, it's antithetical to the Old School Renaissance [OSR].  Fresh, imaginative, revolutionary ideas are the lifeblood of old school gaming.

I'm not just talking about throwing a new monster into the dungeon or allowing access to a new spell.  That's OSR for noobs!  I'm talking about occasionally (if not frequently) retooling your whole approach to running the game and campaign creation.  This is not easy.  This is not quick.  And sometimes it's not very much fun, either.  Which is exactly why the OSR relies so heavily on community.  At the roots of the word "community" is the notion of sharing.  There are literally thousands of fascinating D&D concepts out there in cyberland which are utterly alien to you and your particular style of play.  Some of those concepts, such as going diceless or setting a campaign in Carcosa, might scare you.  That's ok.  Besides frightening us, exploration of the unknown is supposed to be fun, too, right?  After all, we Dungeon Masters send wizards, warriors, and thieves down into the bowels of the earth to encounter God knows what!

So, take some chances.  Don't just game awesome... game eldritch!  Oh, and let the OSR community hear about your results.  That keeps the OSR movement growing.

Framing this post in conclusion, I long for standards without the mistake that is standardization... just as I hope humanity achieves self-actualization via benevolent force in the next couple decades.  What I'm talking about is the Third Side.  Not black, not white, nor grey... but green!

Agree?  Hate my guts?  Don't know WTF I'm talking about?  Leave a comment!


Venger Satanis
Grognard de Noir

Scrambling for Truth

I ran the 6th session of our Dungeon Crawl Classics / (A)D&D game last night.  Even though there were only a couple guys who showed up, I was still of the mind that THE GAME MUST GO ON!!!  Years ago, I probably would have just cancelled the session if there weren’t at least three players.  But not these days.  Gaming time is too valuable now that I’m married with children (cue the Sinatra).

So yeah, it was awesome.  We were midway through an old school renaissance indie module called “Within the Radiant Dome” by Geoffrey McKinney.  Since the other guys were absent (one was sick, the other busy) I decided to test drive my D&D reference chart of random awesomeness…

It worked well.  I let it be known that strange dimensional anomalies were happening within the radiant dome.  Rooms, corridors, and caves could move of their own accord.  So, all the rolling before they opened that next door or sneaked through the next cavern made sense.

With the reference, there was just enough information to set the scene.  I read a brief description while occasionally adding a few bits of flair from off the top of my imagination.  For the next three hours, the party encountered a lot of unusual mixed with routine stuff.  For instance, a scouting party of Drow investigating a rust-colored alien plant creature in this giant cavern.  And then there was one of my favorites: a tribe of mutated Yellow-Men festively prostrating themselves before their lethal divinity – a badass magic sword!  And the gemstone rolling – craziness!  It took about ten minutes to learn about the gems their characters made off with.  But believe me, both players enjoyed the discovery process!

I also decided to take Unexpected Encounters #1 for a spin.  You can find that as an earlier post on this blog.  Worked like a charm – even the Devil-Spiders!  It was definitely something different.  The exact type of stuff which had been missing from my D&D 4th edition game over two years ago, as well as, several roleplaying sessions with 3rd and 3.5.

And yet… I don’t know how many other Dungeon Masters experience this, but no matter how prepared I am or how well things are going… I still have moments of uncertainty, of doubt.  Like a couple hours before game time, every once in awhile, I’ll have a few seconds of panic, thinking to myself “What am I doing?  Soon, I will be sitting at a table with a bunch of other grown men attempting to collectively tell a story of knights and wizards and purple wyrms as if I’m the head God of this illusory realm.  Is this utter silliness?  No, of course not.  It’s a hobby.  Gaming is fun!  Ok, assuming it isn’t too silly to throw myself into the role of DM (or head-God)… could I accept such a huge responsibility?”

In those moments, it feels like I’m scrambling for truth because the entire world rests upon our collective shoulders – especially mine.  Yes, roleplaying games are fantasy (or scifi, horror, comic book super heroes, etc.).  Obviously, there are going to be times when the world we’re building seems less real than it could be.  Or extremely real… but squirming out of control.  Multiple imaginations focused on a singular concept is a potentially powerful thing.  It’s the act of creation.  Order out of chaos!

Last night, instead of letting those brief nagging doubts get to me, I simply pushed on through with a firm decision (or a roll and then a firm decision) to the other side.  ”For the next few hours”, I said to myself, “this is my reality”.  I chose to be awesome and to DM awesome as well.  And that made all the difference.

Can you relate?  Comment below with some of your personal stories at the game table.  Is it always smooth sailing or are you occasionally plagued with doubts about the session or your abilities?  Thanks for reading!

Venger Satanis

Grognard de Noir

Unique Magical Auras

Adventurers find magic items.  It happens regularly – at least your players hope it does!  The Old School Renaissance dictates (suggests?) that Dungeon Masters provide some inventiveness, some imagination when describing new found items.  Of course, not every wand, sword, or pair of gloves the adventurers stumble upon is going to be entirely unique.  However, it never hurts to throw in a few words which seem fresh to the characters, as well as, the players.  It heightens that feeling of the unknown.  To me, that’s the heart of old school fantasy gaming.

Use the following list to (randomly) choose a unique aura for the next magic item the adventurers come across.  They see…

1)  a magical aura of some bizarre hue… orange lavender with gold flecks.

2)  a swirling magenta midnight field of energy.

3)  undulating patterns of vibrant crimson illumination.

4)  a dark array of demon-haunted faces screaming in both ecstasy and torment.

5)  spectral green ichor oozing over its surface.

6)  a subtle violet glow accompanied by the sound of ominous droning.

7)  visions of a man with horns and bone-white flesh clothed in dark robes.  With yellow eyes, he stares into a yawning abyss as if waiting for something to emerge from the empty blackness.

8)  shimmering waves of azure flowing in and out of reality, betwixt this world and several others.

There they are – eight non-standard magic item auras.  Go forth and standardize no more!  Also, be sure to mention those auras (even if it’s just a single aspect) the next time it’s used.  Calling back to the original details will strengthen the vitality of your game.  If you occasionally struggle (as I do) with remembering that a certain description goes with a certain item, then do yourself a favor – write down a little cheat sheet and keep it next to your adventure notes for easy reference.

Feedback time!  Is this the kind of thing you’re likely to use in a game?  If so, please let me know by commenting.  Also, don’t be afraid to share this post (and blog) with others!

Venger Satanis

Grognard de Noir

Unexpected Encounters #1  ~  The Time Piece

Standing before the adventurers, along the western wall, is a large floor clock (what we’d call a grandfather clock).  It’s old with faded, warped wood broken in places and covered in cobwebs and dust.  The clock’s unmoving face has a hair-line crack.

Careful search reveals two secret compartments.  The first, down towards the base.  The second, on the upper right side.

1.  Within is a small but long, dark wooden box.  It looks untouched by the ravages of time.  This diminutive box opens easily, revealing a 6″ doll… a man wearing dark plum velvet robes with teeny-tiny gilded symbols etched upon it.

Flopping around, the intricate detail, and feel of its flesh… dear Gods!  Upon closer inspection, it’s clear that this isn’t a doll at all but a shrunken person.  There’s no sign of life remaining in the shrunken man’s limp body.

2.  The second compartment conceals a scroll.  Not a spell, but yellow, flaky parchment scrawled with ink.  It reads, “I hereby bequeath my time piece to you, Arkebeezer.  By right, it should be yours as you were the last wizard standing.  If the Old Gods yet gaze kindly upon us, the race who built it are long dead.  May their loathsome, spidery ways rot in all nine circles of Hell.”

If the ornate, black hands of the clock’s face are moved in a particular direction, a temporal distortion is created.  This could be anything from a few minutes ago to untold centuries.  Adventurers messing about with it should be in for a surprise.  The Dungeon Master may roll, if he chooses…

1)  1,600 years ago

2)  900 years ago

3)  200 years ago

4)  1 year ago

5) an hour ago

6) an hour from now

7) a year from now

8) 300 years from now

Regardless of the temporal distortion, there’s a 33% chance that a trio of giant Albino Arachnid Devils come crawling forth upon a spider web stretching throughout all of space and time.

Initiative: +6  HD: 7  HP: 42  AC: 13  #Attacks: 1  Attack: +9  Damage: 2d6 + poison (shrinks victim down to 6″ if saving throw failed)  Special: 20% of Albino Arachnid Devils have psionic abilities.  No treasure; however, they are extremely knowledgeable – especially about inter-dimensional travel.

___

Is this the kind of thing you like?  If so, comment!

Venger Satanis

Grognard de Noir

Feels like the first time

Yes.  Yes, it does.  I remember the first time my D&D character walked upon the Dark Sun sands of Athas.  The first time a character licked blood from an evil blade.  The first time my Half-Orc rogue shot an arrow through that NPC’s throat as a sneak attack, killing him outright… even though he was supposed to tell us where to go and what we were supposed to do that night.  Aged gamers, like myself, are far from virgins; however, the spray of gore still feels fresh, not to mention wet, upon bearded face!

To go with my renewed lust for pen and paper tabletop roleplaying games, I have a recently created youtube channel and, now, a new blog.  This one.  During the last couple weeks, I was thinking of creating a new website to hold all my ideas and passionate musings on setting, character creation, the sword & sorcery genre, “official” vs. home-brewed rules, as well as, the activity of roleplaying itself – what actually happens when we sit around a table with friends, collectively imagining ourselves as different people existing in a world not our own.

As luck would have it, a poker friend of mine, Brent West, discovered this Empower Network thing.  He blogged about poker.  It looked like something I might be interested in, so I jumped in with flashing blades and a cold, dark fury in my eyes.  Here I am.  This is my new blog.  I’m paying for it right now, but soon… it will be paying for me.

Gah!  Damn you, Empower Network, internet pyramid schemes, and my own foolishness!  Damn you all to Hell!!!  Continuing on...

So, keep coming back to see my daily posts on all things RPG.  Reviews, rumors, and dread ruminations!  I’m mainly focused on old school fantasy D&D type stuff right now because it’s what I’m currently running on Saturday nights… Dungeon Crawl Classics, AD&D, and everything related.  However, I love other games from my nostalgia tinged youth like Vampire, Paranoia, Call of Cthulhu, and Star Wars (especially West End Games’ d6).  I’ll get to play, run, and write about those, too, I’m sure.  All in good time.

Venger Satanis

Grognard de Noir

Who is the Grognard de Noir Venger Satanis?

I’ll make this extremely brief.  I’m an outsider with a weird vision.  This website serves multiple roles.  The one I’m focusing on has to do with a magenta box given to me in the early to mid eighties.  A warrior and sorceress are fighting off some aquatic Dragon creature in a dungeon.  Need I say more?

I was born the year Dungeons & Dragons was created: 1974.  It’s in the stars and in my blood.  If you love it, dear reader, then more power to you, but 4th edition and the current trends of gaming make me want to puke.  I’m a dinosaur… old school.  I consider myself to be an ancient, black guardian of roleplaying past, present, and future.

Stick with me, and I’ll show you another place, another time… another reality to which our mundane existence can’t hold a torch.

Venger Satanis

Grognard de Noir