Cha'altian Session Reports

 

I was able to squeeze two virtual sessions in this week.

Both were on Roll20 (I gave a couple other platforms a shot, but quickly got confused and abandoned my quest for an alternative), 90 minutes, text only, 18+ (even though we never got to explore anything sexual or erotic... hey, it happens!).

The 90 minute structure is something I'm extraordinarily familiar with.  A lot of people don't like it.  I receive a decent amount of criticism for running shorter sessions.  All I can say is that if you have 5 kids and a day job, then you know how difficult it is to carve out 4 hours on a weekly or even bi-weekly schedule.

Both sessions involved exploring a network of tunnels and caves.  Another similarity is that both sessions had two players by the end.  I accept random drop-ins, so that's to be expected.  People are flaky on the internet.

For those curious, I usually don't have anything specific in mind when constructing these maps.  I just start drawing.  Automatic drawing is a technique invented by Austin Osman Spare.  I've forgotten more than I remember about him, and don't think scribbling lines via my mouse counts as a magical act, but it is part of the greater whole.  And I do view my current roleplaying sessions as magic rituals.

As usual, I gazed upon the Kort'thalis meta-sigil as I prepared for my sessions.

Before I get into more detail, here's a list of guidelines that have appeared out of play...

• If a player has not chosen a race for his character, I'm just going to assume he's human.
• If a player suddenly disappears, the GM (me) will roleplay his character - assuming there's a small party of adventurers.  It's not fair to a pair of adventurers who go in a dangerous environment when they believed there were three of them.  If the party wouldn't miss a character, then I occasionally describe his gruesome death as that abandoned PC steps in a trap or fiddles with sorcerous runes discovered on a cave wall.
• Engagement is crucial!  With noobs, I'm constantly inviting them to take part in the action, make decisions.  "While the thief is scouting up ahead, what is Ba'ab doing?" Stuff like that.
• If players make leaps of logic, I'll usually let the first one or two go, but then will quickly put the kabosh on that stuff when it seems less likely and/or taking advantage.  For instance, Vindl, a thief cyborg wanted to use the phosphorescent fungi in the cave system for energy, and be able to turn his mechanical arm into a blaster.  So, I said sure.  But shortly after he wanted to construct a shield out of scales picked off a dead creature.  I told him it would take time and the proper tools.

Halfway through the second session, I took over the missing player's character, Ja'ay the demon warrior.  Every GM worth his essential salt knows that GM NPCs shouldn't overshadow the actual PCs.  So, I used Ja'ay as an interesting background character, spurring action like taking one tunnel over another when the PCs couldn't make a decision.  Precious minutes ticking away.

The second session was the first game after vocalizing my theory... the GM's paradigm should make its presence known every single encounter!  While I've been doing that, more or less, unconsciously for years, this session I consciously looked for opportunities to make the game's reality feel more eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, and post-apocalypse.  Did it change the session dramatically?  No, I don't think so.  But going back and observing the session a day later, I'd say consciously trying to infuse my chosen paradigm into every single encounter improved immersion and the game in general by about 5-10%.

Going back to the first session, the couple of PCs were too intimidated to fight the giant Lovecraftian spider things in their network of tunnels and caves.  You know me, I'm all about quick and easy minimal rules.  So, each PC incurred an attack of opportunity whenever they ran past the creature in order to evade it.  I think that worked well.  It happened a couple of times and each time one PC was wounded.

Oh yeah, I got to use my Eldritch Hit Location table over on my SubscribeStar page (publicly available). I think the players got a kick out of slashing or bashing large, scaly rodents in the umthra'ax.  I'll need to use it once or twice more before seeing the true value of something like that.

I don't want to ruin the endings of either adventure because I like running the same adventure (with small variations each time) with different players.  Both were fun, though!

As sometimes happens with my open and welcoming drop-in approach to running sessions, I popped someone's roleplaying game cherry.  That player had never played before, and somehow wound up at my virtual table.  Introducing people to the hobby is definitely a highlight of my weird journey.

Will probably run another session or two next week now that ALL KICKSTARTER CHA'ALT BOOKS HAVE BEEN MAILED OUT TO BACKERS!!!  Yes, I finally got to the end, and it feels fantastic.  Gonna make the most of my free time - it's all about playing, well mostly about playing.  I'd say at least 85%.  Writing and designing game mechanics and such is absolutely worthwhile, but creating a world through the act of roleplaying is something that's above and beyond the background construction.

Last night, I tweeted something out that seemed profound at the time when I was not totally baked.  I'd like to share it here.

"Creating tales of pulp sword-and-sorcery is all that is."

That's it.  That's the tweet.  Lol.  Focusing on that, while leaving all the peripheral bullshit fiddle-faddle outside, will restore your faith in this hobby.  And that's something I believe is in short supply.  

Being part of the magic, fashioning awesome stories of wizards, warriors, dungeons, and dragons will get you closer to PSYCHOCOSM than worrying about campaign lore, balanced encounters, extensive PC backgrounds, the unfairness of monsters critting, and "racist" flying squirrel-monkeys in space.

Lose yourself in the fantasy, and that becomes reality.  

VS

p.s. My new Kickstarter campaign for Encounter Critical III just got approved, so will launch that early next week (probably Tuesday).  

Dead Poet Dungeon Master

 

Today, I'm blogging about the "sweaty-toothed madman" technique of adventure writing.  

Don't bother googling it, I just made that shit up... but not out of thin air.  

I fondly remember watching the movie Dead Poet Society in 1989.  Very relatable since I was, and still am, an anti-authoritarian creative writer.

So, what's this sweaty-toothed madman technique about?  Sometimes, saying (or writing) the first thing that comes into your mind is a winning strategy.  Game Masters who love coming up with details on the spot do this all the time.  Maybe they filter out the more ridiculous notions, maybe not.

Let's take an example - a black box.  The PCs have it in their hot little hands.  They want to open it, and you (as GM), don't have a clue what's in there.  Now what?

The safe option is to stall for time until you can think of something suitably interesting.  Perhaps, the black box doesn't open right away... or skeevers attack just as the thief pries the lid to have a peek.

However, if you want to come up with something off-the-wall and possibly inspired, say the first thing that comes to your mind.

In the following scene, Keating (Robin Williams at his best) coaxes something from one of his students, Todd.

Keating: A picture of Uncle Walt [Whitman] up there, what does he remind you of, don't think, answer.

Todd: A madman.

Keating: What kind of madman?

Todd: A crazy madman.

Keating: No, you can do better than that, free up your mind, use your imagination, say the first thing that pops into your head, even if it's total gibberish, go on, go on.

Todd: A sweaty-toothed madman.

Keating: Good God boy, there's a poet in you, after all.  There, close your eyes, close your eyes, close 'em, now describe what you see.

Todd: I close my eyes...

Keating: Yes.

Todd: And this image floats beside me.

Keating: A sweaty-toothed madman with a stare that pounds my brain.

Keating: Oh, that's excellent, now give him an action, make him do something.

Todd: His hands reach out and choke me.

Keating: That's excellent, wonderful, wonderful.

Todd: And all the time he's mumbling.

Keating: What's he mumbling?

Todd: Mumbling truth, truth like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold. [laughter]

Keating: Forget them, forget them, stay with the blanket, tell me about the blanket.

Todd: you push it, stretch it, it will never be enough, you kick at it, beat it, it will never cover any of us.  From the moment we enter crying to the moment we leave dying, it will just cover your face, as you wail and cry and scream.

Keating: [Whispering to Todd] Don't you forget this.

[For mobile devices, you may not see a video...Click here, instead]

Indeed, we all have something inside of us worth a great deal.

So, that's it, essentially.  Closing your eyes isn't necessary, but letting your imagination flow is.  The results don't always produce great things; however, the sweaty-toothed madman technique occasionally beats the pants off everything else.  

I don't remember mentioning Dead Poet Society in my book How To Game Master Like A Fucking Boss, but it's possible.  If I have time, I'll take a gander later today.

VS

p.s. I've got luxury hardcovers of Cha'alt: Fuchsia Malaise for sale.  Ordering details right over here!