Computerized Suicide
In an attempt to preserve the honor of Microsoft, last night Vista committed seppuku, taking the entire hard drive with it. XP has been installed in Vista’s place, and Linux has finally been established on the dual-boot system.
A lot of work will go into the restoration of back-ups and previous settings, but I once again have a reliable computer and internet connection.
When A Player Doesn’t Like Their Character
From time to time, a player will be unsatisfied with the way their character is working out. Perhaps they made an error when building the character, or made a decision which is closing off possibilities now. May-be the character doesn’t fit in with the party, or the story-line for that matter. Perhaps the opportunities to contribute are too few and too far in between. Whatever the reason for it, the situation is always best dealt with directly. But how?
Kill the character.
Killing the character allows the player to immediately roll a new character and re-enter play with one that is more appropriate to the situation. Character deaths which preclude resurrection may often be the best, as many groups would try to revive their fallen comrade.
If the character is going to be killed off, it is best if the death means something - it allows the character to accomplish something in its time and not feel like a waste. The character sacrificing themselves so that the rest of the group can safely escape a situation is a classic example of how to accomplish this.
Write-Out the character.
Less drastic than killing off a character and just as effective, writing the character out of the story for a length of time allows the character to continue to exist, and perhaps be played again in the future. This option can be best if the character is not critically flawed so much as inappropriate to the current game for whatever reason.
Re-build the character.
If a character doesn’t fit in with the group or setting, it may be best to change the character so that it does fit better. Allowing the player to re-build the character, within limitations chosen by the game master, lets them continue using the character in the game but fix whatever the problem with the character is.
The PHB II spends an entire chapter discussing how to accomplish this and what can be used in game as an explanation for the change - usually a magical effect achieved at the end of a quest or from thorough training. I tend to choose the latter for minor changes - in my Dark Matter game, the players are allowed to rebuild their characters between missions; there is ample time and the Hoffman Institute provides the necessary instruction.
Change the Story.
When a character doesn’t fit in with the story or the group, it can be easy to focus in on the character as the problem and by extension as the solution. But sometimes the best solution can be to make changes to the story/campaign/game world. Look at the situation and see if there is something you can do to make the situation fit the character more neatly. Often minor changes can yield great results. A player is also likely to be more open to making the changes you want to their character if they see that you have already explored this option.
What do you do when a player doesn’t like their character?
Darwin’s World: A New Beginning
Joel began his game of Darwin’s World this last week. Brian played a telepath slaver, who used both his mental Domination ability and his slave collars to get assistance whenever needed or accumulate slaves for later use or sale. Brian possessed a slave who served as his bodyguard and driver. Erin played a genius autistic mechanic/electrician who was also handy with firearms in a fight. Erin also possesses chameleon abilities which allow her to blend in with her surroundings, becoming virtually invisible. I played a brute with claws and an exoskeleton, combined with a rend ability and horrendous strength. Following a recent accidental killing in an arena, my character had sworn off violence.
Brian and Erin were both orphans who had been taken in by my character’s father - who shared the same mutations as my character, and provided the training to Erin regarding her mechanical and electrical skills. When he learned of what happened, he gave us a vehicle and told us to flee town, to the place of my character’s birth - an enclosed dome-city called Hemisphere, which had been untouched by the nuclear wars. I was given a ring and a letter of introduction so that we could gain entry, along with a map guiding us to where we needed to go.
The vehicle we were given had only enough gas to get us half-way to our destination. Erin scoped out the town and found another vehicle, which she then began to siphon, with Brian and myself hiding nearby for back-up if needed. The owner of the vehicle stepped outside and saw Erin siphoning the gas, and began to protest when he was dominated by Brian. He was ordered not to interfere, and forget the incident after it was over. With the additional gas, we had plenty of supplies to get us to our destination.
The first night we set-up camp, and I took first watch. During my watch, a group of rabid rotting warthogs attacked us, outnumbering us two to one. We rolled horribly for the first three rounds, missing each time. Brian began dominating them and forcing them to engage each other in combat while Erin and I continued our assault along with the bodyguard NPC. Our luck turned, and our attacks began hitting. After another two rounds of the warthogs being attacked by both each other and us, they succumbed.
The next day, we continued on our journey to Hemisphere. After spotting a town along the way, we stopped to investigate. The town was quite dull and boring, with nothing really going on. In Joel’s words, “there’s a strong guy who everyone looks to for protection and a smart guy who everyone looks to for leadership.” He later revealed that this entire town was unplanned - something that was quite obvious to us at the time. Joel vowed to do more preparation for the next session.
We continued onwards, and encountered another town the next day, along with a large trade caravan from the regions largest trade organization. While we could acquire almost any piece of standard equipment here, our resources did not allow us to purchase anything. Daunted by the several hundred guards who were with the caravan, we resolved not to rob it, but to have Brian dominate one of the guards and telepathically order him to bring us some eqiupment. Brian did so, successfully, but another guard saw what was happened, and ordered him to put the equipment down. When he did not comply, he was shot dead. We quickly left the town and proceeded to Hemisphere.
We arrive safely at Hemisphere, and are stopped at the outer gates while several snipers take aim at us. A member of the Elder Council comes out and meets us, where he sees the ring and reads the note and grants us entry and rest - provided we lose the vehicle and cover up tracks. Brian released his slave and sent him off to cover up the tracks. Several soldiers from Hemisphere followed behind and covered other tracks.
We soon discover the town is quite xenophobic, and no one but the Elder’s know of the nuclear war. One of the Elder’s offers to tutor Brian in his telepathy if he returns later, an offer which Brian readily accepts. It is revealed that my character’s father was an Elder and left in search of medicine for my character’s mother, who became ill while giving birth and died soon after. My character is offered his seat on the Council and permanent residence in the town. He accepts, realizing that he will never have to fight again and will be shielded from the outside world.
Erin repairs a number of devices for the town, including generators and filters. As payment, they provided Brian and Erin with a water filter and a geiger counter. Brian and Erin make prepartions to leave, promising to return.
Over-all, Joel ran a very successful and engaging session. The primary problem was a lack of preparation on his part. He quite successfully, however, gave us an introduction to his version of the Twisted Earth and gave us an idea of what to expect in the way of twists, character interaction and threats that exist in the world. He also gave us an introduction to one of the most powerful organizations in the area.
Computer Update
Windows Vista is truly an evil beast. It regularly interrupts my internet connection, making doing anything from checking e-mail to checking forums. Out of three attempts to shut down Windows Vista, only three succeeded without the computer crashing during shut down - all applications were closed and all non-system processes had already been stopped. If anyone is ever considering using Vista, for your own sake I urge you not to. The compatability problems I’m already running into are astounding. Attempts to download a compatable version of Linux have been interesting. The first three downloads all seemed to go smoothly, until it came time to put the files onto disc. The burning process went smoothly each time, however there was an error while finalizing the disc, making it (apparently) unreadable. The fourth attempt seemed to be going smoothly right up until the download reached 101%. By the time it reached 110% and 710 MB out of 698, I cancelled the download. The fifth attempt is now underway. I fully expect to have these issues taken care of by the beginning of the week - but I also expected to have them resolved yesterday.
Updates Resuming Soon
Due to the near simultaneous death of my desktop and laptop, I have not had computer or internet access for the last several days. I have now replaced the laptop, and after resizing the partitions and installing new Operating Systems to replace Vista (a truly horrible experience that reminds me more and more of using Windows ME) normal updates should resume later tonight or tomorrow.
In the meantime, if you haven’t already check out my new column at RPGnet. This months article discusses the Origin of the Species in a fantasy world.
New Campaign Website
In preparation for my new fantasy campaign, beginning in late April, I decided to build a new campaign website where I could post and load information for the players, as well as get responses from them.
I decided to try something new this time, and installed some basic forums. There are categories for possible campaigns, official game fluff, character creation, and general discussion. After I put up the forums, I typed up a list of 50 possible campaigns they could embark on, and began typing up descriptions for each of them.
So far, it’s working out quite well. The main content of any thread is found in my first post, with later posts being updates about what was edited or updated in the original post - this makes keeping everyone up-to-date very easy.
I’m finding that, so far, using the forums seems to be a lot easier for me and my players, while being equally effective.
Weapon Focus: High Tech Riot Control
Weapon Focus: High Tech Riot Control is now available at RPGnet, and for the next week you can get it for $1.25 instead of $1.50, saving $0.25. Just click on the link to get the special discount! Discount code 65111.
For extra savings, check out the Complete Riot Control Bundle.
Weapon Focus is a PDF series exploring weapons from different sources and genres, and providing a more in-depth look at some of the most common and popular weapons, providing new feats, variations, and examples of special weapons, as well as exploring the origins of the weapons from an in-game perspective as well as the real world history of the weapon’s development and use.
Weapon Focus: High Tech Riot Control provides alternate statistics and rules for the use of weapons designed to non-lethally subdue opponents.
Stats are included for Netguns, ADS Rifles and Grenades, Dazzlers, Non-lethal Sting Grenades and Flashbang Grenades, solidifying Foam and Sonic Weaponry.
Weird Gamers
A thread was recently re-opened on RPGnet, where players swapped disgusting gamer stories. Reading them, they’re sometimes hilarious, sometimes depressing, usually disgusting and always interesting. I don’t have any disgusting gamer stories of my own, but I do have a few experiences with gamers that can be described only as weird.
One such gamer, we’ll call him Hank, always existed at the periphery of my high school gaming group - he had introduced our GM to gaming, and had gamed with him for years before our group formed. Occasionally, he’d sit in for one session or come by and run a one-night game, usually of a system and setting he had himself created. Hank seemed normal enough at first, and I discounted his strangeness as awkwardness due to being around new people and under-developed social skills - neither of which I considered unusual high school gamer-geeks.
One of the things that kept Hank out of group in the long run was his involvement in several LARPs, which proved to provide ample schedule conflicts. After my experience with the Cthlhu LARP, I was open to trying new things in gaming. Hank helped me prepare my character for the Vampire: The Masquerade game, explained the different clans and breeds of vampires and the current set-up of the group. After character creation, I was feeling pretty good about my character’s build and personality, and I looked forward to the game.
I arrive at the game, quasi-dressed as my character and with whatever props I had on hand - I had no problem diving into the game, but I wasn’t about to invest money in it until I’d played it and was sure I’d be playing it regularly. Among the props I brought were a pocket watch, a metal flask and a metal cigarette case. I arrive at the game and begin mingling with people out of character, introducing myself and trying to do my best to learn everyone’s name.
Among the twenty-five people there, there were three Story Tellers present - apparently two less than normal. After some time of mingling, one of the STs comes into the room and announces to everyone that the local nursing home had been robbed and several people were shot and killed. Apparently this was the start of the game.
As the game commences, I am grouped with ten or so other players who are attacking or defending something. The details were never clear to me, but bad-guys from a specific clan were unloading from a helicopter and attacking us. Several ridiculous feats of vampire strength and several thrown cars later, the bad guys have been beaten. I am told I am to call the others on the phone and tell them what happened. I explain that I am unclear on exactly what happened, and the players and STs proceed to feed the explanation I am to deliver, as I deliver it, line-by-line.
Realizing that I am not going to be clued into what’s going on, and thus I’ll be unable to roleplay my character with any accuracy, I retreat into the corner and drain the bit of vodka that was still in my flask from it’s last outing. Eventually, I am assigned baby-sitting duty for a little girl, which occupies my time for the rest of the evening.
At the end of the night, Hank, as one of the STs, talks to me about my character and informs me that he’s been promoted to the local head of his clan. After the massive reward with no involvement and no actual gameplay, I vowed never to return.
At this point, Hank is only a bad gamer and not a weird person. Years go by before I see him again, and I learn that despite being in his late twenties, he now dates high school girls on a regular basis and still lives in his parents basement. He listens to only German metal music, and works at a book store exclusively for the discounts provided on geek supplies.
On one trip to the book store, I was unlucky enough to be cornered by Hank and roped into a conversation about the new games he’s building. The newest one that he was most excited about was “like a cross between Magic and poker, but there are event cards like in Monopoly.” The following twenty minutes of the conversation always remind me of something Captain Picard once said, “He kept talking in one long incredibly unbroken sentence, moving from topic to topic so that no one had a chance to interrupt.” Unfortunately, the conversation never left his new card game.
Hank doesn’t approach J.C. in weirdness. J.C. was a Convention Troll, going to every convention he could find in hopes of meeting new people and getting to play in games. If you go to any of his conventions, you probably know him - he looks like Malcolm McDowell in Star Trek Generations, if he were twenty years older and suffering from Alzheimer’s. J.C.’s approach was enough to scatter a table of people in the middle of the game. I once found out why, when he managed to strike up a conversation with me.
J.C. : “Do you wanna play in my game later on? It’s a cross of Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, Blade Runner, Battlestar Galactica, the original and the remake, Dune, Terminator, and Doctor Who.”
Me: “Uhhhhhhhhhhh”
J.C. : “It’s all perfectly legal! I did it using GURPs!”
Me: “Yeah, no thanks man.”
Later at the same convention, I would walk up to a gather game table and nodded at the hex map on the table.
Me: “Third edition DnD?”
J.C. (previously unseen): “No. We’re playing three point five.”
I took the opportunity to scurry away.
Honorable Mention to the M’Ladies Man, the West Point Orc, and The Judge.
Got any good weird gamer stories?
An Open Letter To Wizards
Dear Wizards,
As long as I can remember, RPGs have been a part of my life. Like many other people, for me when RPGs come up in a conversation, there is one particular game which must be mentioned by name: Dungeons and Dragons.
The last few years have been hard. The Transformers, Silver Surfer, Spider-man 3, Alien Versus Predator 2 just to name a few especially rough patches. As time goes on, it feels like more and more treasures from my childhood are being dug up and defiled.
But through it all, there has been Dungeons and Dragons. When I embarrassed myself in public? DnD didn’t care. After my hotel reservation in Philadelpia was lost, and I had no-where to stay? DnD was there. DnD has always been there.
But now, I’m starting to get worried. It feels like you don’t care about DnD anymore. You’re moving all the content online, talking about subscription fees, you’re cutting away at the OGL, and worst of all, you’re making it near impossible to get any news about DnD. More and more of us don’t bother to go to you for information anymore because you keep making us watch videos and listen to podcasts instead of just answering us.
Even though everyone is going over to Morris’ house, DnD is still invited to the party. DnD has always been there, and always will be. But I’m scared, Wizards, because I feel like you don’t care. And everyone of those childhood memories I mentioned? They were all defiled by people who just didn’t care.
Please, Wizards. Re-assure me.
Thanks, Wizards
When I was reading through Google Reader this morning, I saw that Wizards had posted a new question and answer regarding the SRD and the OGL for 4e.
“Will the sequels to PHB, MM, and DMG also be included under the OGL and SRD?” A simple question, which should have a simple and straight forward response.
Yet after clicking on the link, and then hunting around the new page for the real link, I discover that the answer to the question is being offered only in video form.
Do you not want us to get details about 4e, Wizards? Do you realize that most of us don’t want podcasts and videos as the only way to get news and product updates? Just TELL US!
Update: It turns out that the future releases will indeed be part of the OGL.
