#RPGaDay2015 - 2nd - Kickstarted Game

It's August 2015, and to follow on with the success of last year's #RPGaDay event, David Chapman at Autocratik has created a new list. Each day in August, I'll be posting my "answer" to that day's topic.

I had a tougher time with this subject than one might expect—Kickstarter game most pleased I backed. I've decided on presenting a tie: Mermaid Adventures and East Texas University (ETU). As you might guess, there's a story for each.

Mermaid Adventures is a great kids game about... Mermaids! There are several cool things about it—the system is fun, it's written by my good friend Eloy Lasanta at Third Eye Games—but the main reason this one's special is that my daughter playtested it when she was eight. Consequently, I ended up running a lot. When it came time for the survey when I backed it, I did so in her name.

When Pinnacle Entertainment did their Kickstarter for Deadlands: Noir, I skipped it. I was feeling a little burned out on Deadlands and Savage Worlds at the time. To this day, it is "the Kickstarter that got away" for me. Aside from being a great game, it's one of the best values to ever grace Kickstarter. I haven't missed a Pinnacle Kickstarter since.

That in mind, there's no way I would have missed the ETU Kickstarter. I have always loved 12 to Midnight's Pinebox setting. What's more, ETU was announced in (I think) 2008, and I've literally wanted it since then. To this day it is the Kickstarter I've backed for the most money ($80), and, like Deadlands: Noir, it was a great value.

#RPGaDay2015 - 1st - Forthcoming Game

It's August 2015, and to follow on with the success of last year's #RPGaDay event, David Chapman at Autocratik has created a new list. Each day in August, I'll be posting my "answer" to that day's topic.

I don't know how to say this without sounding like I'm bragging. I'll just have to ask you to trust me on this one. The RPG I'm most looking forward to hasn't been announced yet. I believe it will be later today at Gen Con, but I learned about it over dinner several weeks ago. There's no way I'm scooping it, which would not only be a betrayal, but it would build me a reputation as a guy publishers can't talk to about their games.

That said, thebig announcements, and maybe that means this would have been a better question for August 3rd or 4th, rather than the 1st.
question got me thinking about how the whole concept of "forthcoming" has changed. Does a PDF release with a preorder for a physical book count as forthcoming? I think the people who only sell PDFs would differ with that definition. Then there's Kickstarter, which is really a preorder system for many gamers, combined with a bit of gambling if you ask me. Gen Con is still the main place to get all the

What do you think?

Theater of the Savage Mind, Part Two - Templates

In this series, I'm writing deeper rules concerning theater of the mind play in Savage Worlds. Think of these blog posts as drafts. These are not heavily playtested, simply a distillation of things I've been doing on the fly in my home games. Really they're suggestions that I'm hoping will create a conversation that leads to a final document that I, and those interested, will be able to use in their games. 

As I've said before, the Savage Worlds Deluxe "Games Without Miniatures" rules didn't go far enough for my tastes. Specifically, I mentioned that the Template conversion rules were merely a "good start." I'll be tackling those specific rules this week.

I think the rules, as is, are pretty good honestly. Though I'm willing to bet that people who use them forget that adjacent allies get hit automatically unless there's a raise scored and that the cover and diving for cover rules should still apply. I think the main reason has to do with a weakness of theater of the mind, and that's just keeping track of who is adjacent to whom.

To me the obvious answer is to use tokens (or minis) of some sort to track adjacency. In this way, players and GMs with area of effect attacks have an easy reference. Unrelated to AoE attacks, this method will also help in keeping track of Gang-Up. That said, I know full well there are GMs who can keep this sort of thing in their head. I'm simply not one of them, and honestly there's no guarantee everyone at the table have the same gift.

The one actual rules tweak missing from the Template conversion rules is the chance for a character to get hit by their own AoE attack. The solution here is pretty simple—tie it to the dice. If a player rolls Snake Eyes on their attack, they and anyone adjacent get hit. As an option, this can be extrapolated further using the Template sizes as a guide:

• SBT - acting character, plus adjacent allies
• MBT - acting character, another non-adjacent acting character, plus all adjacent
• LBT - acting character, two additional non-adjacent acting characters, plus all adjacent

For a thrown weapon, cover and diving for cover rules apply. For a propelled weapon, there is no diving for anything.

Thoughts?

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This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.

Theater of the Savage Mind, Part One

It's no secret that Savage Worlds is my favorite system. I've always had one gripe with it though—it's written with tactical maps and miniatures in mind. The design is reasonable, especially considering it was derived from a tactical miniatures game.

When Pinnacle released Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition (SWD), I was elated to see there were rules added for games without miniatures, but really this short sidebar section of the book was more of a nod than a solution to my problem. The range section was still too granular for me (just using real measurements), and while the template conversion rules were welcome, they were really just a good start, as far as I'm concerned.

Since Savage Worlds has refused to stop being my favorite game (I think it's just addicted to me), I've decided to take some of my favorite "theater of the mind" gaming experiences from other games and use them to fully convert Savage Worlds into the game I wish it was. In thinking about design goals, I've settled on the following:

1. The rules will cleave as closely as possible to the overall paradigm of what one might expect from Savage Worlds
2. The rules will remain Fast, Furious, and Fun—I've no interest in making the exclusion of tactical maps and minis more complicated than using them
3. The rules will allow for any existing Savage Worlds character to be used with nearly zero modification

 As I've been thinking about how deep a conversion should go, here's where I will concentrate my efforts, at least initially:

1. Expanding on the template rules presented in SWD
2. Replacing the original range rules
3. Modifying affected Hindrances, Edges, and Powers in SWD

It's worth mentioning that theater of the mind rules need not be miniature nor map free. Minis and maps are great way to keep gaming groups on the same page in combat. I'm simply not interested in counting squares or hexes, or using a tape measure to move characters or determine things like range or line of sight—at least not in my roleplaying games.

It's my intention to post updates on this topic on Mondays, until I feel the rules are complete—or until my ideas go down in burning flames of bad design, whichever comes first. Stay tuned!

Long Time, No Write

Has it really been six months? Time flies. I plan to start posting regularly to G:TB, so I figured it'd be a good time to update you on what I've been up to, gaming-wise and gaming-related-wise.

For starters, I've been podcasting again. Kristian Serrano over at the Savage Bloggers Network has been kind enough to let me join him on his new weekly podcast, summarizing the news that flows through his feed. If you're a Savage Worlds fan, you should totally check it out. We also do monthly Google Hangouts On Air, where we interview different Savage Worlds personalities. The best place to get into all this is the SBN site. I look forward to seeing you there!

On the gaming front, I've actually been doing less than usual, to include paring back my GMing time. Most Fridays, I play in a Marvel Cinematic Universe Fate Core game, where I am reprising an old Savage Worlds character, the vigilante, Revenant. On Sundays, I am a part-time GM in a 13th Age game, and, starting this Sunday, a Last Parsec game. Once I month, I try to hit my FLGS, Isle of Games on their RPG day, and play in whatever is on the docket. Again, I GM, but only occasionally.

That pretty much sums it up. I've got some ideas floating in my head, begging to find a new home. I also have a couple reviews I would like to get done. I hope you enjoy it!

Crit or Get out of the Chair

Now that I've made my interest in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons known, I'm considering running a game. This may seem like a no-brainer, but honestly I have some anxiety around running D&D. To be completely honest, I've had very little luck with the game since my teen years.

In the late '90s, I ran second edition just a couple times—a "default D&D" game and a Ravenloft game. Neither moved into campaign play, and the Ravenloft game was a complete failure. The only saving grace of those sessions was that my wife had fun and I introduced my sister-in-law to gaming too.

When third edition came out, I liked what I read and attempted to run The Sunless Citadel. I never finished the module, handing over the DMing reigns to another player. I did get to play a full campaign in third edition, though, at least to 12th level. And I did run some X-Crawl which, while not purely D&D, went well and gave me a chance to flex my dungeon design muscles.

When fourth edition hit the shelves, I was really excited about the possibilities in the system. I attempted to run Keep on the Shadowfell, and for various it just didn't go well. Before long, I realized that fourth edition just didn't feel like D&D to me, and it stood as the last time I got involved with the game.

So here we are with the fifth edition of the best-known roleplaying game in the world, and frankly, I have no idea how to run it.

I certainly have a desire to run the game. Actually I've been itching to get D&D right for years. I think it's part of the reason I've had a tough time keeping other campaigns going—I get the fantasy itch and can't find a way to scratch it. Pathfinder is too complex for my tastes these days, and no other  game system has the feel I recall. I toyed with some retro-clones, but it felt weird "going backwards."

One thing the third and fourth editions taught me is that I need to not run modules, and one related thing in my favor is the amazingness that is the fifth edition Dungeon Master's Guide. If I do run D&D, I'll likely use the DMG to build my campaign and design my adventures. The plan would be to create a homebrew setting, semi-on-the-fly. I'd lean on my players for background information. For example, if a player selected a cleric, they'd help me design their deity.

If I run it, I'll report on the whole journey here.

Until next time, do good, avoid evil, and play more games!

My (Very Late) Thoughts on Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

I truly believe we are living in a golden age for RPGs. Roleplayers have an amazing array of choices, in terms of games available and avenues in which to buy and play them. The giant RPG publisher may be mostly dead, but not for lack of RPGs being made and sold. 2014 was an exceptional year within this golden age, and I believe it will be remembered as a landmark year, partially due to the release of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.

I'm not going to bore you with a breakdown of the rules and mechanics of play—I'm writing this way too late to have anything new to say in that realm. What I'd like to do is just share some thoughts on what I've seen, and what I think of it.

The first thing I should note is that for me, this feels like an alternate history 3rd Edition. Now don't assume I'm bagging on 3.x. It's a great game, and I got years of great play out of it's myriad variants (D&D 3.0, Classic Spycraft, and Mutants & Masterminds 2E being my highlights). That said, it was a huge departure from the original 2nd Edition core books. (I should note I was completely out of the D&D loop during the Black Book era of things like Skills & Powers.) When I read through and played 5th Edition, it felt more like a natural progression from those original 2nd Edition books than 3rd Edition. So what if Wizards of the Coast never released 3rd Edition in 2000 and managed to keep the 2nd Edition line, as I remember it, going? Then add in the things designers have learned over the last 14 years, and took the same "it still has to feel like D&D" approach. I believe 5th Edition is pretty damn close to what that 3rd Edition would look like. Why is this an important thought to me? Well, the original three 2nd Edition books were my favorite D&D iteration. (Yeah. I'm that one guy with 2E as his fave.)

The Player's Handbook is very well done in 5th Edition. I love how you can play through your whole class using only one section of the book, with only minor departures if you decided to play a spellcaster or take an occasional Feat. I think 13th Age does a better job of compartmentalizing the classes, but that book departs more from the feel of D&D for me (not a bad thing, just different). Speaking of "an occasional Feat," I love that Feats aren't really necessary in play. I was skeptical when I'd heard this, but it's true. The trade-off between raising your stats and getting a Feat is perfect. I think Feats are great in concept, but they got way out of hand in 3rd Edition.

There's been a great deal of positive sentiment for the 5th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide, and I have to agree. In fact, I'd say this is the best DMG ever made. The main reason? It acts as a true Dungeon Master's, well, Guide. The tools for building a world, creating a campaign, all the tables—I'm sure this will change over time, but today, I can't imagine what changes I'd make to this book. Truly brilliant.

As for the Monster Manual, I don't have much to say, other than I'm glad it's not a binder with loose leaf like the original 2nd Edition core—which has stood as my second-biggest 2nd Edition complaint (second only to racial level limits from AD&D in general). Other than the binder kerfuffle D&D has never really had a bad core monster book.

I'm hoping to run a D&D campaign in the near future, and for the first time, I'm actually interested in trying organized play. I'm sure I'll have more on that last thing after I try it.

Until next time, do good, avoid evil, and play more games!