Things I learned from my recent failed GURPS game

My GURPS campaign just wrapped up by my request after about 10 sessions. I can't say I am entirely disappointed though as it was a learning experience and we did have some fun along the way.

I'd like to share what I learned

#1 I am allergic to heavy prep.

I simply do not enjoy the tedium of creating stat blocs, drawing maps or any of the admin work that is part and parcel of games. Heck though I have plenty I rarely even use minis. This is product of me being spoiled by the Buffy RPG and needs to be unlearned for other games.

#2 I was overly ambitious.

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Style meets Inusyasha was too much for my level of skill at GURPS 4e

#3 GURPS really needs fast play support material.

IMO a nice book of blog standard simple stats and basic maneuvers for common NPC types and critters would be a great asset. This is not a bestiary in the “you can play that with these stats” sense but a big book of things to smack. And yes Dungeon Fantasy does have some of this. I am not interested in buying a bunch of books or virtually thumbing through them for just some stat blocs.

#4 GURPS combat can be amazingly cool if and only if the players are interested in learning how to do their part.

Mine players just just want to kick some butt and would be better served with simpler rules. GURPS lite combat isn't any more interesting than any other system and is less interesting than some. I actually thing D&D HP attrition is better for these guys (as is class/level but thats another post)

#5 Neither my players nor I really care for my game world.

Midrea works as intended, its a very kitchen sink setting but its just not interesting and because of the divergent power levels, the guns and lasers and whatnot are a poor fit with GURPS. They work but they feel wrong.

#6 My players aren't very good and sandboxes

In my opinion they get bored easily, don't ask the right questions and aren't as motivated as I thought they were. Don't get me wrong they are fabulous roleplayers and good reliable players but the “Game” aspect of the RPG trinity just isn't their best bit. They honestly do just as well with no rules or rules on the fly and don't even mind being railroaded. This is a new thing to me and we both have some adjusting to do.

#7 Next time I need a fate point system to help get the players more into the game.

The players love them and I like them too . GURPS does have several in fact, one in the defunct on-line pyramid and of course Power Ups 5 Impulse Buys http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=SJG37-0143 we are getting that next time.

#8 I don't like the GURPS baseline magic system.

We didn't use it much this time but in past games when we did the game before this , it was complex and unsatisfying. If I had preplanned better and the players were on the ball this might not have been an issue. The trick is getting there .

#9 The game balance works.

The GURPS point systems are roughly balanced vs one another. Its a masterpiece of game design.

#10 To really make GURPS fly requires a lot of tracking of fatigue and HP and maneuvers and such.

This can can be short cutted (I see a Pyramid article in the offing) but I can only get one of my 6 players into it. This rules out a lot of the excellence of GURPS martial arts, GURPS combat and makes GURPS core magic not work right either.

#11 All of the players need steady power ups and rewards.

GURPS can provide this but it doesn't do it as well as D&D or other games do. Also its easier to get the players to level up than to allocate points. I think it just feels more rewarding to them and maybe familiar as well (they are younger than I am having started with 3.5 D&D and GURPS as vs me with Holmes and AD&D) I can adapt as I have a number of old school adventures they haven't played. Ghost Tower of Inverness anyone?

#12 I make good NPC's including bad guys and nifty magic items

The players like them, I enjoyed them too.

and last the appropriate 12.5 or is it dum dum dum dum 13...

I am addicted to fairy tales. I can't stop using fae and enjoy RPing dragons, goblins and all the panoply of European Fae more than any other monster. I think what I need a Grimm's Faerie Tales with a dose of Thieves World. Any recommendations?

Well thats that. A least I learned some things , got some GURPS on and got to hang out with some awesome gamers. Maybe the game wasn't all that it could be but it was fun with peoplewhose company I enjoy and thats all one could ask for. In the event you are reading this, thanks ya'll for being great..

GM Hint: Simple is Flavorful

One of the things I've learned over the years of GMing is that complex info dumps simply don't help.

They do not bring players into the world and in fact they can be very boring causing people to pull away from the game, not only missing the immersion but the fun too.

what works for me is keeping it simple, a few words, a phrase ,a definition, a description something like that. If later the players want a lecture or to read a long paragraph, great let them. But otherwise be efficient.

Let me share a few examples that worked for me

Blog Standard Fantasy

"The innkeeper gives you a sour look and pushes a simple wooden platter forward. We've goat if you'll eat it. little else with the war on."

This tells people that a: people poor, goat is not a popular food stuff many people won't eat it and there is a war all in one sentence .

Trying to read a long paragraph about the Kingdoms War and Food Habits of the 20 Kingdoms would put most players to sleep but that simple phrase gets them asking questions and that moves them into the game.

Another "Post peak everything post CW2 Buffy"

You middle school aged daughter comes into the room "Ah hey dad, do you think you could help me I need to work on my knife fighting elective."

This sentence earned me a "buh wah?!" look from the player but served well to tell everyone about the world, that they still consider it a useful skill for youngsters to know and that they don't mind girls taking it either.

When the player asked about it (he didn't have the skill with knives ) I could tell him a bit more about the world "Oh you didn't have those courses you went to a progressive school"

This served to cement the idea that "This isn't now" and helped flush out his background in ways that longer charts simply can't do.

So my advice is this, try keeping it simple. You might be surprised how well it works.

DM's and the Novelist Impulse or The Play is the Thing

Its my contention that many GM's have the impulse to be novelists , some are frustrated novelists, some dabble and may have this or that published and others are actual novelists (Kerr, Butcher, et all) .

This is not a bad thing unless it creeps too far into your game.

The fact is when it comes to gaming, what really matters is what goes on at the table, not your flavor text or game-fic. Unless you are an actual novelist, maybe.

Still there is a place for both of these and that place is making play better.

As an example, if I were to read 5 or 6 paragraphs about the nature of Neo-Hellenic magic and how spells worked in my Angel 2075 game, my players eyes would glaze over and everyone (that is the other six players) who is not playing the Neo-Hellenic_Goth-Witch would be bored silly.

This TMI habit dates to the early days of gaming where information was limited to a few books and we had no Internet and had to walk miles in the snow to get to school and fight off angry dogs (literally in my case).

Back than people couldn't just Google it and as such, those paragraphs had a lot more value.

Now however, its a lot simpler to let interested players do their own research and just get playing.

What i do is trim information dumps to a minimum and allow the illusion of flavor to creep in.

In the case of the Angel game it was by renaming a prosaic list of spells with cool Greek style names, saying one statement about it.

#1 you are part of the Hellenic Pagan revival, something happening in the real world. You mostly worship Hecate in Ancient Greek BTW but give respect to the other Gods as well.

Boom thats enough to get started and L, the player can research more or make stuff up or just ask if she wants.

After that I took her spell list and renamed it.

The basic list utility spells, common to many games

Radiant Armor
Scry
Lighting Bolt
Solar Blast
Speak With Dead
Dispel Known Spell


they became

Aegis of Glory
Hecate's Mirror
Borrowing the Thunder of Zeus
Tasting the Presence of Apollo
Plea to Persephone
Unwinding

viola, 1 paragraph and a few words and everybody gets the Greek thing without a lot of time investment.

This allows me to give other players more attention, concentrate on actual play and still give the illusion of immersion.

The same rule can be applied to the history of a land or any other facet of a game. More on that in a follow up post.

Been playing Fable 2 and its implications for table top

OK sure Fable 2 like all such games suffers from the repetitiousness but I'll tell you what, that game is a lot of fun.

Probably too much as I've stared to attach Fable style names to food. Last nights supper was Marrow and Mates and the night before that I had Unicorn Cheese om the hamburger. Yum.

anyway I digress. Fable 2 is enough fun to suggest this law to me.

"As most gamers now have access to X-Box and similar technologies, any successful table top RPG needs to be more fun than a convenient video game or it will fail."

Now mind you back in 1981 and thereabouts this was not an issue. Many players had no console game or computer and even such jewels as Pool of Radiance could not compete with the Table Top Experience . However the modern video game is a lot more compelling and convenient and as such we need to be better and emphasize how much more fun it can be."

If we don't our players will stay home and play WoW or something.

A few words of Wisdom from one of my Players regarding High Level 3x

I was chatting with one of my players, Eric the other day and was busily extolling the virtues of E6 and and E6.

Eric politely agreed that they were cool and more realistic but than added a bit of advice "Look High Level games and worlds aren't that hard of you remember that D&D characters live in a Final Fantasy-esque world."

I have to say its interesting advice and probably true though anyone naming a character Cloud Strife without a really good reason is probably banned from the game ;)

Should You Switch to an Earlier Edition or a Retro-Clone

This was originally going to be a replay at B/X Blackrazor but I thought it might be a better post for the blog

Assuming you players are game, the question is should you switch to an older edition or a retro clone??

These days cost and support are not longer issues, Retro-Clones are free , there are plenty of adventures and most older stuff is fairly cheap .

Remember though that Gary and company were as old as many of us Old Grogs when they designed D&D. Making mature , fair judgment calls were not an issue for them.

OTOH an 11 year old kid like I was won't have the same skills out the door and while many of us could and did wing it well, not everyone did.

At that point rather than a big arbitrary Notebook O's Rulings, it was kind of nice to have rules in the rule book.

if you and the players are young or you don't feel like you could handle the extra burden of Old School DMing, thinking on your feet all the time (granted lighter now with the Internet and all) and being a very impartial "Judge" who does his best to make good ruling, than you might benefit from older systems

However if the issue now though is bloat and a lack of sense of imagination, you might be better served with older rules

Understand that say B/X or Labyrinth Lord (or Swords and Wizardry) and a DM's notebook and a bunch of misc stuff (extra critters and so on) was much shorter than just the Pathfinder rules, all 576 pages of them.

Don't get me wrong but Pathfinder is a great game but if you use the expected books, it can get rules intensive well over 2000 pages! (Core+APG+Bestiary 1 and 2, +Ultimate Magic + Ultimate Combat ,granted not out yet> + Misc , Bonus Bestiary, etc) exclusive of Golarian material or 3rd party stuff. Throw in some fairly generic Paizo stuff like the Inner Sea Magic, good 3rd party stuff and such and its easy to hit 3000+ pages.


Heck my trimmed "rules legal 3.5 for Pathfinder " stuff alone is nearly 4x larger than my entire B/X rules and while I can handle it, it can get to the point where the interaction of the pieces is a burden. How does this feat work with that spell or magic item and so on.

And yes sure you don't have to use it all and of course the Pathfinder SRD has most OGL stuff but thats a titanic challenge to keep track off and can seem very intimidating.

Thats not always fun.

As a counter point, Dark Dungeons a superb (and free) copy of Rules Cyclopedia one of the comprehensive Old School rules sets ever and say a fat DM's notebook/splat book is less than just Pathfinder core.

If your at that point when the rules are a burden you have some choices ..

You can

#1 Try and get your players to go simple
#2 Trim and possibly disappoint the players
#3 Or Just deal

So far for me, just deal is working OK but I certainly can see why a lot of people would benefit from a lighter rules set and with the Retro-Clone rules being free and all, its worthy asking. You'll never know till you do.

Making Urban Fantasy More Real

Though most of my GM work in Urban Fantasy , specially Buffy/Angel Unisystem I seldom cover the genre here. I figure Tim at the Other Side blog has that covered pretty well and I'd like to concentrate on Pathfinder and the OSR

Today however I am making an exception and posting an old essay of mine on making Urban Fantasy more real. This was originally going to be a column on RPG.net but I decided not to finish it and instead I am going to post it here.

Its a little rough in places and not 100% complete but I hope y'all enjoy.

Making ModernFantasy seem more "real' which is what we are talking about here isn't too hard.

There are a few tricks I use to help out.


First: Character design is all important.

Make sure the characters have NPC friends, relatives employers and so on. Make sure there is no more than one (if that) moody orphaned loner per group.


Second: Set the adventure in a town you know.

It doesn't have to be a real place. Twin Peaks, Newford wherever, as long as you know the town. I find using the home town works best.



Third:Make actions have consequences.

If the PC's shoot a gun, have the cops called. Don't hesitate to play the forces of law and order to the hilt. But do it fairly. if it is realistic have them arrested whatever but be fair and reasonable.



Fourth: Make the characters have a life.

Everybody has a life even the "Struggling Writer with a Trust Fund" that seems so popular among the adventuring set. PC's have friends, contacts relatives. All those folks they thought up either when the character was made or even on the fly can be used. Resist the temptation though just to use them as victims. They can also help out the PC's in a lot of ways. "Sure Buddy you can stay at the old cabin for a week"


Fifth: Emphasize sense and emotion.

Urban Fantasy isn't a game of numbers and monster bashing unless you want it to be. It is often a game of mood and texture. Be as descriptive as you can. If you aren't that good at description relax and fudge a little. Borrow something from your favorite author will never know the difference.


Sixth: Use real locations.

Know a good diner? Everybody hang out at a certain club? Use it. The players will love you. Even in an unfamiliar city there are familiar chain restaurants and businesses.


Seventh: Use the Internet.

If you are reading this article you probably have Internet access. Use it. There are millions of pictures and resources out there. City web pages, online directories you name it is out there. All of it for the cost of paper and ink.


Eight: Go slow.

The pacing in an Urban fantasy game does not have to be the relentless attack, recover, loot, sell back to the attack style of gaming. Pace the game in a manner that shows the real world as much as the false one.


Nine: Take a break from unreality.

Once in a while roleplay something like a trip to the mall or the dentist or the park or even a day at work and have nothing weird happen. This strengthens the notion that the PC's are in the real world and makes supernatural events more shocking. Not too much though, most players aren't interested a long game of papers and paychecks.


Ten. Even Monsters have Motivations

Monsters in Urban Fantasy setting benefit from having a realistic motivations. Not only does it add to the roleplaying aspects of the campaign it helps cement how reasonable it all really is.

Unlike in conventional Fantasy game marauding around looking for loot isn't reasonable. A pack of Goblins had to be much more careful modern Chicago then in a fantasy wilderness. Even a rogue werewolf may find himself outgunned by the local constabulary.

Now some systems address this issue with game mechanics. If your does those "mechanics" can help you balance encounters they can also lead to splatterpunk games in the hands of some players.


Eleven: Demphasize Violence

Many player character reach for a gun as a first response to any threat. Discourage this unless you are running a splaterpunk game. Realistic consequences are one way but there are a couple of others including setting the game somewhere with strict gun laws (I am sorry handguns are illegal in the UK and you can't get one) and simply writing adventures where guns aren't that useful. "You can't shoot a ghost Hillbilly"


Twelve: Encourage OOC knowledge.

Unlike in conventional game if a trivia fact, common bit of lore whatever is known by the player the character will likely know too. All those horror movies you watched, your character has seen them too. Those books you have read, he or she has read them too. Encourage the players to use what they know. As a corollary to this if the player is particularly knowledgeable in some esoteric area, encourage them to take the appropriate skill. This way Player Knowledge and Character Knowledge can blend harmoniously



Thirteen: Roleplay like crazy

Whenever possible roleplay and encourage the players to do the same. Ham it up a little. Play the waiter and the cabby and the monster too. make the people seem as real as you can. If you don't have a bunch of stock voice or extra stock characters, don't worry. Base them off you uncle Bob or your third grade teacher no one will ever care. In fact they will thank you for it.

A good way to encourage roleplaying is with some sort of "Brownie Point" system that allows the players to effect rolls. The more roleplaying the more control the player has over the dice. It is self perpetuating reaction



And finally Number Fourteen :

Be flexible in your GMing. Most games are run in a passive down manner "here is the room, here is what you say what do you do." Break out of this mold and let the players help you set the scene. For example let a player run a minor encounter with the traffic cop. If it isn't a big plot point who cares who runs it. Stuck for ideas, don't know what happens next? No problem let the players come up with something. For daring GM's letting players run a monster or reoccurring character is a possibility. Players who abuse the system, no problem, over ride them and start back a little bit.

With these tips you can improve your Urban Fantasy games,whatever system you play. Good Gaming.

Tricks to Bring Home Immersion, Fantasy Edition

Yesterdays post was ostensibly about the movie Runaway and how to get its ability (unusual in SF films, especially older hard SF films) of comfortable casualness with the setting into you game.

Here are a few tips.

#1 Call a Cow a Cow and a Horse a Horse .

Weird names for common animals make it harder for people to get into the setting.

#2 Call the a Tharn a Riding Lizard at least till the players are comfy with it

Common names for the weird animals in you game make them easier to accept.

#3 A Picture is worth 1000 words.

Well at least a hundred. A few pics printed off the net can make a big difference and there is no reason we should not take advantage of this technology that we did not have in Ye Olde Days. Its also easier than digging through a library (which we did) and photocopying (which we did)

#4 Props are better than Pics

If you happen to have toy jewelry, Ren-Faire stuff, junk from a New Age store and whatever, use it. Being able to handle things or even eat Iron Rations can make a huge difference in Immersion . I do recommend against real weapons however. Not all gamers are careful and someone could get hurt. Also not recommended costumes, unless your game has LARP elements or y'all are very silly.

#5 Simply Names

Make them easy to pronounce, real sounding and fit. This is especially important for month and day names. Vec Rill of the 7th Blen of Ithlac in the Silm of Gire, may sound cool but its a lot harder to remember than Moon's Day, Month of Harvest.

#6 Concentrate on the Mundane from Time to Time.

Every so often a vivid description of something not related to or hooked into adventure can help, clothes, religious sects, food, tapestries, whatever .. Make the rest of the world real too.

#7

Be flexible in your GMing. Most games are run in a passive down manner "here is the room, here is what you say what do you do." Break out of this mold and let the players help you set the scene. For example let a player run a minor encounter with the traffic cop. If it isn't a big plot point who cares who runs it. Stuck for ideas, don't know what happens next? No problem let the players come up with something. For daring GM's letting players run a monster or reoccurring character is a possibility. Players who abuse the system, no problem, over ride them and start back a little bit.

#8 Change the game room scene a bit

A few candles (careful please) some incense (if no one is allergic) mood music (no vocals) or just a tapestry on the wall can make people forget for a moment they are a bunch of geeks rolling dice.

Learning from the Movies: Runaway

James Lileks once said "Nothing ages faster than yesterday's tomorrow." and in my experience this is true even in Sci-Fi gaming.

in fact the last "old sci-fi" that I saw that didn't age too badly was an obscure movie from 1984 ,Runaway written by none other than Michael Crichton and starring Tom Selleck.

Without going into spoilers other than its about robots, this old movie has held up very well .

Sure stylistic elements are slightly dated (clothes, retro-future cars, object shapes and the relentless whiteness of L.A.) however its telling that it is not set at any given time and could be set any 20 minutes into the future.

Now I didn't see cell phones but there was no point in the movie in which they would have been used anyway and I did see an I-Pad like device.

What really caught my eye was unlike almost any SF movie l everyone even the reporters seemed familiar and comfortable with the settings tech. That bit movie-wise is quite remarkable in many ways.

If I as a DM/GM could capture in any game fantasy or SF that casual sense of reality that you see in the movie, the familiarity with technology and such , well if I could pull that off (with player help) that more than even plot would make for a great game.

Its more than action and story but a sense of a world coming to life.

Its not easy but its well worth trying and a skill well worth cultivating and my next entry will suggest tricks to make it happen.

A Cool GM's trick: Quip Cards

A little trick I use to spice up the roll playing aspects and to make my NPC's cooler is to have Quip Cards.

To make these get a a bunch of index cards (I use 3" by 5") and write a a name of an NPC (or just a a title say Orc Leader) a circumstance (i.e in combat, when retreating) and a line of description.

For Example

Line #1 Orc Leader

Line #2 His Forces are aligned

Line #3 As the forces align the Orc growls (in a thick accent) "Come and Die, Humans!"

Having a small pile of these, pre-maid can increase roleplaying fun. save a lot of stress and make it seem like you can improvise anything even if you can't.

Also if you don't feel like splurging on index cards (they run about a $1 US for a pack) you can of course print up a bunch on the computer and cut them up.

This has the advantage of being less time consuming, heck you can even cut and paste quotes and such from the net however they are less tactile a personal.

Either way though, having quotes ready is quick, easy and will improve your game.

Give it a try and see.

Less Books. More Gaming. Part #1

Less Books. More Gaming. Its sounds contradictory but one of things I've noticed over the years is that often the more books (or PDF's, same difference) we buy and are in play, the less actual play we do.

This topic is of course discussed at length in Barry Schwartz's book of the Paradox of Choice but as for our little niche well what I think happens gaming wise is this ...

We start buying books to make up for not gaming then we get caught up in reading and assessing the game material instead of using it in a game. In time this effects our actual gaming making it harder to settle down and actually game .. Vicious Circle

Breaking this cycle is tricky.


1st -- Read the books you have. Just one mans opinion but no game book should go unread. And yes in case anyone asks, I often let my books linger unread. Mea Culpa. Just read them before you buy more.

2nd -- After you read your books , use them before you buy more.

3rd -- Heck I'll go as far as to say unless you are a collector of a line or want to support a favorite company or co-hobbyist, (like some of our friends in the OSR and Pathfinder communities) don't buy books unless you know how you are going to use them.

4th Resist the urge to fiddle and settle for good enough. Yes there may be a cool rule or two in that shiny shiny book. Resist. Use the rule you have that are good enough to get the job done.

5th Last, consider making a compendium for the campaign containing what extra rules you plan to use in games. use this, the core books you need and nothing else .


And there you have it, 5 tricks to decrease the Tyranny of Choice, reduce clutter and help get down to actual play.

Feel free to suggest your tricks as well.

How Grilled Cheese Broke My Deadlock

And no, this hasn't becoming a cooking blog I promise. ;)

What happened is simple, I read an excellent book ,Great Grill Cheese by Laura Wirlin in case you were wondering which enabled to finally master the grilled cheese sandwich.

After I finally made a nearly perfect sandwich I had a moment of Zen came to a realization that would enable me to make great adventures.

How?

Simple... Look at the problem a new way .. My problem was the sandwiches were not cooking the way I wanted them too .. The solution I learned in the cook book was to take an extra step and plane the cheese so it cooks quickly enough to keep the bread just right

Say I apply the same basic idea, add another prep step find a a new solution to this problem

I've run out of ideas and I have no idea how to come up with new ones and I can't borrow fantasy ideas without everybody will catching the references ...

A tough nut eh?

Well suppose that you add an extra step and change the idea twice before you run it ...

This muddies the waters enough that, so long as you are careful, they players won't figure out the borrowing and resort to bad cliches



For example, 4 vague ideas come up that I'd consider borrowing, from Sci-Fi to Manga then to Fantasy

#1 Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles
#2 Star Trek
#3 Battle Star Galactica
#4 X Files

They become

Invincible Robot Girlfriend Cameron

Astronaut Space explorer Force Go!

Lost Home Struggle against the Robots

and National Phantom Police


Now I reconvert them to

A Chosen one with a Guardian Golem fro another time (the distant past)

A group of Spelljammers on a Mission of Exploration (in true Japanese style drop the military aspect)

a caravan fleeing an army of the demons lead by shapeshifters (Ogre Magi, and other sorts make the demons less spiritual and less physical)

and last a group of Crown Investigators exploring magic crimes in a world that no longer much believes in magic with a bureaucracy to contend with (which gives it an Anime flavor)

rip off a few favorite episodes and viola, instant campaign...

What if there are too many options in D&D (open)

Just something I am thinking about..

What if more options doesn't improve the game but makes it incoherent and less fun?

Instead of allowing all sorts of things, maybe its better to just set up front limits and play from there.

Instead of the dozens of classes and archetypes and prestige classes and such, maybe the older rules were right to limit classes (ignoring Dragon Magazine of course) and abilities just to encourage creativity and play instead of so much "char-op" and metagaming

Let me ask is it possible all this hoo-hah started back with 2e and for those who didn't put the kibosh on them stuff started for many peopleto get "less fun" with kits and all the options.

What do y'all think?

Sure You Can Play That

One of the key ideas behind the 3x version of Midrea is that like some of the old school games (think Expedition to the Barrier Peaks , The Sheen Invasion from 2e and even as far back as Blackmoor) almost anything goes in Midrea.

I can fit in almost any concept without making the game world too absurd. The only rules are

#1 The players have to all agree to that level of Wahoo

#2 Don't make anything that would offend others

#3 and last: The game has to be high enough level


Let me show you some examples, 6 new players, 6th level game each with a wild concept..

#1 Concept: A Paladin based on that Chick from the Heavy Metal movie only a Dude

Solution: A Paladin with the Shining Knight option. Spend 5th level feat to treat mount as a Pegasus. Make magic items look cool

#2 Concept: A Combat Robot from another time with integral blaster and combat software

Solution: Warforged race, Warlock levels to cover integrals and Warblade abilities to cover combat software. Use Martial Study and Extra Invocation where needed to mix.


#3 Concept: A Magical Talking cat

Solution: Create cat racial template off base stats plus awaken spell, give Sorcerer with Dreamspun bloodline levels as Wizard Levels are just too silly. Since cats don't have hands, give said cat equivalent of Vow of Poverty feat. Drop Exalted Feats for a Neck Slot and optionally Bonded Item ability.

#4 Concept: A Time Lost Psychic Super Soldier (probably from the universe the Robot is from)

Solution: Human Psychic Warrior. His "ultra tech" items are just re-skinned wands, magic armor and such. In time as he levels up he can gain new items (repair stuff he already had) or "recharge" new ones as per building new items ...

#5 Concept: The Perfected Flesh Golem

Solution: Warforged with no innate armor, use the Factotum class to represent myriad abilities and powers.

#6 Concept: Zombie Wolverine with necrotic claws .. By now I am probably going Why Me ? but its doable with a bit of effort

Solution: Longclaw Shifter with Necropolitan Template treat as ECL+1 for stat assignment. Use a mix of Barbarian, Dread Necromancer and Rage Mage prestige class tweaked as needed. Allow the Dread Necromancer touch ability to be used with claws.

and viola, with a little re-skinning almost anything can be made

So what level are regular folks in 3x?

Inspired by this article, Calibrating your Expectations I cap NPC classes (except for adept) to level 8.

The levels look like this

L1 Regular Folks, young

L2 Experienced People

L3 Highly Capable People

L4 Experienced and Highly Capable People

L5 Elite

L6 Experienced Elite and Masters

L7-L8 Borderline Super-Human


The classes fit into the world as follows

Commoner -- People with very limited opportunity, peasants, serfs and the very poor. There is no adventuring equivalent.

Expert-- Highly skilled persons who have had opportunities for learning. Adventuring versions include Savant and Rogue along with other skill intensive classes.

Warrior -- People with formal combat training but no special knack for combat. People with that knack are typically Fighters but may be any of the other Full BAB combat classes.

Aristocrat -- The Wealthy-- The PC version is either Cavalier or Noble

Adept-- I almost didn't use this class as I think its a bit redundant. However I decided that the work-a-day casters spellcasters, tinkers and hedge-mages make up this class. The PC versions are obvious ...

When designing cities and such, if I use the old "book2" demographic rules I tend to simply replace any non adepts above 6 or so with the PC class version.NPC's of 7th to 8th level get names and backgrounds

And yes this does slightly increase the number of NPC's with core type classes. I think thats just fine.

How I make Regular Folks Old School Style

Its really easy

All stats 10 but not listed

Level 0, Hit Points (1d6 Greyhawk Average) 4 +1 for men at arms or laborers -1 for sickly people or children

Quick note about skills (apprentice, journeyman, expert, master, grandmaster) or unusual traits

List weapon and armor if appropriate


The stat block looks like this

Jored the Innkeeper

HP6 AC9 Club TH19 1d6+1
Expert Innkeeper, Unusually Strong and Tough (15 in each)

Nice, sweet, simple and fast.

So what are the best types of D&D games for you to Run.

My best games are

#1 Low to medium level Sword and Sorcery stuff

#2 Humor driven games, D&D as comedy

#3 Low level fairytale and horror games


How about you?

Asking the Old School Question to my Players

I finally got around to asking the dreaded "Interested in an old school game" question to my players.This group is a little younger than me and grew up with 2e so I am sure those expectations colored their decision here.

I explained the "thinking on your feet, exploration and simplified play" motifs to them and they answered with a resounding meh...

One of my players explained "Look 2e is cool, we'd play that and you run a good game but we'd rather have more mechanical support for actions and options. Honestly describing how traps are disarmed and exploring and all that doesn't sound that fun"

I can't say I really blame them with an ample selection of play opportunities out there and little cultural contact with the Old School style there is little draw for that sort of thing. Even the mighty old names like Demon Web Pits or Keep on the Borderlands are far too distant for them ..

Ah well. I am going to pitch E6 or E8 to them and see where that goes next. I think they might like it.

Gaming Hints: D&D does not have to be played serious

If you look at the silliness inherent in early D&D with its anagram names, stuff like Gutboy Barrelhouse, the humor in the AD&D DMG you can tell that D&D was not meant to always be played straight .

I'd be even money that in jokes and the ancestors of the Monty Python References (whatever was hilarious in 1974) probably flew across the table back in Lake Geneva just as they do ours.

In my experience my second best ever D&D campaign was one I have mentioned before (Midrea Unglued) a very extended one shot in 2e where the leads were Hans and Franz from S&L and the rest of the cast included a talking squirrel named Rambo, A Swedish Minder named Inga (who had a Shojo frying pan BTW A Satyr Bard and a Mute Coroner/Psion named Hayabusa. We played the rules mostly straight but laughed our butts off.

Why it was so much better than most is really simple, everyone got involved and everyone had fun.

Those two things are the real keys two a great game.

Let me repeat

Everyone gets involved and everyone has fun


If that works for you like it did for me than let me suggest that you lighten up and let the laughs fall where they may. Laughter after all may be the best medicine for your sick game.

The art of conversion, The Foes of the Wand

When I changed my campaign from 2e to 3x D&D like many DM's I tried to convert as much as I could.Whether this is a good idea or not (I am leaning not actually) it is a learning experience.

Probably the hardest thing to convert was the Anti Magic Item Cult called the "Foes of the Wand" . I lifted the idea whole cloth from the Complete Wizards Handbook and roughly fleshed it out as a "Group of Wizards who oppose the use of magic items believing that magic power trapped in items would destroy the world."

Since they were meant mainly as a PC adversary group I never saw much need to balance them. Back in 2e I just allowed them 1 extra spell per level to be memorized per day but they could not use magic items as do to a psychological block, they just wouldn't work.

When I converted to 3x I kind of left them behind since the ad-hoc conversion didn't work right with the more fiddly 3x rules.

However much later into the game, I came upon a solution.

I modified a feat I normally banned (Vow of Poverty from The Book of Exalted Deeds) and it worked fine.

Members of the Foes retrain "Scribe Scroll" in exchange for a variation of the benefits of the Vow of Poverty Feat. At this point magic items no longer function for them, even items that do not require a spell trigger or the like. This includes magic weapons and cursed items which promptly stop effecting the member though scrolls may still be added to spell books as per normal. Material Components and Alchemical items are not considered magical.

Each Foe gains the AC and stat bonuses of the Vow Of Poverty Feat although unlike that feat a member may have as much mundane wealth as desired so long as he gives at least 10% of the wealth and any found items to the organization . At any point where an exalted bonus feat would be gained as per VOP they gain Spell Mastery instead.

Any existing item creation feats are exchanged for Sudden Metamagic Feats. In addition members of the Foes gain access to the organizations library and may gain 1 additional spell free

Sometime if it ever seems appropriate I'll spring these bad boys on my players knowing that despite the more rigorous systems of 3x I have a fair and balanced set up.