Ticket to Ride

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

Ticket to Ride is an insanely popular board game. It has expansions and different versions but it always impresses me how well the base game plays and how much fun it is. There have been a lot of board games that have come out and a few are more popular than this, but Ticket to Ride is the one game that everyone I’ve played with has enjoyed. My parents, my siblings, my aunts and uncles, and well everybody. More so it is the one game that they ask me to play. Most of the time I’m suggesting games to people but Ticket to Ride is the one they remember and the one they want to play. It is the only game to achieve this level of status with my family.

Ticket to Ride is a game set in the early 20^th century in America. Players collect route cards and then use train cards to claim routes between cities. It is pretty simple though it can be fun to learn which of your family and friends are geographically challenged. Some of my East Coast friends are always trying to figure where Helena is and some of my friends who know where all the American cities are have trouble with the few Canadian cities on the map. To be fair once we switch to the map of Europe, Asia, or Africa I have trouble finding some of the cities on those maps.

I mention a few of the expansions but there is only one I feel is a must have. The regular Ticket to Ride comes with cards but they are small cards. The other full games come with normal sized cards so in the 1910 expansion they have normal sized cards and routes for the regular game. It also comes with additional routes to use with some different options on what routes to use that can bring a little variation to the game.

I have been enjoying the map packs they have put out. These require a base game like America or Europe for the train cards and train pieces, but they do include new maps of different areas with route cards for them and new rules to make the games more complex. I have used many of the new maps without any new rules and I think they work fine like that, especially with players that just do not want a complex game. The Asia map has rules where train pieces get lost in the mountains and are taken out of play. We call this giving a sacrifice to the Yeti. If you see the map you’ll understand that more. The Asia map also has a version for team play that can be fun and brings in a neat dynamic for the game. I have yet to try the team rules with different maps and I am curious as to how well that would work.

Ticket to Ride is my game of choice to play with family and with people that are not hardcore board gamers. There are some of my hardcore board gaming friends that really love the game and many times it is their game of choice when we get together. Even with people who play a bunch of different games and who have played Ticket to Ride countless times it amazes me how enjoyable the game still is for us. There is a closet full of games that we played once or twice or were popular for a bit, but we grew out of. Ticket to Ride so far has stayed a fun and popular game among my family and friends.

Chris Gath. I’ve been gaming since 1980 playing all kinds of games since then. In the past year I’ve run Pathfinder, Dungeon Crawl Classic, Paranoia, and Mini d6. My current campaign is mini d6 and we are using that for a modern supernatural conspiracy investigative game. On some forums I’m known as Crothian and I’ve written a few hundred reviews though I took a sabbatical from reviewing for a few years as it burnt me out. I was also an judge for the Gen Con awards (ENnies) six times. Jeff, the owner of this blog, is one of my players and a good friend.

Selling Expensive Loot

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

Motivation

The PCs in your campaign want to sell a powerful magic item they found in a dungeon. The rulebook says it’s worth 50,000gp. How do you handle that? Do you just say, “OK, you find this guy who buys it off you at full price,” and then send them back to the dungeon for more mayhem?

Doesn’t that leave a bad taste in your mouth? Like you made it too easy?
Shouldn’t selling such a powerful item to an NPC be handled through role-playing? What consequences might arise from an NPC having such an item? And who is this guy anyway?

Well, worry yourself no more!

Applicability

These rules presume a D20 fantasy setting like D&D or Pathfinder.

They are meant to add flavor to the game. In order that they not become tedious, use them only on the 1 or 2 most expensive items the PCs wish to sell. Additional items they want to sell at the same time should just be automatic at the regular price.

If the most expensive item the PCs wish to sell is cheap relative to the party’s level, don’t use these rules at all. Just let them sell their loot at the regular price and move on. Your players aren’t going to be keen on using these rules to sell every rusty dagger and 10 gp gem.

Set-up

First, download the Buyer Encounter deck, print them out (card stock works best), and cut into cards (paper cutter works better than scissors).

Next, divide the cards into two piles, “Good” and “Bad”. The type is shown in the lower-left corner of each card.

Selling a single item

Determine if the town is big enough to have a buyer who can afford the item. The PCs may have to travel to a bigger town or city in order to find buyers. Or they may opt to just keep the item for now if that’s too much trouble. You may want to bend the rules a bit if you feel that traveling to a bigger town or city would derail the campaign.

Example: The PCs are trying to sell a +2 sword in a large town. Its base value is 8000 gp, so the local economy is big enough to have buyers.

1. Determine item legality

Determine if the item is illicit or licit. Illicit items are ill gotten; e.g., contraband, smuggled goods, or items obtained through robbery, burglary, or pick pocketing.

Licit items are those that are obtained legally, such as those purchased on the open market, those found in a typical dungeon, or gifts. Good cards are more likely to be used if the item is licit.

The GM may allow a PC with a high bluff or disguise to make an illicit item appear licit for purposes of these rules. But only one attempt per item should be permitted.
Some cards can cause a licit item to be considered illicit for subsequent buyer event card draws.

Example (cont’d): The PCs found the sword in an abandoned keep, so the GM rules it is licit.

2. Advertising

Some advertising, word-of-mouth and buying drinks must take place in order to find prospective buyers. Assume the party spends 5 gp/week for this.

Example (cont’d): The players buy rounds of drinks at some bars frequented by fighters and warriors. They pay 5 gp for the first week.

3. Potential buyer

One or more potential buyers will show up for a given item.

3a. Time between buyers

Roll 2d6 to determine the number of days before the first prospect shows up and between prospects. On a 2 or a 12, a potential buyer shows up, but no other prospects will show up in that city or town for this item. It this happens, they may try again in 3 months.

Example (cont’d): GM rolls a ‘6’ so the first prospect doesn’t show up for 6 days.

3b. Draw cards

Draw one card from each of the two piles. Do not show them to the players. This does not mean that one Bad buyer and one Good buyer shows up. Just one buyer will show up at a time. Which card to use depends on the roll of a d6 (see next step).

Example: The GM draws the following two cards without showing the players:

3b. Roll die to determine which card to use

Secretly roll 1d6 and resolve as follows:
a. Licit item: 1-5 use Good card; 6: use Bad card
b. Illicit item: 1-3 use Good card; 4-6: use Bad card

Sometimes a Bad card refers to a Good card; but never the other way around.

Silently read the appropriate card you drew based on the roll. If a Bad card refers to a Good card, read that one too.

You may wonder why I didn’t have you roll the die first and just draw the card you need. If the decks are completely hidden from your players, you can do it that way. Otherwise, the players might notice that you drew only from the Bad deck, which would spoil the fun!

Example (cont’d): The GM rolls a ‘4’. Since the item is licit, use the good card.

3c. NPC quick stats.

If you already have an NPC appropriate to the role, by all means use him. Otherwise, quickly make up only the needed stats for him. Assume that 0-3 (d4-1) of his henchmen/allies are present, who are each 0-3 (d4-1) levels below him. Only select stats for henchmen/allies if it becomes necessary, such as if a chase or battle ensues. The NPC should be someone who can afford the item (see Step 6 here).

Do not take 2 hours fleshing out full stats for NPC buyers while your players die of boredom. If you spend more than 2 minutes for this, you’re taking too long. I hope to write a future article on more techniques for quickly creating an NPC party.

Note these NPCs in your campaign notes, so you can tie them into future adventures. You can add detail to them later if needed.

Example (cont’d): The good card says the prospective buyer is a typical maker of the item. Since he should be able to afford the item, the GM decides he is a master weapon smith (9^th level expert). He has two followers: a bodyguard (7^th level warrior) and a journeymen weapon smith (6^th level expert).

3d. Pick turf

On the lower left of the card, is a note on turf. An “S” indicates seller’s turf (i.e., a place the PC is familiar with and frequents). If “B” is indicated, use the buyer’s turf, such as his home, a shop, or a place he frequents. If “N” is indicated, use a public place that neither is familiar with. If two letters, pick one; e.g., “BN” means you can choose either buyer’s turf or a neutral location. Finally, if “Any” is indicated, pick anywhere.

Preferably, use a location you’ve already made up and have a map for. But if you’re good at making up random locations on the spot, by all means do so. Just be sure to write it down in your campaign notes afterwards, so you can use it again in the future.

If you use a battle map, draw out the scene and pick some figures.

Example (cont’d): The good card indicates “BN” so the GM decides that the PCs are sent word to meet the weapon smith at his shop.

3e. Follow instructions on card and role-play

Silently read the card again and use it to role-play a bit with your players. If a bad card is to be used, in most cases it should not be immediately obvious that it’s bad. In fact, with some bad cards, the NPC is posing as a buyer.

Example (cont’d): The weapon smith asks to see the +2 sword, makes some comments about it being a bit beat up, but that he’s still interested for the right price.

3f. Haggling

Once you’ve role-played a bit, transition to haggling, if applicable. In the future, I plan to write an article with detailed haggling rules. In the mean time, use the following simplified rules:

Determine haggle skill of both buyer and seller. For the seller (a PC), look at the skill with the most ranks. If it is Profession (Merchant), the PC has a high haggle. If it is a trade skill, such as Trade (Blacksmith), Bluff, Appraise, or Diplomacy, the PC has a medium haggle. Otherwise, the PC has a low haggle.

For the prospective buyer (an NPC), look in the lower right corner of the card you’re using (good or bad). This will be high, medium or low.

In these simplified haggling rules, there is only one opposed roll. Both sides roll a d20, modified by the haggle skill of each side. Low: +0, Medium: +4, High: +8. There may be further adjustments to the seller’s roll as indicated on the card.

If the seller’s modified roll equals the buyer’s modified roll, the settled on price is the fair market value listed in the rules. If the seller’s modified roll exceeds that of the buyer, then the settled on price is +5% of the fair market price for each point over the buyer’s modified roll. If the seller’s modified roll is less than that of the buyer, then the settled on price is -5% of the fair market price for each point under the buyer’s modified roll. If the adjusted value is 0% or less, then both sides roll again.

NPC’s will always accept this settled on price. But the PC may reject the offer. If so, no further negotiations are possible. Roll for another prospect.

If the sale is made, proceed to selling the next item, if applicable.

Example (cont’d): The PC seller has a low haggle skill (+0), while the weapon smith has a medium haggle (+4). The PC rolls a ‘6’, the NPC rolls a 9+4 = 13. The difference is -7. So the most the weapon smith will pay is 7×5% below base price, or 65% of 8000 gp = 5200 gp. The seller decides to reject the offer, so he leaves the shop. Go back to step 3a.

Final Notes

If you know before your players arrive that they want to sell some expensive loot, and think you need additional time to prepare, feel free to go through these rules ahead of time. Draw 4 of 5 pairs of buyer cards and take some notes.

About the Author

Ed Larmore is a long-time GM of the Eraven Campaign. He is also the developer of Scabard, an RPG campaign manager.

The Perils of Cinder Claws

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Jeffrey Tadlock

Purple Duck Games has just released The Perils of Cinder Claws by Daniel Bishop. This is a Dungeon Crawl Classics module ready for some holiday gaming! The product actually contains two adventures – The Thing in the Chimney and The Nexus of Yule. The module comes in at 32 pages with artwork from Jacob Blackmon and cartography by Kristian Richards.

The Thing in the Chimney is suitable for a wide range of character levels with the level appropriateness determined by the number of characters. Anything from 1st level to 4th level is covered. The adventure takes place on the shortest day of the year in the winter and starts in a great hall that can easily be placed in the middle of the wilderness or small village or town.

I do not want to spoil too much of the adventure, but suffice it to say that the adventure contains all types of holiday themed components. Fruitcakes, snowmen, reindeer, and more! All are blended in an interesting adventure that would play well as a one-shot or holiday diversion for your ongoing campaign. You just might get to meet Cinder Claws himself!

The Nexus of Yule is the second adventure in the product. It can be used stand-alone or as a follow-up to the first adventure, though this one is listed as being suitable for four to eight 3rd level characters. This is another easy one to bring a separated group of characters together as the characters are brought together in this Nexus.

Avoiding spoilers again, there are many holiday themed elements throughout. The adventure can conclude in a variety of different ways depending on the group’s or individuals desire to help Cinder Claws.

And finally the Appendix includes a Patron write-up for Cinder Claws, a Yuletide Spirit. Invoke Patron check results, Patron Taint, and Spellburn results are all included. The names of three Patron Spells are included, but the details of those are left up to the judge. The names of the spells should provide enough to convey a general sense of what would be appropriate.

While I have not had the opportunity to run the adventures in this product, they look like great choices for someone wanting to run a holiday themed DCC game. The product is available at RPGNow.

Roll20 Launches ‘Rugged Reroll’

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Jeffrey Tadlock

Roll20 has put out a press release regarding their major overhaul to the popular VTT gaming application. I have not had the chance to take it for a spin since the update – but I look forward to experiencing the updates!

ROLL20 LAUNCHES ITS “RUGGED REROLL”
Largest, most comprehensive update in the platform’s history goes live today.

Wichita, Kansas (December 16th, 2013) The developers of the online virtual tabletop Roll20.net have maintained a rapid update schedule since their successful Kickstarter launched the platform in April of 2012. So rapid, in fact, that the developers found themselves with a unique set of problems.

“We’ve been pushing new content live so fast that we weren’t giving ourselves a chance to see how everything fit together into the bigger picture,” said Roll20 cocreator Riley Dutton. “Our subscribers get really excited about improvements, and we get excited about the challenge. But we had come to a point where we wanted to take our time and do some bigger features, and that’s what the ‘Rugged Reroll’ has been about.”

While Roll20 typically has operated on a three week update schedule, the Rugged Reroll was a planned tenandahalf week grouping of large improvements. These included a major overhaul of the system’s rendering engine to better handle sizable maps, the addition of “waypoints” to allow better shared strategizing between players, the oftenrequested ability to “split” a group of gamers between two locations in a single game, contextspecific token actions, the ability for users to access character and journal features outside of the game space, and a massive improvement to voice and video chat powered by TokBox’s new WebRTC platformC. All of the changes were made available to Roll20’s Mentor subscribers to test and provide feedback on throughout the process and were unveiled to the community at large via regular developer blogs.

Cocreator Richard Zayas said, “This update has given us the chance to make substantial changes, in a way that engaged our community while really giving us something to be proud about as an undertaking. And we gave ourselves time to get proper help documentation for once!”

Roll20 began as an effort to keep developers Dutton, Zayas, and Nolan T. Jones in touch via long distance gaming. Since launching via Kickstarter, it has attracted over 345,000 users as a free service. The program continues to be funded by subscribers who receive features that assist advanced gameplay.

Blinded By The Light

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds – used under Paizo Community Use Policy

Conditions in a game can play as big or as small a role as you would like as a GM. It is pretty rare in a fantasy game that some kind of exotic creature does not have some way to cause an issue to the character they target. Conditions can be great equalizers to power players and awesome factors for players that want to puzzle their way around things.

A quick proviso: We all know I am a Pathfinder player for my fantasy largely, so I am going to describe the conditions here that are pertinent to a Pathfinder game. It is likely that your own game system has rules covering these same things but if I do slip and talk about statistical effects I am coming from a Pathfinder perspective.

Have a two-handed weapon specialist who sneers at the rogue every time they drag out a short sword or a dagger? Well do I have the condition for you! Swallowed whole. Hit them with a big creature that has a penchant for not chewing its food. Have the character slip down the gullet of the creature. Inside the gullet of a creature it is much easier to harm BUT the character can only attack with a light one handed weapon. Seleca, the Cavalier in one of my games, is the two handed specialist and she has recently just scored level 18. She is capable of cutting a twentieth level fighter down with over 300 hp in one round. She has just taken to carrying a dagger as she has now been swallowed around seven times and been able to do absolutely nothing until her companions cut her out.

A condition that hampers nearly every type of character is the blinded condition. In Pathfinder Blindness/Deafness is a second level spell and is a permanent effect! While running the Reign of Winter adventure path for Pathfinder I have blinded a Paladin twice in the campaign. The first time this occurred he remained blind for about four sessions and the condition really hampered his ability to be effective. The second time lasted only a single combat (in which he hilariously got eaten by an oven) but it caused a big drama as he struggled to be effective against the witch that had caused the blindness. This condition also seriously hampers a magician. A magician that cannot see is severely hampered in creating lines of effect for spells or using a lot of the spells in their repertoire.

Continuing on with the spell caster perspective you also could use deafness. Deafness causes any spell with a verbal component a chance of failure as although the magician can think of the correct words the brain cannot tell if the mouth is verbalizing them correctly. Tonal information is important to the casting of spells and this feedback to the brain is important to ensure the tone and pitch is correct in the delivery.

Creatures that can cause confusion or stunning effects are also good to have. If they can cause these conditions for multiple rounds it can turn a powerful enemy into their own worst nightmare! Confusion gives the player a random chance of what they are going to do for the round. There are four different options in Pathfinder. They can continue as normal, babble incoherently, attack themselves or attack the nearest living creature, regardless of who it is! As you can see, two of these outcome (50% of the time) the player will likely be doing awful things to themselves or possibly their companions! Stun on the other hand is effective against characters that get a lot of attacks per round with a weapon. It causes the player to drop anything that is held. That means to become effective again the player needs to pick up the weapon (which draws an attack of opportunity) or draw a new less preferred weapon (no AoO) before they can be effective again. The player is also unable to act for a round which means the creature can attack for that round. It is likely confusion will last multiple rounds while stunning is very rarely any more than one round.

Just a quick post today. Use your creatures wisely to inflict interesting conditions. There are far more conditions that exist in the game than what I have listed here, but the ones above are always a good place to start. The players will remember these combats for the way they overcame them regardless of the ‘x’ condition they were carrying. it makes for more interesting combats and more heroic actions from the players. Keep rolling!

Mark Knights is 39 year old guy living in a small rural town called Elliott in Tasmania, Australia. I have been role playing since I was 11 years old playing the original versions of Dungeons and Dragons, MERP, Elric, Dragon Warriors and the like amongst other genre games. I played D&D 2nd Edition through the 90′s but I ran Earthdawn for my fantasy setting and loved it as a GM. When 3rd Edition came out for D&D I tried it but found it too heavy on rules. I ignored the 3.5 edition of DnD in favour of Earthdawn (big mistake) as I thought it was just a money spinner. When 4th Edition DnD came on my players and I gave it a red hot go but hated what it had dumbed the game down to be. On a trip to Melbourne to buy some 4E stuff from a hobby store an old mate of mine pointed me at Pathfinder and in a Fantasy setting I have never looked back.

Episode 4: Exploring the Shifting Tower

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Jeffrey Tadlock

‘Exploring the Shifting Tower’ is the fourth episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

With the smothering paper defeated and the entrapping diamond still tempting, the adventurers continue forward in their investigation of the wizard’s tower. With doorways seemingly leading to random locations within, the crew leave finding the glass sarcophagus in which the wizard sleeps to chance…

Spoiler Warning: This session plays through part of Emirikol Was Framed by Michael Curtis from Goodman Games. If you do not want to hear potential spoilers for that module, you might want to skip this episode.

Download Link: http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Episode-4.mp3

Credits
Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

Silent Nightfall Available In Print

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Jeffrey Tadlock

Some folks still want their print product. Whether they prefer reading from real paper (and really, even though I consume a large number of PDFs, paper really is nice) or simply because they are a collector and PDFs don’t look as good on a shelf. Whichever group you fall into, you will be pleased to know Purple Duck Games has made CE5: Silent Nightfall available in print!

I just reviewed Silent Nightfall here at The Iron Tavern at the end of November. You can read the full review here:

Review: CE5 Silent Nightfall

So if you’ve been waiting for the print version of Silent Nightfall – head on over to RPGNow. The Print and PDF Bundle is currently $8.99.

Creating a Boring Game With Intent

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

Artwork Copyright William Ausland, used with permission.

Last week I ran a boring game! I fully understood what I was doing and I ran with it. I wanted the game to be boring. I wanted the players to look at me and for me to shrug as the game was their responsibility at this point. I planned it, I ran it, and it worked very well. Today’s post is in a way about why I did this to my players, and on a larger scale, a follow on from last weeks post about violence in games where I said I would write about other styles of conflict.

Now, the game I ran last week was not so fantasy based so let me relate to you the tale in fantasy speak. The players are members of a vessel that set out exploring trade in mysterious lands. Unfortunately the player that had taken up the sextant in the role of the navigator knew very little about where he was going and somehow managed to get their vessel afloat in the sea of darkness. With me so far? Good!

The players aboard the vessel soon learnt they were not alone in the sea of darkness. They found another interesting vessel seemingly built for a different race afloat on the sea. They boarded it and found nothing but unusual magical items and a tome written in a long dead language. They returned to their own vessel and began the process of deciphering it. As they did though another ship appeared on the sea of darkness and offered our lost heroes a way to free themselves from the sea if they would just follow them. They did and found a big vessel long thought lost to the ravages of time.

Right, now we are done fantasying up the Traveller game I ran (sneaking it under Jeffrey’s nose as fantasy is a job I enjoy!) [Editor’s Note: Not so sneaky! I pre-read all posts! ~Jeffrey] let us talk about why I made the game a boring one. Players are largely used to working out things with the help of large neon signs that we as GM’s load up the game with. If we want to get you to rescue a princeling or something similar, he will likely appear in a couple of games and then be stolen in the dark of night once someone takes a liking to them. Or they will find a scrap of one of the players clothing left at the scene of the crime and you will have to rescue the blighter just to clear your name. In his room you will find a bone wand inimical of the orcish clans just north of the city. You get there and find out it was stolen but one of the orcs caught sight of a member of the thieves guild stealing it. You head back to town and hit the thieves guild finding the princeling and uncovering a larger plot… continue campaign.

Sound familiar? We GM’s can be real stuck in our ways at times. Well in my exceptionally fantasy Traveller game I actually run a very open game and I have a completely open mind when it comes to running it. I don’t necessarily want massive amounts of conflict to run the game and I take the cues from my players as to what is actually happening in the game world. In the particular game I mentioned the players have put themselves in a pickle. I have allowed them the chance to get themselves out of it but they need to drive this. So what did I do? I put the players in a room (errr.. cold dungeon cell) under guard and allowed the game to run from there.

I did this because the vessel (yes I am fantasying it up again) was controlled by two things. First thing that the players would realise is that they were being held by a spirit (best analogy for an AI I could come up with) and it’s henchmen undead (read robots) for guards. They were by no means inhospitable and all requests were met with excellent focus though they were not allowed out. So the players sat in the cell and discussed their options. They seemed to be talking with other real life people but they knew there was something shifty going on. They discussed this at length with themselves and kept coming up with plans to be let out of the room. After all, they had been promised a way out when they came here. In all honesty, the game lasted a good two and a half hours with the players trapped in this room. There was much conjecture and trialling going on by the players and eventually they cracked the “spirit” and made an interesting discovery.

They were not alone. In fact there were other humanoids also in lockdown that were being kept alive and there was also a new race on the scene, a GM special as we GM’s arrogantly like to call them. They were a race borne of humans and they were the only living thing the spirit allowed free roaming on the vessel. OK, if you want to know how our hale adventurers (read space explorers) handled themselves, nip over to my blog (the awesome Pathfinder Chronicles and look up the blog that mentions the errr… pre-eminent fantasy writer Asimov?) As for the rest of this blog I will explain why I designed the game this way and show you why it was the best boring game I have run in a long time.

This game was all about conflict, but not the kind that involves eruptions of blood from arteries in high action sequences. This was four characters in a room with no idea what was going on who had to make sense of their situation. It plays on the amnesia trope in a way where the player wakes up and has no idea what is going on. In this situation though the tension was drawing on the fact that they knew everything that their character knew up until walking into the room, but had no clue what was going on aboard the vessel! The conflicts in this game came from social conflict (as they had communication remotely to the spirit and its incarnations) between themselves at times as well as the unknown environment. The other thing that this setting brewed up was the imagination of the players. I can not tell you how many hairbrained situations that they came up with while trying to work out what was going on!

The players really enjoyed this game I think. Right at the end they got to meet with the true villains of the piece (the Panold race) and have some interaction with them. They had a great game and not a single shot was fired (although they did mention it a lot!). There are some secrets in making this style of game come off well.

Know what is really happening before you play this style of game. It is really important as a GM that you go into this eyes wide open. If you wait for the players to come up with a great idea for you to run with you will overstay the excitement of the game and then they will say that you just did what they said.
Play up to some of the PC’s propositions if the circumstances could seem to be exactly what they are saying
Push through the silences. The players will look to you for a giant glowing neon sign. Do not give it to them. Just keep asking what they are doing or how their character is feeling. They have to become aware that the game relies on them to make the decisions.
Have an exit point. You can’t leave the players in the room forever. Have them spot something in a vent (er.. small cave) that may show them another way out. Do not reward them with anything informative though. They still need to use this new information to find out what is going on (e.g. they feel a breeze coming through a crack, could there be a passage just beyond the door?) This gives them a way of getting out of the cell but they will still be surprised by the new race and the overall plot.
Let them out when they are close enough to knowing something that they could succeed at a bluff with. Once they are that close, reward them. They are never going to guess that they have been captured by a race of highly intelligent mice but they might be able to get close and they should be rewarded!

So there you have it. Combat is fun as it risks a character’s mortal coil, but social or mystery encounters can offer new and varied experiences with the game that puts a focus right on the character. Consider your current game and think like Batman’s Riddler. How can you wrap the next clue to the puzzle in a box wrapped in a mystery and surrounded by an enigma that the players need to solve by role playing their characters. Once you have that in your head design it and you are guaranteed to make a memorable session for the players. Keep rolling!

Episode 3: Into the Tower

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Jeffrey Tadlock

‘Into the Tower’ is the third episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

Standing before the ever-changing wizard’s tower in the northern ward of the city, the adventurer’s find gaining entrance to the tower more difficult than anticipated. After trying the front portal and determining it too risky, they turn to the balcony high up on the tower’s side. After much struggle the adventurers gain access and begin their explorations…

Spoiler Warning: This session kicks off the real foray into Emirikol Was Framed by Michael Curtis from Goodman Games. If you do not want to hear potential spoilers for that module, you might want to skip this episode.

Download Link: http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Episode-3.mp3

Credits
Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

Review: Bluffside City on the Edge

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

In the days of d20 we had more than a few city supplements published. Freeport is the most famous and the easiest to use with all of its support. It is a gritty pirate city making it easy for players to understand and the original trilogy of adventures written for it as well as other after that served as a great introduction and way to make good use of Freeport. But while Freeport is great, and I did run a very enjoyable campaign there it was not my favorite city published in the days of d20. That honor goes to the city of Bluffside. Bluffside is a city built on the ruins of a lost civilization. It is written with creativity and plenty of mystery that appeals to me. I just hope this time around it gets the support it deserves and that some of the many mysteries the book raises get some kind of answer.

The new version of Bluffisde is written for the Castles and Crusades RPG. It is not a system I like and when it was first announced I was not going to buy it for that reason. However, I found my old copy of the original and was reminded on how much I enjoyed reading the setting. I did eventually buy a copy and I am pleased that I did. I have zero intention of ever using it with Castles and Crusades but luckily there are very few rules that I would need to convert into whatever system I might use when running the setting.

Bluffisde has a rich history and is filled with mystery. A very long time ago there was a civilization that was destroyed in a cataclysm. Bluffside is built over and around the ruins of one of their cities and seemingly the center of the cataclysm. It is named Bluffside because it sits high on a cliff over the ocean. The many districts of the city are in many ways small cities themselves. Each district is separate as the area the city is built on has crevasses that make it impossible to build a single large expansive city. This really makes the different area unique and feel much more like small neighborhoods.

The books is filled with great places of interest that are ridiculously easy to use. Each one defines a shop or building, lists the regulars so it is easy to know which NPCs one might encounter there, and lists a couple hooks to turns any point of interest into a seed for some type of adventure. Some of the hooks are complex, others are just simple sentences, and all serve to be a good starting point for some type of adventure – big or small.

The book does have a lot of Castles and Crusades information in it. It has 20 pages that are just NPC stats, and many pages of creatures, spells, items, classes, etc. They take up almost half the book coming in at about seventy of the hundred and seventy pages. Because of that, the decent sized book becomes a lot smaller for people like myself that will get little use out of those pages.

Bluffside is a city of mystery. There are plenty of underground caves that can lead to ancient ruins. Even the ancient palace the city is built around has not fully been explored in over a century. There are ancient magics alongside a very modern political set up that create issues for the player characters. There are a few powerful groups each with different agendas and knowledge of the city and its mysteries. The area around the city is also still wild. There are valuable metals to be found in the mountains along with tribes of goblins and other monsters. It is a city ripe with opportunity for adventuring.