Random Table: NPC Traits

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Jeffrey Tadlock

open clip art library

I have been accused in the past of having some NPCs that were very “cardboard-like”. Some had little personality, no unusual mannerisms, and just another voice among many. My group at one time even bought me a guide to playing NPCs.

While working to improve that area of my game, it is still an area I struggle with. So today’s table for Random Table Thursday is a list of 20 NPC traits. For that next barkeep the PCs meet if you neglected to do your homework you can roll up a trait on the fly to give that barkeep some distinguishing characteristic.

The Iron Tavern welcomes suggestions for next week’s random table. If you have suggestions for next week’s table feel free to leave a comment to this post or over on Google+!

Roll (d20)	NPC Traits
1	speaks quite loudly, even in inappropriate locations
2	uses hands frequently when speaking, gesturing, moving restlessly
3	constantly yawning, dozing off
4	speaks very quietly, just above a whisper
5	rolls an ornately carved metal cylinder across their knuckles, repeatedly
6	strong body odor
7	wears glasses, takes them on and off numerous times when conversing
8	constantly blinking
9	very observant, comments on fine details often missed (unique items on one’s person, rings, mannerisms, etc)
10	meticulous, frequently brushing lint from clothes, straightening hair, etc.
11	very empathetic, seems to listen to people with genuine concern
12	constant complainer (weather, food, lack of sleep, etc)
13	lacks personal space awareness, tends to stand or sit too close to people
14	flowery aroma
15	always seems out of breath, even when having been seated for a length of time
16	stutters
17	frequently snacking, taking handfuls of nuts and granola from a pocket
18	uses very proper and verbose speech
19	smokes a pipe, fiddles with tobacco can in vest pocket
20	overly polite

A Look at Thieves’ World

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

In Sanctuary someone is always awake especially when others are sleeping.

Most people that play RPGs have a favorite setting. Mine is the city of Sanctuary from the Thieves’ World Anthologies. It is a series of twelve books with short stories by different authors all taking place in the same setting of Sanctuary. The first was published in 1979 and the last one was in 1989. There was a short revival done in 2002 but I’m going to talk about that in a later blog post.

A friend of mine gave me the first book to read about 1988. So, I was not on the cutting edge of Thieves’ World and barely being a teenager did not help. It was not until 1996 that I learned there was RPG material written for it. Since then I’ve more than made up for it. I played in two Thieves’ World campaigns and ran a third. I have copies of each of the original books plus the novels that some authors continued to write about their characters. I have the collected graphic novels and the not so great board game. I have multiple copies of many of the role playing supplements including the original Box Set. Now, as much as I love the setting and the books I will say they are not always great. Some of the stories are pretty poor, especially by today’s standards. But overall it forms a great setting and one of the best for low magic gritty fantasy role playing.

Sanctuary is the city and it is founded by runaway slaves and pirates. Depending on when during the novels one uses the setting, it may be conquered by a far off power or free. Either way the place is a dump. There are inconsistencies in the stories about the city. It is described as a place full of crooks and thieves but at the same time is an operating city. The map makes the city seem a lot smaller then I envisioned in the stories. There is a character named Cappen Verra who is called the only honest man in Sanctuary. While the saying is in jest it does help set the tone that few people in the city are trustworthy. When running a game in the setting I feel the DM and PCs need to sit down and decide just how cut throat the city will be from the start. There were times the PCs would travel around the city with their pots and pans for fear of having them stolen in my games. When I say our games were gritty and dangerous they really were.

The Thieves’ World Box Set is a great product for people familiar with the setting. The box set does not provide a lot of setting information and only covers information in the first two Anthologies. It does have a player’s guide that contains some basic essays, some written by the authors of the short stories that detail information the players should know. It has good information in it to help get the feel and some understanding of the city and its history. However, today it does seem like gamers would want more than the books provide. I would use it as a good starting point and allow the players to also read the short stories to help get a solid feel for everything. The GM’s book is filled with additional information and tables for random encounters. There are tables for the different districts but more specifically for major or minor streets and then for day, evening, and night encounters. There is a third book in the box set of the many personalities. It gives a small paragraph on the many characters from the books. The bulk of the book is devoted to the stats of the characters in many different game systems. The box set is not written for one game system. It is kept purposefully generic so almost any fantasy game can easily be used.

The maps in the box set are the main reason I have multiple copies. There is a large map of the city I had laminated. It allows for a wet erase marker to be used and then wiped out. It also allows everyone at the table to see the map in front of them and to understand where the different districts are and the different places. There are very few defined buildings in Sanctuary. There are tables so if one needs to know what a specific building is it can easily be determined randomly. We had year long campaigns were the PCs never left the city so the maps were an important feature. One area of the main map is left blank, a place called the Maze. It is the most dangerous section with no main streets just side alleys that twist and turn around buildings. No one knows the entire Maze so the area is kept on a different map so the players won’t know where they are going and can get easily lost in there. The third map and another one the players should not see is of the sewers. The sewers can be used to get around in secret if one knows the way. Knowledge of the Maze and Sewers is important and a potential opportunity for the PCs to can earn money as guides.

There are also a few modules and supplements that came out for Thieves’ World. I don’t have them all but I will talk about the ones I do have. I’ve only run one of the three modules, the one titled Traitor. The module is made to use with the pre-made characters. Each works for Jubal, a local and wicked crime lord. One of the characters has stolen something but Jubal does not know who. He wants the characters to figure out who it was and return the item or he will have them all killed. Each character has a write up of them being innocent and of them being guilty so it could be any of the characters. This is the first RPG adventure I recall seeing this type of set up and I like it. The first time I ran it though some of the players got frustrated with the mystery and decided to just kill one of the group and claim that he is the criminal. I found a perfect resolution for Sanctuary.

Other modules include Dark Assassin in which the PCs are trying to stop an assassination and Spirit Stone which focuses on the S’Danzo a human race of travelers attempting to get back a sacred artifact of their people. The main use we got from the adventures was more information, more NPCs, and maps of different places in the city.

In addition to the modules there is a Supplement called Under the Beysibs. It covers books three through six and events that I hear the most people complain about. There is a city book called Carse which I think is supposed to be the same Carse mentioned in the Thieves World books but honestly I’ve never seen anything that confirms or denies that.

This is just the first in what I plan to blog about Thieves’ World. Next up I will talk specifically about the campaigns and the how using different rule sets altered the feel and expectations of the game. We played just three campaigns but each campaign used a different rule set.

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.

What is a Game?

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

art by mazeo

According to Wikipedia a game can be considered an organized activity in which the participants engage in activities aimed at achieving a goal, either in competition with others, or in cooperation with them. The article in question notes that games often have elements in common, such as goals (victory conditions), a limited arena or playing field, and often a time limit. What about roleplaying games?

Note that in the case of an RPG most (there are exceptions) do not have formal goals, have an expansive playing field, and no real time limit. In the case of the last, play can be considered unending, with the group deciding when a particular campaign will come to an end. In short, you don’t need to end the game at a certain time and then assess victory and defeat. Nor do the players have to end a session when certain conditions are met and then determine victors and losers.

Instead, the players may suspend play at any time, then resume later. Thus the typical RPG is an endless game. Indeed, in some cases groups have made their games multigenerational, with the successors and heirs of the original characters carrying on after them.

Where time limits are concerned, they aren’t always adhered to. One group may solve the problem inside a few minutes. Another may take months of play just to get the adventurers together and hired to explore an ancient set of ruins. That is the thing about the great majority of RPGs, the players don’t have to complete their tasks in a certain set time, despite what certain parties would have you believe. In that sense RPGs are open ended.

The same applies to the arena. In a typical game – Parcheesi or Go or Chess – the field of play, pieces and terrain, are limited. This make mechanical balancing relatively easy. In an RPG the arena and the available actors are expansive indeed. When you consider an RPG environment is a largely active one, you come to realize the typical RPG cannot be mechanically balanced except in the most limited of fashions and for the most limited time. Look into Chaos Theory for further information regarding this.

Following the above we have the fact that things in any comprehensive world can not be equal in any real way in any but the most restrictive RPG. There is just too much going on for RPGs to be substantially balanced or to stay balanced.

So what do we have with RPGs? No real objective, no real time limit, and an unbalanced situation that relies on initiative on the part of player and GM alike for matters to work. And let’s not forget the opportunity factor. In a traditional game the player only has so many options he can follow. In an RPG there may be limits, but the choices available can often be wide ranging, and often there are occasions when even those choices can be expanded upon. When you get right down to it, RPGs really don’t qualify as games in the traditional sense. An RPG is more an exercise in imagination, exploration, and interaction. You have the freedom to solve your problems in a wide variety of ways, not just a few.

More could be said on the subject, but I think we’ll stop here. Unless something happens we’ll be taking a look at players in RPGs and what they do next week.

Alan Kellogg. I am a blogger and a gamer, and I opine on various subjects and topics. I live in San Diego CA, have been gaming since 1964 (board games) and 1975 (RPGs). Have credits in Dangerous Journeys: Mythus and have helped out with a few other projects (Charlemagne’s Paladins for TSR for instance). Currently working on a revision of Mythus for possible publication.

Building Your Own Campaign World

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

Last week I asked the question of if you brew your own campaign world and gave some cost effective options for those people that wanted to get into a pre made campaign. This week I am going to run through part one of building your own campaign world from scratch. To do this I am going to base it in Pathfinder and give references to resources that I use in that system. That said, the setting that I will come up with will be easily adapted to most rules systems so if you like it use it. Take it as a basis and make it your own.

The first thing to do is come up with some kind of hook or seed for your world. What is going to set it apart from every other campaign world. Think of the classic books: Tolkien’s seed was the One Ring and probably persistent evil, Weis – Hickman had the riding of dragons, Feist’s initially was likely the linking of worlds and the strength of magic, Gemell is normally about legend and Eddings prophecy fulfillment. All of these are generalisations and each of these authors had/have much more going on in their writing than just these small snippets that were taken out of them. It is great to start with a central idea or theme that you want to investigate or expand that makes your world yours!

You will want to keep in mind your players if you know who they are already. A group that loves high powered magical adventure is less likely to go with a premise of lowly court intrigue with little action but loads of diplomacy. It can be helpful to sit down with the group prior to your first design session and talk to them about what they like to give you an idea on what to focus on as a hook or a theme. As I am not likely to use this setting that I will create for this blog until I work out how to remain awake for twenty three hours a day I have no idea who my group is so I will select a theme that I would be interested expanding.

Persistence of Spirit

So there is my theme. It does not need to be a four page document, and mine is only three words long. It need only mean something to you at this point. But as I am trying to demonstrate how to build your own campaign I will clue you in by what I mean with those three words. I want to create a fantasy land in which death is a true transition of the spirit. In death the spirit of the creature persists for some time before the spirit is taken by the God that rules the realms of death. What this means in game is that the character can be played past a death event but I will need to develop some other material around that before I start up.

The next thing you should do is start the design and there are two ways you can go with this. Basically it all comes down to a question of scope. If you only want to have a one off game, you don’t need to create a complete world or continent, all you would need do is create the village and surrounds it is going to happen in. You only need to create the NPC’s and environments that you are likely to use. If you want to run a campaign that will last over several years though you will have to up the scope BUT you can make it one bit at a time developing more and more NPC’s and areas as you think of your world or continent involve.

In a campaign style game where I am expecting most, if not all, of my game sessions to revolve in or around the setting I would spend some time with a pen and some scrap paper or a mind map/brainstorming app for your tablet/computer to build a mind map for the idea that I have created as a seed. From this you can think about anything at all about the setting from NPC’s to locales to adventures to unique treasures, gods. If you can imagine it, write it down. Don’t edit yourself immediately just write it down. There is plenty of time to edit stuff that seems silly or ill conceived when you come back to it.

After you have done a run through at the brainstorm and you have exhausted your ideas for the time being (remember you have a long time to continue development) go through your mind map and decide what is worth keeping and what is not. Be merciless, if you look at something and can’t think what the idea came from, cut it and have a think about what you want to expand initially in the list.

The main rulebook of Pathfinder focuses much more on building a couple of adventures up front with the campaign and extending on from there. I would tend to agree with this approach with one exception. People like to see or know a bit about the world around them so I would prepare a map at least of the kingdom or country that they are in. This is a must in a game where the scope has you expecting to play many sessions in the world you create. Just because you have a map does not mean that you need to know everything about it and you can use dirty tricks like I do on my campaign map that is shown here by having unknown or unexplored regions.

The next step I would take would be to begin building the initial settlement or base for the players. in my mind-map and on the map I created for the campaign I chose the village of Dante’s Rest as the place that the players will start. The very first thing I would do is build a settlement stat block as set template as is set out in the Gamemaster Guide pp. 203-213. This will give you some statistics that you can refer to for the game but not really put any life into the setting. The stat block for Dante’s Rest would be the following;

Dante’s Rest

NG village
Corruption: -3 Crime: -1 Economy: -1 Law: -1 Lore: +0 Society: +0
Qualities: Holy Site, Rumourmongering Citizens
Danger: +0

Demographics
Government: Autocracy
Population: 134 (89 humans, 23 Elves, 15 Halflings, 7 other)
Notable NPC’s:
Mayoress Rowan Mayfair (Human Aristocrat 7 NPC Codex p. 253)
Blacksmith Terran Harfoot (Halfling Expert 6 NPC Codex p.262 modified halfling racial stats)
Innkeeper Selma Treble (Human Expert 4/Warrior 1 Gamemastery Guide p.303)
Brother Elleniel of Bindara (Human Cleric of Bindara 11 NPC Codex p.52)

Marketplace
Base Value: 500 gp Purchase Limit: 2500 gp Spellcasting: 5th Level
Minor Items: 1d6 Medium Items: 1d3 Major Items: –

To flavour the stat block a little, give your village or settlement a little bit of a historical blurb that touches on some of the salient points in the statistics. For example, the below flavour text would give you a great start in thinking of the village as more than a simple set of statistics:

Dante’s Rest is a humble unassuming village sitting on top of a bluff that overlooks the Fell Sea. It is here that the great hero Dante, Jasmine the Creator’s only mortal lover, was killed by the Graveknight Listross who was reincarnated into the Armour of the Fang to challenge the only mortal that had lain with a God. Dante’s companion Terella preserved Dante’s corpse and built him a sarcophagi of the purest veins of crystal that are found in the caves that riddle the bluff. She made it her life’s work to build an amazing mausoleum that was testament to the heroes courage.

Today it is said that only the blood of Terella may become Mayor of the village that sprung up around the mausoleum. It is far from the metropolises of the Radiant Kingdom but it attracts its fair share of religious pilgrims and history scholars. It is due to this steady flow of travellers that flow through the town that it is said that the truth of any small rumour can be found at the bar of The Fallen Siren, a famed Inn located with its outlook over the cliffs of Dante’s Bluff as the area is now known.

Now we have the backbone of our little village we need to start giving it some real flavour and build on the culture of our land. We will want to introduce a good deal of detail to the characters of Dante’s Rest when they start adventuring as it is likely the place that they have called home, though this may not be the case also. We need to build this village as a microcosm for our game and it’s seed, being the persistence of spirit. We want the first adventure to reflect this seed and so part two of Building Your Own Campaign World will focus on bringing our initial adventure and locale to life. Taking the stat block above and turning it into a place that the players will remember and talk about in years to come!

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.

Finding the Right Word So You Can Get On With Your Life

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

photo from viZZZual.com

Have you ever been writing down an idea and then hit the proverbial brick wall that stops you dead in your tracks and completely derails the process? If not, count yourself lucky. Happens to me far too often. To the point in fact where I’ve had to develop some coping mechanisms to deal with it. In this post, I’d like to focus on three of the ways I’ve learned to turn these walls into speed bumps: Breadcrumbs, Dictionary Dives, and Thesaurus Thumps.

We’ll start with “Breadcrumbs” because the other two ideas can be used to follow up on those later. When I’m pounding away and suddenly am at a loss for the next word, I’ve discovered that I can a) completely derail myself for hours or days by trying to figure it out immediately or b) put in a marker of some sort with a few key ideas and keep on chugging away. Option (b) sounds like a much better approach to me, though I probably go with (a) more often than I want to admit.

The basic technique works something like a Mad Lib. I put in a blank with a few words beneath it or put the keywords in brackets or parentheses and then move on to the next thought as quickly as possible to not lose the train of thought. Later on during the editing or revising phase I can find these little breadcrumbs and hunt for the correct term, idea, or concept to fill it in.

Let’s take the following passages as examples: “…As the party slowly works down the hall, they may hear (with a decent Perception check) the [slimy, squishy, blubbery] noises of something up ahead…” or “A small rusty metal cannister has been placed carefully on the shelf between two ancient tomes. Inside you find the [sand-like, dust-like, shavings-like] remains of something of indeterminate origin. On the can is a small note with lettering smudged and worn to the point where all you can read is ‘add water.'”

As you can see, I mostly use it for descriptive words, but it can be a handy technique for just about anything. Need a name? Tag it. Need a place? Tag it. Need a thing? Tag it!

So what do you do with the tags when it’s all said and done? Well, that’s up to you of course. I use those breadcrumbs to remind me what I was looking for and then use a couple of different techniques… Dictionary Diving and Thesaurus Thumping.

image by Improulx

There are two variations of “Dictionary Diving” I use frequently. Rarely do I actually open a physical dictionary, though I have one by my desk at all times for just such an emergency. It’s far too easy to hit the web and go to Dictionary.com to do my exploration. It involves taking the keywords from the breadcrumb, typing them into the search field in my favorite dictionary website, and seeing what comes up. If you feel like living dangerously you can even do a raw Google search with your terms to see what comes up.

If I try this approach with my two breadcrumbs exactly as I wrote them in the passages I wrote earlier, I end up with nothing useful. I can’t simply put in “slimy, squishy, blubbery” or “sand-like, dust-like, shavings-like” and expect good results. Think of this as like spelunking where we’re exploring different dark caves in a network, finding a few dead-ends, and doubling back to find something more cool or useful.

So let’s go down the rabbit hole and I’ll show you the process. In this case, if I try “slimy” I end up with the basic definitions and an encyclopedia entry, Nothing very useful. But if I click on the linked term “slime” I find the definition “any ropy or viscous liquid matter, especially of a foul kind.” Viscous is a great word, but doesn’t really apply to sound, so I’ll write it down and set it aside for now. Like with a good prestidigitator performing a card trick, this is a bit like being asked to “pick a word, any word” and stuffing it back into the book so we can pull it out later.

If I don’t end up with anything I like out of the dictionary, I can use the same technique with my favorite online or offline thesaurus. If I look for “sand” at thesaurus.com, I end up with a variety of great terms to play with: ashes, filings, granules, flakes, grit, powder, dust, gravel, or soot. And I can play with various words and combinations, exploring different paths until I end up with a word or phrase I like.

In this case, I may end up with something like “they see thin, viscous trails along the walls and floor and hear something squishing down the corridor ahead” and “the gilings and granules of some ancient thing once whole, now ground to pieces…” There’s endless varieties and this exploration of words not only helps any immediate word choice problems, but expands your vocabulary for later projects. I’m constantly learning new words and new uses for old words.

Hopefully these techniques help you in your own writing!

One last piece of advice… Remember that sometimes it’s not about finding the exact word YOU need, but about finding the right word that expresses what you’re trying to say to your READER! It can be very easy to be so focused on finding the perfect word that you get lost along the way, never to return. If that happens often, I recommend you set a timer and give yourself 5 minutes to poke around. If you still don’t have what you need, leave a more detailed breadcrumb with some of the choices you investigated, and keep moving. Don’t get so deep you forget why you were there in the first place. 🙂

Brian “Fitz” Fitzpatrick is a Software Engineer who manages (or is that mangles) Game Knight Reviews and tinkers with writing game materials via his Moebius Adventures imprint. When he’s not writing about gaming, he’s actually gaming or at least thinking about gaming in some capacity. During the non-writing, non-gaming time he’s likely trying to keep up with his wife and two daughters or wrangling code for a living!

Random Table: Tavern Names

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Jeffrey Tadlock

image by nicubunu

I was running short of time this week when I wrote up this week’s random table. Due to that I went with something easy, Tavern Names! These names are ready to be used on the fly or during your session prep to breathe a little life into the next tavern your PCs step into.

The Iron Tavern welcomes suggestions for next week’s random table. If you have suggestions for next week’s table feel free to leave a comment to this post or over on Google+!

Roll (d20)	Tavern Names
1	Plate and Mug Tavern
2	The Rusty Bucket
3	Whistler’s Pourhouse
4	The Fallen Phoenix
5	The Smokey Alehouse
6	Tolenka’s Taphouse
7	Fading Fast Tavern
8	The Singing Siren
9	The Silver Tankard
10	The Weeping Mermaid
11	Rose’s Taphouse
12	Firehouse Ales
13	Broken Mug Pourhouse
14	Red Griffon Taproom
15	Broken Keg’s Tavern
16	Flying Albatross Alehouse
17	Brannon’s
18	Fat Sylvernia’s
19	Purple Dragon Pub
20	One Legged Ogre

New Classics: Paizo Modules J1 and J4

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

Entombed with the Pharaohs and The Pact Stone Pyramid

Today I bring in a couple of my favorite Paizo modules both written by Michael Kortes. One is a sequel to the other, though they can easily be played as separate adventures. They share similar themes of pyramid exploration and bring in more than just the usual dungeon crawling. I believe these are the best pyramid based modules since the Desert of Desolation series that I still need to run for my current group. We did play through both of these modules and I believe my players had as much fun playing them as I did running them.

Both modules are set in the Golarion setting in the country of Osirion. If you are not familiar, the country is a fantasy version of Egypt though not as dead on as say Green Ronin’s Hamunaptra. The setting is important to both modules so it will reward groups that use it specifically in the Osirion country but the modules are not so attached to it that it cannot be pulled away and placed in a homebrew or other similarly themed setting. When I ran them they were placed in my homebrew setting with zero issues of compatibility.

Both modules are also written under the OGL and before the Pathfinder RPG came out. I think this might be one reason I rarely see mention of them or other modules from this period of Paizo’s publishing. I ran these using 3.5 D&D so I did not have to do any converting but I don’t believe it would be difficult to convert these into newer or even older versions of D&D and like RPGs. One aspect that makes them a little easier to convert is the modules are not very large. Each module has a little more than a dozen different areas in the Pyramids with encounters that lead up to the actual pyramid exploration. These days I think I prefer these smaller modules and the ease they can be completed in. I think each of these took us a session or two to finish. Entombed with the Pharaohs is for sixth levels characters and the Pact Stone is for eighth level characters.

Entombed with the Pharaohs

Entombed with the Pharaohs starts with some good pulp feeling adventure. The bad guys are introduced at the beginning and there is an auction the PCs need to win to get clues on where the Pyramid is. I like that it doesn’t just start the PCs at the base of the Pyramid, though one could easily ignore the first part of the module and do just that. The module has great sidebars that tell additional information. I like the one on the numerology. That one can be focused on to add more depth to the mystery for the PCs to figure out. There is also plenty of information on what the bad guys are going to be doing so it is not just rooms waiting to be explored. There is a race to see who can get the treasure first. There is a good variety to the encounters with some just tough combats and others are minor puzzles. There are some great references to planet watching and another planet in the Golarion solar system. This is just hinted at in the module but would be easy to expand on especially since now there is a book on the other planets. The module is self-contained but hints at a much bigger picture for DMs to have fun with. For a small module there is a good deal of mystery and information that can be built on or ignored without damaging the adventure

The Pact Stone Pyramid

The Pact Stone Pyramid is quite different but the general themes are the same. One could probably combine both pyramids of the modules into a much larger dungeon crawl or just have this be a tougher area in the first module. But I like them as separate places especially with the hints and foreshadow of the first module to the second one. Like the other module the Pact Stone Pyramid has a rival group that is there before the PCs, but having difficulties. There is a lot of potential to bring back old NPC nemesis or allies here and introduce some new ones. Getting into the Pyramid and by its initial guardians is a challenge and not the easiest thing to figure out for PCs that stop and delay trying to. There are plenty of cool encounters and mysteries to be figured out. Like the other module this one to hints at events larger than the module and between the two modules it seems to prophesize a large event that is coming soon and clever PCs can figure out exactly how long they have.

Both modules appear to still be in print and I’ve seen them occasionally at used books stores. It should be easy to pick them up for people interested in them. They have a great pulp feel that could actually aid in converting them to other non D&D like games like Hollow Earth Expedition or Adventure. Modernizing the rival factions but keeping the magic and fantasy elements of the modules could make for some fun 1920’s pulp adventures. With the foreshadowing of something evil coming, the numerology, and ancient books that the modules reference it could make these a good starting point some Call of Cthulhu adventures or even a more modern Delta Green version. Running the modules for these games would take a bit more work for the GM but would be a good surprise for players that might not be expecting adventures like these. The modules have a plenty of potential to be used in fun and creative ways.

Edition Warring

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Jeffrey Tadlock

This post started brewing last week after the boingboing.net post titled Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Wizards of the Coast’s Problem Child by Peter Bebergal hit the net. In fact I had about half a post written last week on the topic before deciding it needed to cool off a bit. I still question whether I should post this particular post, but I think the topic needs addressed even at risk of this very post itself being taken in a way I did not intend it.

Edition warring as a label

The “Edition Warring” comment thrown out to label viewpoints you disagree with is not a valid argument or debate point. It is equivalent to simply trying to shout someone down because you disagree with them. Anytime you respond to a viewpoint about an RPG system you do not agree with “the person is edition warring” or “the person is just trolling” you are not helping make the situation any better. If anything these comments as a reply to discussion are doing more harm than the original post.

Edition warring versus discussion

I have spent a fair amount of time hanging out on various discussion forums, social media networks, and such in search of good discussion about RPGs. It is my hobby and I like to talk about it with peers. Good discussion does not mean only discussing the good things about systems, but it also means discussing things I think one system does less well than another. It means discussing systems I like and systems I dislike. It means stating reasons why *I* do not like something in a system and why I do like something in a system.

In the course of this discussion I am going to read posts and articles I do not agree with. I am going to reply with opinions that others do not agree with. This is not “edition warring”, this is discussion about RPGs. It is why we are here on discussion forums – to discuss RPGs, warts and all.

Actual edition warring

Now that is not to say there aren’t any posts that are “edition warring” in nature. There are posts that cross the line of being opinion and into the realm of saying people are “choosing the wrong system” or “you are doing it wrong if you choose that system” or “you aren’t playing the game if you play it that way”. Those posts are inflammatory and are treading into the realm of “bad wrong fun”. But the majority of posts I see being labeled “edition warring” are not guilty of this. Posts stating ones opinion and what they see as pros and cons of a system or their system preference is not this.

Back to the article

Let’s go back to the article that triggered this post, Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Wizards of the Coast’s Problem Child. This article falls into the category of someone posting their opinion and thoughts on the Old School movement and its impact on Wizards of the Coast. This is an example of someone providing their opinion on that topic.

This article was not an opening salvo in an “edition war” and it was not a “troll”. It was an author walking the audience through what he thought the implication of the OSR movement was on Wizards and the current D&D game.

If after you read this article you found yourself on discussion forums or social media networks making proclamations like:

“That guy thinks feats are from magic the gathering, and roleplaying left when 2e introduced new rules…. that is a way back edition warrior”

“it’s just Standard Edition War Tract 101…”

“it is just another cheeto beard old school gamer”

Then you were part of the problem. In many ways I think if that was your first response you are likely more of the problem than the initial poster who did not make an attack on people, but rather stated his opinion. These statements did not discuss the path and conclusions made, but rather tried to dismiss the commentary under the “edition war” or “troll” guise.

That does not mean you need to agree with the post or the path he took to reach his conclusion. By all means, contribute to the discussion and disagree with his statements and conclusion. I know I did not agree with everything in the article.

I saw good discussion on how roleplaying was easily possible in newer versions and that was not something unique to AD&D or earlier. I saw people discuss some of the copyright topics mentioned in the article. I saw people discuss what the Magic the Gathering influence was in the game and whether or not that was a statement they agreed with.

Discussion

My point is. Don’t be so quick to label a viewpoint not your own as “edition warring” or “trolling”. Those labels do not help and just increase the negative vibe of the RPG community more than people posting opinion pieces for discussion. People in the RPG community are much too quick to shout down opposing viewpoints under labels of “trolling” and “edition warring” when there has not been an opening shot in the most recent “edition war”. Next time you see an article that you do not agree with, slow down, breath and think what exactly about the article do you disagree with. Address those points in a respectful manner, but don’t resort to name calling or stereotyping views you do not agree with.

Storytelling or Story-making?

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Iron Tavern Guest Blogger

You see, the shared computers I’d usually use at my place of residence lost connection to the Internet, and that connection won’t be fixed until tomorrow. So I’m using a library computer, which means I can’t do the research on games I’d was supposed to do for this post. That means this second post will ask a question or two, starting with:

Given that a story is about things which have happened, and life is about things which are happening, and that an RPG is about things which are happening—albeit, imaginary things, how can RPGs be story?

How did performance; that is, playing a role, come to be storytelling?

Are we really storytelling, or storymaking?

I’d like to read your thoughts on the above.

DriveThruRPG OSR Spotlight

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Jeffrey Tadlock

Today kicks off a week long promotion over at DriveThruRPG where several of the top selling Old School Renaissance (OSR) products have been put into the spotlight. In addition to highlighting some of the best selling products they are offering a 15% off discount (OSRF711F2) until Sunday, May 19th.

There are several great products available. I have been dabbling a fair amount in the various OSR sources so I see several that I have already been having a lot of fun with.

The Castles & Crusades Players Handbook is on the list. Castles & Crusades is an excellent blend of old school sensibilities with more modern mechanics. This is an excellent system to start with for someone looking to experiment with an OSR gaming experience. Transitioning from a system like Pathfinder or D&D 3.5 is quite natural as the core mechanics are similar enough, but streamlined enough to give you a great OSR experience with minimal relearning of rules.

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG also made the list. This product from Goodman Games gives you that old school feel with a new set of mechanics. Random tables to roll on for spells, new flavor to existing character classes, and the use of a 0-level funnel for new characters brings a fun experience to the table. I have been playing this game weekly since about July of last year and we have been having a great time with this system. The artwork alone in the tome is worth the price of admission, but you will stay for the fun.

My latest interest is also on the list, Swords & Wizardry Complete. A retroclone of the 0e D&D ruleset, S&W gives the OSR player a solid foundation to work from. Just the bare necessity of rules that have a true D&D feel. This system is soon becoming my favorite as it provides me with what I need and gets out of the way. When I want to house rule certain areas it makes it easy to do so as I am much less likely to contradict something in the base rules. There is also a very strong community behind S&W on Google+.

There are several other great systems on the list beyond the ones I highlighted. Swing by DriveThruRPG and take a look. Don’t forget the 15% off code: OSRF711F2