tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25682696419598881322024-03-08T00:50:44.630-05:00Storytelling in Table-Top RPGsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197396576652173387noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568269641959888132.post-59710686875410186062017-07-28T10:57:00.000-04:002017-07-28T10:57:38.678-04:00Vampire 5th Edition Pre-Alpha Playtest Feedback (Playtest #1)<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>My Players</b></div>
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My first session-group was made up of my wife, a couple who have been playing in our Vampire: Dark Ages game for several months, and Ken (a veteran GM of many systems) whom I know through Pathfinder for the first playtest. I had each player find / bring a picture of their character to the game and awarded each one bonus Willpower or Composure for doing so (I didn't do this for the next two playtests).</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(I did not create, photograph or own the rights to any of the following images, nor do I intend to monetize this post; all pictures were pulled from Google image search)</span></div>
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Andrea - Amelina</div>
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Ken - Bruno</div>
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Keith - Nicholas</div>
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Lydia - Amir</div>
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<b>Jackpot!</b></div>
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Despite the additional background I presented (and my players' extreme role-playing prowess) the way this scene was written came off as strange and stunted, as if it was written for a LARP rather than a table-top audience. I found myself adding elements to the cafe that weren't in the written scenario to give the players something else to focus on rather than directly on one another.<br />
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I described their nightly routine and how the recent anarch insurrection had blown that all to hell, but at least the all-night gambling hall seemed safe. If was a return to normalcy for them in a way.<br />
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After Bruno appeared I cut them off with a loud noise followed by cheering, someone had hit the jackpot in the other room. They all got a strange feeling in the pit of their stomach that they couldn't pin down as if all the joy just got sucked out of the room as the cheering died down.<br />
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Shortly after that came the news...<br />
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The PCs heeded the call to their blood and were unanimously on-board with heading into the fray to save their beloved.</div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-2bcbb6ac-8957-63d8-7cbb-2b5c591f3135"><span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The Siege Of Golden Gate</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; white-space: normal;">The PCs headed out the front door and saw the first police cordon a few blocks away. They decided to take the rooftops, so we made a few rolls and everyone made it across safely and quietly. One PC (Bruno maybe) took a few more turns to make it across the rooftops so I had him make a Stealth check when the helicopter came by and then let him finish his journey. Once they regrouped and got to ground level they were near the second cordon.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; white-space: normal;">Here was the first time they really surprised me; they split the party *gasp*. Nicholas went to the front line to make a plea to the police to be let in while Amelina and Amir worked the crowd and Bruno used Obfuscate to get in. Amelina got some very useful info (that Andre was hit by the truck / firebomb and a woman he was with dragged him away while everyone else was trying to escape) with a masterful use of Presence.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; white-space: normal;">Each time an unnamed Anarch was introduced I had each PC roll a d10, on a 1 they were the victim of their "sin" but on a 2 or 3 they recognized them (i.e. I would make up a random anarch on the spot).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the three anarchs came out of the burning building<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: small; white-space: normal;"> Bruno's player rolled a 1 so Bruno recognized one of the men as his previous victim, </span></span><span style="font-family: Aladin; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Otto Brezler, luckily Bruno was still Obfuscated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Golden Gate</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the very distracting 'event' everyone managed to get inside Golden Gate. I don't think I played up the fear of the fire or building collapsing enough, though. They split the party a second time and each went to check out another area. They saved Martin on the dance floor and I had the GSG9 blow the roof hatch with explosives to make their entrance and get the players moving quickly. They found the drag marks thanks to the info that Amelina got outside and followed that into the cellar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the cellar, one PC was able to find the combination lock easily with a fabulous Investigation roll after following the blood trail. When I alerted Bruno covertly that he knew the code he finally put two and two together and realized that he had missed out on a lot of chances to screw over the rest of the group. He feigned a Larceny roll to try to open the lock and actually got 5 successes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They found Andre and his ghoul. They </span><span style="font-family: aladin; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">tried to feed Andre, but could sense that it was not working so...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Out the Back</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The PCs decided, again unanimously, to take Andre's body with them. They busted open the back door and (instead of a garden) it lead to a maintenance tunnel </span><span style="font-family: aladin; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(it made no sense to me that GSG9 or the local police would not have placed someone at this door otherwise) </span><span style="font-family: aladin; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">which took the PCs out several blocks and opened to street level in an alleyway. If I had to do it over again now I probably would have kept it a garden and stationed a guard or three here to test the combat system a bit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The Body</b></span></div>
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They dismissed the idea of joining the anarchs or turning Andre's body over to them. I had everyone make Willpower checks to see if the Blood Bond had weakened but they all rolled no successes.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>New Haven</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: aladin;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We did a Willpower, Composure, and Hunger check-in and everyone was still doing great. Rouses were minimal and nobody needed to feed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: aladin;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Amelina gave up her haven to the group and I really missed an opportunity there to play up her character's dark side. I knew we only had about 30 minutes left to play and I wanted to get more accomplished.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Message Interception</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next morning someone went out to make a call, of course about 20 seconds into the call they noticed some odd sounds on the line and realized they were probably being surveilled. Bruno left as well and met up with the PEGIDA pamphleteer (I really wanted to get that info to the PCs quickly). I let his player know that Bruno is the leak, but he went ahead and brought it to them anyway in the hopes that they wouldn't suspect the one that brought the note.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>New Haven 2</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After reading the pamphlet they decided to make their way back to Andre's panic room and hole up there with his body. We played them getting back in through the tunnel and finding the whole area cleaned up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Escape from Berlin</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were out of time left to play, but they decided that they were going to spend as long as they could heading up to the train station above each night and looking for a way to board the train safely and get out of the country. I told them later than most likely there would have been a bloody combat on the train and they would have all died.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Conclusion</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everyone seemed to enjoy the simplified dice rolls. There was no combat so we didn't get to test the specifics like dodging or initiative. They thought the Rouses system seemed a bit clunky, but had no real complaints as only one PC gained any Hunger during the game. Because nobody needed to feed during the game we did not get to test the 'you are what you eat' (or YAWYE) system.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "aladin"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Session 2 was far more eventful and we got to test out a few mechanics we missed in the first playtest...</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197396576652173387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568269641959888132.post-72856949066157638292017-07-27T14:19:00.003-04:002017-07-28T09:13:21.525-04:00Vampire 5th Edition Pre-Alpha Playtest Feedback (Intro)<div style="text-align: justify;">
For info on the playtest, check out White Wolf's <a href="https://blog.white-wolf.com/2017/06/15/v5-pre-alpha-the-curtain-rises/" target="_blank">official blog post</a> as well as the follow-up post with some <a href="https://blog.white-wolf.com/2017/06/28/vampire-the-masquerade-a-storytelling-game-of-personal-and-political-horror/" target="_blank">clarifications</a> about the scenario.</div>
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Over the last month I have run the V5 Pre-Alpha scenario three times. The first two groups were made up of veteran players from my core weekly Role-Playing group (except for Chad who is pretty new to table-top gaming). Despite being veterans V:tM is new to a few of them. My wife, Andrea, played in both of the first two groups. The third group was made up entirely of first-time role-players (except Nestor who is a part of our main group, but has little experience with V:tM).</div>
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<b>Character</b></div>
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<b>Session 1 Player</b></div>
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<b>Session 2 Player</b></div>
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<b>Session 3 Player</b></div>
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Amelina</div>
</td><td style="text-align: center;">Andrea</td><td style="text-align: center;">Chad</td><td style="text-align: center;">Karen</td></tr>
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Amir</div>
</td><td style="text-align: center;">Lydia</td><td style="text-align: center;">Nick</td><td style="text-align: center;">Nestor</td></tr>
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Nicholas</div>
</td><td style="text-align: center;">Keith</td><td style="text-align: center;">Dean</td><td style="text-align: center;">Patrick</td></tr>
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Bruno (M) / Bruna (F)</div>
</td><td style="text-align: center;">Ken (M)</td><td style="text-align: center;">Andrea (F)</td><td style="text-align: center;">Ashley (F)</td></tr>
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Cortina</div>
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I created Cortina to allow a 5th player to join the third game, and to give Amelina a childe she could actually have some kind of bond with (Amelina's Embrace of Nicholas really makes no sense). Cortina's feeding restriction is active drug users. As a mortal, Cortina was exploring the club scene to break the hold that shyness and guilt had on her (sorta the Kindred equivalent of the Black Mirror episode San Junipero). Amelina embraced her to have a shy, easy to control, immoral lover, but now Cortina sees Amelina as something more akin to an older sister. As a neonate vampire Cortina learned quickly how to "assume a character for any scene" and has become a social prodigy under Amelina's tutelage.<br />
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I also introduced the concept that each member of "<i>Die Penner</i>" was initiated into the group via their "sin against the Anarchs" that only their superiors necessarily knew about. Cortina had committed no such "sin" yet and was free to initiate herself into the group during the session if she saw fit.</div>
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Side note: None of my players (Andrea, Chad, or Karen) had a problem with Amelina as written. All of my players were on the <a href="https://bankuei.wordpress.com/2010/03/27/the-same-page-tool/" target="_blank">same page</a> and understood that the world would be dark, the theme would be mature, and there was a good chance their characters would all die horribly. They also understood quickly that the characters, with the possible exception of Cortina, probably deserved an unceremonious death.</div>
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Before each game I had all of my players read up on their character's background as well as a small <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GsDR11LZlNYTWMOXg8n0-9d8PA6wgjTtDg6pFrH8SCI" target="_blank">lexicon</a> of terms / abilities I prepared for them. <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6Ds8LVQEiMiLWR4RmxDaWVOLVE" target="_blank">Here</a> are the pictures they found for their characters and the revised character sheets and descriptions. I also showed them a clip from the 40:11 to 46:06 mark of the <a href="https://youtu.be/zqr2xUOz7Ag?t=40m11s" target="_blank">Berlin 2017 Keynote</a> which discusses the prelude to the Enlightenment in Blood LARP scenario just prior to the start of each session. I started each game with some "meditative dubstep" playing quietly through the speakers in the game room.<br />
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Next time, Session 1...</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197396576652173387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568269641959888132.post-67973735889656457352015-06-01T12:10:00.001-04:002015-06-02T10:57:44.976-04:00Sociopathy in Role-Playing Games - Part 1 - My First Experience<div style="text-align: justify;">
Why do our first characters tend to kill everything that moves? How can something as grotesque and unthinkable as tearing open a corpse looking for treasure become commonplace and accepted?<br />
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Lying, cheating, stealing, and killing serve to further a character in nearly every conceivable way in most RPGs, especially those that play most like a video-game. In many games killing is literally the only way to gain experience and grow your character.<br />
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I assumed that my friends' childhoods which were full of violent movies and video games were at fault for our bad behavior, and when we started running/playing Dungeons and Dragons it brought out the worst in us. However, I continued to notice this pattern in new role-players, even those not yet exposed to D&D.<br />
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My wake-up call came when I made my first Shadowrun character. It was to be one of the rare times I got to enjoy the role of player, and I could barely contain my excitement. I made Heist, a rigger with nerves of steel (not literally, I couldn't afford them).<br />
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The first session was a blur or fast cars, flying drones, smoke bombs, and shattered windows. I hadn't caught my breath yet when I heard the GM ask, "Are you sure you want to do that to the security guard? It could kill him".<br />
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I had co-opted a completely violence-free information-gathering gaming session. At the time the GM interjected I was making a completely unnecessary escape from a mental hospital; when it was my character who should have been in there the most.<br />
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None of the guards ever tried to do anything more than restrain me, and they were in the right to do so. I had role-played Heist as an insane and obsessed drek-head despite the fact that he was tasked with gathering information from one of the mental hospital's long-time residents.<br />
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The APA defines Sociopathy, now called ASPD (Antisocial Personality Disorder), as follows:<br />
A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of
others as indicated by three or more of
the following:
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<ol>
<li>failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest;</li>
<li>deception, as indicated by repeatedly lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure;</li>
<li>impulsivity or failure to plan ahead;</li>
<li>irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults;</li>
<li>reckless disregard for safety of self or others;</li>
<li>consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations;</li>
<li>lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.</li>
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My character strongly exhibited every single symptom of ASPD over the course of a 2 hour long game session. I felt remorse afterward, but my character certainly didn't. At the end of the session I left him sitting in his undies in front of the Trid system eating cereal by the handful watching old-school cartoons.<br />
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I learned a lot from Heist as a player, but more from him as a GM.<br />
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More than half of the players that have joined my groups since that time (roughly 15 years ago) have displayed overtly sociopathic behavior in character, often within the first session. Luckily for me, my current group is very intuitive and fantastic at spotting antisocial behavior in character. They use non-confrontational, non-accusatory in-game means to head off the behavior; which often sinks in far better than an off-table chat. If that doesn't work I will try to reinforce the lessons in-game over the following few sessions. At worst they will leave the group for another, but we hope that some of our lessons are taken to heart.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197396576652173387noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568269641959888132.post-91654991136199859212012-03-06T15:38:00.002-05:002012-03-06T15:40:55.288-05:00From Gamist to Simulationist..<b>Role-Playing Game Theory</b><br />
If you are new to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game_theory" target="_blank">Role-Playing Game Theory</a> you might want to read over this great article I found on <a href="http://exploringbelievability.blogspot.com/2011/04/gamism-narrativism-and-simulationism.html" target="_blank">Exploring Believability</a> first (though I do get into specific examples fairly quickly).<br />
<br />
As a GM with intense Gamist roots (console RPGs and AD&D 2nd Ed.) I found out quickly that Simulationism was a dirty word in role-playing circles. On one hand it conjured images of unnecessarily complex rules systems, page after page of charts full of minutia, and on the other, LARPing. I was raised to believe, from reading AD&D manuals and talking to other GMs, that Simulationism is neither an achievable or desirable goal. And that <b>fact</b> was the reason that Gamist systems relied on abstractions.<br />
<br />
<b>On My Slow Exodus from Gamism</b><br />
During an early AD&D game session, while describing the room that the PCs had entered I was asked for some additional description focused on a specific object which the game materials barely mentioned. I complied, feebly, as I had no experience running 'off-the-cuff'. Luckily, my players enjoyed my improvisational description and asked for them more and more often, and I got better at giving them.<br />
<br />
The ability to do this seamlessly became very important to me because I didn't want my players avoiding role-playing by "gaming" me (asking about each possibly significant item in the room and waiting for my poker face to crack) to find clues.<br />
<br />
This eventually led me to an off-the-cuff game running style. Before each session I prepared a simple overview of what (or, more often <b>where</b>) the PCs planned to adventure (a hastily scribbled map and some notes about the creatures there). Running AD&D this way, a game which <b>required</b> quite a bit of GM preparation, was difficult, but I managed it fairly well. I found that I could 'roll with the punches' my players handed out far better this way.<br />
<br />
I'd say, at this point, that 'railroading' became a thing of the past, but it's not true. It never was 'a thing' because my players came from the same extremely Gamist position I did. They played the same linear console RPGs that I did, and never expected to be able to choose the direction their characters went, at least not in any broad sense.<br />
<br />
Once my players got a taste of 'true adventure' there was no way I was getting the lid back on that ol' box of Pandora's. My players wanted this kind of open-world adventure everywhere, but with that came a desire for a type of cinematic moments that AD&D's game system had no way to approximate.<br />
<br />
"You want chunks of wood flying from your shields, and your armor taking damage from deflected attacks?" Yeah, AD&D can do that with a little GM intervention. The game gets a little more Simulationist, but it's okay. A little house rule here, a little patch of the AC system, and done.<br />
<br />
"You want graphic descriptions of wounds?" I think that can be done. I make a dozen critical hit tables and house rule the shit out of Hit Points. But, we try it out and it doesn't work. The tables look good, and there are a lot of interesting variations, but it still feels broken.<br />
<br />
<b>The Realization</b><br />
AD&D kept telling us, each time we modded the game to make it more cinematic, that Simulationism was not achievable. No amount of house rules would turn AD&D into the cinematic high-fantasy game we wanted to play.<br />
<br />
My players were sad, but I saw a greater truth. Every edition of every game has its own unique spirit created at the intersection of the rules system and the game setting. To turn AD&D into the cinematic game we wanted to play would have been tantamount to ripping out its soul. So, the problem wasn't AD&D, it was that we were trying to play a Simulationist game using Gamist rules.<br />
<br />
But, we didn't even know if it was possible to make a Simulationist game. In fact, we didn't know any game systems aside from AD&D. So, we went to the opposite end of the spectrum. If AD&D wasn't the way to do it then maybe we didn't need dice, or rule-books, or character sheets.<br />
<br />
This, of course, didn't work. We were back to Cowboys and Indians.<br />
<br />
I played a bit of <b>Vampire: the Masquerade</b> and <b>Shadowrun</b> in high school under different Game Masters. Both experiences were negative and turned me off to systems other than AD&D (the GMs were strictly authoritarian Gamists trying to run what I later learned were Narrativist / Simulationist settings). For years we avoided them, but in our quest to find a Simulationist game system we ended up giving <b>Star Wars d6</b>, <b>World of Darkness</b>, and <b>Shadowrun</b> a shot (I won't mention the hundreds of other games we tried during our "experimental phase").<br />
<br />
<b>The Answer</b><br />
The answer came to us when we realized that we had the wrong definition of Simulationism. It didn't mean 'to simulate reality using dice'. We weren't interested in simulating <b>reality</b> at all. <b>Shadowrun</b> made an excellent stepping stool to get away from Gamism, and <b>World of Darkness</b> allowed us to take a full, unhindered step into Simulationism.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197396576652173387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568269641959888132.post-71472307135653070352012-03-02T15:58:00.000-05:002012-03-02T16:58:02.456-05:00Coming clean...I don't care for D&D and its derivative game systems. I don't like abstract stats like Hit Points, old-school Saving Throws, and Level. These stats cannot be well defined, and never are, not even in their core rulebooks. I don't like using flat probability dice as a core mechanic in a game (d20 or d%). And, I prefer my players to have a lot of choice when making a character, and Class-based systems don't cut the mustard there.<br />
<br />
AD&D 3.5 looked like it was getting dangerously close to fixing a lot of these problems by adding an array of new skills and the feats system, but once my group started making characters we noticed that there remains in place a relatively obvious progression for each class. If you spend your skill points on anything other than those which are completely necessary for your class you will be a failure at your class, and very likely laughed out of your group. Every time your character levels up and gets a bonus feat you have a pretty good idea which feats you are 'supposed' to take, and if you take a different one to give your character a bit of diversity you will regret it later. Don't get me started on multi-classing, which only serves a player when creating an uber-character with a prestige class, min-maxing your character into exactly the same mold as everyone else taking that class.<br />
<br />
All that said, I still love fantasy. Lord of the Rings (from the one-on-one fights to the party vs. party melees, and even the epic wars) gets me excited to play a high-fantasy RPG. So many other books and movies give me that same feeling.<br />
<br />
When I get that urge I always go back to AD&D because it's the most robust high-fantasy game out there (and, let's face it, I still have all the books [at least from 2nd Ed. to 3.5]).<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">That is, un</span>til I found <a href="http://www.stargazergames.eu/games/warrior-rogue-mage/">Warrior, Rogue & Mage</a> by <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/110723867728858836465">+Michael Wolf</a> of <a href="http://www.stargazergames.eu/">Stargazer Games</a>. The system is robust, easy to learn, highly customizable, and boasts nearly infinite character variations. It fixes just about everything I dislike about d20 systems in a free 41 page, beautifully illustrated pdf download.<br />
<div>
<br />
Wow, that sounded like a commercial. I promise that it wasn't. It was a way to show role-players that it <b>can be done</b>. AD&D isn't your only option for fantasy.<br />
<br />
---</div>
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<div>
I'll leave you with the story of how I realized AD&D wasn't the system for me:<br />
<br />
I was watching <a href="http://www.facebook.com/neilgaiman" target="_blank">Neil Gaiman</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neverwhere" target="_blank">Neverwhere</a>. The mini-series was nearly complete, and one of the heroes took a villain hostage putting a crossbow up to her throat. This villain was known across the world as one of the greatest warriors and treasure hunters to have ever lived, and the hero was in no state to fight her. She verbally resisted him and said, "You struck me as a hard man to kill." He inclined his head, and bowed slightly, but his eyes did not move, and his hand remained steady. "And you strike me that way too, dear lady. But a crossbow bolt to the throat, and a fall of several thousand feet may prove me wrong, eh?"</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
I audibly gasped.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I know that, like me, when many people (especially Game Masters) start getting into role-playing they begin to look at the real world through the lens of the fantasy game system that they know so well. I was subconsciously doing that with <u>Neverwhere</u>. I translated the crossbow bolt into a likely damage score, assuming a critical hit, then translated the fall damage into AD&D terms, 20d6 (terminal velocity).</div>
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<br /></div>
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I was aghast at the idea that she would survive that. Heck, if she's over level 16 she's just about guaranteed to survive it no matter how badly that damage is rolled. Oh, <b>System Shock</b>, the old stand-by rule to kill characters that obviously should have died from massive damage. I think she'd still have a 75% chance to pass that roll at her relatively high level.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, that was it, I put away my 2nd edition books and luckily, very soon after, picked up the World of Darkness games.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197396576652173387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568269641959888132.post-4752352757810169922012-03-01T17:23:00.000-05:002012-03-05T00:47:15.494-05:00Info for Prospective Players - Live GamingThis post covers what new players to a live game need to know, and will act as an introduction to role-playing games for new players.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
The following section in is for players who are new to role-playing entirely:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A role-playing game (RPG) is a game in which you make and play a character who resides in another world. The game is a social activity for two to six players and one Game Master (like a referee).</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In a RPG there are no pre-defined goals (at least no winning conditions), only unique goals that you give to your character. Each player's character works together with the rest of the group to overcome conflicts that you face as a team.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When making a character it is important to take into account how much experience you've had acting improvisationally. If you have had very little experience you may feel more comfortable making a character that shares a lot of traits in common with you. More experienced players often make characters that are very different from themselves for an additional challenge.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The differences between the game world of "Werewolf: The Apocalypse" and our world include a gothic aesthetic and the presence of supernatural creatures. Most 'normal' humans in this game world (known as the World of Darkness or WoD) are not aware that such creatures exist.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dice are used to determine the success or failure of a character's actions. Specifically, Werewolf requires roughly ten pentagonal trapezohedrons (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Sided-White-Dice-Piece/dp/B003W12RR8/ref=sr_1_84?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1330640414&sr=1-84" target="_blank">ten-sided dice</a>).</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If you would like, you can sit in on a game session or two before you decide whether you'd like to make a character and join the game.</blockquote>
Our "Werewolf: The Apocalypse" game is set in modern-day New York City and the surrounding areas. The game runs on Friday evenings near <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&gs_nf=1&tok=M0xy3NGUr12FVSEYstnbGw&cp=38&gs_id=2&xhr=t&safe=off&rlz=1C1FDUM_enUS473US473&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1536&bih=813&ix=hea&ion=1&q=2030+Devine+Street,+Columbia,+SC+29205&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x88f8bacc43be9adb:0xbab5c9af738b9603,2030+Devine+St,+Columbia,+SC+29205&gl=us&ei=ZFJUT9_7Nqfk0QGG3sntDQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CB8Q8gEwAA" target="_blank">Five Points in Columbia, SC</a> from 7pm until 11:00pm (4 hours).<br />
<div>
<br />
To begin, each player makes a werewolf character (Fianna and Children of Gaia are preferred in this campaign, but no Werewolf tribe is completely off limits) or a human character. Each character should in some way compliment the rest of the characters, and have motivations that draw them into the group. Experienced players will have significant leeway generating their characters as long as they can be easily incorporated into the group.</div>
<div>
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Our house rules are simple, be respectful of each other and don't interrupt another player or the GM. Feel free to bring snacks for yourself or others, they will be greatly appreciated. We have a large play area that can fit about eight players comfortably.</div>
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<div>
Our group can descend into geekiness pretty easily, but we're all at least averagely socially adept and play well with newbies. Since we play a Storytelling game (as opposed to a tactical RPG with a lot of specific rules) there isn't a lot to learn as far as "how to play", most of it can be picked up in a single session. You don't need to bring anything in particular to watch the game, and if you want to join we can provide you a character sheet, pencil, and dice.</div>
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<a href="mailto:joshuagmoore@gmail.com" target="_blank">Email me</a>, add me on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Gavin42" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or <a href="http://glpl.us/gavinmoore" target="_blank">Google+</a>, or comment below if you are interested in the game or have any questions. Remember, the only dumb question is one left unasked.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197396576652173387noreply@blogger.com0Columbia, SC 29205, USA33.9900337 -80.998157633.9637027 -81.0376396 34.0163647 -80.958675599999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568269641959888132.post-25067958671976634282012-02-28T01:55:00.007-05:002012-03-05T01:07:03.422-05:00Game Running StylesI have thought, for a few years at least, that there are two broad types of role-playing Game Masters, the tactical or encounter-based GM and the storytelling or world-based GM.<br />
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The tactical GM crafts many combat encounters, arranges miniatures on a battle mat, and tells short-burst stories that they weave into an arcing storyline with character progression. They also often follow the early D&D trope that as characters become more powerful the game morphs into a tactical army game rather than tactical game involving player characters.<br />
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The storytelling GM crafts a game world, arranging civilizations poised at the precipice of conflict. They craft intrigue and mystery, and spend a lot of time worrying about character motivations rather than a character's combat ability. The encounters come as they come, some combat will inevitably occur as the game proceeds toward final (often global) conflict and resolution.<br />
<br />
These are generalizations and there is a lot of cross over, and I'm certainly not saying one is better than the other.<br />
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Both types of GMs (the best of them anyway) let the players make all of the decisions about where to go and how to handle any encounter that they stumble into. Both try to craft adventures that are challenging (potentially involving intrigue, mysteries, tactical combat, puzzles, riddles, etc..) and are fun for the GM as well as the players.<br />
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---<br />
<br />
I met a third type of GM recently, and he nearly shattered my two styles theory and certainly changed the way I see role-playing games. He told me:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The only thing that matters is what [the player chooses] to do... The story isn't something that play is focused on developing. When the unconnected events are related later they [might] take the form of one... [but that's not the GM's concern]." </blockquote>
He also implied that by making decisions about the game world I'm making advanced rulings on what can and cannot happen in the game, taking those choices away from the player. In his mind, a GM's job is <b>only</b> to adjudicate the player's choices, not to create or run a story (either in the form of encounters or on a grander scale).<br />
<br />
This GM has himself taken a tumble down the "making decisions about the game world that limit the players' choices" slippery slope by deciding what monsters will populate his dungeon, what traps he'll install there, and what treasure resides there.<br />
<br />
How is the GM who creates kingdoms with rich governmental structures, trade routes, and deep interpersonal relationships between NPCs any different from the GM who populates a dungeon? How is a GM that designs the crises that befall a character who tries to interject him or herself into those interpersonal relationships any different from the GM who decides what kind of trap to put on a chest? The scope or setting changes slightly, but nothing else.<br />
<br />
Most of all, what is wrong with telling a story if that's what your players want? Why is telling a story through the medium of a game setting a faux pas? They are, after-all, called role-playing games.<br />
<br />
<br />
Let me break that down.<br />
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<b>Game</b>: A form of play, played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck.<br />
<br />
<b>Playing</b>: Engaged in activity for enjoyment and recreation.<br />
<br />
<b>Role</b>: A character assumed for a play, movie, or (in this case) game.<br />
<br />
<b>A game in which you are playing a role.</b> But, he was telling me that all that matters are the decisions that the <b>player</b> makes (not even the player as a character, or the character as a member of a group. The player alone, no role necessary).<br />
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---<br />
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The problem <b>I</b> have with this type of GM is precisely that this style of play necessarily prizes player skill over role-playing. He insists on calling his hobby role-playing, but despises the very process. I'm not asking him to stop what he's doing (and ostensibly enjoying), but I'd love to see a different name applied to it.<br />
<br />
I would call him an "old-school gamer". Not as a slur, just an observation of a genre of gaming that is currently making a resurgence. These old-school games often contain only trace amounts of role-playing (i.e. If your character is an elf then your 'role' is simply to make use of your character's <i>Infravision</i> and can <i>Detect Secret Doors</i> abilities). "Now, grab your ten foot pole and your mirror, roll up some hirelings, and let's clear out this dungeon."<br />
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---<br />
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Please remember that when you are at <b>your</b> gaming table and <b>I'm</b> at mine we should feel free to do what we and our players enjoy. Whether we're telling a story or not let's avoid telling people they are "doing it wrong" just because they enjoy rolling more or fewer dice than you do, prefer intrigue over combat, or prize player skill over role-playing ability.<br />
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However, this GM managed to offend me mightily by implying that I'm a bad GM for telling a story while running a game, and I ask for your forgiveness for the following micro-rant that breaks my own rules about friendliness and tolerance.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"You can keep your <b>no story-telling allowed</b>, <b>no role-playing desired</b> old-school game. I want to part of it. I ran those kind of games when I was 16, and my players and I outgrew them."</blockquote>
As a GM I happen to enjoy telling an interesting story and challenging my players' skills (both tactically and their role-playing ability), and as a player I want to take on new and exciting roles to help me learn what I can from experiencing the game world in their skin.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197396576652173387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568269641959888132.post-19287190593130813782012-02-27T03:41:00.003-05:002012-03-03T19:46:30.167-05:00FLAILSNAILS oD&D 2/20/12 Session 1FLAILSNAILS oD&D 2/20/12 Session 1 - Run by +<a href="https://plus.google.com/105150045154938202664">David Brawley</a><br /> <br />Cast: Alzbeta (<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/114471642707456386558/posts">me</a>), Lemmkainen the Elf (+<a href="https://plus.google.com/112823739443175948736">Michael Curtis</a>), Unik - Hired Spearman, Kaldue - Swordsman (RIP), Alfirth - Hired fist, Kroenen - Hired fist.<br /> <br />Alzbeta retreats from her room at the Inn after hanging her recently acquired tapestry. She skulks, head down, through the town gates and into the darkened woods nearby where she finds a fetid pool. She kneels, and dips the tips of her fingers into the inky blackness, meditating silently for a few moments.<br /> <br />Alzbeta confesses the day's events to the mangled trees and foul smelling earth.<br /> <br />"All that I have done in your name is according to your wishes, my lord. I convinced some of the old dead to rebuke their masters and obey only you."<br /> <br />The rest she is less proud of, but she feels the urge to tell all when her God is present with her.<br /> <br />She quietly continues, "To bring glory to you I descended into The Ruins of Seteh Zandana with able companions and hired men, searching the ruins and slaying all who disrespectfully reside there. Many had come before us, but we managed to find a few untouched chambers."<br /> <br />"The greatest of these was an ornately painted room with four pillars carved to look like trees reaching up to the domed ceiling. We were led there by some sort of playful fairy and told of 'shiny things' that could be found there. I'm afraid my greed got ahead of my sense. I turned my eyes away from the threat of danger to the lure of treasure."<br /> <br />She scratches her head before continuing, "Before I could blink a green heap dropped onto me from the ceiling. Its mass crept into my cloak-hood and I could feel my flesh starting to sting and burn. Lemmkainen sprang into action, commanding Alfirth to set the beast alight with our only lit torch. A few seconds of Alfirth's useless scrambling scorched me more than the ghastly mold. I managed, luckily, to entangle the mold within the folds of my cloak and cast it to the floor."<br /> <br />"We returned to the town with a mortally wounded hired-hand in tow. Should he die, I will endeavor to raise him for you as my ally."<br /> <br />"I've never seen as much gold as spilled out of the secret compartment of the pillar in that room. After the treasure was divided up, Lemmkainen and I headed to a gambling house with precious gems the size of my fist. We traded them for tokens and spent the evening cavorting among the dreary townsfolk."<br /> <br />"All was well until a farm-boy with a few copper pieces to his name mistook me for a woman of ill repute. He snatched the hood of my newly purchased cloak away and cursed me for what he found there. That accursed mold managed to extirpate every follicle of my well-coiffed black mane."<br /> <br />"I followed him to his room after he found a suitable playmate, a redheaded wench with a half dozen teeth and barely an ounce of grey matter. I waited a moment and burst in on them howling like a banshee. I perhaps knocked a low-burning lamp to the floor."<br /> <br />"I met up with Lemmkainen outside a few minutes later and brought him up to the roof of the Inn in which I reside. We sung drunken bar songs and watched the gambling house burn from our perch."Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07197396576652173387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568269641959888132.post-28439660798899409952012-02-27T03:04:00.002-05:002015-06-01T12:13:42.573-04:00Hi, my name is Gavin and I'm a Storyteller...<div style="text-align: justify;">
I started role-playing at the age of five without firm rules, any way to determine the success or failure of our stated actions, and little framework for a story. We called it Cowboys and Indians, and while it wasn't the most rewarding role-playing experience I've ever had, it did have a significant impact on me.</div>
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At the age of fourteen I discovered console-based RPGs. I loved the hell out of Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy I, and played them for hundreds of hours teasing out every last spell, treasure, and secret. But, eventually my friends and I ran out of console RPGs (little did we know that computer RPGs were at the height of their popularity).</div>
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My best friend and I decided to draft a story for a blockbuster console RPG. We set to work at it at once, and spent months brainstorming story events, creating monsters, magical items, plot hooks, and fully fleshed-out three-dimensional playable characters and NPCs.</div>
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All of that out of the way we realized that we didn't have the other skills needed to make a console RPG (art, programming, or money). We languished for months trying to figure out how to make use of literally hundreds of pages of dialogue, monsters, and character stats before finally realizing that we could play out the scripted dialogue and combats without the use of a computer.</div>
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I programmed a TI-84 with attack and defense macros and we dusted off an old chess board to use as a battlefield. We enlisted the help of a third friend and started reading lines of dialogue and diving into the slow, mechanical combat of a table-top console RPG.</div>
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Soon we became aware of what was missing, spells lacked important attributes like range or area of effect (which were unnecessary in a console game) and we had to scramble to revise them. We noticed that our characters were stationary on one side of the board "attacking" monsters on the other side of the board so we added movement rules and restrictions. Later, we added collateral damage rules when we realized we were repeatedly blasting certain areas with fireballs. Our table-top console RPG was turning into something very different from what we envisioned.</div>
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We finished the main story and made new peripheral characters, but soon the game went stale.</div>
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In the summer of the year I turned sixteen I was walking through Toys-R-Us when I found a D&D board game. I carried it around the store reading the box, back and front, over and over for more than an hour before I decided to buy it. I took it home and hunkered down over the manuals for a few days.</div>
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I had a hard time with combat rules like THAC0, got confused about saving throws (I thought you needed to roll low to pass them), and nothing enraged me more than the idea of hitting a monster then rolling a one for damage. Regardless, I asked my closest friends to play. We agreed that it would probably suck, but gave it a shot anyway.</div>
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After the first combat we realized how similar it was to what we were doing a few months earlier.</div>
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I ran them through the first dungeon giving them far too much treasure and so many magical items that the old +1s and +2 daggers were barely worth using as toothpicks. My players and I learned quickly from our mistakes, though it still took several years for me to go from being the kind of DM that runs a series of dungeons to the kind of Storyteller that runs a game world (no thanks to the D&D manual which stated unequivocally, "The world outside of dungeons is unimportant aside from the towns which the characters use to resupply for their next dungeon adventure.").</div>
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Later that year we met a group of AD&D Second Edition players. They seemed to be breaking every rule in the book, but it was so much more interesting that way. They introduced me to Shadowrun, a high fantasy, post apocalyptic, dark future game, which helped me break away from the D&D mindset (please hold the flames, I have come to respect D&D for what it is).</div>
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After running Shadowrun myself I became ravenous. I looked in every darkened corner of any gaming shop within driving distance for the oldest and most obscure games imaginable. I read (and sometimes ran) Star Wars d6, Star Trek, Battlelords of the 23rd Century, GURPS, Rifts, Toon, Call of Cthulhu, Paranoia, and a hundred others.</div>
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After I graduated from high school I was introduced to Vampire: The Masquerade. This was another massive sea change for my running style. My players had far more cinematic control over the game, and even carried some of the responsibility for creating the story themselves (especially once we got ahold of Mage).</div>
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During these twenty years of game design, playing hundreds of sessions, and running thousands I've learned out a trick or two that have made my games more enjoyable for me and my players. I plan on sharing many of them here, and I hope you'll share some of yours with me as well.</div>
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