BACON! Do you worry about it?

How often do you have a party keep track of food?  Do you make them take supplies for a two week trek they are about to begin?  Or is that something you just hand wave?

In the past, I've only took food in consideration when it added an interesting element to the game.  And if I planned to make it a thing in game, I told the players ahead of time so they can prepare.  I've had a handful of experiences where the GM never worried about food and all of a sudden he would ask how many rations we had.  Since it was never an issue, my attention (and coins) were else where.

It can become tricky introducing that type of thing into game unless it goes along with your adventure.  The adventure I ran where food was just as important as weapons and armor, found the party escorting villagers that were displaced because the area had been overrun with a barbarian tribe and a small army of humanoids (basically these two sides were warring against one another and their battle moved into a 3rd party).  They needed enough food for themselves, horses and the the villagers.

The players were smart about it and immediately assigned one of the players to be the food accountant.  He figured out how much food was needed each day.  Once the food was depleted villagers slowed the progress and got sick.  It also would deny the party a full night's rest.  Without food they could not recover from wounds or earn back spells.

The cleric in the party all of a sudden found use for his Create Food and Water spell, which saved their bacon (pun intended) a couple of times.

It added another element of tension to an already tense situation where you have a party escorting a group of non-combatants through a war zone.  It worked exceptional well.  but it also is one of the few adventure where I would make food an element of the adventure.

So do you worry about bacon in the game?

Friday Question: Who Haven't You Rolled Dice With But Would Like To

There are a ton of good folks out there in the blogosphere.  My Friday question is who of the bloggers out there, ones you haven't played with yet, would you most like to sit down with and game.  Your group is 4 to 6 players and name who would be the GM.  I'm not talking about celebrities or historical figures, just folks you know from blogs or being on-line. 

Here is the list of guys I've played with on-line.  All the ones I can remember at least.
+Rob Conley
+Chris C.
+Ken H
+Daniel McEntee
+Rhandom A
+Joshua Macy
+Erik Tenkar
+Douglas Cole
+Peter V. Dell'Orto
+Zzarchov Kowolski
+Shoe Skogen
+Michael Garcia
+Jason Sholtis
+Al Krombach
+John Larrey
+Dan C.
+dylan hartwell 
+trey causey
+Patrick Wetmore
+B. Portly
+Olman Feelyus 
+Gus L 
+Joe D

So all those guys would  be eliminated from this question.  Many of the people I think of are ones I've known for a long time and haven't had the pleasure to roll dice.  So here's my group.

+matt jackson
+Christian
+Tim Knight
+Boric Glanduum
+Dyson Logos
 +Simon Forster

I'm going to go with Christian being the GM.  We'd play at his house because he always makes incredible food for his players.

There are another hundred or more I could have added, but this is only for your top 4 to 6 at this time.

So who would you choose?

What is Your Favorite Adventure Setting?

Over on my Patreon page, I ask my dudes once in a while what kind of adventure they would like to see.  What's going on in their campaigns and maybe I can churn something out.  I got a couple of requests.  One for a graveyard adventure.  Probably my favorite adventure setting.  The second request was for a swamp adventure in Corcosa.  How fricking cool is that?  So I've been trying to come up with something suitably twisted. 

I know its not Friday.  Not even close.  But here goes.

What's your favorite adventure setting?  And what is your favorite kind of twist to your adventure setting?

Friday Question: Trifling Gawds

I was over at +trey causey blog and he wrote a post about gods influencing/messing with/blue bolting PCs.  Manipulation of powerful PCs so the gods can get what they want, or, the PCs away from getting what they want.  Either way you have immortal, very powerful beings taking a huge role in a campaign's direction.

Question is, how much direct influence do the gods have in your campaign?

Do they work as a backdrop, people kneel down before stone likenesses and blather on about how great thou art?  Or do they appear amongst the folks to cruise for ladies or provide aid?

Usually in my campaign it is a little more of the second one.  Gods do directly take part in the shaping of things.  And like any true bunch of immortals, they are completely dysfunctional, irrational and self-defeating.  While the gods may not take an active role in a current adventure, however, they are definitely influencing the shape of the whole.  Even if it's in the background.  I think it adds depth and a living world.  Things continue to evolve even if the players are not directly interacting with it.

So what's up with your gods?  

Friday Question: Reoccuring NPCs

I was reading through my some of my new gaming acquisitions, I've gotten another batch since Origins.  When I read through books I'm usually imagining how I can use this or that in my campaign world.  This morning I was thinking of NPCs I would use in certain places.  And it got me to thinking of reoccurring NPCs in my campaign.  I have a handful of them.  While their setting my change their personality and name remain the same.

Opulus
Personality: This little angry guy always pops up in my campaigns.  He's an elderly man with bird like features.  He's a fundamentalist in one of the religions and has no tolerance for those who fail to meet his standards.  Especially those among his own faith.  He calls for extreme measures to be taken.

Setting: I've put him in a temple in the large cities, but I've also put him in small villages were he is the sole provider of religious guidance.

How I Play Him: Opulus is a wonderful foil to the party.  He is a non-combatant, but he is verbally aggressive and he gets people riled up.  His misguides his flock into indulgence when he is preaching about purifying by fire.  His motives are self-serving.  But his anger and conviction with which he speaks convinces others he is acting for the greater good.  The party often finds them on the opposite sides of his rants.


Max
Personality: Max is a large man who is always a bartender.   He is laid back, doesn't get too riled up except if the bar is threatened.  A good brawl, he's okay with.  Draw weapons or if any fire start jumping around he'll pin you to the wall with his knight killer crossbow he always has under the bar.  Keep him on your good side, tip him well and you may find bits of information to your ear.

Setting: Always a tavern.  Max is always behind some bar in one of my campaigns.  He's my go to bartender.  The tavern is usually an adventurer's tavern with lots of eclectic folks milling about.

How I Play Him: Max doesn't talk too much to those folks he doesn't know.  He's polite, but doesn't engage.  After a few sessions with the players have hung out there, shared a story or two and have tipped him and his staff (he is very protective of his staff) well, he'll share information about what he's heard and he has an extensive adventuring background.  He is a great resource when the players need an important piece of information. 

Vander Gothridge

Personality:  Vander is arrogant and powerful.  He is usually outside the authority to nobility.  He is an entity they often fear to anger.  So he does as he pleases to who he pleases and very little can be done.  But he never does anything extreme or horrible.  He believes himself to be above everyone and they are nothing, but ignorant children.

Setting: Vander can be found nearly anywhere.  I often plop him in the main city of the campaign.  But he's been out adventuring also.  He usually travels alone.  Or he'll have a retinue of slaves.

How I Play Him: If you hadn't guessed this blog was named after this character from many years ago.  I don't play him all powerful, but he is a major force to be considered in my campaign.  Arrogant would be the first word I would describe him as.  But as the players might learn to hate him he is also known to save a village from a small horde of undead.  Not so much because he was saving the villagers, but because he hates undead.  Most leave him alone because some of his acts to benefit them greatly.  In one campaign he was a border lord with one castle in a mountain pass.  He and his men held back the tide of the great orc nation beyond the mountains.  And even though he was a giant pain in the ass, no one touched him.

So this is a short list of my go-to NPCs for my campaigns.  So Friday Question back at you, Do you have any go to NPCs that you've used in multiple campaigns?

Friday Question: And It's Not About D&D 5th/Next

If you could take two historical setting and smoosh them together to create a campaign, what two would they be?

At the time I think I would go with a declining Roman Empire mixed with sixties space race.  I think those two elements would be a lot of fun to play off of one another.

Have an absolutely fantastic Friday.  And if you can't have one of those, have a couple Saturdays and don't call me in the morning.

Friday Question: Music Memory

Sitting here eating my lunch (thank you Ivy, it's killer) and a car drove by playing Blue Oyster Cult's a Veteran of a Thousand Psychic Wars.  We used to play this during games.  Blue Oyster Cult was always a favorite, Pink Floyd was featured also, but for some reason that song really brings back memories of a young me (with hair) sitting around with my friends having a great time rolling dice and going through The Village Hommlet or Tomb of Horrors for the dozenth time and loving it.

So what song/band/album floods your memories of old gaming times?

Friday Question - Unexplored Settings

I've been reading through some older setting books and rulesets lately.  Even purchased a limited edition book for Ravenloft, the sub-dimension of mist, Land of Dread version, not the adventure module.  Sometimes with all the new settings I forget what the old one were like.

I'll be joining +Erik Tenkar's game next Friday and he'll be using Sanctuary, the focal point of the Thieves World setting.  It's one of my favorite setting I've never had the play in.  I'm a huge fan of the books and love the idea of walking through the Maze to the Vulgar Unicorn.

It got me to thinking of some of the settings, maybe they have their own ruleset (like Pendragon) or part of a larger ruleset (like Ravenloft) that I'd love to play in, but haven't.  What would your list look like?

My list looks like this:

• Thieves World, some of the first gaming books I read, probably influenced my gaming style more than any other books
• Pendragon, playing in the world of Camelot would be a lot of fun, and I think the way they set up scenarios fits the genre perfect to reenact or rift on the existing legends
• Ravenloft, had the adventure module when it first came out, bought the Land of Dread supplements, never got to play in the land of Straud.  There are so many cool ideas I could think of using this, the horror movie junkie in me salivates at the opportunities this kind of sandbox would provide
• Babylon 5, +Rob Conley GMed a short campaign a while back and had a great time.  I mainly steer towards fantasy, but once in a while I love to get into sci-fi action
• Firefly, speaking of sci-fi action.  I love the show, but not sure how the setting would be for gaming.  I'd be interested to find out

That's the list I can think of off the top of my head.  I'll be curious to see what other come up with.

Friday Question: Trap Monsters

It's been a long week and it seems I say that every week.  But it's Friday, almost time for the weekend, which we are supposed to get another snow storm, but you'll have that.

My question today is what is your favorite 'trap' monster?

I'd have to say the mimic is my favorite because it can cover a lot sneaking disguises and catch the adventures off guard.

"I check for traps," say Mr. Thief.

DM nods.  "You find a trap.  The chest eats your arm."

Other party members cheer.

Friday Question

There are a lot of cool products being released and activities going on.  I panned on making a list of some of the cool items released this past few weeks, but I lost the list and I don't have enough time or brain power to remember them.  But there are some cool activities I do remember.

+Timothy Brannan is participating in a Live Chat on #RPGNet. Friday Night at 8:00pm Central time.  I asked him to remind me today because I wasn't going to remember, but hey, even I have the capacity to 'member something.  I think I'm going to listen in on it, but I've never been on RPGNet for more than a few minutes total.  Here's the link http://tinyurl.com/rpgnetchat.

+ConTessa is kicking off this weekend.  +Stacy Dellorfano is leading the way for this on-line convention.  You can find the event list at +Tavern Keeper.  I want to join in a game, but weekends are usually lousy times for me to play.  I'm hoping to sneak into one of the panels about Game Design.  Should be interesting.

+Gasp Games is having a game day tomorrow in the Pittsburgh area.  Another activity I really want to take part in as it's only 90 minutes away.  +Brianna Sheldon is going to have her hands full between +ConTessa and game day.  I'd like to go down there one time and check to see what its about then maybe run a few games.  I'd really like to get back to running a game now and then.

+Erik Tenkar is kicking off a significant contest.  The "So You Want to be an OSR Superstar?" competition.  There are some very cool prizes available.  The first stage is create a magic item using Swords & Wizardry Complete ruleset.  I imagine most of you already have cool magic items made, dust them off, polish and enter.  Erik asked me to be one of the judges.  And before you ask, yes I do accept bribes and my currency is gaming books.

+Douglas Cole has got a 2 hour interview with +Kenneth Hite.  You can find it on his Gaming Ballistic blog.  I've been reading Ken's gaming books for several years.  The guy knows his stuff and Douglas does a great job with the interview.

So my question to you is, doing any gaming the weekend?  I'm hoping to get in a few of the above.  So much great stuff going on.

Friday's Boxed Question

I've been reading through my stack of gaming books I received from Troll & Toad and this morning was reading one of the adventures.  It has some very amusing box text, or the words the GM is to read aloud to the players.

I think box text is taboo thing in the OSR circles, and rightly so as it usually makes presumptions that don't fit the adventuring party.

One of the bx texts start with "You fling the door open and gasp in horror..."

OSR dudes rarely fling the door open cause they know there is shit on the other side that could eat them.  And do I have to gasp in horror?  Would it be okay if I hum in horror or pucker my lips in terror?  The presumptive nature of box text is where it fails for me.

But wait you think (see, doing a little box texting of my own here) doesn't Knowledge Illuminates have blocked text.  Guilty.  But I use it the other way.  The box text is for the GM.  Usually I write a few sentences of what's in the room, but that is just the info to give the GM the outline to run with.  The box text is there for the 'second layer' of the room.  What the GM knows, but not the players.  A physical marker to make the information easier.  People may not like that way either, but that's the way I like to write some of my adventures (some, there is not a box in sight).

My Friday, this week has been so damn long, question is, Do you like the use of box text?  I think if its used right there of course is nothing wrong with it, but when you direct the players actions within the text is a huge mistake. 

Friday Question: Campaign Prep

I've been toiling away on developing a campaign and I've been pillaging blogs and my gaming shelf for ideas and short cuts to alleviate some of the work load.  I have a campaign influence list above of some of the posts from other blogs I've really liked and plan to use.  I've also used (using) a batch of books OSRians and others have written.

My question today is, when developing a campaign what book do you use most?  Are there a certain series you use?  A single book that does for you.  Is it a gaming or  historical book? 

When I am looking for cultural nuances to put into play I'll grab some anthropology books/articles and get ideas.  GURPS books are great for boiling down a culture into gamable and interesting parts.  For classes and rules I have a batch of retro clones I like to take from.  The frame system is Swords and Wizardry Complete, but with a lot of Adventures Dark & Deep and Blood and Treasure tasted on.  Not to mention a lot of my own concoctions. 

So when you sit down to write up a campaign, what books are on the desk with you?

Friday Question

If you only had time to get involved in one game this year, which or whose would it be?  Could be a particular person, setting, system or more likely, all three combined.

I think this year I will have a chance to play in several games with different folks.  Looking forward to getting out there a little more and playing in that huge sandbox.

Friday Question

Like all heroes and villains in the movies they have theme music.

What would your theme song be for your current character?  Or if you prefer, what would the theme song be when you DM?

Friday Question: Diseases

Disease is a minor threat in games.  It usually comes up when a character gets hit with a disease ridden creature and has to make a save. 

The question I pose is do you have multiple diseases in your campaign? 

Do you implement them in everyday situations where a population is suffering? 

And if you do have a cool disease, please share.

I've rarely used diseases in game.  With magic at hand Cure Disease spells (usually around 3rd level spell) and if you have the vaccine machine paladins running around, diseases get less dangerous.  But lately I've been collecting gaming diseases for various settings and situations.  Blood & Treasure has a nice handful of diseases.  But there is always room for more.

Friday folks.  That is a good thing.

Friday Question: Keepin it Simple

Keeping it simple this Friday.

What RPG have you been playing lately?

The Monday Night crew continues to use Blood & Treasure in +Ken Harrison's megadungeon crawl.  We've played a little FUDGE with a homebrewed system for +Rob Conley's Majestic Wilderlands.  And I've been working on a Swords & Wizardry variant for the campaign world I'm working on.

It's Friday.  This is a good thing.

Friday Question...Still Alive

Still sick.  Day 8 now.  Getting a little pissed at this point that it hasn't gone away.  Anyway, its Friday and even when you're sick its still a good day...I think.   I don't have much in the way of a question.  That profile meme floating around grabbed a couple of the questions I had.  So why not just ask the obvious.

What are you doing for Halloween this year? 

This year Whisk is going to select another designer drug to get all freaky on.  I think this year she is favoring Molly.  I like Molly Hatchet so why not.  Last year the bath salts didn't do much for me.  I thought they worked like Pop Rocks and went wild by drinking Coke a Cola with it.  Made Whisk hungry and she ate the face off her pumpkin.  That was cool. 

She also ate the stem on top.

or

We order a pizza, lock the door (after the pizza arrives of course), dogs and humans pile onto the couch, cue a handful of grainy, black & white films and sit there until we fall asleep.  Which seems to be getting earlier every year. 

Friday Question

In my previous post I wrote about after reading an adventure module, in my case Tomb of Horrors, and wondering what the story was behind it.  I'm not talking just the background, but to the point where you were interested enough to want to read a book or short story about it.

So what adventure module have you read that you wanted to see expanded into a novel?

Friday Question

My long time gaming friend +Rob Conley wrote a post of how he would explain the OSR to a novice.  His explanation is accurate, but I think too long.  If I was a novice and someone was explaining something to me I would have glazed over.

So my challenge to you dear questioneers, how would YOU explain the OSR to someone?

I think mine would be and this is off the top of my head.

OSR is old D&D.  When it was more about being inventive than knowing the rules.  Just grab some dice, if you don't have any I've got a mound of them.  You make up a character and we start playing.  If you want to do something let me know and we'll figure it out.  The only three rules I have in my game are, 1. Don't be a dick.  2. Have fun.  3.  The last coke in the fridge is always mine.

So how would you bring someone over to the OSR side?

No Friday Question About Encumbrance

I had one, but Tenkar asked it before I got to.  It's an encumbrance question.  I've never used it in the past, but considering using a simplified system.  I'm favoring Neoclassical Geek Revival's system by the Mighty Zzarchov.  He's got a dot system that I think may work well. 

If anyone has ideas of a simple system please comment and or send me a link.  Thanks and have a great Friday.  Weekend is almost here.