How to Beat Writer’s Block for DMs

It’s a common problem every DM has. If you let it get too out of control it can turn into a full blown case of DM burnout. I’m talking about writer’s block. Being an aspiring writer myself, I know a few ways to beat this scourge. Here are some tips to keep writing that game:

Look over old material: Looking through your old notes, players’ backstories, and campaign notes can help get you back in the mindset you had before writer’s block attacked. And while you’re there, maybe you’ll notice a plot hook you dropped that never came up or you’ll see something a player wrote in their backstory that you sink your teeth into. Sometimes, when I’m looking over my old notes, I notice important NPCs or campaign themes that haven’t come up for the players. Figuring out how to incorporate these into the next game session can help get the creative juices flowing.

Look at monsters: Nothing gets me excited about an encounter quite like exciting monster art. Go online or crack open your books and look at some sweet van style, fantasy art. Some artists that always help me are Michael Komarck and Wayne Reynolds. Their vibrant and active styles always get my writing muscles ready to flex. A great exercise, when you’re having trouble writing encounters, you should try to recreate the fights depicted in the art.

Write the adventure you’ve always wanted to write: I have this dream encounter I’ve always wanted to run. After sneaking on to an airship, the players find themselves on the open air observation deck, facing down a major antagonist. This is when the fireworks start. I’m willing to bet every DM has these dream situations to put their players into. If you’re like me, you always say ‘someday’. Why not make someday today?

Recycle: Don’t be afraid to reuse old stuff. Hey, you wrote it. I have a reoccurring minor villain called The Lizard King and I have no idea how many things I’ve run him into players. If you’re worried that your players will be upset that you’re using things over, don’t be. It goes one of two ways: they either get nostalgic or don’t really notice the difference. Hey, this stuff inspired you before for a reason.

So next time you get hit with writer’s block, try some of these tips. They work for me. I’m also interested to know what works for others. What’s worked for you?

The Hard Goodbye

I’ve written about ending games before, but sometimes those endings are unplanned. Every now and then, a campaign will end suddenly, without your consent. When this happens, you have to keep the spark alive. Don’t let this extended break kill your love of running campaigns.  There are a lot of things you can do to keep the torch burning.

The first thing to do is not panic. Don’t get upset, or angry, or blame anyone. Getting mad is only going to help contribute to your DM’s burnout. This is only going to lead to you wanting to DM again. Stay calm and look at it objectively. Life happens. So relax, and enjoy the new free time you have.

Think about it, you have the time now, you can expand your hobby, and you can take up a new game, anything you want. That miniatures game you’ve been coveting, take it up. That hot new roleplaying system, try it out. You have the bandwidth now to do the game you you want. But don’t stop running games.

Run some one-offs. Now’s the time to experiment with those new settings and systems you’ve been wanting to try. This is the time to do the things you’d never do with your normal group, to find new players, and discover new ways of running your table. Use this time to grow as a DM. Work on the weaknesses in your game, write adventures that wouldn’t have fit in your old campaign, and make yourself better for your next campaign.

This is the time to start planning that next game. You have the time to play with ideas and themes now. Make the world you’ve been daydreaming about for months. Your next game will be better from this forethought. The planning will lead to more rounded and robust world. You can take your time and make a game world you’ll be proud of.

And take some time to sit on the other side of the table. Playing gives you a better perspective on roleplaying than anything else. Seeing how others run games, build worlds, and approach adventures is a huge learning experience. By experiencing what others do right, you can absorb it and make it your own, if you like it.

So, instead of looking at this as a bad thing, look at it like this: you’re free. Like the man from the Twilight Zone, you have time now, just be careful with your glasses.

The Other Side of the Table

Recently I was able to play an RPG for the first time in years.  It was weird being on the other side of the table.  We made characters and jumped right in.  My friend was running Nightbane by Palladium games.  I don’t have a ton of experience with Palladium; I know they made a lot of games in the Eighties.  The extent of my experience is that I had a copy of Heroes Unlimited pass through my hands.  I donated it to my college’s gaming club.  I remember it having a lot of charts that you rolled a percentile on to generate powers.

Nightbane wasn’t much different.  There were a lot of charts (that we didn’t find out about until later) that turn you into quite the hideous monster.  In Nightbane, you play as a typical Eighties movie monster.  It’s a pretty cool setting, all of it very old school horror.  Being a huge fan of that sort of thing, this game really hit the spot for me.

Our DM made a smart decision by not having us finish our characters until we transformed for the first time. Usually I don’t like rolling to generate anything in a game, but this time it was a blast.  Maybe the idea of a hideous transformation appealed to me because I’ve been watching too many horror movies lately.  I rolled and found my humble mechanic transformed into a were-weasel with sixteen arms and missing patches of skin.  When I suddenly transformed into a horrible beast and killing a mugger it was awesome.

So we ended up having a neat little session where our characters transformed, dealt with the fact that they were no longer human, ran from the police, and fought a weird creature.  It was fun.  I forgot the simple joy in showing up and letting someone else take my imagination for a ride.  I found myself absorbed in a way that just doesn’t happen when I’m running the show.

The main thing to take away here is to keep things in perspective.  If you usually run the game, never ignore a chance to play.  It will give you new ideas, a new view of gaming, and refresh you for the next session you run.  It’s always good to be on the other side of the table.

My Greatest Monster Hits

I’m going to start this post by asking you to bear with me and the walls of roughly formatted text.  Monster Builder (the original, not the awful new one) doesn’t play nice with WordPress.

I was going through some of my notes from my current and past campaigns and thought I’d share some of the monsters I’m particularly proud of and the stories behind them.  First up is Black Claw. I’ve written a lot about him here, here’s how he was when I used him for the first time (the first session of the Eberron Campaign):

Black Claw of the Red Jackals		Level 2 Elite Controller (Leader)
Medium natural humanoid (shifter)		XP 250
HP 70; Bloodied 35 AC 18; Fortitude 16; Reflex 13; Will 18 Speed 6 Saving Throws +2; Action Points 1		Initiative +3 Perception +5 Low-Light Vision
Traits
O Bloodlust • Aura 2
Each ally within the aura gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls.
Standard Actions
m Claw • At-Will
Attack: +7 vs. AC
Hit: 2d8 + 1 damage.
m Quarterstaff (weapon) • At-Will
Attack: +7 vs. AC
Hit: 1d8 + 5 damage, and the warshaper slides the target 2 squares.
M Claw Flurry • At-Will
Effect: The Ashbound warshaper makes two claw attacks.
Minor Actions
R Unleash the Beast (charm) • At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10; +6 vs. Will
Hit: The target makes a melee basic attack against an adjacent creature of the Ashbound warshaper’s choice as a free action.
Aspect of the Beast (healing, polymorph) • Encounter
Effect: The Ashbound warshaper assumes the form of a primal beast. Until the end of the encounter, the warshaper gains regeneration 5, its speed increases by 2, and it can make claw attacks. While in this form, the Ashbound warshaper cannot make quarterstaff attacks and cannot use unleash the beast.
Razorclaw Shifting • Encounter
Effect: Until the end of the encounter, the warshaper’s speed increases by 2 and it gains a +1 bonus to AC and Reflex.
Skills Endurance +6, Intimidate +7, Nature +10
Str 16 (+4)	Dex 14 (+3)		Wis 19 (+5)
Con 11 (+1)	Int 9 (+0)		Cha 12 (+2)
Alignment unaligned     Languages Common

For this, I just renamed and dropped the Ashbound Warshaper on page 136 of the Eberron Campaign Guide three levels.  When they fought him again, he had just fallen under the possession of an otherworldly entity.  Here’s that version:

Black Claw of the Red Jackals		Level 4 Elite Controller (Leader)
Medium natural humanoid (shifter)		XP 350
HP 104; Bloodied 52 AC 20; Fortitude 18; Reflex 15; Will 20 Speed 6 Saving Throws +2; Action Points 1		Initiative +4 Perception +7 Low-Light Vision
Traits
O Bloodlust • Aura 2
Each ally within the aura gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls.
Standard Actions
m Claw • At-Will
Attack: +9 vs. AC
Hit: 2d8 + 2 damage.
m Quarterstaff (weapon) • At-Will
Attack: +9 vs. AC
Hit: 1d8 + 6 damage, and the warshaper slides the target 2 squares.
M Claw Flurry • At-Will
Effect: The Ashbound warshaper makes two claw attacks.
Minor Actions
R Emergency Healing (healing) • At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10 (targets one ally); +9 vs. AC
Effect: The target regains 5 hit points and can make a saving throw.
R The Eyes Have It (weapon) • Recharge
Effect: Black Claw makes an eye ray attack chosen randomly from the following list. Using an eye ray does not provoke opportunity attacks.1—Fire Ray (Fire): Ranged 5; +4 vs. Reflex; 1d6 + 3 fire damage.2—Exhaustion Ray (Necrotic): Ranged 5; +4 vs. Fortitude; 1d6 necrotic damage, and the target is weakened until the end of Black Claw’s next turn.
R Unleash the Beast (charm) • At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10; +8 vs. Will
Hit: The target makes a melee basic attack against an adjacent creature of the Ashbound warshaper’s choice as a free action.
Aspect of the Beast (healing, polymorph) • Encounter
Effect: The Ashbound warshaper assumes the form of a primal beast. Until the end of the encounter, the warshaper gains regeneration 5, its speed increases by 2, and it can make claw attacks. While in this form, the Ashbound warshaper cannot make quarterstaff attacks and cannot use unleash the beast.
Razorclaw Shifting • Encounter
Effect: Until the end of the encounter, the warshaper’s speed increases by 2 and it gains a +1 bonus to AC and Reflex.
Skills Endurance +8, Intimidate +8, Nature +12
Str 17 (+5)	Dex 15 (+4)		Wis 20 (+7)
Con 12 (+3)	Int 10 (+2)		Cha 13 (+3)
Alignment unaligned     Languages Common

I added a power from Boontah, Goblin Champion (found in issue 177 of Dragon) to reflect the influence of the entity within Black Claw.  Both versions were challenging and fun according to my group.  The new power really hooked them.  When he started shooting lasers from his eyes, my players were confused, but intrigued.

Next up is a creation of mine only known as the Murderball.  The Murderball is all me from the ground up.  It’s a massive construct that transforms into a spiked ball.  Here it is:

The Murderball		Level 7 Solo Brute
Huge natural animate		XP 1,500
Initiative +6                          Senses Perception +3 Whirling Blades aura 1; Creatures that start their turn within the aura take 5 damage. HP 425; Bloodied 212 AC 22; Fortitude 26; Reflex 20; Will 19 Immune fear; poison; disease Saving Throws +5 Speed 6 (8 while in ball form) Action Points 2
m Fist Slam (standard; at-will)
Reach 2; +10 vs AC; 2d6 + 5
M Grab (standard; at-will)
The Murderball grabs an enemy and places them in itself to be ripped up by internal blades. A grabbed enemy is immune to murderball’s aura.  Only one enemy can be grabbed at a time.
Reach 2; +8 vs Reflex; target is grabbed -2 to escape checks
Frenzy (standard; at-will)
The murderball may make 1 grab and 1 fist slam attack or 2 fist slam attacks per turn.
Internal Blades (free; at-will)
The murderball tears apart a grabbed enemy once per turn.
+12 vs AC; 3d8 + 5
Tranform! (standard; at-will)
The Murderball transforms from body form to ball form or vice versa.  In ball form, grab cannot be escape and murderball gains a +2 bonus to ac.  It can no longer make Grab or Fist slam attacks if in ball form.  It cannot make a trample attack in body form.
M Rolling Trample (standard; recharge 6)
murderball moves its speed, through enemy spaces.  Each enemy moved through takes the following attack
+10 vs AC; 3d6 + 5 and the target is knocked prone. Miss: Half damage and the target is slide 1 square.
Reinforcements (immediate reaction; encounter)
When the murderball is first bloodied, he releases 4 Incomplete Forge Drakes to assist in the battle.
Alignment Evil		Languages Common
Str 19 (+7)	Dex 16 (+6)		Wis10 (+3)
Con 25 (+10)	Int 10 (+3)		Cha 13 (+4)

Paul still talks about this one.  All of its abilities were extremely active, meaning he’d grab a player, move a player, or roll through a group.  I’m still proud of this one.

Finally here’s the villain of my last campaign.  She fought that group four times over the course of the heroic tier.  She increased in power right along with them.  She was always a bit different but had the same core group of abilities.  Here she is when they encountered the first time:

Sorena		Level 5 Elite Controller
Medium shadow humanoid		XP 400
Initiative +6                          Senses Perception +3 HP 126; Bloodied 63 AC 19; Fortitude 21; Reflex 19; Will 20 Saving Throws +2 Speed 6 Action Points 1
m Scythe (at-will; standard) • Weapon
Reach 2; +10 vs AC; 2d4 + 3
M Life Sapping Scythe (at-will; standard) • Necrotic, Weapon
Reach 2; +10 vs AC; 2d4 + 3 necrotic damage, and the target is slowed until the end of the hobgoblin warcaster’s next turn
M Cage of Gloom (recharge 5 6; standard)
Sorena makes a scythe attack. If the attack hits, Sorena makes a secondary attack as strands of shadow coil around the target.
+7 vs Reflex; the target is restrained (save ends)
C Deep Shadow (encounter; standard; sustain minor) • Necrotic
Aura 2; thick, writhing shadows surround Sorena. Sorena and any other shadow creatures in the aura gain concealment. In addition, enemies that enter or start their turns in the aura take 5 necrotic damage, and enemies (including flying ones) also treat the area within the aura as difficult terrain. Sorena can sustain the aura as a minor action. However, the effect ends if she uses shadow jaunt or moves more than half her speed on her turn.
Shadow Jaunt (encounter; move) • Teleportation
Sorena teleports 3 squares and becomes insubstantial until the start of her next turn.
Alignment Unaligned		Languages Common, Abyssal
Skills Acrobatics +11, Stealth +11, Thievery +11
Str 12 (+3)	Dex 18 (+6)		Wis 12 (+3)
Con 15 (+4)	Int 18 (+6)		Cha 15 (+4)
Equipment Scythe, Leather Armor

And here’s what she looked like when they fought her for the last time:

Sorena Darkfeather, Mistress of Shadows		Level 13 Solo Controller
Medium shadow humanoid		XP 4,000
Initiative +12                        Senses Perception +9 HP 524; Bloodied 262 AC 27; Fortitude 29; Reflex 27; Will 28 Saving Throws +5 Speed  6 Action Points 2
m Scythe (standard; at-will) • Weapon
Reach 2; +18 vs AC; 2d4 + 5
M Life Sapping Scythe (standard; at-will) • Necrotic, Weapon
Reach 2; +18 vs AC; 2d4 + 5 necrotic damage, and the target is shrouded in gloom
Come to my Aid! (minor; recharge when minions are dead)
Sorena summons 4 Shadar-kai grunts.  When all are dead, she’ll use this power again.  They act immediately after her in the initiative order.
M Cage of Gloom (standard; recharge 5 6)
Sorena makes a scythe attack. If the attack hits, Sorena makes a secondary attack as strands of shadow coil around the target.; 2
+15 vs Reflex; 2 the target is restrained (save ends)
Shadow Burst (minor; encounter) • Cold, Necrotic
Close blast 3; +17 vs Reflex; cold or necrotic damage, Sorena chooses for each attack, and the target takes ongoing 10 damage (save ends); 2d8 + 6
C Frightful Presence (standard; encounter) • Fear
Close burst 5; targets enemies; +15 vs Will; the target is stunned until the end of Sorena’s next turn. Aftereffect: The target takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls (save ends)
C Mark of Terror’s Grasp (free, when first bloodied; encounter) • Necrotic
Close blast 3; +16 vs Fortitude; 3d6 + 6 necrotic damage, and the target is immobilized (save ends)
Fearful Pulse (minor; recharge 5 6) • Cold, Necrotic
Targets only those under the effects of Frightful Presence, Shadow Burst and Mark of Terror.  Target takes 10 cold and Necrotic damage.
C Deep Shadow (standard; sustain minor; encounter) • Necrotic
Aura 2; thick, writhing shadows surround Sorena. Sorena and any other shadow creatures in the aura gain concealment. In addition, enemies that enter or start their turns in the aura take 5 necrotic damage, and enemies (including flying ones) also treat the area within the aura as difficult terrain. Sorena can sustain the aura as a minor action. However, the effect ends if she uses shadow jaunt or moves more than half her speed on her turn.; 2
Shadow Jaunt (move; recharge 4 5 6) • Teleportation
Sorena teleports 5 squares and becomes insubstantial until the start of her next turn.
Shrouded in Gloom
While shrouded in gloom, a creature takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls and gains only half the benefit of healing effects.
Alignment Unaligned		Languages Common, Abyssal
Skills Acrobatics +17, Stealth +17, Thievery +17
Str 16 (+9)	Dex 22 (+12)		Wis16 (+9)
Con 19 (+10)	Int 22 (+12)		Cha 19 (+10)
Equipment Scythe, Leather Armor

Feel free to use any of these monsters in your campaigns and let me know how they work out for you.  If you make any changes or improvements, I’d love to hear about it.

Reaper Launches Kickstarter for Bones Line

I recently raved about the Bones line of miniatures from Reaper.  They were giving them out at the paint and take table they had set up at PAX East.  Everything I said before holds true: they take paint really well, they have amazing amounts of detail, and they have a low price.  I wrote about how I would love to see an expansion of the line (there are currently 17 models available); apparently I’m not the only one who felt this way. Reaper has launched a Kickstarter to help pay for the costs of expanding their line of low price polymer models.  It was funded quite quickly.  Their plan will have the Bones line expanded to around 60 models by the end of the year.  The line will now include larger models, like giants and dragons, as well as player characters.

Goldar the Barbarian, one of the models to be added to the Bones line.

This expansion of the line is fantastic.  The addition of new monsters will help DMs grow their collection giving them customizable monsters to assault their players with.  The addition of charismatic models (like the one pictured above) players now have the option to create a unique miniature for their character and DMs can create one of a kind villain miniatures.  And the polymer material alleviates the problems of price and difficulty to paint.  There’s nothing worse than paying 10 dollars for a metal miniature that I’m afraid to paint and worried I’ll never use.  With Bones, I’ll pay a dollar or 2 for that same miniature.  That’s a gamble I’ll take any day.  Players and DMs alike will be able to amass collections like the old days.

I’ve already started my collection!

One of the best miniature companies in the business is looking to release awesome models at an awesome price.  If this is the future of role playing miniatures, then I like this future.

For more on Reaper, check out their website.

The Bones: Why We Love Our Dice

I have a well documented love for dice.  For some reason, nothing gives me greater joy, nothing draws me into a game more, and nothing is more synonymous with play to me than the act of rolling dice.  At my table it’s the visceral way in which I interact with the world I’ve created.  With my deep connection to these pieces of plastic also comes a brace of superstitions.

No one touches my dice without my permission.  And no one ever rolls them.  If anyone reaches for my dice, I quickly pull them away.  I don’t want someone to ‘infect’ or ‘poison’ my dice.  My dice are currently filled with my ‘mojo’ or what you want to call it and I worry, I actually worry, that if I let someone else use my dice, my dice will turn on me.  I never deviate, when buying dice, from my favored brand (Chessex).  I have dice that are ‘better’ than others.  My blue dice are my best dice.  When I need a high roll, I pull out my blue d20.  When a die rolls poorly, I place it at the corner of the table in ‘time out’, forcing it to watch while others get used as a punishment.  I’ve also been known to ‘flip’ my dice, which means I set my dice on the table showing their highest face and line them up by number of faces.  Jeremy shares this habit with me, as do many other gamers.  We do this to teach the dice what they’re supposed to do.

The mother load

Rituals involving these little plastic totems are unsurprisingly common.  In one memorable scene of the documentary The Dungeon Masters, one of the DMs interviewed shows how you punish your dice.  His includes freezing and smashing it with a hammer, it’s probably a more extreme example, but it shows the kind of attachment we have to these things.  I reached out to my Gamers with Jobscommunity, seeing what kind of superstitions they held and got some great stories.  One told me that they used to put the dice of others in their mouths to ‘curse’ them.  Another talked about how he made his other dice ‘watch’ as he mutilated one with a blowtorch.   The best story shared with me was one player who told me he would only buy certain dice, always translucent ones.  He treated his dice like rare jewels, keeping them in a felt lined case and knowing the location of each one.  To him, dice were tools, and coming from a family of mechanics, tools were treated with respect.

This is what it’s about

Buying new dice for each new character, having special sets for certain situations, burying dice that are cursed, punishing dice that are bad, there’s no end to the superstitions we have concerning our dice.  But why shouldn’t we treat them with a certain amount of gravitas?  They are, after all, the portal we use to interact with the world we make.

d20 Pro and Mesa Mundi NUIT

At PAX East, I saw yet another digital tabletop program.  It was called d20 Pro, and despite having a fascination with that type of thing, I still needed to be impressed.  And I was.  Even without the touch screen interface (which I’ll get into very soon) d20 Pro is a very powerful piece of gaming software.  It has the standard things you’d expect from software like this, integrated dice roller, plenty of maps, taking care of all the numbers for you, that sort of stuff.  Where this really shines is two places, control for the DM and ways to play.  When I say ways to play I mean that you and your players have several different avenues for access to this.  You can play with your NUIT (wait for it, it’s worth it), online using your own computer as the host, in person using your HDTV as a second monitor, or any other way you can think up.  As for the control, this software has an incredible DM interface.

Shot of what the DM sees. The blue is 'fog of war'.

You have complete control.  You can even use ‘fog of war’, which I thought was a nice touch.  Everything you need is right at your fingertips, easily accessible and ready to slide right into the game.  This software really shines when paired with the right hardware, and the right hardware is the Mesa Mundi NUIT.  The NUIT and the nature of d20 Pro software allow you to go as far down the rabbit hole as you’d like.  You can use the entire functionality of the software or you can use it merely as a map for your own collection of minis.  Now let’s talk more about the hardware.

The NUIT being used with d20 Pro

The Mesa Mundi NUIT(Natural User Interface Technologies) is a touch screen interface with so many incredible uses.  You can use it for D&D, for digital board games, for massive versions of Android games (I played Angry Birds Space on there and it was pretty epic), even for watching TV.  There are some really cool digital versions of classic board games already available with more to come.  This interface has the ability to create incredible social experiences.

Gaming on the NUIT

The best part is they’ve partnered with Geek Chic to make my ultimate dream piece.  The Locus table.  It’s all the beauty and artistry of a Geek Chic table with a NUIT built into the table top.  The coffee table version has a built in motor to lift the screen to a vertical position.

Just amazing

I know what my spare change is going to.

Best of PAX East 2012

For those who aren’t aware, PAX East is kind of a big deal.  I make it a point to go every year.  This year I discovered just how amazing the tabletop area of PAX East is.  I discovered so many new and awesome games.  Here are the very best. I’ll be writing about some of these more in future postings.

The Tabletop Area, where I spent most of my PAX East

Miskatonic School for Girls

This game was neat. I started Sunday with a demo. The thing that drew me in was their tagline ‘a deck building game where you get to build your opponents deck for a change’.  What they mean by this is you can purchase (with in game resources) cards that are bad and put them into your opponents’ decks.  This game is fun, funny, and has incredible art.  Here for more information.

Dark Age

There was a time I was in Warhammer 40k.  There was a time when miniature armies excited me.  That time had passed, or so I thought.  Cool Mini or Not has released a game called Dark Age.  It’s based on the art of Brom, the miniatures are just beautiful, and it’s a skirmish game.  Skirmish means a handful of miniatures rather than a massive army.  I’m currently exploring the game more (I didn’t have the chance to demo it) and I’ll detail that entire process here for you.  I’m pretty excited seeing as this game is so dark, violent, and just plain cool.

A sample of the miniatures from Dark Age.

Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: The Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre

You could say, for me at least, Epic Spell Wars was the bell of the ball this year.  I bought this game the first day because I’d been planning to pick it up long before PAX came around.  Every time we took it out to play it, people were asking us what it was.  Someone from Cryptozoic actually stopped while I was playing and thanked me for buying it.  It’s such a fun and enticing game.  For more information look here.

Zombie Dice is the perfect line game

Steve Jackson Games

This year, I discovered that everyone loves Cthulhu Dice.  It’s a simple game that travels well, plays quickly, and it available in a multitude of colors.  What’s not to love?  But Cthulhu Dice was not the only thing Steve Jackson Games was showing off this year.  They also had new dice game, Dino Hunt, available for play test.  It plays almost exactly like Zombie Dice, which is a bit disappointing.  I really think they could do a lot more in that space.  And speaking of Zombie Dice, did you know they released a sequel?  Yup, that happened.

Reaper Miniatures

No, I’m not just discovering Reaper.  But this was the first time they were at PAX East in force and this included a paint and take table.  I hadn’t painted any miniatures in a very long time and I forgot just how much I enjoyed it.  On top of this, Reaper’s line of paints (which I hadn’t tried) are very, very good.  They are vibrant and stick well, but are thin enough that they don’t cover up the sculpting.  They also mix very nicely.  We were given minis from their new plastic ‘Bones’ line.  The minis take paint with minimal effort, have the same sculpt quality you’d expect from Reaper, and are at an incredible price.  I’m hoping they expand the line.  You can find more about these here.

My first painted miniature in years. Not bad...

Tuesday, I’ll finish my PAX coverage with my piece on Mesa Mundi and their incredible touch screen interface and how it’s being used for D&D.

 

A Family Affair

Recently, my Dad asked me to explain Dungeons and Dragons to him.  Since he had no real basis for what D&D is even like, I had to break the game down pretty far.  I gave him the ‘party line’ of D&D being, at its core, a group of people creating a story together.  This wasn’t the first time I’d had this conversation, not even close.  I’ve explained D&D many a time to friends, family, and girlfriends, but this was the first time my father had asked about it.  First time he’d ever really shown an interest in it.  That’s probably why it meant something more than all those other times.  It got me thinking.

One of my players is at a different stage of his life than me.  He has two sons and I can’t deny a certain amount of jealousy.  He’s brought both of his sons down the rabbit hole.  The older one is now our fifth player and the younger one is better than many players I’ve met.  He is currently raising the next generation of D&D players, something I hope to eventually do myself.  To me, D&D has always been a social experience, but maybe someday it could also be a family affair.

I’ve gotten loved ones involved in games before.  The significant other at the table thing never works.  There’s always some sort of favoritism.  It doesn’t matter who at the table is in the relationship, more often than not it can derail the game.  The couple that roleplays together, from my personal experience, has been the exception rather than the rule.  I’ve gamed with a few girlfriends myself.  One annoyed everyone at the table, one just wasn’t into it (and fell asleep, nice right?) and one was only doing it for me.  I think the last was the worst.  I guess it’s just a personal preference, but I like it when everyone at my table is there by choice.

So, I’ve played with friends and girlfriends, but never with family.  It’s strange really.  My uncle used to play, but never really introduced me to the game, never even brought it up.  I didn’t find out he played until I went to college.  I’ll never play with my father, I know this, and I accept it.  It’s not his thing and I can tell he won’t enjoy it.  Maybe someday I’ll teach my own children, but only if they really want to learn.

I think the most important thing I’ve taken from these musings is that you can’t force anyone to love D&D.  Not everyone is going to want to play, despite the fact that everyone should play this game at some point in their lives, and not everyone will enjoy it.  I guess the best advice I can give for bringing a loved one into D&D is not to thrust it upon them.  Let them ask you to try it, let them play on their terms, and most importantly, let them decide on their own if they like it.

I Noticed Your Party Has No Wizard

Sometimes, after you’ve started a regular campaign, your players tell you ‘hey, we have this friend…’  It’s that unavoidable moment in every D&D game where you have to add another player.  This can either be a great time that expands and enriches you game or it can be a huge pain in the ass.  Sometimes it just ends up feeling unnatural and forced.

We recently added a new character to our group.  Rob’s son joined us, playing as the elf druid Losdrides.  He had sat in on one of our games (the first game since the three TPKs in a row) and crafted a backstory that fit into the theme and goals of the campaign.  And I, wanting to make the story make sense from a literary sense, put the characters in a situation where his character would make an immediate impact.  All in all, between the two of us, we made a situation that didn’t feel forced on the other players.

Here are some tips to help you make the best of adding new players:

• Don’t feel bad saying no.  If you can’t fit them in, you don’t like the person, or one your players doesn’t like them, don’t do it.  Don’t add someone just because you feel you have to, add them because you genuinely want to hang out with this person.  Always remember, a campaign is a heavy time investment, and you’re going to be spending a lot of time with the people you play with.
• Don’t feel bad saying not yet.  You want to add the person, the group wants to play with them, they’ve made a character and written their backstory, but there’s one problem, the characters are currently miles underground in a series of tombs.  Should you add the new player?  Only if it’d make sense.  Adding a player where it wouldn’t fit in a narrative sense can quickly make things feel forced and iffy.  However, adding a new character where it would make sense or enhance the story can make for a more rewarding experience.
• Put the new player in the limelight immediately.  In shows and literature, a new character will show up and make an immediate impact on the narrative, making this happen in your game will make the character more imbedded in the ongoing story.  You can do this by putting them in a situation tailored to the new character, an adventure based on their backstory, or an encounter that plays to their strength.  Right now my players are in Arenal, the elven continent, and the new player, the elf, has to do all the talking.
• It doesn’t hurt to have them there before they start playing.  This one isn’t necessary, but it will help a lot.  By having the new player there, before they start playing they are able to get an idea of what the group needs, how the game plays out week to week, and what tone the campaign has.  This leads to a character who fits into the ongoing narrative much smoother than someone coming in with no prior knowledge.

So don’t fret over new people.  As with most things in RPGs, with the proper forethought and planning, it will always enhance your game.