RPG Blog Carnival: Encounters & Rewards

A few weeks ago I wrote an article for this month's Blog Carnival considering how encounters can be defined. Specifically, I discussed what an encounter is for me and why I categorize them in such away. Hint: it is all about rewards. You can find that article here, but the long and short of it is that I need three things to qualify an encounter: an event, an instigator, and effort. If all of these things exist then the scene, be it combat, social, or puzzle, is considered an encounter in my mind. That is the point where I judge the ease with which is was done, the intended difficulty, and the rewards. Sometimes encounters are planned, sometimes they pop up, and sometimes you don't even know about them until they are over. Today I want to talk about how I plan for encounters and how that effects rewards.

Planning Encounters

This is a fairly simple process. You have an idea of what you want to happen and you make sure you have the notes you need for it. Of course that oversimplifies the idea, as the more complex you make the encounter, the more complex the planning. Still, I'm just getting at the basic idea. There are certain things you plan out. Maybe its in judicious notes or just thoughts you had floating around in your head. Regardless, there is probably something that initiates an event. Those two parts of encounters are, in my opinion, the easiest to achieve and easiest to plan for.

Monsters and combat. Traps and puzzle solving. Guards and diplomacy. These happen all the time and they don't always need to be called encounters. Remember, for me, an encounter = a reward. Combat is the most easily recognizable as nearly always earning rewards. XP is built into combat in games like D&D. It costs nearly all the resources the mechanics of the game contain. But so can others. 

When I am planning out any type of encounter there has to be some cost. Puzzles may take time, cleverness, and good skill checks. Combat will take HP, arrows, and spells. Diplomacy may see a give and take of information or other resources like money. If an event or scene does not come at a cost to the players, even when they are taking agency in that scene, it may not be worth much or anything. A smooth persuasion check to get past the guard probably isn't worth XP, but a series of guards who are persuaded, bribed, and avoided may be worth a bit.

Encounter Compositions

There are tons of ways for a RPG to play out. Combat and intrigue abound. Crafting, planning, brute force, cleverness, spells, bribery. Things happen in limitless ways and that is what makes the games fun. Nevertheless each individual scene has a specific composition. The intended make-up may differ from the result, or the encounter could begin one way and end another. Mixing and matching different styles can increase the fun of the game and diversify rewards and how they are earned. The key is to make sure you players know that they are rewarded for things like NOT fighting or finding a way out of the situation you hadn't anticipated.

Here are some ways you can make encounters more interesting or more difficult:

• series/waves of enemies, traps, or puzzles
• terrain hazards
• traps hidden within a combat area
• unexpected social attempts
• skill requirements
• exploitation that require skill checks
• equipment
• a changing strategy

When planning things out you should have an idea of how difficult this should be for your group. This is part objective and part subjective. What do the numbers say? Figure out if it is too much damage or requires things that the players have limited access to. Is it a puzzle the players themselves are good at or one that notoriously stumps them? If you didn't plan the encounter out, look back and try to determine how hard it should of been for them. Did they create a difficult situation or an easy one?

Rewards!

When all is said and done, players expect to get something out of the events. What that is can vary greatly. Information, advancement, money, XP, status, equipment, or leverage. Perhaps they earn a companion or an insider to information for the future. Maybe it is an alliance between two groups or a keep to call their own. Regardless, it will be up to you to determine the reward. XP is always good but the other things make a great mix too. Sometimes the decision is easy though, dungeons will have treasure but don't have allegiances waiting for you at the end. Unless of course that's part of a larger story!

Be sure to consider the encounter as a whole when it is done. Determine what was involved, who was involved, and the things that got left out. From beginning to end what were all of the obstacles along the way? Figure out the base XP that those should reward. Books like the Dungeon Master's Guide will help out with this, but often it may be up to you to decide. Monsters have XP and often traps do too. For social encounters I generally use the standard encounter value of combat for the party level as a base. Such encounters tend to be of similar challenges throughout game play because much of it is based on the players and not the stats.

Once I have figured out the XP for all of that, I always adjust. Was the tactic super risky? Was it the least risky option? Perhaps the risk wasn't worth the outcome. Sometimes players are just really clever or come up with great ideas or tell great stories along the way. All of these can earn some extra XP. Taking the easy way out may earn them a little less. Personally I find that adjusting the base XP reward for how difficult the fight ended up being is the first step. Maybe they didn't catch a hint you thought was obvious or they thought of something super clever and round-about. I increase or decrease, respectively, the reward for those situations . Then I go back and start adding little bits for role-playing, cleverness, and other extras.

Of course this all comes into play for non-XP rewards, as well. Sometimes it may be a good idea to reduce the reward for an easy encounter some other way. Give them all the XP but have those the players wish to be impressed, less so. If they were really clever have the king give more money to balance a reduction in XP. You can add or take away different rewards in full or in part as the result of play. Most of all be sure to talk to your players if they question how they are being rewarded. Be up front and make adjustments to your practices when needed.

The thing about RPGs is that they are always flowing, always changing, and always developing. Stuff happens to the players and because of them. Events, obstacles, and rewards may all come naturally most of the time. An encounter is really just a fancy way of categorizing these things, often with the thought of combat = XP in mind, at least mechanically. For me an encounter is a category that helps determine when I need to reward my players. It helps me plan and helps me determine those rewards later. Most of the time I don't even use the word, and I am sure you don't either, but the concept of it is still there. Hopefully sharing how that works for me has given you some useful insight or ideas!

Resources For Every GM: Reference Part 8

Good afternoon everyone! Last week the Resources article got passed over, but I could not let that happen twice in a row. Today I have three reference books for you from my personal library that wouldn't be bad editions to your shelf. In fact, you might find these to be amazing books for your shelf even if you aren't a GM. Two of them are sort of a pair, but concern enough differences that I didn't want to lump them as one reference. The other heads towards the science fiction end of the spectrum, but only in original setting.


Star Wars: The Essential Guide To Alien Species (Ann Margaret Lewis): This is a fantastic book for any Star Wars nerd, especially one interested in creatures and races. The one I have on my shelf is from 2001 and is the first edition of this book to be printed. Obviously, there have been some additions since the Phantom Menace. Nevertheless, this book is of great use. If you are playing a Star Wars game, this book is almost essential because of how much data there is to it. As good as FFG's rule books are they can just not compare to the detail in books like this one. There are others in the series such as characters, weapons, droid, and planets. Alien species is the most universally useful one, however. Not that you need this book to make a rancor for your D&D game, but every page has something new you may not be aware of. Take the Amanin, for example. You get one shot in, Jabba's Palace (?), and an action figure. This takes it further describing the hunter-gatherers and just enough info for you to make a race from. They are slow, unless swinging from trees or, of course, rolling up into a ball and rolling at you. What an odd people to find in a D&D jungle. Give shamans some spells and you got a crazy NPC race of neutral tribesman. Yes, if you seek fleshed out creatures and races to spice up your table, this is a perfect book for you!


Diablo III: Book of Cain (Flint Dille): This book, and the next, are recent additions to my shelf thanks to Christmas gift cards and I love them. To be fair I am in love with the Diablo world and the mythos that Blizzard has given it over the years. The battle between good and evil is amazing and takes interesting turns on the world of Sanctuary. The Book of Cain reads like part fantasy world reference book, part history book, and part journal. That's because it is a representation of the in game object of the same name. In it the last Horadrim, Deckard Cain, tells the tale of how his order has fought evil over the centuries. It tells of the Lords of Hell, the Angiris Council, the Hells, the High Heavens, and more. The history of human-kind and the world are detailed here, as are some details from before Diablo III. Add this to a set of D&D books and do some work on monster stats and you could play quite the adventure in the Diablo world, even without ever having played it.


Diablo III: Book of Tyrael (Matt Burns & Doug Alexander): Yes, another Diablo book. Surprise! Tyrael is one of my favorite characters in the series because of his purpose in the story. He represents a lot to that story: humanity, justice, learning a different point of view, change. If the Book of Cain is the must have to run a Sanctuary adventure, then this is the must have for a prolonged campaign. Much of what is in here you can learn about in the game if you play it and if you looks for and listen to all the journals. This book provides it in a manner usable at the game table, though. Not only that, but it gives so much more. There is a timeline and a section on the various regions, orders, and people that exist in the world. If you aren't looking for a way to play a Diablo campaign, this books is still a great source of inspiration. Steal NPCs or orders for your game, or take notes on how they interact with their world. And, when it comes down to it, you need these two books if you love the Diablo series.

Untamed Rant 5: Storytelling

It's a day late, but here it is, the 5th episode of the Untamed Rant!!

Libris Monstrum #2: The Mimic

Welcome back to the Libris Monstrum! Last time, I talked about nagas and their rich history within the myths of the real world. The incarnations of naga have remained pretty stable over the years, at least within D&D, but we will get back to naga later. Tonight, I want to talk about something that doesn't come from the real world: the mimic!

Why talk about the mimic? Because you asked me to, and you voted on it! The mimic is a classic monster and virtually every person who has played more than one game of Dungeons & Dragons knows what it is. It is a creature that sits on a list of iconic monsters encountered at the table, alongside beholders and gelatinous cubes. Some of you were curious as to why to include them as an underutilized monster, so common as they are. Well, the mimic isn't so common.


Man-Eating Treasure Chests
The mimic is seen quite often in lower level dungeon crawls to trick players and punish them for blindly opening, or attempting to open, random treasure chests. But do we ever see them after that? Sometimes we do when we start new games, have forgotten our lessons, or take part in classic adventures, but not often enough. And certainly we are nearly guaranteed to see them as chests. It is, after all, the classic look. In fact, it is so classic its an entire trope with these types of creatures showing up in video games and other artistic works outside of D&D.


Getting More
Mimics are capable of so much more than that, though. Early on it was decided that those wizards who held many valuable items, and made their homes in strange dungeons, needed something to protect their hoards. Why not a magical shapeshifting treasure chest that eats people? They have been able to transform into a lot more, anything made of stone and wood at least: door frames, short walls, statues, bookshelves, all the common dungeon decor. Aside this ability is the ability to secrete a glue that holds attackers firm to them, making the kill all the more easy. Of course don't forget that there are smaller ones, smarter than their killer cousins. These can be fed and befriended, even speaking to those who have pleased them. Just look at some of the images below by Vempirick on Deviantart for some terrifying ideas.

Similar Ideas Or Different Species?
OK so the mimic doesn't corner the market pretending to be something it isn't. Of course, I know these aren't the same thing as the mimic, often very different, but the idea is fun to think about. It also benefits you, the game, and the poor mimic if you change it up once in a while. Wouldn't it be something if they treat a cloaker like a cloaker when it is really a mimic!?

So, let's look at some of those creatures now. The cloaker is as good a place as any to start, and a great one to be sure. Hanging up on a rack, alongside many other cloakers, the cloaker looks just like the rest. Some nice buttons and some bone clasps, or are they? Nope they are extra eyes and terrible claws and this thing will eat you as soon as you try to put it on. Oh, and they can fly. If you want to be even more devious just use the trapper, a creature that molds to the floor it is on, becoming the floor. Walk on it and you will become food. Or the piercer. One of those stalagmites looks odd, maybe loose? You don't understand the truth until it lets go stabbing you from above and hoping to kill you outright!

The grey ooze is another fantastic classic! Sure oozes suck in all their forms, but the grey ooze is fun for its ability to look like stone. Fill a whole in a wall with the ooze or create a small half wall with a few of them. Your players never know what hit them. My favorite, though, is the one that doesn't live in dungeons, but in the woods. The wolf-in-sheeps-clothing is an awesomely odd and fun creature. While it looks like a tree stump with a small wounded animal atop it, it is actually a horrible carnivore. Heroic characters can never resist the urge to help a small creature, especially when there is a druid. When they discover that its a woodland anglerfish, well you players may never trust you again.


Mimic-Like Cousins
Not all not-quite-treasure-chests are mimics. Some of them are a lot more fun. Take the Luggage for example. This creature is from the Discworld series and is unmistakable unique. It is, essentially, a combination treasure chest, bag of holding, and batman-butler. It's determination and ability is amazing, but it is no true mimic. Similarly, the next two things are incapable of shapeshifting, but they do act as other objects and are likely to try to eat you. The Bag of Devouring is my favorite cursed item. It acts as a bag of holding, most of the time anyway. When it isn't, it is eating your stuff...or you. There is always a chance that the bag eats something you have put into it and can never retrieve it again. Of course, it could just try to pull you inside as you try to retrieve an item. While not as terrible, the Monster book of Monsters from the world of Harry Potter is a book equally likely to eat you. If you know how to treat it, you will be able to read from the text, but it is still a dangerous creature.


Dungeons, The Mimic, & You
A lot of this entry to the Libris Monstrum hasn't, technically. Unlike other entries, the mimic doesn't have a culture. In fact, its major lacking feature is the tendency to use it as a chest and forget about it. So how can we get the mimic to come back to the table? First off, I believe we need to consider the second, more intelligent species to be quite a useful device. Perhaps an old familiar or just the secret leader of a dungeon, the mimic would be difficult to find if it didn't want to be.

Then, of course, a mimic can eat and grow and eat and grow. There are two ways to make a great dungeon from that fact. First off, if it is reproductively active (which is just through fission!), then a dungeon might end up being full of the creatures. Every time goblins, treasure hunters, bears, or anything else moves in they just get eaten. This would leave an eerily empty dungeon, not only clean but with plenty of loot!

On the other hand, we could say the mimic does NOT reproduce. Or, at least, not a lot. We could have a dungeon with one small section controlled by one or a couple, extra large mimics. Imagine a high level party, already having overcome the trouble of mimics and dragons, only to find a mimic the size of a bed or a desk or even bigger! It would be surprising to say the least and quite dangerous. Any of these options utilize the mimic in a much broader and fuller sense than it generally gets.

I suggest you take it and go crazy, get creative. That is how we can stop the mimic from being so under utilized while still being so well known.

RPG Blog Carnival: What Is An Encounter?

The RPG Blog Carnival is being hosted by Tabletop Terrors this month and features the topic of encounters. This will probably be the first of two submissions to that effort I will take, because it is a topic I have been concerning myself a lot with lately. To begin I am going to look at how I define encounters and why. Next time I'll go into how to extrapolate a variety of encounters from this and how to reward those encounters.


Defining Encounters
OK, so most of us probably understand what an encounter is, at least at a certain level. The primary thing that comes to my mind when someone says encounter is that of a monster, or group of monsters, that must be fought to the death. Personally, I have put a lot of effort into redefining what encounter means in the context of a game in order to get away from treating all encounters as combat situations. There are all kinds of encounters that can happen when you utilize the term in its normal definition. You could encounter a monster, adversary, salesman, puzzle, obstacle, or trap. These could result in the use of combat abilities, socialization, role play, or skills.

Those two lists only begin to describe what can come from an encounter, so we should probably narrow it down a little better. After all, there is probably going to be some form of context in the game that relates to encounters and how many there should be. This is especially true in games like Dungeons & Dragons. Here is how I tend to define an encounter in RPGs: an event that takes place after something is happened upon which requires party resources to be utilized.

Let's break down my definition and go into why I do it that way. First of all it is purposefully vague to allow for all the variety of possibilities. However, it includes three specific things: an event, an instigator, and effort. Each of these things is key to creating a fully realized encounter. I set these requirements for encounters, because I feel that these are all necessary for advancement of some kind. That advancement could be story, XP, or loot and often all of the above. Encounters or events that don't have all three of these happen, of course they do, but even the simplest games are driven by complexity. Whether you are deciding to reward XP, give out loot, go to another scene, hand out cyphers, or provide time to rest, this definition works.


Requirement 1: The Event
The event is the whole process that takes place. It begins with the instigator (see below) and ends with some form of resolution. Actions must be taken by the players during the event. Witnessing something does not count. Being captured suddenly, and narratively, doesn't count. These things can drive the story forward but aren't something the players have any agency in per se. There is no restriction to the proceedings of the event. PCs might even end up not acting, the simple choice of being challenged but not responding or ignoring commands is itself an action (of choice) at the very least. Generally, the event requires that there are consequences to the PCs actions or inactions, that they have agency, and that that agency is rewarded and/or punished. Eventually a resolution will occur that ends the encounter, or perhaps even become the instigator to another.


Requirement 2: The Instigator
The instigator in my definition is what begins an encounter and it comes in many forms. This is the thing that the party happens upon in their journey. For a combat encounter this is when the PCs happen upon monsters, monsters happen upon the PCs, or they stumble into each other. Of course the instigator itself doesn't necessitate violence. It could end up as a social encounter with roleplaying involved and some trading of information. What evolves from it is varied but there has to be something that begins the process. Monsters and NPCs work well, but it could also be an object, a location, or a trap that the PCs discover. It could be a choice being made, like the fork in a road, or an event such as an avalanche coming down the mountain towards the party. Regardless, the instigator is something that requires the PCs to react in some way.

Requirement 3: Effort

This is the most important part of how I judge what qualifies as an encounter when I prep, as well as when I reward. To be a true encounter the players must put in some form of effort and this can come in two major forms: player effort and character effort. Often the two overlap, but they don't have to in my opinion. Player effort comes from personal decisions, roleplaying, or reacting in character. These are things that don't generate die rolls but do generate responses and results. It is OK to have a social encounter with no dice rolled and effort is certainly still involved. Character effort is much easier to track. This comes in the form of dice rolled and usually generates the use of special abilities. Getting hurt, needing to use Hit Dice, spending inspiration or benefits, and casting spells all qualify. These things may be restored at the end of the day for the character, but they limit what the characters can do in that day. Why have them if you don't use them? Both types of effort can easily cut into character supplies like food, water, gold, or even rope. This is important to consider as well.

Why Define The Encounter?

Personally, I mostly play Dungeons & Dragons, so it is important to define encounters. The game is designed around combat encounters, especially. A certain number of them at certain difficulty determines a good, hard day for the PCs. It is the basis for experience and treasure. My games, however, tend to involve less combat events in one day and focuses on a number of things. I have players who also like to go off on tangents when there are things like festivals around. I want to be able to plan for such events, give them complex and varied encounters, force them to make decisions on resources outside of combat, and reward them for all of it. Using this definition helps me plan an in-game day. I can plan for a social encounter, hazard encounter, and combat encounter. I can plan on them using resources and the rewards they earn from the effort I expect them to require. In the end, this definition is all about me planning a set of events that challenge the players in the short term and as a whole, as well as to maximize the spread of rewards to maintain play as varied as the challenges.

In the next entry for this topic, I am going to go into how I shape some different encounters. Some of that work comes in planning, but some of it comes after the fact. I will show how I reward encounters and give some examples on how I adjust that reward on the fly. There will also be some discussion on multi-aspected encounters and how that effects the challenge and the reward. I like a wide definition, but I don't want to level the party every 5 minutes!

The Good Of D&D Streams & Podcasts

A few weeks ago there was a surge in the discussion (on Twitter) about RPG streams and podcasts. The major start to this discussion was from the blog post by Goblin Stomper about Critical Role, and you can find that here. Another large piece of input to that discussion came from Terminally Nerdy's vlog about the subject which you can find here. The conversation derived from the initial Tweet is here and there are other conversations that popped up, with folks adding their own input. I decided I should insert my take on the situation and what that media has done for me.

Before that I want to say that these folks all make good points, many of which I don't even disagree with. However, I do believe that a lot of it is perception and expectations, but then again so is a lot of life.


Acquisitions Incorporated & Critical Role
Lets start here, because this was my first exposure to the idea of an actual play podcast or stream of some type. It began in 2007 if I remember correctly, the Fall before the 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons came out, as a way to help push the new edition. At the time I had not played much D&D, and those experiences were mixed. It had been a couple years since I had stepped back from the DM's chair. While 4th Edition had peaked my interests as an edition that was easier for me to manipulate as a DM, I was fairly uncertain still. Listening to this show turned that all around.

At once I was ready to play D&D again, and not just play but Dungeon Master. I was more excited for D&D than I had been in a long time. Part of it was the rules that I heard get used, part of it was the articles I was reading about the system, and part of it was the fun of listening to those low level characters get into trouble. Over the next couple years, especially during my stint working the overnight stocking job, I proceeded to discover and listen to other podcasts like Flagons & Dragons and the Strand Gamers. Each of these made me excited to play D&D, gave me ideas on things I could do in my stories, revealed truths to how the rules could be manipulated, and generally were great fun to enjoy. Needless to say, I was on board the instant Geek & Sundry announced Critical Role.

Almost ten years after I began listening to actual play podcasts and took back my DM's chair, I discovered D&D streaming via Critical Role. Since then I have watched Titan's Grave, Force Grey, and the Waffle Crew, all of them big names and big groups in the D&D world. But the fun I had with Critical Role, the inspiration I got working on my own campaigns while tuning into the show, the letters they got from others about how they started playing or they just appreciated sharing that with them - these were awesome things, and it inspired me to finally say, "Hey, let's start a podcast. For real."


What It Meant For Me
We are almost 13 months out from my foray into podcasting our games and it has been lots of fun doing it. Untamed Dice doesn't have a ton of listeners (yet!) and we certainly are no Critical Role, but that has never harmed our table or our expectations. To be fair even our new players didn't watch Critical Role until after we introduced them to D&D. All I can say is that podcasts and streams inspired me to play, to DM, to create, to share, and to podcast. Without Acq. Inc. and Critical Role this article, this blog, and our podcast might not exist.

I will grant, I was eased into it with the first Acq. Inc. adventures and some of the "small-time" podcasts of 6-10 years ago. Perhaps that made everything more reasonable and changed my expectations. Maybe it made those expectations more realistic. I know I will never be a voice actor leading other voice actors in a campaign world I have created that well, but that won't stop me from trying. And frankly, those shows help inspire me to do more. They make me want to share my experiences with you, even if only some of you listen.


What It Means For Others
Here's the thing though, those other guys, they have some great advice and insight. First-timers cannot expect to run a Matt Mercer or Chris Perkins level game. Nor can the players expect that kind of intensity, drama, or comedy. That takes time, practice, experience, and some skills you may not possess. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try, however.

These folks make their own mistakes. Recently, Chris Perkins admitted that he had probably used a number of ever-changing crit rules for the Waffle Crew. He works for Wizards and he still isn't necessarily consistent or all-knowing. What he is, is experienced and skilled at keeping the game flowing. As for Critical Role, that group sits there for hours without peeing or eating much except during their break, which lasts for 15 minutes. All the big-time shows have a production value of some sort and your table, well, it won't.

Other podcasts aren't for everyone either. They won't live up to the productions of Acquisitions Incorporated or Titan's Grave. They might not have the equipment, editing know-how, or a table talk you enjoy. But you still might find one  that you do enjoy. It might entertain you, inspire you, or teach you. Hopefully all of the above! Just don't listen to every podcast expecting it to be Critical Role. I like horror movies, most of them anyways, but it doesn't mean I expect them all to be of incredible story-telling quality or have production values of things like Marvel movies. It doesn't mean I skip them either.

Podcasts and streams are good, in my opinion, for the hobby. It is a sharing of creative work, of happiness, of enjoyment. It is a place to find inspiration and learn a thing or two while being entertained. Take cues from these great entertainers and learn from what they do. If you want to share what you do, do it. There is great joy in sharing your work, even if not everyone enjoys it. Aspire to be the next Critical Role, but don't expect it. There is plenty of room for us little guys and plenty of good to come from it.

Untamed Rant New Year's Special!

A couple days later than intended but the New Years special resource episode of the Untamed Rant is uploaded! Check it out here!


UPDATE-here are those links I forgot yesterday

-http://www.sfwa.org/
-http://arcadia.net/Cruinne/DnD/Articles/worldbuilding.html
-http://inkarnate.com/
-https://www.dmsguild.com/
-https://slack.com/
-http://www.dmsupportgroup.com/
-http://tvtropes.org/
-http://whothefuckismydndcharacter.com/
-http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html
-http://jamesclemens.com/
-http://www.kimharrison.net/
-http://www.peterclines.com/
-http://www.jameslovegrove.com/

Libris Monstrum #1: Naga

Welcome to the very first entry in the Libris Monstrum! Here shall be a series of entries going over some of the most commonly included monsters in game manuals. But, no, I am not going to be going over things like dragons or goblins. At least not at first, because those monsters are not just included but staples of games like Dungeons & Dragons. My goal is to talk about the monsters that often get missed and forgotten. To begin I want to talk about one of my favorites from mythology: the naga!


Serpent Entities

Naga, or nagini as the females are called, are serpent creatures of various Asian mythos. Most notably, nagas are part of the various Indian religions. The spread of religions like Hinduism and Buddhism throughout Asia caused quite a diversification of nagas over time. Nevertheless, nagas are almost always related to the king cobra and thus have similar hoods. Aside from this, there are a few other common physical features. The more frightening, and interesting, are the human faces. How human the faces are can vary. Still, the image of a serpentine creature whose head is very human, but whose eyes and forked tongue are still snake-like, is unnerving. Some even have multiple heads like the hydra of greek mythology. Nagas can also be capable of shapeshifting into human form, disguising themselves among people.


Purpose

There are mixed stories about the type of beings that naga and nagini are. Generally speaking they are seen as evil creatures, capricious and deceitful. Sometimes though, they can act as a neutral party or may even be willing to be good and helpful. Regardless though, there seems to be a general regard of nagas to be guardians of some kind. Treasure is one such thing, but more often they are natural resources, especially water. Rivers, lakes, and underground springs can be the home of guardian naga. Even those helpful naga must be shown respect and their sacred water source treated well.


Nagas In Dungeons & Dragons

Nagas have been included in D&D for decades, always showing up in the monster manuals as serpentine entities. These come in a couple varieties, each of which tends to focus on a specific aspect of the mythos. Common types include guardian, dark, and water nagas which become associated with sacred places / treasure, evil, and nature protection respectively. This division is also tied to alignment with guardian naga being good and dark naga being evil, for example. This variety is kept throughout the edition, though there are often more added in various books. These days the naga have a very cobra-like appearance and slightly human faces. They are considered immortal monstrosities and all are capable of some form of spell casting.


Nagas In Pathfinder

Pathfinder is one of my favorite games in regard to the treatment of creatures from a variety of mythos and sources. Nagas are no exception. Like D&D, Pathfinder links different types of naga to some aspect of the mythos, as well as alignment. There is a little less emphasis on guardianship, but a strong linking to other specifics. That list of things has been expanded and explored by Paizo and includes interesting naga types like royal, slime, and dream. The nagas in Pathfinder art have much more human faces and their serpent forms divert from the cobra occasionally, providing a nice variety. Like D&D nagas, these ones can cast spells, but they are mortal beings. Instead of one naga lording over a place or people, a lineage of nagas take the name of a predecessor allowing the shorter lived races to assume it is but a single individual.


Nagas At The Table

The obvious use of a naga is to act as a guardian of a certain area or item that the party may be looking for. While interesting and different in the moment, this does not do the naga justice. D&D has emphasized the naga in 5th Edition by discussing their connection to the Yuan-ti, another serpent people. The war between the two go so far back that the yuan-ti even have a horrible ritual which kills a naga and raises it as an undead known as the bone naga. This enmity could be the basis of an entire setting or campaign. Perhaps the PCs must choose sides in a developing war, or maybe they get caught as a third party between the two sides. Another idea I had was to have the two groups working together. What would cause such unprecedented and dangerous agendas?

My favorite use of the naga is completely different, however. There are a multitude of powerful entities or persons that can act has NPCs, but why not naga? Utilize the mythical predilection towards guarding something and helping those who help them, as well as their ability to look human (or some fantasy race). Give them age, knowledge, and power beyond what is the base stat block. Their ability to cast spells naturally make them even more formidable. I would argue that ancient nagas (with levels in some spellcasting class) would be more powerful than many dragons, and they certainly provide a different way of filling a similar role. Hey, you could even give them a treasure hoard like dragons have!

RPG Blog Carnival: Prophecies & Omens

Here we are in 2017 and it is time for another month of RPG Blog Carnival entries! I have missed the past few months, but given the topic of January I thought it might be a auspicious time to rejoin. The topic is that of prophecy and omen, a great story telling device that can be a bit complex when you are not the only one telling the story. To aid in that endeavor, I want to share the ways in which I have learned to utilize prophecy.


The Future
Whenever you are playing a role-playing game, there is virtually no predictability in what is to come. Unless you are the worst kind of railroader or your players have no desire to propel the plot themselves, you will inevitably hit some sort of speed bump, turn in the road, or sudden cliff. That's OK and is one of the main reasons we play these games with each other. Anything can happen!

But some of the greatest tales include glimpses of the future and you may be driven to do the same. This may be through signs, omens, written prophecies, visions, or some other divination. Regardless of what form this insight comes in, you have a limited amount of control in whether or not it comes to fruition. There are a couple ways to make sure, however, that these premonitions of the future are not only true, but don't require you to take away player agency.


Setting It Up
The first thing you need to make sure occurs is that you have control over the point of prophecy. When it happens, how it happens, and what it pertains to. This is fairly simple, as most events come from your narration of the world or your control over discovered secrets and NPCs. Second, you must have the prophecy prepared ahead of time. Making it up on the fly could put you in a sticky situation later. "What about this part of the prophecy?" a player might say when you completely forgot that was a thing, or that it was completely avoided by the party. The less meaning a prophecy has as it comes to fruition, the less implication a party might put on future ones.


Be Late, Be Vague
The easiest way to have a prophecy be meaningful is to have whatever insight the PCs gain be incredibly vague. If you are too specific the prophecy might be too easily avoided or, if you force it to occur, the players may feel something has been taken away from them (agency). Use general phrases and words. Utilize things that have more than one meaning. Name things via description and not directly. Think of a misdirect to include that may be easy to latch onto so that the true meaning is ignored. Use titles, names, or descriptions that fit multiple things, people, places, or times.

Of course none of this will matter if the players forget or ignore the prophecy. That's where being late comes in. Do not give them a prophecy before anything happens. There is no sense of urgency then, and nothing to keep it in memory. Instead, include something that has already happened at the beginning of the premonition. Follow up with something that can happen at the time of the prophecy or immediately thereafter. This will make it real and give them a good starting point. From there they can realize that things are happening right now, figure out what has already happened, and have some clues or context for what might happen next.


Prophesize Guaranteed Events
OK, this might sound like railroading, but there's a distinction to be made. Instead of including parts of a vision that relate to a PC, relate the PC to parts of the vision later. That way they are taking on the prophecy themselves, rather than it being thrust upon them. In a way, parts of the prophecy might become self fulfilling or more simply, the PC takes up an important role in the prophecy without being the only one who could.

When you design the prophecy make sure the events that happen are things that cannot be avoided. An eclipse, the full moon, summer, fall. Times are always could indicators, as are unique events (a red full moon). The events that occur should be something that needs to be responded to rather than stopped from happening. Make the prophecy a race to mitigate evil / disaster. You may not be able to stop the waking of the tarrasque but you can be prepared to put it right back to sleep. This gives the players some agency in the story without a prophecy losing its meaning, and allows more parts of the prophecy to remain a danger. Of course providing context like "or else" gives two outcomes prophesized and may give you, the GM, more breathing room.


Using A Vision
This is my favorite form of omen or prophecy. A vision can be presented in numerous ways and can take numerous forms. I have used magic, dreams, oracles, and some good old fashioned seer reading to reveal visions to players. These allow me to prepare them ahead of time and narrate the experience. The vision can be written on paper and handed to the player so they may choose to keep its contents secret.

Visions are dream-like and mutable so they are automatically vague, even in their specifics. Something in the vision may be true, or it may be influenced by personal feelings. One thing may represent another. Nevertheless, you can include scenes related to that which has happened, that which the players hope to happen, and that which is guaranteed to happen. Every bit is left to be dissected by the person or people who receive it.


In The End
At the end of it all the vision serves three purposes: to inform, to drive, and to confuse. Prophecies always reveal information that is, more often than not, confusing right up until it occurs and then it becomes blatantly obvious. The information provided sits on a fulcrum of uselessness and imperativeness. This handful of information and not knowing what to do with it can be a drive in itself. When that isn't enough knowing you are caught up in prophesized events coming true and leading to disaster, well that is generally enough for heroes. The vagueness and confusion is also a drive and tool you can use. You can draw characters back into a storyline or introduce NPCs to help them as a result of the prophecy.

With a little thought, you should have no trouble using prophecy to help propel your game. Your players will get a glimpse of what is to come and have something to look back to when they are losing their way. You too will have a tool to draw on and drive the story as you see fit, letting the PCs know the world moves around without them. Maybe they should do something about it. Regardless, prophecies can be short term and long term fun for any campaign.

Resources For Every GM: Christmas 2016

For this years holiday special I wanted to list some inspiration for winter adventures. While the holidays are beginning to draw to a close, it doesn't mean you have gotten to them in your game. Many of you are on hiatus for the holiday, but you can bring the holiday back to the table with these Yule-time horrors.


Jolakotturinn, the Christmas Cat: I only recently learned about this guy, and i want to know who has been keeping him a secret. While we all know Santa encourages you to be nice throughout the year or else you get coal instead of toys, the Christmas Cat is a lot more dangerous and wants you to make sure you work hard. It is a tradition, Icelandic I have read, that you get new clothes for Christmas, but only if you finished your work on time. Those who are lazy are punished by becoming a sacrifice to the Yule Cat and, well, eaten. The needy might not have jobs, so children are also encourage to do enough to gift clothes to the needy so they do not become sacrificed unnecessarily. Imagine the one-shot you could do with this terror!


Gryla and the Yule Lads: These are another Icelandic monster come to threaten you if you have been bad. Gryla, who has in more recent times become the mother of the Lads, is an ogress whom will kidnap, cook, and eat children who are bad. There are 13 (maybe more) Lads and all of them are terrible in their own ways, but they have habits of stealing things from you. Ketrokur, for example, uses a hook to steal meat from you. Sounds like the perfect group for an extended Yule adventure! Oh, and if that's not enough for you, rumor has it the Yule Cat lives with old Gryla.


Frau Perchta: Another witch to terrorize you for the holiday. In Germany and Austria, you better be good if you want gifts. Hells, you better be good if you don't want a horrible torture. Those who are sinful are punished by Pertcha and will probably wish they were actually dead. You see, the Frau rips out your intestines and replaces it with trash. That's right, who needs internal organs when you have trash? Honestly, I like this one because there is a mystery layer that could be added to an adventure. A little magic could allow the afflicted to survive a bit and then when discovered, you get a who dunnit. And witches? A classic that is underused these days if you ask me.

Resources For Every GM: Cartography Part 4

For today's Resources article I have three more map-related links for you to check out!


Map to Globe: This incredible tool was shared on the DM Support Group recently, and I couldn't help but push it up on the resources to share here. This tool allows you to take an image and upload to be turned into a globe. Not only can this be rotated but there are plenty of options from which to edit the globe or look at it differently. The direction and intensity of the sun can be adjusted, a pole line can be created, and the background can be manipulated. Screenshots are available to be downloaded, as well as GIFs of the globe rotating! There are also sketch views and a number of map projects that can be applied to the image. Frankly, the ability to take an image and turn it into a globe (even if its virtual) is an awesome tool, plain and simple. To take that and play with it in so many different ways is just fantastic and definitely worth checking out for your home brew worlds.


How Fast Could You Travel?: The great thing about Twitter is the sheer number of random things you can encounter. This was one of those things. The article discusses the change and development of travel in the United States over the course of it's early history. There are maps through out it showing you how far you could have expected in how long. How long would it take to get to Florida from New York City in 1800, for example. The answer? At least 2 weeks. In between all the maps is the article explaining why these things changed as paths and roads were developed and later trains. This is an invaluable resource for getting a good idea of how travel would work in a fantasy setting. Pair it with some quick Google searches for maps with terrain and a distance key and you begin to understand some things a bit better than before. This article is worth the read for anyone who wants a bit more realism / accuracy when they tell players how far things are (something I have a tendancy to just pull out of my ass).


Custom Cloth Maps: There is little more to say about this one. Geekify, Inc has developed a very cool service for us Game Masters. Among the other things you can get from them, they also provide you with an opportunity to take an image of your home brew world's map and get it printed on cloth! Of course, this comes in many sizes and doesn't have to be a map. Perhaps it is a scroll or some other prop for you to use in games. While a bit expensive, it provides an option for you to take your map and prop game to the next level. I know it would certainly surprise my players!

Resources For Every GM: Settings Part 2

Ok, so for this week's resource article I really wanted to share some of the settings that have been inspiring me to work on some of my worlds recently. They are unique worlds that have a lot to offer in both general inspiration or as entire settings from which to run a game.


Mutant New York (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles): Honestly how could you not love the idea of this kind of game. It crosses the lines of so many different genres / subgenres that it isn't even funny. The TMNT could, in various adventures, qualify for any number of games. You have intrigue, you have super-heroics, science fiction, martial arts, and all around action movie action. TMNT is incredibly diverse but everyone knows it when they see it. Ninja turtles. The only other place you get that is in something trying to emulate the Ninja Turtles. If you see the Foot Clan or Utroms or mousers, you know what you are in for. In fact, I would bet anthropomorphic triceratops would lead a lot of people back to TMNT. I mean who doesn't love some space triceratops people!? Not only do you get all this from the TMNT, but there are a number of eras from which you can play or take influence from. The original comics, the IDW reboot, the 90s cartoon, the 2000s cartoon, the most recent cartoon, or either of the movie series. There is so much flexibility without loosing what makes this setting unique: mutants and martial arts. Personally I cannot wait to play the TMNT one shot next weekend, and hope to play it again in the future.


Robot Future (Mega Man Universe): I love Mega Man. I cannot actually describe how infatuated I am with the Mega Man franchise. Now, to be fair I don't own all the games, nor do I own the comics. However, I watched the cartoon growing up and I played days worth of hours worth of Mega Man X. I have also dabbled in wikis. It is just the entire concept of the basic Mega Man universe and all the concepts that build out of it. Its an indeterminate future with lots of advancements, and yet not quite so many. It is almost entirely robotics based. We have a robot for everything. And that, of course, means robots for evil, or turned evil, or corrupted in some way. But the idea that there are sentient robots and some of them are "alive" and some of them don't seem to be and there are a handful which can borrow the abilities of others? It is so cool. I forget what forum I read it on, but the person argued it very well and I agree, Mega Man is within the super hero genre and it exists there in a very specific unique way. That's one of the reasons I love it. It's not just a fun platformer franchise, it is also a marvelously developed world. If you want even more reason to love it look up The Megas, specifically their Get Equipped album. Beautiful. Anyways, this setting has inspired an entire setting of my own. If there was a Mega Man RPG I would play it, but I am almost as excited to share the world inspired by it.


Slumberland (Little Nemo Universe): This universe will either be completely familiar to you, hugely nostalgia inspiring, or something you have never heard of. My first introduction to it was in the NES game Little Nemo: The Dream Master. I remember two things about this game. First it is an incredibly interesting idea that includes a crazy world and the ability to feed certain animals candy and, in return, you ride them and gain special abilities. It was rather difficult and I admit to utilizing a Game Genie to surpass a tree climbing portion which involved, I believe, a difficult to make jump and an angry buzzard. Later I was introduced to Little Nemo: Adventures In Slumber Land, many years later. This was a terrific anime movie that informs you much more about the world and how interesting it is. Both of these things are based on a comic strip from 1905. Yeah going to the way back machine here, but that is because of the unique style of this setting. Sure dream-based worlds have existed in the decades before the adaptations, but not like this. As such it made a good game, a great movie, and wonderful setting. I am using it to influence the Fae realm of Luxarrah and it alone would make for some terrific adventures.

Resources For Every GM: Internet Part 7

Hey everyone, today I wanted to expand your bookmarks once again!


Campaign Crawler: This website is new to me, and pretty new to the internet. Campaign Crawler is a database of table top role playing game campaigns. As various campaigns become ever-more numerous, it helps to have a place where you can search or browse them. Now, this is a new site so there is a limited number of campaigns. Hundreds are there, mind you, but most of the database features 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons material including Wizards, other publishers' products, and a lot of DMs Guild material. Browsing it I have also found some Call of Cthulhu and AGE entries in the database, so there is a lot of potential for this database to become something huge. It will require interest and visitors though! If you need a little more pushing to go to the site, the entries already there are well done. They include varying amount of summary but have rule-sets, authors, page numbers, settings, and more associated with them. Additionally the page will lead you to similar products and link you to where you can purchase the product.


Kobold Fight Club: A web tool to make any Dungeon Master's life a whole hell of a lot easier comes in the form of Kobold Fight Club. This tool allows you to enter your party size and level in order to determine the difficulty of various creatures based on Challenge Rating. In addition the entries include size, type, alignment and source of the entry. The entries can be filtered be these, by level range, environment, and search. If this wasn't helpful enough, you can build and save encounters to use in your game and figure out how difficult those encounters will be. These encounters can be saved and accessed later to create a place to keep and run them from with ease. As of right now, there are over a dozen sources that can be included in any searches or encounters, but it will be up to the DM to have access to the stats of those creatures.


Matthew Colville's YouTube Channel: I can't say enough about this channel. While the channel isn't new, Matt Colville has begun adding a significant number of TTRPG videos. To be fair, most of these are D&D directed, but there is so much information presented in these that is great for players (or potential players) of any game. The Running The Game series, is perhaps the one I would suggest most as Matt shares much of his experience and hints on how to go about things at the table. Random encounters, making characters, why we play, and dead ends are all topics that can be found. He addresses the topics carefully and well-spoken. Do yourself a favor and take advantage of an experienced DM's advice!

Resources For Every GM: References Part 7

Today I have a variety of books for you to expand your ideas for mythologies and creatures. Two of them are pretty comprehensive books with tons of information for you to draw from. The third is an interesting book I got for Christmas last year that is a fictional science book about mythological creatures.


The Element Encyclopedia of Native Americans (Adele Nozedar): As always Barnes & Nobel provides random deals on random informative books, and this one was no exception. Like many books this is not the end-all resource for the topic but it has so much good information in it. The book is one in a series of similar books that relay lots of information about specific topics. In this case we are given over to the Native American tribes, specifically of the United States. The symbols, ideas, and tribes of U.S. Native Americans are presented here in great number. The reason I like this book is because it is different from most of the other mythology books you can find. Aside that it is not about a "classical" mythology, and perhaps for that reason, it also includes a greater amount of entries concerning things such as animals and cultural occurrences. There are entries for horses, bears, dances, and hunting. Most other books concern the gods, horrible creatures, and their stories. In this book you will find much more to do with nature and its balance, a wonderfully refreshing belief system compared to "standard" mythologies. If you want to help make a diverse fantasy world for your players, this is an indispensable resource and will give you enough insight to create a culture unlike those often presented.


The Element Encyclopedia of Fairies (Lucy Cooper): Another entry into the Element Encyclopedia series, this book is an incredible resource. The title should make evident what it is about, but this might include so much more than many people expect. While D&D has provided us with nice breakdowns and categorizations of different creatures over the years, there is a great deal of variety and vagueness to the myths they are based off. This book includes what you would expect from brownies and gnomes to redcaps and pixies, but goes deeper. In it are included entries of Celtic mythology, as well as creatures from Russian, Greek, Norse mythologies and more. You will find the origins for kobolds and trolls and even entries for undead like banshees. Many such creatures overlap in cultural placement and, though we now separate them at the table, they are virtually the same creatures. If you are curious about fey creatures, supernatural tales of old, or some of the cultural overlap that might exist in different parts of the world (real or fantasy) then this book is your best bet!


The Resurrectionist ( E.B. Hudspeth): I love this book and would probably have bought it for the diagrams alone if not given to me as a gift. The book is presented as the lost work of a Doctor Spencer Black and the first part of it is a bit of a biography of who he was. It describes his interests as a scientist and his breaking into the world of natural oddities. The second portion of the book is much less text and a lot more pictures. Here is presented a codex of little-known animals from around the world. The section contains creatures like harpies, centaurs, and mermaids and gives each of them a classification, species name, and description. In addition there are various images of their skeletons, musculature, and other things such as wingspan. Muscles and bones are even individually labeled like would be appropriate in such a text. Honestly, if you have any interest in biology, at all, and play D&D or some other RPG this is a fantastic book to have.

Resources For Every GM: References Part 6

*I realize all the links I put out probably say resources part 6, didn't see it until last one, oops*

Good afternoon all. I have been having some trouble with these Resource articles on time (well on time to my desired schedule) because I almost always look at what I have and go, "this is totally great for *insert theme here*!" So my prepared list of resources is like 8 weeks long, but none of them have 3. this is a bit of a problem, or it was at least. I have decided to try to lighten up on that a bit and I have also come up with a few sets I can use as well. Yes these are, in fact, themed. Sue me. Today I have some books not intended for GMs at all, but for writers. We all know that GMs are, or at least become, writers of a sort.


Bird By Bird (Anne Lamott): This is a book that was assigned in my creative writing class this semester, and it definitely a resource worth looking into. It isn't my favorite book on writing but it is a good one. As the title suggests Lamott writes about life as much, if not more than about writing, but for an author like her writing is life. As a result you can a great amount of insight into the general workings of your average writer, you average creative type. The reason I suggest this specific book is that, very quickly, you get the realization that you aren't the only one who get distracted when trying to write. This happens to me whether I am writing or working on campaign material, and I imagine it happens to you as well. The way she writes is even similar to this sticking on and repeating a distracting thought as she describes a day meant for writing spent doing like 15 other things. If nothing else it is good to know your bad habits are not only yours and may even reinvigorate your self-confidence when such days hit you.


Fierce On The Page (Sage Cohen): Another work I read for my creative writing class, this one I liked better than Bird By Bird. The book is separated into 75 short chapters, or essays really because each one can easily be read without ever having read over any of the others. Each essay talks about a different aspect of not just writing, but also life. She uses her life experiences and how those related to her writing to help reveal how directly everything in your life is connected to the creative process. Cohen gives suggestions on how to de-clutter and become comfortable with your own process and troubles so that you can get back to the important things like writing, and for you guys Game Mastering!


Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction (Orson Scott Card, Phillip Athens, more): This may be the most useful book for GMs, especially aspiring writers who GM. I do need to mention the one problem I have found in the first section of the book, though. There is a tendency for the subject matter to be related towards and with respect with science fiction. While not ignoring fantasy, there does seem to be a lacking in specifics related to it. Nevertheless, this is an amazing resource for what you could get out of it. Aspiring authors will find the entire thing helpful, but GMs will find the ten chapter of part four of great use. There is basic information on a number of cultures, religions, vocabulary, weapons, commerce, castles, and more. Much of this can be learned through various other sources and the internet, but to have one collection of similar base material is of incredible use.

Untamed Rant: Resurrection

Hello everyone and welcome to our first new episode of D&Donuts, now called the Untamed Rant! In this episode we talk about the changes to resurrection and similar spells throughout the years of Dungeons & Dragons, and we get into the importance and occurrence of character death in the game.

In the next episode we will be discussing Cthulhu, as voted on by our followers on Twitter. If you would like to vote on the third episode's topic follow @42nd_Alchemist and @untamedscribe. If you enjoy the show, want to help us out, or just get it two weeks before everyone else become a patron over on our Patreon page! And don't worry about our current goals or reward levels, those are undergoing revision for November and any pledge you make will get you early access to this podcast and our Cracks of the Rift story!

...And Throwing It Out The Window

Last week I talked about optimizing your character in a role-playing game. I got some good responses from people and those made it clear that the first part of this was a bit polarizing in what it tried to state and came under certain unclear assumptions. So, let's start by getting into what I was talking about last week. When you make a character one of the things you generally need to do is set it down to paper. There are stats or abilities or some other things that apply the mechanics of the game to your character.

Or perhaps it is better to say they make your character apply to the mechanics of the game. Because, as some of you mentioned, it isn't about optimizing at all for many people. It is about creating a fun, interesting, and deep character to take into another world. That comes with as many flaws and downfalls as it does above average to superhuman abilities. Nevertheless, games tend to have mechanics to drive it forward, focus play, reward players, and advance characters. Some games are more heavy on these rules than others. Some rely on them more than others.

The point I made (or attempted?) last week is that there is a lot of optimization there to be had. Especially when it comes to a rules heavy game like D&D or Pathfinder. This optimization, or lack thereof, can make or break your experience with the character you dreamed up. Hell, if it breaks your experience there may be a better way of doing things or a different game system to fit your play style, but that's beyond the scope of this article.

Right now I want to talk about taking that optimization and the work and potential number crunching and put it aside. Maybe even throw it out with the bath water. See, there is a difference between optimizing your character strictly by number and optimizing your PC to be the character you wanted it to be. If you are into min-maxing, a heavy number cruncher, a in-depth theory-crafter of builds, or something similar then what I am about to say is probably not for you. If you already throw your cares for being the best you can be (mechanically) out the window, then you know what I am going to talk about.

You see, putting good scores into strength and constitution as a fighter is a great thing to do. Dumping intelligence because you have a wizard and most saves are Wisdom is a smart idea. It could be considered optimal. But now you are treading where I would suggest shutting the door on optimization. Seriously, do you want to be just another strong, dumb warrior who tanks for the party?

If you do then that's great, but just because its the best choice statistics-wise shouldn't drive your decisions. Be slow, or dense, or un-charismatic. These are all options for the so-called dump stat. Don't just choose the soldier background to get those bonus proficiencies in fighter-like skills. Personally, I love seeing characters that are maximized to a vision rather than a statistic and in order to do that you really do have to go and throw optimization out the window.

For games like D&D, it is still good to do a little bit, but you will not be following the numbers to their best outcomes if you want a half-orc ex-soldier turned warlock. Or if you decide to go with a gnomish barbarian. But these can make some great characters. Despite half-orcs being dumb fighters or barbarians a bit too often, perhaps yours was a tactical leader with great Charisma and with a good Intelligence but bad Wisdom. Smart people can make dumb choices for noble reasons, and perhaps that is what this character did. Maybe you won't have the best skill load-out, but you will have a fairly versatile one. At this point you could think about going pact of the blade. Maybe multiclass into eldritch knight. A long road to combat magic, and you may be spread thin in abilities for a while, but it could be a very rewarding character.

I use this example because it seems like a good compromise between optimization and throwing that crap out the window. It's how I like to make my characters. I like to have an idea in mind, and then anchor parts of that idea within the mechanics. Sometimes things, like multiclassing in that example, come from the potential of the stat layout. But of course some of you may be screaming about how eldritch knight isn't a Charisma caster. You're absolutely right, and that's part of throwing optimal choices out the window. It might be better choice to just go straight warlock and be that surprisingly strong and intimidating caster.

Or perhaps you talk to the DM and work something out so that your eldritch knight uses charisma. I never said optimization couldn't happen on the rules side. Tweaking them a bit to get the character you want is a solution for some things. The moral of the story here isn't that you should optimize by the numbers if you want to be strong. It isn't that you should ignore the rules completely if you want to enact your vision. The idea is that you go in with an understanding of what the game system you will be using is going to ask of you and what to expect from it. The GM and other players too, for that matter. Work with the rules, bend the rules, and work with the GM to make sure you get to play the character you want whether its a min-maxed PC or an off-the-wall, full of oddities and flaws PC.

What I'm trying to say, and kind of beating around the bush getting to, is optimize your experience and your fun above all else. This might mean sitting around the table and doing some co-operative story telling, no game systems involved. Or it may mean the careful planning of a character whose flaws and ability choices work out to something rich and fulfilling. In all likelihood you stand somewhere in a great grey area of wanting a games that feels good to play, lets you role-play the way you hope, and make characters you enjoy.

So, now that the optimization is out the window and in a puddle of bath water outside, go mop some of it up. Use it differently that those min-maxers. If you haven't already use it to find the right game for you and your group. Decide what rules are missing or need to be removed and take care of them. It may be that optimizing your character is all about playing a game or with a group where mechanics is at the bottom of your concerns-list. But that might just mean that you've already optimized your experience by getting rid of that word and enjoying the game for what it is: hanging out in another world with a bunch of friends. Optimizing has its place, but don't overdo it!

Character Optimization...

If there is anything that everyone sitting at the table does when they make a new character, it is definitely optimization. It doesn't matter whether you are a fighter or a wizard or a rogue. And it doesn't matter if your specialty is knives or bows, evocations or divinations. Each person, on some level, is trying to make their character better at what they are supposed to do. Optimizing is how we get closer and closer to the best we can be with what is available. Of course there is such a thing as going too far, but we will talk about that later.

*note: my examples reference D&D, but the principles should be applicable to most systems

There are some very basic ways to optimize a character for the job at hand. The very first step in doing this, is to decide what it is you want to do exactly. Decide on what is most important for your character and their role. Are they going to be dealing the highest damage of the group? Are they going to be able to manipulate the battlefield? Are you a tank, or perhaps a healer? Do you like versatility? These are the questions everyone should be asking themselves. Not everyone does though, coming up with a cool idea and getting it in their head that they know exactly how that will play out.

But part of optimization is knowing how you want to play, as much as knowing what you want to play. If you want to be the damage dealer but hate tracking spells, then sorcerer is definitely not for you. That is an obvious example, though. What if you do want to cast spells, but you want to be right up in melee combat? Sorcerer is still, probably, the wrong choice. An arcane trickster and an eldritch knight are both good choices. Don't stop there! Would you prefer being an unwavering wall of magical swordsmanship or a agile dealer of surprising magical attacks?

Differentiating between the role you want to fill and how you want to fill that role is just the start to optimization. It's the part that gets you into doing what you want in a way that you will enjoy. Or it may be a way of getting you into the role the party needs in a way you would enjoy filling that hole. Beyond that you have to go into the more common form of optimizing: the numbers.

Giving yourself the right stats and picking the right features are the most important part of optimizing your character mechanically. It doesn't matter how good your weapon is or how deep into assassin you are, if you didn't give yourself a dexterity score over 11, you are going to have a bad time. Now, that is an obvious example of just making the necessary choice for your character. But what about when you have to choose between giving one important stat the best score and another the second best? Should my tank have more strength or more constitution?

There is a very easy way to figure this out, at least when you are talking optimization. Is damage or survival more important to you? That's a good place to start. Then just look at other stats. Strength is actually involved in skills. It is also used for melee attacks, throwing things, grappling, and literal feats of strength. Constitution would give you more HP, better healing, survival of long term threats like poison or disease, and allow you to have good endurance for strenuous situations. Mechanically, in a game like D&D, strength is the better choice.

It may depend on racial bonuses as well. You might be able to get two good scores out of those, or you could get one decent score and one really good score. At that point it is up to preference and whether your intention is offensive or defensive. There are other choices to make as well to optimize aside the explicit numbers. Getting the best armor you can to boost your AC, making sure you pick the right fighting style, getting a shield to make up for putting extra into strength instead of constitution, and more can help you make your character the best it can be.

Optimization continues on throughout play as well. Choosing the right gear to buy or simply wearing the right items for the right situation will become regular choices to make. Whenever you level or spend XP, you will want to choose the right feature, spell, or ability. As you learn how you play the character and what you tend to do more often, pick the things that will enhance that. Take note of situations you have trouble with and find items or ways of negating those issues.

Beyond that, picking the race that will give you appropriate stat bonuses is a good idea. Or one that has some racial features that will compliment what you intend to do is also a good choice. Picking the right background or similar aspect to a character can boost the role-playing and skill-based aspects of the character as well. Soldier, for example, is a great choice for a tank and sage is perfect for spell casters.

Be careful though, there is a way to take optimization too far. I have known some people who would do it. As good as those ideas may be on paper and in the numbers, they tend to have problems. As helpful as optimization is, these games aren't video games and getting the best numbers and MOST optimal build is not going to make you "better" at D&D. When it comes down to it, there will be a time when you just need to throw optimization out the window, but we'll talk more on that next week.

Re-skinning: Changing A Recipe's Flavor

Have you every seen yourself as the group's healer and enjoying the cleric class, but wanting to be more of a druid-like character? Or perhaps you see yourself as the group's tank but loathe the idea of being just another sword and board in plate. Well, perhaps you can play by the rules without playing by the rules. In fact I am here to tell you that is exactly what you can do. That is the whole point of D&D, after all. To exist in a world where anything is possible and there are no programming restrictions on the choices you make. All subject to DM approval and nerf-hammers, of course.

Today I want to talk about re-skinning the things that sit within a rule book to make them work for you. Such things find themselves to be problems only in mechanics heavy games like Dungeons & Dragons. Other games may have a rule for literally anything, being even more mechanically heavy like earlier forms of D&D. Or they may be universal systems where you get better at something and can skin how that works virtually any way you want.

For 5th Edition, Wizards cut back the fat on the rules in some ways. In 3rd Edition there were so many rules, feats, bonus, penalties, spells, builds, tacked on mechanics, and situational circumstances it was hard to build the character you envisioned without doing a thesis on the idea first. Then came 4th Edition and we got streamlined set of rules that worked similarly across the board (for most of the edition's life anyway). Now all you had to do was decide to build your defender with the defense feats and defensive abilities. Don't want a shield, just make sure not to pick those ones. Want to dual-wield? Grab a couple of those powers to beef that aspect up.

Now, to be fair 4th Edition became as laden with options as 3rd, though they we more easily indexed. And you were limited in the number of "cool moves" you could have at any one time, since leveling had you replace one with another eventually. This was especially true as they released regular supplements, some of which entirely focused on one set of characters (such as martial or divine). In some ways, all of these options are great and many powers are super cool. Hell fighters became a more easily enjoyable option (you can do a lot with 3E feats but, boy, is that some planning and bonus/penalty paperwork). But, when it comes down to it, 5th Edition has become a nice blend of streamlined and unique mechanics. Only certain classes/archetypes get extra attack for example.

And now, two years later, we are still working off of the core books. There have been adventures, one Sword Coast supplement, and Unearthed Arcana articles, but all in all we are working from the Player's Handbook. That doesn't have to limit us and I will use my two original examples as to why.

First off, who says playing a druid has to mean you actually have to take levels in druid? I mean mechanically at their core is shape-shifting and certain spells. But thematically, a druid is a protector of nature. Perhaps you would like the opportunity to expunge shape-shifting for more spell-related abilities. My suggestion to you is to play a cleric of nature (or even life or tempest). Already you are themed toward being druidic. Next, simply forgo claiming any god to worship or call to and refer to yourself as a druid. The final step is, perhaps the most important, and needs to be approved by your DM. In my opinion, however, it is pretty non-issue. Simply use the druid spell list instead of the cleric one. Simple as that. That means no saying, "but I am technically a cleric so can I prepare this just once." And no swapping out cleric spells you don't mind losing for the druid spells you hate to lose. Just do the full switch.

Of course, you may have other problems with this like how do the cleric abilities mesh with a "druid". Let's start with turning undead. That is fairly easy since undead are, often, anathema to druids. Fits right in. Choosing the right domain is another key factor, of course. But perhaps it is divine intervention which you have trouble getting around. Well, why does it have to be divine? Perhaps the druid uses that ability and pulls a Moses parting a sea for refugees to get across. Or, maybe a powerful spirit of nature or ancient fey answers the call of such a powerful druid. Even better the druid may have such command of the elements in that brief moment that nature itself listens to her need. Don't let ability names limit you!

How about for my second example though? A shield-less defender. We actually did this in a recent game. I built my friend the crusader type character he wanted. A wall at the front line, forward defense if you will. He used a polearm. I allowed him the defender fighting style, simply replacing the requirement of shield with polearm. As long as he had that he could still utilize that class feature, but would be unable to do it should he choose or need to take up a shield instead.

Everything else about a paladin works out for the way he wanted to play his character. And none of it really affected that one swap. To make him even more polearm mastered, though, we gave him the feat. Being able to threaten at reach was imperative. Because this feat is a commitment of "build resources" I also allowed it to synergize with that defensive tactic ability. There's no real reason not to. Is it going to break the game to give him that defensive ground? Probably not, since he takes a hit to his AC from not wielding a shield as a tank instead. And frankly, that was the crux of his character idea and having fun is the most important part of the game.

When it comes down to it, both of these examples are simple things that require nothing but a single mechanical swap and a lot of flavoring. There are many ways this could be done and very little reason not to. If it won't break your game and will give someone the opportunity to play the character they want with building a whole new class or looking for one online, just do it!

Resources For Every GM: Reference Books Part 4

Good morning everyone!  I am a couple days late due to a great D&D session with someone we haven't gotten a chance to play with in a couple years, but here I am nevertheless. Today, I have some more reference books for you to add to your collection, but this time they aren't our general reference books. This time the books that I am including are references to world made up by other creative minds. They are companions to some of our favorite places to visit!

Tobin's Spirit Guide (Erik Burnham):  Recently, a new official Ghostbuster's version of this book came out. Written by Burnham (with the help of Stantz and Spengler of course!) this edition features some of our favorite spirits from the Ghostbuster's franchise.  It also includes a variety of other common mythological creatures like household spirits or poltergeists. Each entry features a Ghostbuster's rating of spirit class level and what the spirit may be comprised of or where it is located / anchored. Additionally the entries feature some great bits of real-world mythology. Building upon that the way in which they can be angered or appeased and how dangerous they are. The book is written almost has a field guide, and (barring the lack of stats) is the best bestiary or monster manual you could ask for to run a Ghostbusters campaign. All you would need is a book on the Ghostbuster's gear. Even if that isn't your goal, the ideas you could pull from this book are numerous and inspiration on how to had even more incorporeal danger to your world, immense!

The (Complete) Tolkien Companion (J.E.A. Taylor):  My version of this resource is a bit outdated. I don't have the "Complete" in my title. Given that much of the source material still exists as part of Tolkien's work, itself, I don't see a need to get the revision too quickly. Though it is on my list. This book is an encyclopedia, there really is no other way to describe it. My copy is over 500 pages long and there is barely any pictures included at all. Maybe I do need an updated version. Anyway, this is your go-to resource for any questions you have about Middle Earth. Beyond the Lord of the Rings, beyond The Hobbit, and beyond even the Silmarillion, there is a vast fount of knowledge and lore these stories are built upon. Tolkien was a world builder and language developer, and the tales run deep in the land of wizards and hobbits. I know there are other resources you can find out there, but this is probably the most dense there is. If you really want a comprehensive reference to one of the foundation stones to modern fantasy adventure, this is it.

The Hyrule Historia (Eiji Aonuma, Akira Himekawa):  Honestly, this is probably my favorite of these three resources. It is as large and dense as the Tolkien Companion, but includes the fun (and more) that you can get from Tobin's Spirit Guide. There are four major sections to this book, divided up amongst specific topics unlike the other two. The first of these is a large section discussing the Skyward Sword, its lore, ideas, and concept art. While amazing, I am disappointed by how much space this single game takes up, but the rest of the book helps make up for it. The second section is my favorite. The Legend of Zelda series has been tackled game by game, with little to no connection between any of them aside from general themes and feeling. Even these deviate for each game making playing the game feel both familiar and unique. For those who have even played a few of the games and completed even less (sadly me), you still come to understand every one of them is connected somehow. This section is a timeline. It orders the eras of the world, describes what happens and when, from the creation all the way through the voyage upon the ocean in Windwaker and a New Hyrule in Spirit Tracks. For the first time there is a timeline of events, and yet still some connecting pieces and lore to be discovered. The third section of the book goes through 25 years of concept artwork. It is fantastic to see how things have changed and how different artists perceived the world.  This section provides a ton of inspiration for GMs. Following up on that is a catalogue of the games, what generation they are, and the story they tell. And finally, the last part is a comic for you to enjoy telling a part of the Skyward Sword story.