I Don't Think Gamerant Gets D&D Treasure

I haven't picked up Baldur's Gate 3 (yet) but  came across this Gamerant article regarding the distribution of loot in the game vs. TTRP D&D. The title was total clickbait (well, at least clickbait to the likes of me): Baldur's Gate 3's Approach to Treasure is a Great Lesson for D&D DMs

Now I read the article and I don't think the author gets it. The core of the article, and coincidentally my problems with it can be summed up in just these two sentences from the article: "Crates, buried chests, and specialized loot containers are at every turn in the slice of Faerun players can access, something that greatly encourages exploration and thorough investigation. This is in contrast to the way many DMs approach loot, reserving piles of gold, consumables, equipment, and magic items for the post-boss treasure hoard."

Even in video games, and especially in TTRPGs, I don't think players should be rewarded with loot simply for walking around. Sure....walking around might lead to opportunities to adventure and acquire loot, but you shouldn't be picking up loot simply because you wandered around and tripped over some boxes. Sounds more like smashing every pot & crate in The Legend of Zelda.

I think that some of the best loot should be reserved for a post-boss treasure hoard. I mean, think about it.....the BBG (Big Bad Guy) is generally large & in charge, right? If he/she/it wasn't then there's nothing for the party to contend with. As the BBG, a good percentage of the available loot is going to be taken up to be hoarded or used. Sure, some items may be farmed out for minions to use, but the good stuff should be hoarded from and used against the party.

WTF would the BBG take all of the good stuff and box it up and store "at every turn....of Faerun"? If that was the case, wouldn't somebody else....hell, everybody else, be rooting around smashing & grabbing what they can?

I mean I kind of get wanting to have the players explore everything that the GM (or in the case of BG3, game designers) has created, but you know....that's not what being a GM/DM is. I do not feel it is the GM's job to get the players to explore every nook & cranny. The GM can dangle some threads for the players to pull on, but they should be running the show...making the actual decisions. Sure, there is some expected back & forth, but when the GM starts pushing the players to basically show off....that's not the name of the game here.

Personal Note: This is going to be my last regular post here at Tenkar's Tavern. I'm not even sure how many years I've been posting on Sundays, but I feel like the reasons I started doing so aren't relevant anymore and posting here has become a bit much for me. I'd like to get back to my own blog and doing reviews, free GM resources, and whatnot and honestly after posting on Sundays I'm not feeling like doing more over at my own space...

No worries. Erik & I are good and I'm grateful for the opportunity he gave me to share my thoughts here.

Awesome to See one Convention Actively Supporting Another!

I'm regularly amazed at just how awesome our RPG community can be. We have some great people, some of which actively try to come off as assholes, but that's a discussion for another day. I can think of one guy who kind of is an asshole, but also a good guy....just don't be a fanboy grognard or a psuedo-intellectual rules-lawyer....

...anyway, again something for another day or for shit-talking at the bar after-hours at a con.

Speaking of cons, (and this wasn't an intentional bad attempt at a transition) I've stopped going to the big cons (Origins & GenCon) and made North Texas RPG Con my "home" convention. Already stocking up for next year's event (more than halfway there as far as whiskey aquisition) but I decided to branch out a bit and attend Long Con again. We're 129 days out from that convention and I did go once, but it was a bit of a drive. It's only five hours, but the one time I went it felt a LOT longer. Not something I'm looking forward to, but will just have to suck it up....

....unless I decide to get on the NTRPG party bus! Wait, what? Yep, NTRPG is helping support Long Con by making it easier for people to attend. How cool is that?!

From Facebook: "NTRPGCON will be sponsoring the NTX Express from Dallas to Longview for LongCon this year. We are leasing a 60 passenger bus with WiFi and BYOB party favors. Anyone flying into Dallas is welcome aboard. We will be departing from the Westin Hotel in Irving. The Westin has also agreed to let anyone who wants to park there, from our group, park for free. More details to come as we have them."

I have to assume this bus won't work out for me because of timing, or if I need/have to stay at a Marriott to maintain my status (it's important to me), but I have at least few days out of the 129 remaining to get that figured out.

My Accidental Free RPG Day

Yesterday was my birthday and I spent most of the day out & about, picking myself up a sweet-ass Bday gift that is not at all RPG related. On the way home I decided I should stop by my local Game Store to see about the newest HeroQuest expansion written by Friend of the Tavern Levi Combs. 

As I wandered in I was asked if I was there for Free RPG Day.

I had completely forgotten about Free RPG Day! After choosing a couple of minis that I will 100% most definitely paint....someday, I looked at the freebie table. Lots of stuff to be had, but I really try not to be "that guy" and I picked up two....only two items:

I really wanted to check out the Goodman Games offering and a 10 page (content) 1st level DCC adventure that has a couple pages of player handouts....hell yes!

I also grabbed up the Plague Bearer game offering from...Guillotine Press and CMON Games. As I was grabbing that up the owner of the shop told me someone was running the free adventure and was looking for players......

....I figured, why the hell not. I've got nothing better to do and checking out a new "Dark Fantasy RPG" would be fun. The shopkeep and his Mrs. joined in and he had a party of five. I did what I usually do and grab an archer type (I really try to play an archer when checking out a new system because my 1st D&D PC was an archer type and by doing this I can more easily compare one system against another).

The GM altered the adventure a bit to fit the time allotted and we all had a good time. I got to slay the BBG "single handedly" (not really, the rest of the party figured out just how awesome my PC's new ability was and they rallied around me and had my back. It felt like it was "all me" but it really wasn't). I think calling Plague Bearer a RPG is a bit of a stretch though. It was more of an amalgamation of a RPG, a board game, and a tactical miniatures game. While the GM did a good job running the game as a one-off, it felt like the game really needs a much longer playtime and I think if we created PCs instead of using pregens there might have felt more RPGish.

As a bit of an aside...there were RPG Pencil Dice! Smaller pencils, with erasures and the numbers 1 through 6 on the face of each side of the pencil. Noteworthy because our buddy Ken Whitman, or it is Whit Whitman (?), is still....well his last update on RPG Pencil Dice was nearly six years ago!

At the beginning of the game, the store drew names for some Free RPG Day prizes and I won a set of  The Legends of Drizzt Dice Set.

The store owner also brought over a quickstart rules set for the +1 System from Wet Ink Games that was used to run a one-off of Garbage & Glory Trashrun. He played it that morning and loved playing an anthropomorphic raccoon going on a literal trash run.

I'm looking forward to seeing if I like Wet Ink Games' Never Going Home, but I'm not sure if that will use the +1 System of not....

After the Plague Bearer game it was early evening and it felt like things were winding up a bit. I did a stroll by the freebie table and noted that most of the products I looked at were quickstart rules for new game systems....Runescape Kingdoms, Arzium, and Dragonbane. There might have been more, but I didn't look at everything on the table. I suspect there were at least a couple more new systems.

My NTRPG 2024 "Haul"

Last weekend was North Texas RPG con and it was a good convention for me, for the most part. The worst part was probably Sunday with the %!$@#ing fire alarms.

I got to see almost everyone I wanted to see and the Whiskey Tasting went better than last year, but if I served everyone toilet water (as-in Eau de toilette) it'd have been better received than last year's hooch!  I finally experienced the Chariot races and played in an OSR game, a MCC game, and in a Dare-Luck Club game. Unfortunately I had to bow out of one game because the tasting was scheduled for an odd time, presumably for an attendee that didn't actually attend the event. These things happen.....especially when the schedule is made months in advance. We'll square that away next year.

Since Erik posted last Sunday I took the opportunity to have a leisurely drive back home and get myself mentally prepped to go back to work....something that was actually needed this year.

Today, before I mention my "haul" from NTRPG, consider this a PSA: Ticket sales have already been opened up for next year. Don't fiddle-fart around and wait until next spring to get yourself one of the limited opportunities to attend.....

This year, between the Dealer's Room and the auction(s), I mostly picked up art and modules. Only a couple of items fall outside this range:

I've been kicking around an idea for a choose-your-own-adventure that I wanted to write and I've collected a few of the Endless Quest books to look at as an example. When I saw this one from Douglas Niles I had to have it. I wrote to Mr. Niles back in the day after finishing one of his novels that I just could not put down. I think I read it in record time, which is generally not something I do. My reading pace is usually a bit haphazard. To my surprise he wrote me a response to my thank you letter.

So his work is something I'm often on the lookout for....

At the Saturday auction there were four (?) sets of old D&D minis that were up for grabs. The other three were probably more desirable because they were generally unpainted and had the insert ad paper in them. I have no idea if I got these at a good price or not, but it's for the con to begin with and I wanted the box more than anything.....

Now we get into the modules.....

I bought the Pacesetter adventure from the convention tournament that I completely forgot to try and play in this year. It wasn't even on my radar until they were announcing the winners.....d'oh!

I also picked up a free RPG day DCC adventure...for free and I was gifted the last adventure from one of the writers (or was it editor?) that ran it for a few of us at the con. I have to do some research to see if I can get in on some online games this larger group has.

Of course I had to get the convention tournament (reprint) that I didn't pick up last year...or at least I don't think I got it last year. It would not surprise me at all if I find a copy later that I had failed to document as having picked up before.....

I also managed to pick up a 1st Edition adventure signed by the author and the cover artist...

Now we get to the majority of my purchases for this con...the art!

I paid (probably) too much money for this piece, but I really don't care. This money raised from this piece wasn't for the con, but part of a fund raiser to help Darlene with some home repair expenses. Her story is pretty cool, and it isn't mine to tell (and I think Wikipedia is totally missing the mark!), but you can get some of it here.

Now I'm not some philanthropist here.....I only pick up pieces I like and I liked this for a couple of reasons. It's just Darlene's sign from Garycon IX that was salvaged by Bad Mike from the post-con trash heap. He schlepped it back to Texas and she added her signature and a quick (?) mermaid drawing. This thing is absurdly large and the story is amusing to me. It's going to cost me a small fortune to get it framed and displaying it will be hassle....but it will definitely be a unique piece.

I did, however, pick up a more "normal" piece that I hope to get framed and displayed at my work desk. I think it will accurately portray what I mean when I try to explain to my co-workers what I mean when I tell them I'm a gamer.

They still won't get it, but whatever.

At my first NTRPG I picked up some cheap-assed prints from Jason Braun (now Brauncowski). Kind of crappy prints really....as in how they were reproduced, not crappy drawings. Now I firmly recally paying an appropriate price at the time, so that's not a complaint even though it sounds like one. I've since picked up nicer prints and originals from Jason and I was pretty "meh" when I first saw this piece, but I do have another one in this style and this one kind of gnawed at the back of my mind and I found myself keep coming back to look at it.....eventually I realized it was pretty cool, I was being a cheap dumbass, and if I didn't pick it up I'd be pissed that I hadn't when I had the chance. I'm really looking forward to getting this matted and framed so I can get it up on my wall.

I floating art shelves all over my house, and I have a few more to still put up. The idea is I can rotate what I have on display because I have a lot of framed pieces, with more still needing to be framed. I try to pick up something every trip, and I'm kind of surprised that I'd say about half of it is smaller B&W pieces. 

I have quite a few pieces from James Shields (jeshields) and his work hits a sweet spot for me. It doesn't hurt he's a good guy and I enjoy his company (I can say that about most every artist I've met, but I've had more opportunities with James). This year he brought the whole family and I played in two games with him and his son. After meeting the family I felt bad I wasn't able to break away and visit him at his home last time I was in his general vicinity (Alaska) while on a business trip. Hopefully I'll go back this next year and have another opportunity.

Anyway, I bought two pieces from his wife (well, she was manning the booth at the time), a relatively larger piece used as a cover on an RPG product and the smaller piece from his MACE book, which I had the pleasure of backing on Kickstarter.

What I really like about this cover piece....I don't have the name/product info handy at the moment. Is that it's kind of unfinished, as it was. This is the original and you can see all the marker strokes. I'm sure when scanned in it's perfect for the end product, but the raw initial work is pretty cool on its own.

The smaller piece is one of the monsters from MACE, but I liked the Dwarf myself. He's what made me want to pick it up.

One of the things James does, which is cool as well as frustrating (because I have to make a decision and I know I'm going to frame it out...) is that he has a loose stack of small pieces that he gives away as a bonus if you buy certain other pieces (like anything from this book or that other....). I was surprised that this giant eagle wasn't for sale on its own, but I'll take it.

I like the tabletop scene, but since its trimmed to the edge of the art it doesn't lend itself to easy framing. I do have a big (enough) jug of deep-cast resin I need to use up and I'm thinking of making a big block of black resin, fixing this piece to that so it forms a backing & border, and then adding a thinner layer of clear resin on top. After getting it cleaned up and polished I'd drill holes behind the art, into the thick black layer, to serve as a pencil holder. I think it could come out pretty cool, would serve as a learning project, and give me something good-looking and useful for my desk.......assuming I can pull it off.

Final Sunday Before NTRPG

We're less than a week away from NTRPG, which means I'm "busier than a one-legged Indian in an ass-kicking race", as my grandpa used to say. There's always a few RPG projects that I'm trying to finish up and this year is no exception. I am though, throwing in the towel on probably half of my "things" because I just don't want the stress. Most of these things are for me and nobody will be the wiser on what doesn't see the light of day this particular convention.

No...this year will be much more laid-back than my norm. Between a work trip kicking my ass (I brought home a summer cold that I'm just recovering from) and some unexpected home repairs having to take up my most valuable of resources....oh, and my workplace kind of sort of tried to tell me I couldn't go to the con this year. Yeah, that wasn't going to fly. I take one scheduled vacation a year (NTPRG) and they can have me do whatever for the other 360 days of the year. They've had this on the books for a year and if management cannot get the manpower figured out, that's not my burden to bear.

So yeah...I'm not going to take on undue stress so I can enjoy myself.

NTRPG is basically the beginning of the summer convention season, so if you have things you need to do before Origins, or maybe GenCon.....here's your sign to check in on your state of affairs now.

I'm happy with the games I've gotten into to play, but I don't have and guests coming in this year like I've had in the past. Just gaming...some drinking, and giving Bad Mike too much money.....

Hopefully I'll have a good end-of-con report.

New FLGS Store: Other Realms (Honolulu, HI)

So last weekend I mentioned I was in Hawaii and thankfully I'm back home. I'd wanted to post about a FLGS in Honolulu, but the only store I went to was some small hole-in-the-wall I stopped at with a coworker. I'm the only gamer in my workplace....ok the only TTRPG gamer, but at least one other guy likes comics so he was willing to swing by the one place that was on way back.

The next day I was able to get back out & about and found the store I actually wanted to go to....and holy crap the difference a day makes. The Other Realms was an awesome store, easily one of the top ten, if not top 3, game stores I've had the pleasure of visiting. Seriously, if you are on vacation to O'ahu, or on a business trip like I was, you need to make a side visit to Other Realms.

Getting there was kind of odd because it is nestled between (actually behind) a big-box retailer and a small industrial park. It really is a destination stop, because I cannot fathom accidentally finding it while out & bout. Parking also seemed a bit limiting as well, which means a customer really needs to intend to check out & shop here.

Right off the bat, the store was really clean but absolutely packed with product, pretty much floor-to-ceiling.  You'd think there wasn't a stockroom, but there was...I saw it. There was also a small back (game) room on the opposite side. Roughly one half of the store was comics and the other half games. The sales counter was more on the comic book side, but a large back-issue table occupied the games' side, so it was pretty even.

This place seemed to have a little bit of everything, but that was more of an initial impression. I didn't see any used TTPG or OSR materials, and they had but a single HeroQuest item (an expansion pack). Still, there were a lot of minis and maybe a solid three-foot section of Munchkin. The available board games were essentially the entire front wall (not pictured). I finally found myself a copy of Tiny Epic Dungeons, which I had been looking for over this last year or so. Other Realms pretty much had the whole Tiny Epic line, whereas I'm lucky to find one or two of the line elsewhere.

Not even 1/3 of the store

There was a great selection of comics as well, at least as far as comics I care about. I'm not a huge comic nerd, I mean I have a bunch, but I'm really only ever on the lookout for one particular comic. If I see a single Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos it's like a good month(?)....no, more like season. Other Realms had maybe a good dozen comics, including some single-digit issues. I picked up only half of what I wanted, which was half of what they had..... 

....seriously, if you find yourself in O'ahu you need to check out Other Realms. Just do it....

Lucky Opportunities to Spend My Money.....

Every once in a while I feel like I luck out, but I'm sure that's because I put myself in a position to be lucky.

This week I was on a business trip to Hawaii, where I got to stay in Waikiki. Believe me it sounds a helluva lot nicer than it really is. The weather is NOT cooperating and any free time I have is mostly occupied by heavy rains. The beach that is "right there" isn't much of an option and it's hard to enjoy sunsets when the sky is overcast.....

....and don't even get me started on the traffic. My work location is not far away (Oahu isn't that big), but it's at least an hour there and another back.

Meh....it's work and hey, I'm being paid to got to Hawaii, so if I get a nice hour here, I'm ahead of the game, right?

Yesterday I had the day off and despite the impending rain I managed a quick trip to the "local" Naval Exchange to look for souveniers. While I can get some cheap stuff at the local markets nearby, I wanted to favor Hawaiian-made stuff as much as possible. I had no intention to buy myself anything, but then I saw it: the Reyn Spooner (i.e. high-end) D&D 50th Anniversary Aloha/Hawaiian Shirt, and it was on sale for 20% off....and in the appropriate "Fat Guy" size (AKA Gamer Medium). While I didn't feel like a $100 shirt.....you know I NEEDED THIS.

Originally I expected to post today about some hole-in-the-wall Hawaiian FLGS. I did get to stop by one, but it wasn't the one I was hoping for....oh well. It was tiny and clearly a hangout for locals, but it was Warhammer heavy (not judging) and the board game selection was a bit "meh"......until I saw it. This store had a 2nd edition (2019 printing) of Steve Jackson's Illuminati. I've played like 2 or 3 games of Illuminati more than a decade ago and it was on my wish-list, but I've never seen one for sale before. I think it's a bit too obscure and the 1st edition was just too big of a box, which I assume didn't help secure shelf space. The 2nd Edition isn't much bigger (if at all) than a copy of Munchkin and while I'm already pushing the max for baggage......well I had to pick it up.

So buy keeping my eyes open in a new town I found a few trinkets that I'd probaby never see otherwise.......not sure if that's actual luck...but I'll take it!

Looking for a Different Sort of Campaign Setting

I know I've mentioned a few times that I travel for work, which is great because I get to see FLGS all over the country. I see plenty of crappy stores too, but that's par for the course. Unlike the majority of my travels, the trip I have coming up is to a ....how do I put this.....a place that did not have a "European Medieval Period" (EMP).

The overwhelming majority, if not damn near 100%, of my TTRPG gaming experience is located in an EMP setting.

I've read, or at least thumbed-through, Oriental Adventures, but never played in an Oriental campaign, and as far as AD&D goes, that's the only non EMP setting out there. No African setting, Middle East, Southwest Asia, South America, North America, or even a generic Polynesian campaign setting. This really seems like a missed opportunity in the TTRPG world. 

The majority of the players I've played with undoubtedly have the same general experience, but maybe I'm wrong. I just think if there were some good non-EMP campaigns settings, that more experienced (i.e. old as fuck like me) players would have a bit of a culture shock, as it was. A foreign (pun intended) campaign setting could let players experience the game anew. A lot of things we take for granted just might not exist, or better yet, be tweaked just enough.....

I think it could be a lot of fun, but honestly this isn't something I could just "do" as my genealogy is European and I think this would require more than just some research.......

Of course maybe I'm lucky in that some people have already done this and I'm just unaware. If that's the case, please feel free to educate me because I don't know what I don't know.

No Love for TTRPGs?

I'm prepping for what is scheduled to be my last business trip of the year and part of that prep is getting my travel computer squared away. I'm not so rich that I have a dedicated computer for travelling, but I did pick up a gaming handheld computer and most of my PC gaming is done on the road so....good enough.

Anyway, the numerous bots that undoubtedly track my online activities decided that the nexus of TTRPGs and PC gaming means I have to see every story about Baldur's Gate 3 there is. Hell, I haven't even played Baldur's Gate 2, but I have gotten maybe 75% of the way through Baldur's Gate a handful of times on multiple computers.....BTW I highly recommend staying away from Baldur's Gate on XBox and it's kind of crappy playing with a controller, but I digress.

This morning I was confronted with this bit of clickbait from GameRant:  "Why Baldur's Gate 3's Most Loved Feature Could Never Work in Tabletop"

Now I'm used to PCs games falling short of TTRPGs, and not the other way around, so I was enticed...only to find that allegedly "Romance" is the "one part of Baldur's Gate 3 that players love". Really? The "one part" that people love? So the rest of the game is unloved? I really find that hard to believe. If "romance" was the real reason that 10 million copies of BG3  were sold, I'd expect to have had a newer version of Leisure Suit Larry since 2020.

Now I get it, TTRPGs probably aren't a good place for romance plots for various reasons and most GMs shy away from any adult themes, or at least romance & sex/sexual violence in their games. The trade-off really isn't there.

I will admit that I've "gone there" a few times of the decades of gaming, and I've only had one game system that had some baked-in:

1. My 1st HackMaster PC was married to my wife's 1st PC and the extent of the sexy times was when our PCs had been adventuring separately for a few years in-game and real world. The first time back together we had a week off in-game to prep for the next adventure and I rented out a ship for the week as private accommodations and informed the group "If this ship's a rockin, don't come a knockin". I know, I know...wildly salacious. 
2. I've probably told this story before, so I'll keep it short. My 1st game of D&D 3.5 my party member whored me out to an NPC for the night and I thought I could use a Command spell to satiate the NPC without having to "perform", only to learn the spell had been changed in this edition of the game. My NPC died shortly thereafter, I like to think it was not from an arrow, but from embarrassment.
3. In the current version of HackMaster there's a few "interesting" tidbits. One is that Orcs can & do breed with pretty much any humanoid, through rape. It's a thing and can be glossed over by not ever having the party come across an orc lair. There are some messed up evil deities as well and one time the party I was GMing had a party member abducted by some cultists and by the time the party caught up to the kidnappers they entered upon a particularly vile ceremony where the party member, along with a certain urchin they had taken an interest in, were basically going to be ritualistically raped to death. It was most certainly fucked up, I will not attest to anything less than that, but the whole event (and resulting PC driven bloodbath) tied up a bunch of loose ends on some issues/events that the PCs had experienced, but never thought were related.

Now clearly the level of adult themes are dependent on the group involved and restrained to a home game. I cannot imagine trying this at a con game with strangers, although I have heard some horror stories of GMs who have.

In general I think that romance, much like humor, is the purview of the players. I don't even think GMs should set things up, outside maybe of some story driven elements and even then that's a high-level pass.

The First Step....

"Hi, my name is Chris and I'm a bit of a hoarder...."

<Appropriate OSR 12 Step Group> Hi Chris!

Like so many of us, I like to collect stuff. I've been adding a few items from online auctions and generally quite happy with the finds. Not totally sure if I'll be happy shelling out some big bucks for some choice items (to me) currently available, but time will tell.....

...one of my weekend tasks was to take stock of my HeroQuest game, which I have never played, which is my problem. I thought it was an overly expensive game, but I managed to find a copy at Gamestop that wasn't $135 (?!) As soon as I picked it up, before I even broke the shrink, I noticed there were "already" some expansions available. One was clearanced at a Gamestop, and a couple were available from my FLGS.

I'm planning on making a custom box to store all the bits and bobs, which is why I needed to take stock. Since I had no idea how many expansions are available I figured a quick interwebs search will help...

....and now I have discovered that Hasbro/Avon Hill has put our four (4!) expansions this year so far. One was a new character which evidently sold out immediately and unless I want to shell out $80+ for what should be $15, I'm not getting it. Luckily two of the others are available at Amazon, one at a bit of a discount and the last one is "currently unavailable". Not sure if it had actually been released yet.

I did not actually purchase them on Amazon but instead drove down to the FLGS and sure, enough the three non-new-character expansions were available. I paid a bit more than Amazon, but really only because the one was on sale there. The FLGS thinks they might be getting more of that character pack/expansion in. I don't think so, but they told me that the distributor is quick to point out if the stock is sold out and they were allowed an order.....and now my name is on "the list".

Amazon doesn't do "a list". Best you can do is make a wishlist and maybe get notified if the item is available.....but that doesn't save diddly squat for you. Also, Amazon didn't have a copy of Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos #167 for sale.....

So now I have the base HeroQuest game, one extra character pack, and eight....eight freakin expansions, for a game I haven't played yet. I just wanted a D&Dish board game with minis and I have what is becoming a monster of a game.

Yeah, I clearly have a bit of a problem......but if I pull this off it could be a good problem to have. If I can get my shit, er game sets, together, well I might have a game worth playing.

Hasbro Doesn't Seem to be Big on Anniversaries.....

One of my...quirks I guess, is that I like to have the TV on pretty much anytime I'm at home and in my living room, if I can at least pay it half-assed attention. Otherwise it's music for me ...anything but having to listen to the high-pitched tinnitus whine in my head.

Earlier this week I actually tuned in to Tenkar's Tavern on YouTube where Erik, Bad Mike, and Jim Kitchen talked ostensibly about Cynthia Williams resignation. Eventually they talk about D&D's 50th Anniversary celebration, or lack thereof.

That got me thinking......

....did you know that Hasbro just celebrated their 100th anniversary last year? I didn't know until recently. You'd  think a big company celebrating 100 years would put some emphasis on a major division celebrating 50 years, but I really wonder how much of a "major division" D&D (I know WotC) really is to Hasbro. A quick visit to the main Hasbro website doesn't even show D&D as one of their brands, much less a mention of the anniversary. They currently have two D&D board games, one being for the recent movie, and a few D&D toys scattered about.

No D&D Here!

The main D&D page has the WotC and Habro logos/links at the bottom, but really no reciprocation. The closest I could find was a press release from February. I honestly expected more.

Now while I'd love to talk about what I think is a pitiful set of anniversary offerings, which maybe isn't pitiful if you're 5E fans, but if you're into playing BX or 1st....or even 2nd edition? Pitiful. Thing is Erik, Bad Mike, and Jim did enough talking on the topic that I don't think I can add too much.

Not too much, but maybe a little. See Hasbro had a down year in 2023.....remember this was their 100th anniversary....and they finished down 15% for the year. WotC, on the other hand was up 10%, but I'm not sure about that breakdown because WotC is lumped in with Hasbro's "Digital Gaming Segment".

"Digital Gaming Segment" kind of spooks me a bit because it just reinforces where I think they're trying to push D&D, but that is conjecture for another day.

What really stood out to me was Hasbro's expectations for WotC in 2024: "Wizards of the Coast Segment revenue down 3% to 5% decline largely driven by second half comp in licensed digital gaming; Operating margin 38% to 40%."

Now I haven't done a lot of corpo reading in years, but IIRC that doesn't mean that WotC is expected to be losing money, just not making as much. Now if maybe they would...I don't know....pull their head out of their ass quickly & forcefully (as in we could all hear a loud, audible POP), they could capture the nostalgia market with this large audience of BX/1st Ed players who mostly have disposable income AND have a decent sense of nostalgia!

So I'm reading this 4th Quarter and 2023 Year-End report looking for a specific something and then I finally see this gem......WotC is expected to have an operating margin of 38% to 40%?!! Now if it was 30% or maybe even 35% I wouldn't be surprised, but up to 40% seems like a lot, and that's after they take their cut for all the overhead, like Cynthia William's salary....well her replacement anyway. For year end 2023, WotC's margin is 28.4% which makes more sense (at least from my personal experiences).

Overall Hasbro lost more than $10.73 a share in 2023, which is not good but maybe those of you with a better understanding of corporate stocks & bonds can explain why a company loosing money is planning on giving away $97M worth of quarterly dividends.

Clearly it has something to do with D&D and WotC not making enough money....

Interesting reading:     Hasbro Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results

                                    Dungeons & Dragons Celebrates 50th Anniversary in 2024 with More than 50 Million Fans

NTRPG 2024 (a bit of a PSA)

This week we've passed into the NTRPG-60 day mark, which is significant for planning purposes. Now I'm not running anything this year, but if I wanted to....I'm too late. The deadline for submitting events was yesterday. The con has had a record number of submissions at 368 games, which for a con capped at 500 attendees, IIRC they have 503 currently sold, which I'm thinking includes some vendors, special guests, and staff, so a bump over the cap is to be expected.

The 60 day mark is significant because if you're flying down your best ticket prices are before that mark, and you can expect price bumps at 30 days, 14 days, and a sharp upturn to the day before. It's also important for generalized planning purposes. 

From an organizer (not con staff, more like you're running an event) perspective now is the time you're checking to make sure that your adventures are written, hopefully you have staff lined up, etc. Things that aren't where they need to be can still be addressed, and hopefully fixed.

I'm running an event that isn't on the schedule, as it's invite only (and I don't do the invites) and I've got my "adventure" prepped, actually had that part ready for over a year now. I've got some freebies for attendees that are halfway done. The initial prep work is done, I just figured out what I think is a better way to do something, more like a better way to make something....nicer, so I'm taking the opportunity to do so, otherwise I'd be 110% done already.

One of the things I love about small conventions is that there is a lot less separation between the attendees and the organizers. I didn't come by the information about 368 games and 503 attendees by any sort of real legwork....I just made sure to follow the NTRPG Facebook page.

Early event registration (as in table seats for events) has already came and went, but the con only releases half of the seats at that time and between that and the new events....there's a lot of seats still available....

...and they will become available tomorrow, April 15th at 1800 (6pm CDT). 

So if you got yourself tickets to NTRPG 2024, you have time to get event tickets tomorrow and hopefully get your travel squared away.

We Lost Dave Arneson 15 Years Ago...Today

Today is the 15th Anniversary of Dave Arneson's passing, a little more than a year after we lost Gary. Now I never had the opportunity to meet that latter, but I did briefly meet Dave at GenCon 2008*. I'm not quite sure what kind of sense of humor the man had in life, but I had an idea what it was in death. He was being wheeled around in a wheelchair and it was obvious he knew that his end drew near. I know that sounds a little macabre and I'd apologize, but that's exactly how it sat with me.

Anyway, he was going around visiting the booths and handing out these little baggies. I was at the KenzerCo booth as I was still a volunteer then, and Jolly Blackburn took the offering and didn't really look at it. Not surprising really for him, which isn't a negative commentary. He gets handed cool stuff all the time and he's more into the interaction that the "thing". Jolly hands it to me saying something like, "You want it?" 

Sure.....I take a look and it's two Grey Gamescience D20's. Fuck yeah I'll take them....I am a Gamescience dice snob after all!

Upon closer inspection there is a small piece of paper. A note with a signature. The note read, "Rubbed in the hair of a live game designer." I do not think that was a snub against Gary, but a commentary on his own situation.

I've never rolled those d20's, and I likely never will.

The Empty Chair

Eulogy for a Gamer, by Jolly Blackburn

There is an empty chair,

at the table this day.

A hallowed place where,

a friend once played.

The roll of his dice,

my ears long to hear.

Or perhaps it would suffice,

if he should suddenly appear.

With character sheet in hand,

and a bag of Cheeze-doodles to share.

All his friends would stand,

as he sat in the empty chair.

I hear his voice a-callin’,

and it ties my heart in a knot.

For he cries, “Though a comrade has fallen,

You must play for those who cannot.”

We conquered worlds on the run,

he and I in the name of fun.

And as others may come and go,

I make both both friend and foe.

But what I long for most,

is our past now long a ghost.

Dave Arneson

 October 1, 1947 – April 7, 2009

*It could have been Origins. I remember the meet, not the event.

Initial Campaign Questionnaire

Pretty sure I've posted about my buddy Topher's pre-campaign questionnaire. I was first exposed to this document when we co-hosted some variation of "How to GM" at Origins back in 2007 (or so). My part focused on how to run a more frugal (less resource-intensive) game and IIRC Topher focused on some of the broader game/campaign management, hence the questionnaire.

Back in my earlier HackMaster days, when I was trying to get some local tournaments going, I repeatedly ran into HackMaster players that had been playing with the same group for decades, but had never left one of the player's basement....and they never intended to...which is a problem when you need a specific number of players before a HackMaster tournament is considered valid. Topher kind of had one of these groups, but they had no qualms about playing with others at tournaments. 

Actually, they were pretty much a well-oiled tournament machine that eventually became the group that writers specifically wrote against, which always rubbed me the wrong way...but that's for another time. One big thing they did is create characters as a group, ensuring to fill specific roles within the party, and often the party, and campaign, was themed. I can think of three examples, but will only give two: One campaign was essentially Hogwarts where every PC was some type of magic-user and every level was a year of the magical school. The other was a group of thieves adventuring during the fall of Constantinople.

Now I'm not Topher and I'm not sure that I can pull off his type of game/campaign, but then again I don't have his players. Not a dig on my players at all. We haven't played that type of game and likely never will, partly because of the nature of the group. I am the odd man out, living in another state, and I highly doubt we'll have a steady Monday night game.....but you never know.

Even so, I am totally stealing Topher's campaign questionnaire, but I tweaked it heavily for my own use. The questions are fairly generic though and I think others might get some good use out of it, so here it is. I actually have two versions,  the "plain" PDF and a rather quick & dirty PDF form. I am not a fan of the form because I'm not willing to spend too much time on it, and it's a bit... finicky. For the list boxes you have to use the up/down arrows and then click on the box to set the answer. 

Meh...ugly but it works. Just click on the appropriate picture to open the document in your browser, then download.

Blank Questionnaire

Questionnaire Form

Thought: Players, not the GM, are Responsible for Campaign Continuity

This last week (or so) I have noticed that I haven't slung dice since maybe before Thanksgiving(?), even if I had since then it definitely was last year, so like....WTF? Work has been keeping me busy, but that's like a M-F endeavor that so doesn't impede on the normal every-other-Friday night game.

Now I'm not calling out my GM, which I probably should......but I realized that I was getting a weak-ass fix by playing a turn-based "RPG" on my Xbox....it's more like sustenance-gaming, just enough to take off the edge of withdrawal. Kind of like a Vampire feeding off of cow's blood. Sure, it'll kind of get the job done, but just isn't the same.

Now as much as it might feel good to throw my GM under the bus for me not playing, and I'm only saying this for sake of my fellow players who I know read this, I should have options.....and one of those options is to once again pick up the GM shield again...

....so I have been thinking heavily about running a game again, but I haven't broached the subject with anyone until now (SURPRISE fuckers!, I mean fellow players who read this...)

As is (probably) natural, I've been thinking of my last campaign. It was a current-edition (low magic fantasy) HackMaster game set in the last-edition (High Magic fantasy) game world, with a plausible (if you take the last two national-level tournaments as cannon) backstory explaining the transition from magic-rich to magic-poor. I had a blog for the campaign which is somewhat broken as I had hosted portions, mostly graphics, on my own domain. I fixed part of it today, so if anyone is interested (https://garweezewurld.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-adventure-begins-16th-haarkiev.html).

The whole idea wasn't so much to keep an online journal for sharing, but to help me keep track of NPCs and past events. The blog really was too much work, mostly because of the graphics. I should have used something like Tiddlywiki instead.

Reviewing all this info I have come to what might be an unpopular opinion: It is not the responsibility of the GM to provide campaign continuity.

As the GM I want to create the game world and let the players loose in it. I decide some big-picture stuff that'll happen to the game world and as the players interact, if they change to course of things I'll adjust and if they don't well the big things still happen. As far as actual campaign continuity, well that's the player's responsibility. As the GM I put things together and the players do what they do. As they discover and interact with the world, the onus is on them to remember the NPCs and to enjoy or suffer the repercussions of their interactions.

It is also the responsibility of the players to "pass down" information to other players and other player characters. If there is a total party wipe (Total Party Kill) then I hope the players arranged for some manner of contingency. Henchmen or protégés need to be created before the PCs kick the bucket specifically so that campaign information doesn't die out. 

This why I like when GMs don't necessarily ensure the party knows exactly what they're fighting unless they've met one/some before. I think the whole aspect of exploration, in every sense of the word, is... underrepresented in a lot of games. The big strokes for sure, but the little things that would actually be new to the PCs.....not so much. I know it's more difficult for players to not go off of player knowledge, but when PCs encounter zombies (for example) for the 1st time, that should be a HOLY SHIT moment for them. Hell, even with the glut of video games, movies, and TV shows with zombies in them....can you imagine how freaked out you'd be in real life if you stumbled across some zombies?!

I like it when games have a mechanic for these first-time interactions with what should be some horrific/strange/otherworldly encounters. Subsequent times not so big of a deal and if the party can maintain that campaign continuity then maybe those subsequent PCs can not be as scared/subject to penalty.

As a GM one of the ways I've encouraged players to do this campaign continuity, maintenance really, is to provide some bonus XP for keeping campaign journals. In-game they are remittances "back home" to those henchmen or protégés and allow the transfer of XP from one PC to another. This is really a HackMaster (4th edition) concept, so I'm just giving the broad strokes. PCs can funnel XP to future PCs essentially through "adventuring through correspondence", allowing for these future PC to not have to start at 1st level.

Just some thoughts I'm tossing "out there" as I'm contemplating a new campaign when I pick up the mantle of GM once again.

Murderhobos Figuring Out How to Offload Their Loot (Merchant Thoughts)

I've been thinking of writing up the beginning area of my old (like a good 15 years ago) campaign into an....well not so much an adventure, but a larger drop-in area for a GM to use in whatever game world they desire. A big part of this beginning area revolves around (it's not obvious though) a general store of sorts....and the "of sorts" is the real meat of the setting, but that's what I'm thinking of today.

Now I don't know about your particular band of murderhobos, but I'm used to groups that I'm in or running for liking to take most everything that even looks like it has some value. Murder some armored brigands? Grab that armor and weapons...make sure you check their boots for hidden loot. Wipe out a Kobold nest, make sure to grab those "ok" shortbows and arrows. Wow, the front door of that otherwise ruined hovel looks nice.....toss it on the cart.....

...you get the picture.

Of course offloading won/stolen/scavenged loot can be problematic. Not like there's a ready market for "ok" shortbows and a nice front door. Armor and human-made weapons...maybe, but that other stuff...even if you found a buyer, just how much can you get? Who cares...every CP counts.

When I do this, well I blame computer RPGs. If you will let me take everything and sell it, I will. Usually there is something that doesn't have a carry weight, ammo is a likely candidate in modern/futuristic games, so I'll sell every piece of fruit, silverware, or random piece of crap and store it in the form of ammo (gems, or whatever works). This carries over for me in table-top RPGs, but there it can be hard to find a buyer.

I don't know what other GMs do, but when I GM'd I'd have a particular buyer available to either purchase all this crap outright, or to help broker sales for bigger stuff, like magic items. The absolute best price the party could get...and this was never advertised...was 49% of the value for their items. What I did was roll a d20 and subtract that, as a percentage, off of 50%. If the players wished to purchase non-magical "gently used" gear from the same merchant I reversed things, so the players could get items for 51% to 70% of "book" value. Often new gear would have a similar percentage added, so 101% to 120% of book value, unless the party wanted to haggle.

Now, when creating a character straight book-values are used, and usually parties are more than pleased with this setup because it gets them coin for their crap stuff quick and easy and there isn't a lot of time spent on "in town" stuff. They always have the option of spending time "shopping around", but they rarely care.

I once also had a campaign where I advanced the game world like 10,000 years (society had stagnated, for reasons, so still more medieval fantasy) and people generally didn't travel far from home. In that campaign/game world Halflings were basically the merchant class and were the only ones who actually travelled, usually along set routes. They connected communities with trade and information. Because they controlled merchant services outside of the community, they could generally buy/sell anything. If not personally, they could forward things to their extended family, getting that good door or "ok" bows from the party to some buyers.

Maybe I'm being overly generous, but I like the randomness of the d20 (maybe I should have used a d30?) introducing some price fluctuations and then some relatively easy math because I'd just figure out the total book value of everything and apply the appropriate percentage. I'd rather do that than role-play a crap-ton of sale/bartering interactions. Also, maybe.....just maybe....the party won't be trying to extract every CP of value out of the dungeon...

....yeah, right.

I have wondered how other GMs handle shops/shopkeeps in their own campaigns.... 

Roleplay Rev is AI Assistance for RPGs

So I was screwing around on my phone, as one does, and I came across this AI adventure generator called Roleplay Rev. While I'm not a huge AI fan, I have played around with it some and I liked the idea of a tool that could conceivably be used to help create an adventure quickly.

I know all too well that sometimes it takes a metric shit-ton of effort to create a good effort. Actually just creating an adventure can take a lot of time.....one that is good(?).....can take freaking forever. While I don't expect a ton of quality from an AI generator, I figure it could be good at getting some of the grunt-work done so I could edit the generated adventure. Editing/Tweaking can take a lot less time, at least in my experience.

So I created an account at Roleplay Rev and started out with three credits. My initial thought was, "Oh so it's kind of free...great" It costs a credit to generate an adventure and while it didn't state it upfront, you get a credit per day you log in. Pretty much up front is that if you want some of the cooler/finer tools it costs $5 a month (normally $10?). After the fact I can see $5 a month being worth it, but that's probably something that would be covered in a summary paragraph.

Anyway, I started with this prompt: "The world is dominated by Man and organized into distinct countries. A valuable mountain range has been taken over by the ruling country and the party consists of dwarves that have to organize a resistance to retake their ancestral homeland from the army of men." Now I'm not sure that was worded well for an AI prompt since I haven't used AI stuff very much but I was pleased to find that the generator re-worded my prompt, that I could then tweak if needed and it even gave the damn thing a title: 

The Battle for the Mountain

The dwarves must organize a resistance to retake their ancestral homeland, a valuable mountain range, from the army of men who have taken it over.

Nice, I can work with that.....I was led through a few options for potential plot hooks and I settled on my favorite:

The players start the adventure in the depths of the mountain range, where they witness the men's army setting up mining operations to extract valuable resources. The dwarves are outraged at the desecration of their ancestral home and feel compelled to take action to reclaim it.

Then the AI generated some lore/background and I got this:

The players receive a distress call from a group of dwarven miners who managed to escape the army's occupation. They describe the devastation brought upon their once-thriving community and plead for the players' help in organizing a resistance to retake their homeland.

The players witness a fierce battle between the dwarven resistance and the army of men, where the dwarves are outnumbered and struggling to defend their territory. Witnessing the bravery and determination of their kin, the players feel a deep sense of duty to join the resistance and fight for their people's freedom.

The central conflict stems from the ruling country's desire to exploit the valuable resources within the dwarven ancestral mountain range. The ruler of the country, King Thorian, seeks to strengthen his kingdom's economy and military power by gaining control of the rich mines and strategic location of the mountains. To achieve this, he has dispatched a formidable army led by General Rendak to forcibly occupy the dwarven territories, displacing the native inhabitants and suppressing any resistance.

King Thorian's ultimate plan is to establish permanent control over the mountain range, leveraging the resources to enrich his kingdom and solidify his rule. The dwarves, however, refuse to relinquish their ancestral lands and are determined to fight back. The villainous General Rendak is tasked with not only subduing the dwarven resistance but also ensuring that the mountain range remains under the control of the ruling country. His cruel methods and ruthless tactics have further fueled the dwarves' resolve to reclaim their homeland and drive out the oppressive army.

Honestly, for free, I'd have been good with what I got so far, but some actual encounters would help...and then it gave me three potential encounters. Thing was I didn't just get three potential encounters. No, I got three types of encounters to choose from and it defaulted to one skill encounter, one social encounter, and one combat encounter. If I wanted three combat encounters I could've done that. It's important to note that I got to establish the general "feel" for the campaign, the size of the party, and the level, which was all factored in. For the record, I went with "realistic", 6 party members, and 1st level.

So the thing spit out the three encounters, gave me some NPCs and saved everything. The $5 paid content would go so far as to let me generate battle maps (IIRC they don't actually generate battlemaps but they have a large stockpile of ready-made maps that the AI chooses from) and generate PCs. There is also, and I think this is free, a way to basically play a solo adventure through the adventure you just made as well. I started messing with that but didn't even start the adventure portion.

Pretty much everything is tweakable and while it looks like it's set up for maybe 5th Edition D&D, I don't know it's definitely not OSR, there's a LOT of meat on those bones. You can not only create adventures but also campaigns and worlds as well, all with AI assistance. I do not think it would be difficult to take a few minutes to create an adventure and basically tweak on the fly. Combined with your own map collection and your own bestiary......this could be a great help.

For $5 a month I think the organization factor (world, campaign, adventures) alone might be worth it, especially if I can get some AI assistance and prompts to help fill in gaps. For the price of free, definitely worth checking out Roleplay Rev.

Probably a Bad Idea: Tweaking PC Stat Scores

I know this particular post is a bit on the late side, but you know.....life stuff happens. Another beautiful weekend that wasn't too hot meant I really needed to get some outside work done. Unfortunately for me, a HUGE portion of the work I did last weekend needed to be ripped out and re-done because I didn't account for something important and the resulting build was effectively worthless. I'm relatively happy with the 2nd end result and my own little "maker space" will soon start to be productive....

Anyway I also had some relatively mindless "grunt work" to get done and while I was working on it, my mind wandered, as it does.

I bring up (probably far too) often my fondness of HackMaster and while I'm not really wanting to talk specifically about that game, it came up in my thoughts, and I'll circle round back to that.....just mentioning it now so the haters can just go fuck off not waste anymore of their precious time reading the rest of this post.

I was thinking about OSR OC creation and how, and I'm making a gross generalization here, nobody likes playing "bad" PCs, and by "bad" I mean ones with low stats...at least stats with negative adjustments. I know there seems to be a upward trend in increasing stat scores over the evolution of D&D, and in earlier editions it didn't necessarily seem like a big deal if you had the odd negative modifier here or there. I mean nobody wants a PC with a 3 STR and that lovely -3 to hit/damage, or a 4-5 DEX with the corresponding -2 to hit and +2 to AC, but at our core we're role-players.

Odds are, at best, most PCs would likely have more plusses than minuses and statistically speaking and "dings" are likely to be a -1 to something.

My thoughts were that maybe, just maybe, instead of "just" having a penalty to some stats we instead basically create a "floor" for stats, in the case of Moldvay B/X, 9. Your PC, not counting racial adjustments, won't have stats below 9. Stats are still rolled normally, but if you get a low score that would give you a -2, for example, the score gets recorded as a 9 BUT you have to take a couple rolls on a special table that gives your PC some deformity, birth defect, mental condition, etc., that gives you the appropriate -1 on things that stat controls.

For example instead of getting a 5 CON your PC gets a 9 CON and two rolls on the CON chart. The results could be hemophilia and asthma. The end result is a combined -2 to hit point rolls, but the player (and GM) now has some extra material to work with. I can imagine if we had some good low STR results and the PC gets a hold of some Gauntlets of Ogre Power, that PC would get the benefit of 18 STR, but since they have some physical ailments gained from the STR chart they'd still have some physical issues, just not the in-game -1/-2/-3 from the low STR score.

Now I'm not trying to make light of people with actual mental or physical limitations, and obviously, if the idea was offensive to anyone then I wouldn't recommend it.....and I'm sure any given thing I could conceive of would be offensive to someone somewhere......the larger the audience the more likely for this to happen. 

Anyway just a thought......but to circle back around to HackMaster, that game (both editions) have quirks & flaws and I thought they could probably be mined easily to create charts for each stat.

Adding a little variety and one could argue diversity to the game can't be all bad....can it?