Torches (6)

The closest thing I have to a newsletter- let's talk about fruit, god, & room size

Well, 6+1, but hey, you found an extra
in the crypt...

Work has been keeping me occupied, so posting has slowed down a bit, but here are some other great works that are in the blog-o-sphere that will fuel inspiration!

Torches (6) is a collection of microblogging about cool posts I’ve come across. This feature is lit at irregular intervals

[Dungeon] Fruits Are A Great Source of Nutrients [/Paralysis]: Alice over at Dungeon Dolls is back with another solid post on fruit found in the dungeon. To my eyes, each example feels like a great take on potion/scrolls. I think the post does three clever things:

1. You can’t bank the fruit outside the dungeon- use it now or mark it for (maybe) later

2. Each comes with a risk

3. The risk and reward combined make eating them an exciting choice rather than a casual use item

Your Party’s Spirit: Goblin Punch is out there again with another anti-cleric stance! Given general D&D’s polytheistic stance and environment where the gods do tread the earth, it makes sense that PC would be far, far more religious than they often act. The key here is around incentives.

I think this would blend well with the shrine system I cooked up for a home game.

How To Run Arden Vul: This is a pretty amazing Reddit thread form a DM who’s run Arden Vul for 3 tables using 2e AD&D. I think the most interesting advice is how this DM ran each of the three tables at a set time and did not deviate. There was no West Marches player-organized time; the DM laid down the time, and you just had to show up. However, the knock-on effect was that scheduling is very simple and very consistent- food for thought:

[Arden Vul DM] I am a stickler about my schedule. Trying to arrange my schedule around when the player’s are available is a no go for me. I’m simply too busy. (In addition to running 3 private tables, and 1 public, open table, I also have a comic book podcast I record 1-2 episodes a week for, plus I need to spend time with my spouse. Literally almost all my time is spoken for between spouse, hobbies, and work.)

I’ve also found that if you don’t have a set schedule to game just doesn’t work well. We play every Monday from 545-845 no matter how many people show up. We play every Wednesday from 545-845 no matter how many people show up. We play every Saturday from 545-845 no matter how many people show up. I’m not trying to get myself off in some scheduling hell with a west marches style set up. It just doesn’t work for me, and I’m of the opinion it would kill the tables.

There is also the limiting factor of, if I open sign ups for my place on Mondays someone might be at work and miss the chance to sign up. So I don’t get to see that person that week. Maybe they are always at work during the sign up time frame (2 of my players are teachers). So they always miss the time frame and I never get to see them.

Set groups on set days solves all my problems with scheduling.

And speaking of getting people to show up, a convo on Discord recounted how a DM running an open-table zombie campaign had a rule that if you missed 3 sessions in a row, your PC got eaten by a zombie off-screen.

Room Size & Geomorphs: Playful Void does the maths to examine average room size. I’m always interested in stuff like this. Much like average treasure, I think understanding the “environment” of D&D helps construct good DM tools for ideally more off-the-cuff play (see Human Centric Game Design). Using the calculations here, one could roll a set of 6 rooms to build out a dungeon, or better yet, fill in a dungeon geomorph

Human Centric Game Design: A Manifesto: Personable Thoughts is really zeroing in on what I think is one of the most relevant game design ideas in today’s increasingly digital world. What do human-centric RPGs bring to the table? And how can that be maximized? This is especially true as video game RPGs also offer, not nessarily competing, but different RPG experiences.

I think this is true not just in terms of a game system, but also in the raw running of games. For instance, when I run an encounter, what can I bring to that experience that a computer can’t? And how can I double down in that?

A Better Equipment List: This is a nice post with equipment descriptions to better highlight to players how equipment can matter- almost like low-key powers. Some examples:

CLOAK, DARK, HEAVY: conceal; disguise; pad; bundle; smother; shadow

ROPE, HEMP, 50 FT.: climb; bind; lower; haul; measure; rig

I am starting to believe that one of the best things the back of the character sheet can include is common equipment, price, and descriptions like those above. It also sorta feeds into my feelings on how ultimately equipment is interesting in how much the players choose to carry. But for that to matter, Paladin is right, they have to see it as valuable.

Folks of the Guild (Still Building a Better Thief): Love this Hags post for showing that ODD is still alive and well. And the “better thief” brain worm still wiggles. I like the way this post grounds the thief’s abilities in the world and creates a visual mark that is a thumbing-your-nose at the punishment the thief would receive. It also helps one back-calculate, to me, the laws of the land (and as such, you might need a sheriff). Example:

The Barbers

Automatically hit and double any damage when attacking an unaware opponent from behind.

Barbers wear scarves or cravats, a dainty reminder of both their trade - a slit throat - and the murderer’s sentence - a hangman’s noose. Neck adornments play a special part in Guild symbolism as one of the Two Ends: in this case, Death by the Law.