When I sit and ponder the games I am involved in, a lot of the time is invariably given over to considering the relationships my characters have with others in the game world. Whether it is about understanding the plot or deciding what direction to take, I spend far more time on this than planning my next level changes. I would consider myself a keen roleplayer, but to be truthful I find it easy to forget to role-play in the heat of the action and revert to type (I end up making the decisions instead of my character). For this reason, I thought I should share my opinions of the subject in the hope I remember some of the important aspects myself!

Roleplay and Rule Systems

Roleplaying is fun for players for a whole lot of reasons. One is because it allows them to influence a game that the GM really controls completely. Without it, a game is just that - a tactical skirmish wargame. Both game types require a system but the skirmish game lacks any roleplaying aspect. For me, the mix of system and roleplay determines how much I get out of a game and everybody has an opinion on the right mix. Chris would admit he is biased towards roleplaying and could in theory play a game without a system, dice and rules (communist!). Another gaming friend Pete is clearly a system addict. His characters are always extraordinarily well put together and get the best out of the system as a consequence. I should say that Pete happens to be a fine roleplayer as well. What I think is essential to a satisfying game is having a good mix of system and role play that all enjoy. A GM who spends an evening steering his adventurers through one round of combat is probably going to spend next week on his own if the players prefer bantering and talking in character.

The Dangers Of System over Roleplay

System complexity is hard to balance and I do not envy system writers at all. A game’s mechanics have to get the right mix of depth, accurate representation, speed of play and durability to give a few examples. The system is also a source of role play idea triggers so make sure you agree what rules you play and what you ignore. In D&D, there are a whole host of character attributes, feats, skills etc that build a character and have an influence as to how it is played. There have been times when I have built a character around a feat or skill only to find it pointless as the GM does not play in detail the system it needs to be effective (“eschew material components” being a good example) But they are only the tip of the iceberg. An astute player can choose to have a huge influence on the game and the GM by roleplaying character aspects the system does not cover (so long as the GM allows it). Part of the entertainment for me as a GM is being surprised as the players dismantle my prepared scenario by roleplaying around or through the tasks I have anticipated and scripted.

Maintaining Interest through Role Play

Good roleplaying can make an average campaign a success. I believe if there is the right mix between the system and the role playing, a campaign will have more colour and hence be enjoyed for longer. I am sure there are still gamers who enjoy a good dungeon bash but for me, weeks of action and “system based” challenges no longer appeal. Character interaction gives the players more active participation and more ownership. Assuming they are enjoying it, the game is more likely to run to its completion and be remembered. Chris’ Rome campaign has run for about a year but the combat mat only comes out on average once every other session. It works very well and maintains players interest through intrigue and plot development.

Role-playability of characters

Certain characters probably only have a limited entertainment value. Whilst “evil” has a certain appeal, I personally feel evil campaigns should be treated with caution. A short evil campaign with a fairly clear remit can be fun. The trouble is that for most of us, the choices made by our evil alter egos are far from natural. Maintaining the faade of evil for a prolonged time is hard. Narrow character types like the priest of St Cuthbert are another to treat with caution. When the behaviour choices of the character are so transparent, roleplaying can be formulaic or too subtle. These types are again ok for a dungeon bash but probably a bit too shallow for much else.

My Roleplaying formula for success

Whatever you do, make sure your group agree. Balance system against roleplaying with a mix everybody likes. When you start a game, make sure the players understand the roleplaying pitch; dungeon bash or character lead. Avoid playing prolonged evil campaigns unless you have a clear understanding of where it is going and the parameters. Above all, have fun, but make sure everyone is enjoying the game!

Why Character Sheets Suck

Almost without exception, RPG character sheets fail to make the player’s life as easy as possible. They are all product of either bad game system design, bad graphical design or bad usability design. It is far easier to find character sheets that are bad in all three categories than it is to find one with none of these problems.

In the Beginning

In the early 70’s photocopying was very expensive and the idea of a computer and printer in everyone’s homes was a distant pipe dream. So when D&D was born, the idea of a preprinted character sheet was laughable. Everyone grabbed their notepad and scribbled down the basic information they needed. And RPG character sheets were basic back then. The original D&D sheet need to record eleven things: Name, Class, Stats x6, Gold, Equipment and Experience.

But then, in the early eighties things got more complicated. Some of this was the desire for more complicated game systems (AD&D, Rolemaster, Aftermath!) but it was also linked to the falling low cost of reproduction. Photocopying was getting cheaper and the desktop publishing revolution was just around the corner. Now the average character sheet started to fill up with skill lists, attack options and complicated armour stats. It is a trend that continues to this day encouraged by ever lower printing costs, home PCs and the internet. RPG character sheets can now consist of several pages of stats, spell lists, feats and equipment even for a starting character. There is nothing wrong in this except …

The Usable Character Sheet

The character sheet has three functions.

• A permanent record of the character between sessions
• A record of temporary changes during the game
• A reference during the game

In order to be a good character sheet, it must fulfill those three functions. Generally, RPG character sheets address the first task easily as ink & paper are well proven technologies. The second function is also normally accomplished though I have seen character sheets with no place to record current hit points or how many arrows you have left.

It is on the third task that most character sheets fail because what matters during the game is how fast and accurately can you find and use the information on the sheet. During your next game, watch how long your fellow players take to find even the most mundane piece of information. Even simple things like armour class takes a moment and finding the right skill in that tightly kerned 8pt list can be a nightmare. Especially if you don’t know if you are looking for a skill called Stealth or Move Silently. Accuracy is also an issue. And how many times does a player a say “Hang on, I forgot to add on ….” in your sessions? These are failures in usability.

If you were designing a character sheet for pure usability then the most used information (probably your attack and damage stats) would be in the largest font and at the top of the character sheet. Things like the character’s name would be tucked away in some corner in a tiny font simply because that information is rarely used. Yet it is a universal amongst RPG character sheets that player and character name plus gender and race always go at the top.

This is hangover from one area of usability that a character sheet should never attempt: Character Generation. There is a very strong case to made for a special character sheet that guides a player through the creation process but that the results should then be transferred to a different piece of paper. The two should never be combined however as creation is something that happens once where as RPG character sheets can be used every week for years. It makes no sense to try and combine the two.

The Graphic Design of Character Sheets

When a graphic designer is asked to produce a character sheet, especially fantasy character sheets, they seem to be overcome by a desire to use lots of black ink and gothic graphics. This can ruin even the best layout. An example of this effect is the 4e character sheets. Large lumps of black with white text do not make the sheet better looking or easier to read. Where as these versions are generally a great improvement though not without their faults. If you want to know how good design looks I recommend the works of Edward Tufte. The best designer and thinker on how to display and communicate information working today. RPG character sheets designed by Tufte would be beautiful and usable.

It Starts with the System

If you want to design a first class character sheet, you need a game that allows you to create one. Modern game systems have so many options, powers and modifiers the character sheet has to be complicated and cluttered. Original D&D character sheets were simple because the game was simple. Despite the obvious impact the system has on character sheet, I wonder how many game designers give it any thought? Truly perfect RPG character sheets can only be created when the question of how the information is to be presented is built into the game from the ground up.

Released by Wizards today…

• Martial Power

  Excerpts: The Epic Fighter, Daring Acrobat, Beastmaster Ranger, Bravura Presence, Flamebrow Commander, The Aerialist Rogue, Feral Spirit, The Paragon Fighter

• Draconomicon I: Chromatic Dragons

  Excerpts: Brown Dragon, Frostforged Wyrm, Bone Mongrel Dracolich, Famous Dragons, Hoards, Origins

• Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set

• Dungeon Master (4e) for Dummies

The next batch of WotC products will be out on the 16th December. For a full list of forthcoming products read D&D - The Year Ahead

A handy little Google Maps mash-up demonstrates the blast radius of a nuclear weapon on your choice of target. You can hit it with a Hiroshima style ‘Little Boy’ or anything up to a massive asteroid strike. Its perfect for designing your Aftermath! or other post-apocolypse doomsday scenario.

Ground Zero

This week’s poll is four quick questions about D&D.

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Last weeks poll was on RPG Blogs, bloggers and their readers

Question one was “Are you a RPG Blogger?” and it turns out that over 70% of you are. Well, at least 70% of people who answer polls are bloggers. Question two was “Do you write any non-RPG blogs?” I was surprised to see that over 40% of RPG bloggers do write other blogs. This was much higher than expected. May be we should organise a special RPG Blog Carnival on “When I’m not RPG Blogging I ….”

Question three was about where you live and it turns out over half of you are American but we won’t hold that against you now that you have a new president. I was impressed that 11% of you are in mainland Europe. I always think of RPGs as a game for native English speakers so I would love someone to do a post on non-English RPGs.

The final question was “How do you read your favourite RPG blogs?”. The answers to this were really unexpected. About a third of you read the RPG Bloggers Network off the website whilst less than 20% read the RPG Bloggers Network of their RSS feed. It would never occur to me to read it off the web site. Using an RSS reader means you can keep track what is new without running the risk of will miss anything.

Thanks to everyone who voted, watch out for a new poll tomorrow.

Which Films Should an Fantasy Gamer Watch

5. Lord of the Rings Trilogy

I’m just getting this out of the way. All three films are technically excellent and beautifully catch the epic scale of Tolkien’s work but as you have all seen them anyway I might as well shut-up now.

4. Ladyhawke

Two lovers are cursed by an evil sorcerer-bishop so that she turns into a hawk during daylight and he turns into a wolf by night. There is a lot wrong with this film but it still captures the essence of a fairytale curse and mixes it well with good action and fine performances. Ladyhawke

3. Excalibur

John Boorman’s extravagant retelling of the King Arthur’s story. Black magic and big battles, love and loyalties divided. This is an epic and ambitious film. The director, like most DMs, ignores certain realities, and allows all the main characters to stride around in plate mail. (From memory, there is even a sex scene where King Arthur is wearing plate mail). Watch out for the a small part by Shakespearian actor and Enterprise captain Patrick Steward: Excalibur

2. Stardust

A truly magical film from the pen of Neil Gaiman. It is a great example of how to create a fantastic world full of witches and curses and ghosts and magic and air-ships. It is high-fantasy at its best with great performances from all the cast including a truly jaw-dropping supporting role by Robert De Niro. Stardust

1. The Princess Bride

The best fantasy film ever made. It has pirates, giants, sword fights, true love, rodents of unusual size, revenge, torture and a happy ending. It is also one of the funniest films around. With Billy Crystal and Peter Cook on top form and a top notch script. It is a whimsical film, light hearted and at times tongue in cheek but it never descends into parody. Only a modest success on it first release it has gone to become a cult classic that has given the world such quotes as “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. ” and “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. “. Watching this film is like gaming with good friends. There is lots of action and adventure but the real joy comes from the interaction of the characters. The Princess Bride

All the recent articles I have posted about wizards and magic have got me around to thinking about the mechanics of fantasy magic and its attributes. All campaign worlds need some kind of magic, some way of harnessing power to allow for the characters and NPC’s to rise above the mundane lives of the rest of the population. Whilst physical prowess and capabilities develop as a character navigates the challenges set for him/her, it is usually the harnessing of magic spells and weapons, or the destruction of others misusing their talent that show them as heroes.

Origins of Magic in a Fantasy World

This morning I went back through the core books for 3.5 D&D to try and find out a little about the physics of spells only to be disappointed. None seem to try to rationalise it, they just describe harnessing it. Whilst this leaves a lot to the GM and I suppose allows for a lot of interesting angles to hang a campaign off, fleshing out the physics would better explain the requirements of casting as well as offering some more ideas to shape the campaign. Clearly divine fantasy magic comes from Gods or Nature but how non-priests and non-druids harness manna is never really addressed. Chris plays around with the rules of magic rather effectively in his Rome campaign that we play on a Thursday night and I believe it is pivotal to have some rationale to explain the magic rules you apply or choose to ignore in your game.

Who Needs What To Perform Fantastic Magic

Avoiding the thorny issue of the basis of magic makes it hard to justify all the hurdles of controlling it. I never really understood why D&D 3.5 goes into such depth concerning material components, vocalisation and somatics without explaining the harnessing of arcane fantasy magic. The preparation done at the start of the casting day implies that these are completed and the manna is just humming away, ready to be discharged. This makes releasing the power when required routine but clearly demands some gestures or words because it takes an action in most cases to perform.

Disrupted and Failed Magic in the Fantasy Worlds of D&D

Let’s face it, there is really very little risk to harnessing magic in 3.5. The completion of casting is on occasion spoiled by combat, but that is about the worst that ever happens. I like the idea that releasing extraordinary magical powers should also carry serious penalties for failure like it does in all the best films (Hell Boy springs to mind as a recent example). Counter-spelling seems to be a limited strategy and one not exploited to any depth in the games I can remember. Defensive fantasy spells are there of course but true counter spells have to be the spell cast in opposition or the spell dispel magic. I just feel I would like to see more of a focus on manipulating, changing or negating other magics as a discipline. I would be interested to hear from anybody who took an Abjurer as a player character and enjoyed it.

Should Great Magic Require Varied and Fanciful Components?

The Players Handbook never really made up its mind on this one and I wonder whether the writers were confident about the concept. Ignoring material component requirements is actually encouraged (we are told to assume to have them in your bag unless the cost is mentioned in the spell descriptor). I like the idea that mighty or permanent spells need some kind of special preparation or sacrifice but having an ad hoc or inconsistently applied approach seems somehow unfinished. If mighty mages are fairly rare in your world it seems reasonable that the fantasy magic should require some special component just to make it notable and mighty! I feel it would be better if low level or temporary magics needed no components whatever, allowing them to be readily available and used with little risk. When you look at the cost of meta magics, it looks like later writers agree with me.

The Magical Focus of Future Fantasy Games Systems

D&D 3.5 magic is a huge subject and brimming with cool ideas. The problem is that there is so much to play with that it is hard to make it balanced in relation to other aspects and character types. This is a little strange when the writers went to so much trouble to standardise and balance the effects of spells. This predictable pattern seems to take a little of the character out of the magic system but I think this is only because the mechanics are so easily recognised. I have not explored 4.0 yet but am intrigued to read how well fantasy magic works; whether it looks at the physics of magic in depth, and bases the use and exploitation on founding principles.

The Best of this weeks RPG Bloggers Network

• Not since the dark days of the 1980’s has there been so much interest in post-apocalypse gaming. Enworld carries news of the new version of Twilight 2000, imaginatively called Twilight 2013.
• More publishing news from Enworld, an announcement of RPG Objects/ Amazon’s BookSurge print-on-demand deal. Meanwhile Geek Related reveals that self-publishing company Lulu has decided to commit commercial suicide.
• Fantastic materials for fantasy worlds in Netherworld Stories’ Magical Material Science
• How to excite your players with a wiki from Critical Hits
• A Butterfly Dreaming points us towards a handy resource for GM: Crime Library.
• Greywulf gets old-school with 4e by producing a random monster encounter table.
• D20 Source has a good breakdown on the difference between Pathfinder and D&D 3.5
• How to run a non-liner game you can be proud of is good advice from Dungeon Mastering
• It is enough to make you salivate. Traveller Anticipation from Purple Pawn
• For those of you on NaNoWriMo, LifeHacker has a handy utility to help you churn out those words.

A special thanks to Demons and Dragons for the link. I can’t read whatever you said about us so I hope it was nice. Also thanks to whoever mentioned us on Cirvis Maximvs . I’ve now joined the forum but the lack of a search function means I cannot find the link and thank the poster in person.

Why D&D Gods Make No Sense

There is a big difference between our real world gods and the gods in a D&D world. The gods in D&D worlds exist and are real (at least to the characters). The gods in our real world don’t exist are an act of faith. Despite this major difference, religions in D&D always mimic the structure of real world religions and this makes no sense.

Faith Based Religions

Putting aside the question of the existence of a god, all religions in the real world are based on faith not proof. Believers go to church or the mosque or whatever and worship in the believe that somehow their life will be better. Not imminently or even when they are alive but at least when they are dead, the afterlife will be much better because of their devotion to god.

Consumer Based Religions

Your average inhabitant of a D&D world knows that gods exist, they can see priests performing miracles all the time. In some high-fantasy worlds, they may even see the gods occasionally. There is no faith involved. The gods are real.

So why would your average peasant worship god X over god Y or even worship any gods at all?

The simple answer is a question - What is in it for me?

The average D&D peasant knows that all the gods want their worship just as they know that all the shop keepers want their gold. Consequently they will spend their worship accordingly. In times of war, they worship at the temples that offer the most protection, in times of plague, they will worship at the temple that offers the most healing. A temple that gives out “Cure Disease” spells to all that worship there is going to be more popular than one that charges its worshippers 250gp a time.

Brand Loyalty and Sports Fans

Despite D&D gods being reduced to consumerism, choosing which god or gods to worship will not be a logical choice. Economic and psychological studies show that people make the most irrational choices when spending their money. Why else do people follow sports teams that have spent years at the bottom end of the league? How much of your expenditure is spent on big name brands? You know there are cheaper or better brands out there but you still buy Apple or Nike or BMW anyway.

Geography will play a large part in a person’s religious loyalties. A peasant in a small village, with just one temple is going to worship there. Whole areas may be under the sway of one god, just like the real world where we have christian areas and muslim areas, sunni ares and shiite areas and so on. However, people in these areas may not have the choice of which god to worship but they have the choice over whether they worship or not. Even in areas where one god is dominant, the priests must give something back to their worshippers. If the clerics only sell their cure spells to the rich and don’t help the poor, the poor won’t come to the temple anymore than football fans will support their local team if only the rich actually get to watch the match.

Death is just a State of Mind

All real world religions make promises and threats about the afterlife that come down to eternal luxury or eternal damnation. Does this fit in with the realities of a D&D world? Priests can raise the dead, powerful priests can do it when the person has been dead for months or years. What do those people report when they come back? Have they been rudely pulled out of the halls of Valhalla, saved from a rectal examination with a red-hot poker or simply experienced nothingness?

Natural Disasters

Gods & religions have to explain why natural disasters happen. Sudden, terrible events need a reason and in the real world they have generally been blamed on “the gods being angry” and punishing the wicked. Does this make sense in the D&D world where the clerics have Commune spells? Would the gods try to claim credit for an earthquake, blame it on other gods, tell the truth about tectonic plates or simply admit their ignorance?

It’s Religon Jim but not as know it

How religion works in your D&D campaign is entirely up to you. It is a fantasy game after all. But it seems very unlikely that religions in a world where priests have miraculous powers everyday, will look and act like religions where the priests are just ordinary men.

This post is part of the November 08 RPG Bloggers Carnival