Adventures on the Oerth

A few months ago, I visited the GreyTalk / CanonFire Chat (a World of Greyhawk-themed chat, hosted at http://www.otherworlders.org/chat/cf/, which I regrettably cannot visit as much as I would like). Folks were talking about their current Greyhawk campaigns. That got me to admitting that I have 6 campaigns going at the moment. Their frequency varies and none of them are what I would call regularly scheduled, because married life, homeownership, and three kids (a teenager and two under five years old) means free time is slim. On the other hand, I am quite fortunate to have so many campaigns going (I do wish I could have them happen more frequently, of course).

In order of chronology [via real Earth time, not via the Flanaess calendar], here are the Greyhawk campaigns I currently have:

1) Pomarj/Blacktooth Ridge (Troll Lord Games A Series, using A0 & A1 with A2-A4 possible, depending on players' choice) mashup campaign with 3 players. This one had two others who have not gamed with us for some time now, but I hold out hope they will rejoin eventually. This campaign started with the C&C system but I've slowly steered it towards Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) as reimagined in Joseph Bloch's Adventures Dark and Deep (ADD, for short) from BRW Games. As one player finds the system too rules-heavy, I might work this towards Basic Fantasy RPG or Swords & Wizardry Complete, instead. I regret that I did not find out more about BFRPG and S&W Complete before this campaign began, as changing systems on players is unfair unless all are on-board with the idea. I will likely keep the changes behind the screen but let the players use the "skill" system C&C has.

2) Keep on the Borderlands Campaign: OSRIC campaign with my older son (my oldest overall). This campaign started when we had trouble getting games going after we had first moved in 2010. At that time, I had owned OSRIC for almost a year but had yet to try it. This one may start up again, but my son is happy playing in other campaigns for now.

3) Lendore Campaign: Another C&C campaign which I have also slowly steered towards AD&D, but have stuck to AD&D this time, as the players are mostly new. This one involves a friend, our sons, and my friend's brother. We don't get together as much as we would like, as they live in our former town of residence, but we hope to get session #4 under way soon; schedules willing.

4) Idee Campaign: I never ran a GH campaign here. This solo campaign for my oldest is slow-going and merely to fill in when a pick-up game is wanted by him or me. I started this one last spring, purely to run AD&D again for the first time "as is" since 1990.
[Oddly, talking about classic games during this session inspired him to want to try Gamma World (I own 2e & 4e), so we rolled up a GW character for him around the same time, but have yet to play.]

5) Welkwood/Gnarley Forest Campaign: Begun in July 2016, my wife finally succumbed to the fun and enjoyment that is found in tabletop role-playing games. 😁 She asked to go shopping for her own set of dice so that she could create a character or two. As my wife daily fights chronic anxiety and depression, I started her off in a solo campaign. There was no pressure for her to play with others, but after just a couple of months, she asked to join the Pomarj Campaign (#1 above). Here, too, I am using the Adventures Dark and Deep rules, but it is so compatible with original AD&D that it feels much the same. I would go so far as to say that it feels like AD&D with both the Unearthed Arcana and Greyhawk Adventures hardbacks involved, with no bloat or sugary-sweet aftertaste.

I gave my wife plenty of leeway. She searched through the Dragon Magazine CD Archive that I own and looked at other issues (old & not-so-old) on my shelves -- searching for classes that fit her ideas for the two PCs she was going to create (I rounded out the party with 2 NPCs to give her PCs a well-rounded group). She chose fighter for one character's class and magic-user for the other. Then, like we kids did in the "olden days," she created a "stable" of other characters so she would have others from which to pick should something untoward happen to her originals. I let her select everything from the archetypical classes to prestige classes from later-era games. I enjoyed breaking down the one prestige class she chose into a class that better fit Original and Advanced D&D.

6) Castle Audubon Campaign: This campaign just might be my proudest. In April of this year [2017, for time-traveling blog readers from the future], my then 3 year-old son (with a whole 2 sessions of Hero Kids RPG under his belt) asked his older brother and I at the dining room table one night if we would play Dungeons & Dragons with him after dinner. My older son was willing, so I quickly ran to the computer and printed out the ruleset for Swords & Wizardry Light. In minutes, the boys rolled up their PCs (3d6, in order). I spontaneously decided to run an old-school dungeon like in the original D&D books where there was an old abandoned castle ruin near a town and the PCs delved the depths of its dungeons. The small village of Audubon and its nearby site, Castle Audubon, were presented to the boys and off they went to plunder its treasures. As I thought about the town/castle relationship inherent in OD&D, I thought of Gary Gygax's article in The Crusader magazine from Troll Lord Games (issue 12, to be exact) and how he recounted his experience exploring the Oak Hill Sanatorium.

My 14 year-old decided on a fighter named Vomport with his ability scores while the 3 year-old chose to be a magic-user named Carvell. They have had several (nine!) short sessions so far, and even recruited their mom to join them at times. Both boys often talk about "playing again soon."

These do not include three possible games I would love to get going with other friends and relatives who have intimated that they would like to play, but schedules have not worked out yet. I have figured out that RPGs are much like their computer MMORPG counterparts: an excuse to get a "chat room" together with the game as the unifying object that brings everyone together. WOW. 😉

Happy gaming,
Michael

Gaming Simpler Is Gaming Better, a Theory

A recent blog entry over at Tenkar's Tavern regarding the popularity and "less is more" approach of Swords & Wizardry, both as a game and as inspiration for other games, got me to thinking. The game of Dungeons & Dragons expanded from its wargamer beginnings, became more and more detailed, saw its focus change from "players in a Dungeon Master's world" to "players wanting to play heroes in need of a willing referee," became increasingly crunchy and rules-heavy until gamers took the initiative to use its Open Gaming License to create other games (clones that mimic any of its iterations, Advanced or not, in "feel" if not mechanics) to splinter the hobby as much as new edition releases have, and then retreat towards the 2005+ Old School Renaissance or games that are D&D in everything but name like Paizo's Pathfinder RPG (a revised Third Edition D&D game). Erik "Tenkar" writes that many designers are tweaking games. This is once more like what Tabletop Role-Playing Game referees and players did in the 1970's and 1980's. "The rules are the rules" mentality that spawned a new generation of rules lawyers after 2000's release of D&D's Third Edition appears to be receding as players want more time playing in-game and less time fussing over rules, mechanics, and minutiae.

There were similar discussions to this, 10-12 years ago on Troll Lord Games' message boards. In the middle of the transition to 3.5 edition from standard third edition D&D, folks who became overwhelmed by the voluminous rules commented how having less things to manage in TLG's Castles & Crusades game was liberating. This was explained thusly: features that told what a PC could do in fact told what a PC could not do except for the few choices made in feats and skills. In the first seven iterations of D&D (OD&D, Holmes D&D, OAD&D, Moldvay/Cook B/X D&D, Mentzer BECMI D&D, AD&D 2e, & RC D&D) player choice was about making decisions in-game. Post-1999 player choice was a litany of decisions made on the character sheet, limiting what could be done by players once the game play was underway. Post-2005 games have mostly worked their way back to the "OSR style," even if they do not fully explain or realize the reasons for why simpler is better for many.

Of course, OSRIC and Basic Fantasy RPG released not long after C&C. By the end of 2006, there were three games intent on being simpler at the table (S&W would come along in 2008, by which time a few more "Old School" or "Clone Games" had been published, further taking the field to clone earlier D&D games for the sake of gamers who longed to play in a previous manner). By the beginning of this decade (2010-2019), unshackled Game Masters such as myself began to be able to adjudicate at the table once more rather than simply be the "to the letter" judge of the rulebooks-as-law.

I should note that those players who still owned their 1970's & 1980's books and never moved on to the newer editions of D&D that had Open Gaming Licenses never needed to take a circuitous route. They were still playing the games that others have tried to clone so that new material could be written for the older games. At least, that was the proposed reason for the OSRIC game being produced. Its popularity, though, spawned revisions if only to make the game more palatable to those who did not own or have access to the original Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game.

As Erik writes in his blog, what game masters have discovered in their wanting to run their own house-ruled versions of these OSR and Original School games is: It is easier to start with a simple game and add on house rules than it is to take a rules heavy game and subtract them. This is especially true of game systems where they have many interworking parts. Take a cog out of a machine and you get the same result: an unworking system.

Until next time, Happy Gaming!

Greyhawk, Rejoice Over Spouse's Selection

Greetings! Real life became incredibly busy in September, as it does every year due to school starting, hockey season starting, and a number of family birthdays. That led to a busy October (more birthdays, Halloween preparation), an even busier November (more birthdays, Thanksgiving preparation), and we-all-know-how-busy-December-is. Thus, blogging took a back seat to all of that and the busyness of being a parent of a 14 year-old son, a 3 year-old son, and a 1 year-old daughter brings. Now, though, I get to report on an awesome event!

"It" took me awhile to recover from the shock: "It" has finally happened. After six plus years as a married couple, my wife told me before the weekend of July 23-24 that she wanted to roll up a character and try her hand at Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TRPGs). I was so surprised and happy that I froze, in reaction. She made it known by asking if we could travel to a couple of gaming stores so that she could purchase her own dice.

After selecting two sets of dice containing the usual 7 dice needed to play, we rolled up a character later that week. (Did I mention free time is scarce?) It was, indeed, the same week that Gary Gygax Day occurs. My wife had rolled up a PC in Method I fashion (via the Advanced Dungeons & Dragon's Dungeon Master's Guide). She said she wanted to run two PCs, all by herself, so she could get accustomed to the rules and the game before trying to play with anyone else.

We have since played some form of AD&D either by ourselves in my wife's "solo campaign" and in a larger campaign with my son and my brother-in-law (now over two years old) a LOT since August 1st. It may have slowed down because of school, hockey, and the holidays, but I am so thrilled!

It is refreshing playing with someone brand new to Tabletop Role-playing Games (TRPGs). My wife knows of fantasy tropes because of her experience watching many sci-fi and fantasy movies & TV shows (like Legend, The Last Unicorn, Willow), reading MANY books, watching me host and run TRPGs over the last several years, our occasional watching of Critical Role on Geek & Sundry together, and through watching other people's tabletop games online. She is well-read in Mercedes Lackey's works, especially.

***WARNING -- CAMPAIGN LOG TO ENSUE (skip below for TL; DR version)***

Before long, Morna Raenar en Eryn (Olven, translates to "Storm Walker of the Woods"), olven magic-user of the Welkwood was created along with Zharina Török, human fighter of Sterich. My wife had no issue with placing her characters in my World of Greyhawk campaign. It did not take long to start playing. She came up with their meeting somewhere between Sterich and the Kingdom of Celene.

Zharina had previously stumbled upon an owlbear cub and named him Ozbert. Her family was put out by her adopted pet (figuring it would be dangerous), so Zharina took to the road. After meeting Morna, the olvenwoman invites Zharina to return with her to the Welkwood, where her father is Captain of the Guard of the Northern Welkwood, a Celene post, along the border with the Gnarley Forest. Morna suggests someone in Celene might be able to help Zharina with Ozbert's future (because owlbears are believed to become feral by the time they mature to adulthood).

At the start of the campaign, Zharina, Morna, Ozbert, and the pretentious red-tailed hawk, Captain Sable Diamond (Morna's familiar) reach The Gnarly Oak Coaching Inn & Tavern (thanks to +Steve C for sharing this cool locale!). It sits on the road between Verbobonc, an independent town to the west, and Narwell, member city of The Wild Coast to the east. Morna is greeted by Lamurne, the proprietor and family friend, and the traveling pair are seated while their animal companions rest outside. After the wench receives their orders, a group of four (one woman and three men) enters the Inn and sits at a nearby table. Morna and Zharina overhear their talking about missing children. The eldest male, Hagar, father to the other two men, seems to be trying to dismiss the woman's obvious worries while his son, the woman's husband, tries to console her. He scolds his father for taking the matter so lightly. It is revealed four of the missing children are the woman's. Nine kids are missing, 5 boys and 4 girls, in total. They range in age from 8 to 12.

While this conversation is happening, one of the dwurfolk enters the Inn and sits at another nearby table, his own empty mug already in hand. He has an empty scabbard (his sword being checked in upon entering, like everyone else) and a runic tattoo on his right shoulder. The dwur catches some of the conversation at the other table and tells of a band of goblins he had seen earlier this very day west of the Inn -- near the pond where the children were said to be fishing the day before, it turns out. Zharina asks the dwur for more details. She finds out that the kids' fishing equipment was gone when he had passed by, but their towels and blankets were still near the water's edge. Morna takes the woman outside to console her, as she cries at this news.

Zharina offers the dwur to join her in forming a search party with her olvenfolk friend, but he declines, as he is newly-retired from adventuring because he wants to open his own tavern. In fact, the dwur is here to see this very tavern, as its fame is widespread. He is thinking about building one like it, but with dwarven influence in its design, decor, and fare. "How does 'Tenkar's Gnarly Tavern' sound?" he asks out loud. He then introduces himself as Tenkar, one of the dwurfolk of the Lortmil Mountains. (The dwarven NPC is a nod to +Erik Tenkar and his wonderfully informative site and its encouragement of community within the ranks of the Old School Renaissance.) Tenkar suggests his friend, Arkzud, join them instead. Arkzud is Tenkar's contact here and former adventuring associate, he says. He then calls to Lamurne, asking her to fetch Arkzud. He follows Lamurne upstairs to Arkzud's guest room, when she replies that Arkzud is likely still in bed.

Zharina soon asks Hagar for provisions for the search and he dispatches his younger son, Gargan, back to their homestead to get supplies (torches, lanterns, oil, foodstuffs). Gargan gazes longingly at the warrior woman as he leaves, a smitten man.

A dwarf at another nearby table stands and addresses Zharina. A cleric of Fortubo, he holds his hammer aloft and says he will take Tenkar's place as "dwur substitute" in the search party. Zharina agrees to this.

Tenkar soon returns down the stairs, boxing the ears of a halfling, "Ye'd best make some money soon -- my coin was to pay for your travel here and find out if the rumors of the Gnarly Oak's grand design were true. That was weeks ago! ...You!" he says to Zharina, "You and your elven friend. Please take this miserable excuse for a hobbit and make him earn his keep. His sneaky ways may prove useful. Maybe he can help you find the children -- and goblins." At this, Arkzud bows and his feather promptly falls into Zharina's held mug of honey mead. "Charmed," she musters, probably wanting to sock the uncharismatic prat.

***END OF CAMPAIGN LOG PORTION***

Rather than bore with more of what was a typical Tavern party formation, suffice to say my wife enjoyed the role-playing elements of the game and slid into it without thinking about it. Earlier in the week, she balked at talking "in character" but once it happened that a NPC was talking with her, she just used her normal voice to "be" both Zharina and Morna.

Since that first week of August (when we first began actual play), we have played quite a bit -- even if for no more than 30 minutes. My wife has put together ideas of a "stable" of characters like my brother and I used to do in the 1980s. Both PCs were discovered to be the youngest of 5 (per her using the other sourcebooks to help flesh out the characters' family backgrounds) and she later fleshed out all 5 elves and 3 of the 5 humans (deciding 2 of those are merchants in Sterich).

As my TRPG preferences are 1e AD&D (AKA OAD&D, but also includes the very nicely put together +OSRIC game book) and Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert D&D (AKA B/X D&D), I am trying to keep the game more in tune with them than with the games played since 2000. I am trying to come up with more ideas on how to find a middle ground, though. I re-read a Facebook discussion I have had over the years with Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (AS&SH) creator, +Jeff Talanian, and he hit on things I want to avoid. Where I prefer AD&D most is in terms of class abilities. Thief skills, for instance, are given a flat percentage chance in AD&D and increase over time, as the thief increases in level. In more modern games (3e D&D, C&C, etc.), the thief's rogue's bonuses to his abilities increase, but so do the "Difficulty" or "Challenge" of the things he is trying to accomplish. As Jeff put it, locks are locks in AD&D but in the newer games the increase is countered by more difficult locks. It is unnecessary sliding of both ability and challenge. In video game terms, the world levels with you -- one of the characteristics of Oblivion (of The Elder Scrolls series from Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks) that I loathed when I first tried playing it. I am keeping an eye on +Chris Gonnerman's +Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game to inform my game. The whole reason for switching to AD&D back in 1982 was because that's what kids in our new town were playing when we moved there. My brother and I liked the idea of separating race and class. BFRPG keeps that separation while still feeling like Moldvay Basic/Cook Expert. Some of the tools in the aforementioned AS&SH and +Joseph Bloch's +Adventures Dark and Deep are getting consideration, too, as I have mentioned before.

Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Happy gaming,
Michael

P.S. I'll probably abandon the shtick of naming each blog via the G.R.O.S.S. formula soon. Hopefully, sticking to it this time did not prevent folks from reading.