Commentary: DND v1

I have played every version of DND.  I wanted to give my comments on each version as we work towards 5th edition (currently in playtest version).

DND v1 (Basic, Expert, Companion, Master)

Pro

• Few rules (flexible to interpret)
• Basic settings (simple & unique abilities)
• Highly defined racial roles (Halflings, Dwarves, & Elves).  They support their racial community & create unique products.
• Weapons get more effective as it is used more.
• At level 9, characters settle & build cities.  This is a natural progression that they have exceled in the world & become leaders in their community.
• Characters have a unique epic path (creating & using minor to major artifacts). 
• All monster strengths are compared to character classes & power levels (ex: Fighter 4).

Con

• Fighters are overpowered in melee
• Rogues have little to contribute.  There is so much focus on theivery skills, most has to do in secret with no alternate roles.
• Druids have little to contribute.  There is too much focus on Weather events like Control Weather.  
• Wizards spells don't scale well.  A Fireball (spell level 3) can blowup a whole town.  A Meteor Swarm (spell level 9) is weaker damage.  They are very weak melee fighters for the begining of their careers (at least to level 5). 
• Clerics at spell level 9 have a Wizardry spell.  So they can cast any Wizard level spell.  This defeats the purpose of class seperation.
• Artifacts can be overpowered & breaks the game system as they become more invulnerable. 
• Monsters are what they are.  There was little to edit or modify monsters (more or less powerful).

Looking for updated materials that mimick DND v1?  Look at Basic Fantasy.  It is quite comprehensive!  I think it is a good system to get introduced to role playing game systems (I prefer more moden systems, but at its core, it does a lot of things right).
http://basicfantasy.org/

Playtest Reminder!

Hey gang, just a quick reminder that our very own Strategic by Design is starting up a D&D Next playtest campaign very soon (see details below). I hope you'll consider joining us for the game!

Tales of the Ternion

Coming soon, to a Front Porch near you...

It's been twenty years since I last ran a superhero campaign, and for a guy who loves comic books, that's way too long! I'm pleased to announce that a new superhero campaign, Tales of the Ternion, is now in development, using the Mutants & Masterminds system. I'm nowhere near ready to start, however, so check back for periodic updates.

Big thanks to Matt and Timothy for helping me playtest the rules and lay the groundwork for the narrative.

Profession: What do you do?

Our Career.  It is how we earn our income & make a living.  In a fantasy world, this is a little harder to seperate.

Adventurers go on quests, defeat horrors.
In city environments, characters can be consultants, laborers, or complete other tasks.

Life doesn't stop when you get back to town.  What characters do in the tavern or town has impact on the area & region.  Often whatever the NPC, villians, or monsters are doing in the area affects the character & its residents.

It is overlooked in every game system.  To me, this is part of the character's background & purpose.
For example, if you are an accountant, you are likely also organized & methodical.  These skills are part of how you approach problems in life & what you do.  Ignoring this insight is too limiting.  It is also a subset of your total background.  Maybe you like to rebel with friends at night, but enjoy the structure of your accounting job during the day (for example).  This trait is part of your background, but not part of your profession.  This is why it is important to distinguish the two.

Issue #0

Matt and I ran through a sample Mutants & Masterminds scenario today. It was fun...fast-paced and not overly complicated. Will this be the game system for our long-awaited return to the superhero genre? I still have a hankering to create my own d20 System superhero game, but this one ain't too shabby for the time being!

The Dark Knight Rises

Are you going to see The Dark Knight Rises this weekend?

What am I saying? Of course you're going to see it! And speaking of upcoming superhero stuff, there may well be a new Front Porch superhero campaign coming soon...

Playtest 5e

Interested in playtesting 5e?  Testing how spells work?

1) signup at Wizards of the Coast. 
2) make a comment below, we are looking for players.
3) Choose a playtest character

It will be a blog format so you can participate when you have time!
Enjoy!

Survey on Spells

If you've signed up for the D&D Next playtest (and if you haven't, please do so -- it's not too late!), you probably received an email yesterday with a link to a new survey. I encourage you to complete the survey even if you haven't had a chance to try out the playtest materials yet. This survey is about identifying the game's most important and iconic wizard and cleric spells. It doesn't require any knowledge of the playtest materials, and it's a great opportunity (especially for those of you who enjoy playing spellcasters) to give feedback on which spells absolutely need to be included in the next iteration of the game. So if you love Tasha's Hideous Laughter or Wyvern Watch or whatever, now's your chance to help ensure that they show up in 5e!

What To Do?

As many of you know, I was born and raised in upstate New York and moved to Nevada a little over four years ago. A lot of my stuff, including a large collection of RPG materials and comic books, is still back in New York. During a recent visit, I took stock of what I have and considered what to do with it. Getting it all out to Nevada seems like a major hassle.

Moreover, I'm not entirely sure I still want this stuff -- even my comic book collection. Why the hell did I buy all those issues of Starman, anyway? I want to hang on to a few RPG items as keepsakes (such as the original D&D red box set), but do I really need Alternity or Ninja Hero?

I could probably bring the comics to the store (Heroes Your Mom Threw Out) in my hometown and try to sell them, or I could sell them on eBay or in garage sales. The latter two options would work for my RPG stuff, too. Or maybe I'll just donate them to a game store (or to Front Porch folks who lay claim to particular items!).

Any thoughts or suggestions on what to do?

Followup: Background

Following my post last week, here is a practical template to follow to generate a character's background.  To me this IS the character more than any numbers.

Step 1: Now
List (at least) 5 background or concept elements that are important to your character. 
Could be a

• Character theme: Dark, Beacon of Light or Hope, prefers talking with summoned creatures
• List of important events the chararacter has experienced:  Family, Personal Failures or Successes
• Physical description: Tatoos, scars, blushes when talking with the opposite sex
• Personality: Could be a word.  I like having racial personality tendancies like Dwarves tend to be stubborn.  Not every dwarf is mean, stingy, & stubborn. 
• Hinderances/Advantages: This is what makes the character unique.  How fun is it to fight a pile of bugs when the fighter freaks out that he is terrified of them!

Step 2: Future
Two goals your character is working towards

• Could be short term: Get revenge on those that killed your family
• Ideally, should have at least 1 long term:  Become the best in your field, Restore peace to the region

Step 3: Resources
Secrets

• One the character knows: Part of a Shady Network,
• One the character does not know: This is fun to taunt & test the character.  It is what make it fun!
• One the game master makes: to keep the player on the edge of their seat.

Most people have friends & associates they work with or see semi regularly.  Each character should have a 'network' related to their purpose.  Some may hate battles & have a network of fighters.  Some might have a social network to gather information faster.

Step 4: People

• 2 Friendly: Help get what you need
• 1 Hostile: You rubbed them the wrong way & they are out to make your life difficult

People make up our life.  Who touches our & who's life we touch. 

Here is the direct link (created by a community member, not Wizards).
http://community.wizards.com/j_steele/blog/2010/03/02/10-minute_character_background

Some sample templates
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19713850/The_Ten-Minute_Background--Post_your_characters!

Lwcus, then and now

The character of Lwcus is interesting on several levels. Seeing the character information sheet from 1993 has produced a lot of interesting discussion between John and I. First, that he's actually stayed pretty true to what I envisioned way back in the day, even though I haven't seen this run-down in probably 18 years. Second, and even more critical, is the mention of a wife that passed away. Who, exactly, is this woman? What did she mean to Lwcus? How did she die?

Without giving away too many details, sometimes the way the game works just hands you something that fits without even realizing it. I think this is one of those cases, where a relatively throw-away line to produce some potential drama in Lwcus's life comes back decades later to dove-tail nicely with a more current idea.

As the FPGG has evolved, John has given us more freedom to develop our characters, contribute in major ways to where our story goes for any particular PC. In Lwcus's case, I came up with one simple thing "Poems on Passion and Prowess". That collection of poems has spawned new and exciting adventures. Not just for Lwcus and myself as a player, but I'd like to think to John, as the gamemaster. We live in the DC world, and inhabit these characters enough to understand them intrinsically. It's an awesome feeling to be able to have the power and freedom to really develop them in new and exciting ways.

Even though Lwcus's "future" has been written, there is a long distance between then and now for him...he is literally a living relic from days long ago.

Coming Soon: Dungeon Command

Over the past couple of years, Wizards has released a number of D&D-themed board games, such as Castle Ravenloft (and the very similar Wrath of Ashardalon and Legend of Drizzt), Conquest of Nerath, and Lords of Waterdeep. Next on the docket is Dungeon Command, a skirmish game in which each player selects a themed war-band (undead, drow, etc.) of miniatures to duke it out on a battlefield made of Dungeon Tiles. One interesting feature of the game is that it does not use dice; instead, players use a deck of cards to issue orders to their units. The first two war-band sets ("Sting of Lolth" and "Heart of Cormyr" -- evidently it's set in the Forgotten Realms!) are scheduled to be released on July 17.

Functional jewelry!

Anytime I don't have any dice around, this would come in handy don't you think?

Background: What makes you the individual you are

What makes us the person we are today? It could be that a summary of our experiences & perceptions have made us into the person we are. The failures, the things we tried to get away with but shouldn't have, the tears, the loss, the challenges, and the heroic self sacrifice for others.

In some game systems, background was what introduced the character to the story. It was often the last event they experienced before the characters meet them. A tyrant banished them, the town got sacked & they survived, family shunned them, etc. For simplicity, this works. If necessary, the game leader could expand the backstory of the character.

In major stories, like Harry Potter (child becomes famous for parents sacrifice & has to build own legacy), Star Wars (father tries to chose what is best, but family redeems), or Lord of the Rings (a son picks up a father's responsibility to save the world while reliant on friendship) the side plot & character motivation is the main theme. The challenges they overcome is the tools to advance the plot of their daily interaction in life.

In more current versions of Wizards of the Coast including the playtest version, background is confused with a profession (what you do to earn an income). As with my discussion on skills last week, we have personal, professional, and spirtual reasons for growth, survival, and motivation. Some we observed, some we learned formally, some we forgot, & some we learned (through trying something & failing).

I am expanding my series:
* Tune in next week & I will provide templates of what a background should be.  Simple, yet effective for players & story leaders.
* Tune in 2 weeks to see my discussion on Professions. To me, this is a subcategory of Background.

DNS changer virus

Along with the discussion earlier this week about Cyberwars, I urge you to visit this site.  It wouldn't hurt to also run checks from the following websites.  It can deny your acccess to websites, but is relatively easy to fix.

Go to this website to verify that you are ok.
http://www.dns-ok.us/

Death of the Internet by making it non-functional really is a scary fantasy setting to live in!

100th Post

This is the 100th post on the Front Porch blog. Big thanks to Timothy and Strategic by Design for their fun and insightful articles, and thanks also to everyone who's taken the time to read our musings on roleplaying games and whatever else pops into our minds on a given day. We hope you'll stick with us for the next hundred and beyond!

Sunday Comics

Work would be so much more fun...

Lwcus '93

August 6, 1993. That's almost 19 years ago. It was the date Timothy pitched the idea for his Fate of the Grand Duchy character Lwcus, who would become the longest-running player character in Front Porch history. Check out Timothy's email below...

Astute readers will notice that the original version of Lwcus was a thief (this was during the era of 2e D&D). He became a rogue in 3e and has found a new role as a warlord in 4e. How will this timeless character manifest in 5e? Only time will tell.

Cyber Wars

My BBC news app brought up a story of a potential "cyber war". For some reason, this struck me as somehow...prophetic? It shouldn't really, because the term "cyber war" has been bandied about for many years now.

But could that long-ago game, Cyberwars, become a reality?

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cyberwar-most-likely-to-take-place

Scary stuff, indeed.

Live Game Blog

Big thanks to Timothy for live blogging our Druid Cycle adventure today. We'll definitely do more of this in the future!

And for those of you who are familiar with the Druid Cycle campaign world, you may be wondering why Priam Romlin (who died over a dozen years ago) is alive and kicking in this adventure. Well, that's because today's story was a one-shot set during the elf champion's youth. It was great to see him again, if only for a little while. And it was even better to explore the early days of Timothy's legendary character Lwcus, who first appeared back in 1993. Chronologically, today's adventure took place before that 1993 campaign and provided some of the narrative basis for his later career as this world's most eminent writer and historian.

...where we're leaving our intrepid heroes.

Oh, even better. Avargin.

He's going to sing!

Oh, right.

That's what's in there.

What's in here?

Foes are vanquished!

Don't go around poking things.

It never turns out well.

Battle begins!

I like these new maps.

19+ 8 for a history skill check...

Maxed that one out.

Where are they headed?

They'll have to scale that net first...

Why it's Priam Romlin of course!

Who is waiting for Lwcus in the Chapel?

Young Lwcus returns!

VFP first live blog of a game!

The Chosen Children, Part 4: Roan

It's been a while since our last installment of the "chosen children" series, so without further ado...

Roan, the fourth of the seven children, is a dragonborn -- a race of proud, warlike humanoids who are descended from dragons. Her mother Katell died in childbirth, and now she is being raised by her father, a red dragon called Ironside. Ironside is among the most powerful living creatures in all of First Home, but he is viewed by many as a villain. Only time will tell how much of Ironside's ferocity and cruelty were passed on to young Roan.

Sunday Comics

Ha! Some days life feels just like this...