Getting Back In The Ring

I've put this off for far too long.

If you read that sentence and heard Ian Holm's Bilbo in your head, then we're off to a good start because that's exactly how it sounded when it came to me. I've been away from a couple of things for too long now and it's time to get back to it. What am I talking about? Gamemastering and writing. I believe I've taken steps to help fix that. 

First one's easy: start running more games. As you can see from last week's posts, I've started running a mixed online/in-person D&D game but that's just the beginning. While I love my Ottawa playtesters, I need to whip out a lot more playtests for ScreenPlay and stress test this mofo. Which is why I'm looking into starting up a semi-regular online group to do that very thing. Details are still being worked out and I haven't established anything other than a fist-clenching oath to get it done, so stay tuned. If you're interested already, comment below. 

The next is as critical to Gamemastering and playtesting and so much more: writing. With my career and personal life demanding so much attention lately, my time at the keyboard has suffered for it. That needs to change and I may have something to help fix that. Sure, sure, setting aside time is great and a lofty goal but I need something suitable to my current lifestyle. 

To paraphrase the South Park kids, I learned something this weekend. I'm a morning person (who also likes staying up late but that's a different matter altogether). The sooner I can get to a task, the sooner and better it will be done. Over the weekend, I happened to wake up extra early on Saturday while the missus slept in and spontaneously decided to finally clean up the garage. With nearly three uninterrupted hours as people sipped their morning coffees and stores prepared opening for business, I cleaned and ended up with a better result than originally intended. Get an early start, get better results. Translation: I need to write something as early as possible in the day to get something done. 

My plan (and it's Day Two right now) is to not putz around on any social media until after I've written at least 500 words on a project or personal entry. (Yes, that includes blogging since I can write that much easily in one sitting. I should also note this doesn't include work's social media as I gets paid to tweet for them.) 

Has it worked out so far? It's already the second day and I have an opening legend for High Plains Samurai and a blog post talking about how I'm going to get more writing done. So far, so good. 

The Lost Mine of Phandelver: Adventurers Assemble!

It begins.

Calling on old friends (some of whom I haven't rolled dice with since the early half of 4e) to answer the call for adventure, we set about crafting a party of young and eager adventurers. Yep, we started up our new D&D campaign last night. 

Originally designed as a Skype-only campaign, it quickly became a split between live at the table and Skype (not my preferred Google Hangouts but I never expect people to create accounts for anything and Skype is what they know). Dangnabbit if one of the players insisted on driving to my house every two weeks. While I normally dislike playing with this split, DMing is totally different - they have to stop talking and listen to me. So with one player live on stage and the others reporting from outlets across Ottawa, we rolled characters and killed goblins. 

And it was good. 

We have Ulthgar the dwarf cleric of Moradin, a stern and grizzled acolyte who dreams of rising to the ranks of power within his order. A dwarf of his word, he sees the signs left by the gods and those left by the wicked as guidance in how he will best serve his beliefs. 

Kazzarak is a half-elf barbarian from the frigid lands of Icewind Dale. Quick to step into danger and eager to right wrongs, his path lead him to Neverwinter in search of glory and riches in the dungeons of the Underdark and the battlefields of Faerun. 

Paiden, a human fighter, is the quiet member of the group but don't let his silence challenge your opinion of him. What he lacks in social skills he more than makes up for in a keen eye and quick reflexes, lashing out with his shield to protect those under his watch. 

Finally, we come to Rennik, a lightfoot halfling rogue whose early years spent at sea have now brought him to the shores of Neverwinter looking for work. Ever eager to return to the rolling waves of the ocean, he displays incredible deftness skulking about the forests and cities of the mainland. Perhaps there is more to this fellow than meets the eye.

After assembling their characters (using a mixture of players with the new PHB and those with only the Basic PDF), we went through a very basic introduction of how everyone came to know each other and was hired on by Gundren Rockseeker to deliver simple mining goods to Phandalin. Of course, they fought goblins and did a fine job of it too (only 4 points of damage was taken, thanks to the quick reaction of Paiden sparing Kazzarak the horrors of an arrow in the back). I won't go into any extended details of this prologue but things are already looking very promising. The group is quite eager to get started and I had a chance to go through my initial hiccups with any new system (even if it is something familiar like D&D). In two weeks, shit gets real.

If the news of a new edition of D&D (or you're just finding out that D&D is still alive and well), check out their website. 

Players Handbook Revealed!

I am the Warden!!

Oh, yes, I'm actually that excited about the "return" of D&D that I brought back the classic intro to every blog post. Not that the excitement ever went away, but I've felt out of touch with it these past three years as my interests turned to more independent, modern and assassination-y things. While I enjoyed playing both 3rd and 4th editions for a time (and currently play in a weekly Pathfinder game on Fantasy Grounds), my gradual time-out was a combination of player, DM and publisher exhaustion. I had run my course with them and simply felt the need to move on to other games. Mostly working on my own, mind you. 

Now that D&D has relaunched the brand with a much cleaner and refined edition brought about by a couple of years of excellent marketing and public development - and a whole new attitude towards the game - the new Player's Handbook arrived by way of courier yesterday and I fucking love everything about it so far. To keep things simple and avoid clogging my day (and yours) with a never-ending post about it, here's a simple point-form list of what I love going into my first 5e session tonight. (Just a hint, that's how much I've embraced the new edition - I emailed a bunch of old players from the precious 4e group and strung together a new group.) 

• It truly has undertones of the previous editions. Aside from the heavy influence of 3e mechanics, there are some carry-overs in approach from 4e (mostly with monsters and adventure design) and the complete separation of miniatures feels very AD&D to me. Add to that how the cover and binding of the new PHB has undertones of the original AD&D PHB - red/orange colour scheme with a black bar running down the spine. Maybe it's just me, but it definitely feels like they borrowed elements from all editions in the visual design as well. 
• This edition's core feels incredibly simple to learn and play. While all games have this premise in practise, most of the big ones fall victim to their own gluttony and start to overload it with minute details and conditions. 5e feels simpler. (I say "feels" because I've yet to run anything myself and have only played the early playtest editions, so this is all based on initial read-throughs.) As an older dude with less time on his hands than the glory days, not getting bogged down with specifics, stacks of DCs and exceptions for every little detail is HUGE. This one's perhaps the biggest reason why I'm jumping back into the fray and is part of a promise I made to myself getting back into D&D. Stick with the core material and published adventures. Save my time and energy for the table, not the time required beforehand. Not needing to review 25+ pages of rules content before every game helps. 
• It's familiar yet refreshingly new. As mentioned above, much of the mechanics and character options feel very 3e with some new touches that make a significant different in my opinion. For example, the paladin's Divine Sense ability is nothing extreme or overly powerful but gives the class a whole new outlook and roleplaying opportunity. That's why many of the original class and racial features continue to work in this new edition but with more simplicity. An opportunity attack is just a reaction, everyone gets them and you only get one reaction per round. Done! Little alterations can make all the difference. 

The true test comes tonight (and possibly in two weeks, seeing as tonight is really just character creation with the hopes of starting off the adventure, Lost Mines of Phandelver, from the Starter Set). Will these opinions hold up the Court of Gameplay? Let's find out. 

It Doesn't Work Like That...

This post begins in the most compromising of situations, yet one where I'm sure most of us end up getting our news in this new age of social media. I was using the little boy's room, scrolling through Twitter to catch up on everyone's Gencon plans when it became apparent that everyone was talking about one of my icons. Unless you've just turned on your own phone, TV, or opened your eyes and removed sound-defeating headphones, you know exactly who I'm talking about and why.

After the initial shock of Robin William's death came the even greater blow - suicide. Since then, I feel as if I've lost a parent, an idol I've looked up to as a beacon of the improvisational mind unlike any other we've ever seen and may never see again. Perhaps were it not for the nature of his demise, had he passed away from old age or even from a condition we already knew about in great detail (he did have a history of heart complications), it would have been an inevitable conclusion to a tremendous life. Sure, it would be sad to know there would no longer be a new Robin Williams joke, but as the final punch line before leaving the stage as all performances must come to an end. This is not the end any of us were expecting and so grief is mixed with shock.

That's not why I'm taking to the blog today of all days. As much as I'd like to go into my favourite jokes, performances, and films (which there are many), my heart is filled with loss and confusion. I've never met the man. Save for one glorious night when I caught him performing live in Ottawa less than three years ago, he was someone who bounced manically across my TV and blasted out one brilliant joke after another from my speakers. Yet I feel like I've lost a deep connection to a kindred spirit. I'm at a loss and feel uncertain as to why I would feel this way about the death of a celebrity and artist. Perhaps this is what Elvis fans went through on their fateful day all those decades ago.

Perhaps too it is because his depression has now become blatantly apparent that I'm struck with his passing. As someone who's faced such demons personally and through those close to my life, this is the first time someone "close to me" has made the final judgement on their life and it's truly shaken me to the core. Here I sit at my desk, quiet and passive, unwilling to participate in casual conversation or basic interaction. I do what I need to do to get the job done before going home and... well, we'll just have to see where these emotions go from there.

It's remarkably easy to think that if only someone suffering from depression had expressed it sooner, we as a people could have done something to give them reason to push those thoughts aside and continue to be part of our lives. But it doesn't work like that. While I'd like to believe that if we knew what he had planned yesterday, thousands of us would have raced to his home, pulled him aside and hugged him, told him how much his gifts mean the world to us, and hope that this outpouring of emotion would be the key to unlocking his happiness. But it doesn't work like that. None of his positive elements - from his career to his family - were enough to quell those thoughts telling him he was unworthy of life. In his mind, there was only one rational option and it's one the majority of the world finds a coward's way out or an unfortunate end to a brilliant man. There were no warning signs, nothing to give those closest to him reason to keep a closer eye and an effort to correct those horrible thoughts. If that was the case, today would be another day with him in it and we'd be all the happier. But it doesn't work that way.

Perhaps that is what strikes me. The sudden disappearance of someone's spirit in the blink of an eye, one that was snuffed out by their own hands. And the fear that as someone close to another with severe depression, there is nothing you can do to stop them. Honestly, all you can do is provide your support, your love, your admiration and give them opportunity to decide for themselves. Perhaps what shakes my core is knowing this may not be the only day this feeling haunts my soul and that, when it comes down to it, there's nothing I can do except offer as much love and respect as possible. The rest is up to the afflicted individual; the choice is up to them.

There are a few facts about depression I do not adhere to and some I feel are misguided efforts, but we all deal with our burdens in our own ways. If medication is what aids you, all the more power to you. If it's emotional support, so much the better. Whatever you feel keeps your head above the water, it is the head that gives commands to the body to continue paddling. All we can do is encourage you to keep kicking. The rest is up to you. 

First Aftermath: ScreenPlay's Premiere

Phew! 

If you've had a chance to read the latest addition to Under the Hood (http://roleplayerschronicle.com/?p=44692), take a moment and read about my anxiety going into this past weekend's first playtest of ScreenPlay. Then come back here to the present. 

Now it's done and there's been time to digest. Suffice it to say - and not intending the brag - but holy crap was that article bang on! The game went very well (other than rather lengthy mechanics discussions that went on a bit too long for one player, but he was a good sport about it) and there are definitely some revisions ahead. Yet the overall feedback was excellent! Those who loved it adored it and those who enjoyed it thoroughly did so. The main issue is some redrafting of gameplay and redefining (or even altering completely) descriptions, outcomes and reactions. Still, it worked as it was intended and the reaction was wholly positive. 

Phew! 

I've had some time to ponder these changes and there'll be a list coming up in next week's Hood so keep an eye out for it. 

Developing Ironbound

With the first ever playtest for anything ScreenPlay going down in less than four days, I've been working on drafting up some rough material for Ironbound. What is Ironbound, you ask? What a great question. Allow me a moment to introduce it.

Ironbound is a dark fantasy ScreenPlay where magic has been outlawed and its practice declared a sin by the Church. Picture a D&D-style world without the benefit of high magic merged with the harsh times and environment of Iron Age Europe. To combat these magic-users and the monsters they summon, an elite unit of soldiers known as the Ironbound are dispatched to investigate rumours of magic use and eliminate them using any means necessary (including the study - but not the practice - of magic). In this world, iron is considered a symbolic counter to magic and its affinity with the natural world (magic operates as a form of witchcraft with fireballs, summoning undead, and all that standard fantasy stuff).

In this game, the crew takes on the role of assorted members of the Ironbound dispatched to the town of Behn upon word of grave robbing and a kidnapping. While I have a few rough notes and mental concepts for the setting, my main goal is to have all the player components ready to rock and roll by Friday night and that means developing roles for the players.

Roles are a tricky part of character development in ScreenPlay, particularly for the lead roles. While there has to be some locked-in aspects to work with the story I have in mind, some flexibility is required for players to contribute to the final script. That is the purpose of gameplay - shared storytelling. It's why working on Ironbound as my very first ScreenPlay can be very helpful because the lead roles can be as loosely defined as roles within a medieval military unit. They must also simultaneously allow each crew member (player) opportunity to add their own personal touches to the cast they created for these roles, so here's what I have in mind.

Using the scout role as an example, here's how roles could possibly function in the game using the draft as it exists at this very moment.

The Scout

Magic-users typically dwell in the dark corners of the forests and thrive on the protection of unchartered territories. The Ironbound rely on scouts to guide them safely to their destinations, avoid detection, and discover clues to the successful completion of their missions. While no two scouts are the same, they are trained in the arts of tracking, stealth, infiltration and wilderness survival.

Equipment: Unlike others within the Ironbound, scouts are not commonly equipped with the heavy weaponry and armour of their brethren. As a scout, your cast member can start off with your choice of one-handed melee weapon (+1 steps to attacks; +2 damage), ranged weapons (+1 steps to attacks; +2 to +4 damage), and leather or hide armour (+1 steps to defence). Feel free to flesh out the rest of your scout's equipment as needed.
Grapple (Minor Complication): Scouts can place this Minor Complication on an opponent so long as the scout can use both hands (with at least one unarmed) and applied stealth into their triggering description. You must spend 1 Stamina to apply this Complication. The opponent is grabbed from behind by the scout and cannot move, speak, or make any noise capable of attracting the attention of another cast member without removing this Complication.
Skills: Scouts gain +1 steps when providing a description or reaction involving tracking, stealth, infiltration or wilderness survival.
Unseen: Whenever a scout has the benefit of moving in concealment or can take advantage of heavy coverage (such as behind a thick canopy of trees or bushes or a wall), you gain +1 steps to any Potential used to silently approach and attack a single target.
Wild Past: Scouts are commonly discovered in many backwoods outposts and uncivilized corners of the country. Develop a backstory for your scout with this approach in mind and include a superstition or biased opinion/viewpoint of magic in your character's personality. When you effectively play out this aspect of your character, you gain +1 steps to resist the effects of a spell.

What Do They Mean?

Even if you've had a chance to read the current iteration of ScreenPlay (available for download here), some of this means squat diddly to you. Allow me to explain.

Equipment 

For your average role-player, this is all standard fare but the mechanic of weapons and armour is a little different. One of the catches for each ScreenPlay is that they'll each require their own shopping list and I haven't gone into great detail on that as of yet. Not until I can see how often Complications actually come into effect and see a game in action. I do have a general guideline for Ironbound at this point.

One-handed melee weapons provide +1 steps to attacks and feature no other special features. They're nothing fancy and you still need to get in close to use them just as you would with unarmed combat. Two-handed melee weapons provide greater harm to your opponents and provide +2 steps in combat but they come with an alternate Complication that can temporarily eliminate them from your list of resources. Ranged weapons grant +1 steps and the advantage of distance and Ironbound's weapons mean they all come with the alternate Complication titled "Out Of Ammo," meaning you either bust the bow string, lose your arrows, or anything else you can think of at the moment. Armour simply increase your opposed roll by +1 steps for light to medium and +2 for the heavy stuff.

Grapple

I'd like for every lead role to provide a Minor Complication in the character's repertoire and this one seems the perfect fit for a scout. To ensure it's not abused (particularly against extras), it comes with a mandatory cost of 1 Stamina should a scout fail to completely subdue an opponent. During my first go at this role, it seemed like such a thing should be a Major Complication but that would require grappling to having far reaching consequences beyond normal subduing of your enemy. This way, a scout who fails to kill an enemy with a stealth-based attack can at least prevent them from calling out for help or running away.

Skills

A common provision for roles, this is a very basic skill system where the cast member gains +1 steps under very interpretive conditions.

Unseen

As with Skills, the Unseen ability allows a scout to benefit from poor visibility when they're trying to do their thing. It's a way of offsetting what I'm expecting will be a weaker role in open combat and based on my experience with thieves/rogues from other fantasy games, it really places the emphasis on the player to interpret how they can apply such an ability.

Wild Path

This is something experimental I'm trying for lead roles, something where the player can stretch their imagination and put their own spin on a role while gaining something for their efforts. In this case, finding a way for the scout to gain an extra bonus against magical attacks and effects based on their unique history. To be honest, I'm not sure if the wording on this one will stand the test of time, but it's enough to get the ball rolling and develop some feedback after the playtest.

What do you think? Good potential, too questionable, or there's really only one way to find out as you reach for your dice?

Download Version 1.01 of ScreenPlay's rules from here.

You can learn more about the development of ScreenPlay (AKA the Phoenix Project) on the Roleplayers Chronicle site.

And I'd like to give credit to Fraser Ronald for inspiring me to try signing all my blog posts with related links. If you're interested in anything you see here, you'll be equally or more happy with his own work and can find it here. 

Let The Judgement Begin!

And so it's time to start up the engine and get this new game out there into the world. On Sunday, I announced the first two phases of Project Phoenix in the 100th post of my regular column on Roleplayers Chronicle. First, there's ScreenPlay, a free supplemental RPG where players take on the role of Writers developing a movie script in co-operation with the Director (AKA the GM). Second comes High Plains Samurai, a mash-up of post-apocalyptic westerns and magic powered by the ScreenPlay engine. You can read all about them straight from the original post. 

That's all the technical talk. For my personal blog, I want to write about the personal challenges of undertaking this project. What crazy crap is going through my mind? What are my worries and beliefs? What are the behind-the-scenes going-ons in the eventual build-up of these games and this system? All of them are the kind of questions I'm looking at posing right here. And the first one is perhaps the most obvious...

What the hell was I thinking?!!

Right now, I'm nervous. It's been a while since I not only had a new game to plug, but maintained any significant presence online. Ever since the start of my new job (ironically as a Social Media Specialist), I've been almost entirely focused on my work's SM presence and not my own. With ScreenPlay (and eventually HPS), I need to get back on the horse and start plugging. Am I confident in my work so far? Definitely. I really like the tone and feel of ScreenPlay and honestly feel very proud of how different it is from Killshot. One thing I wanted to avoid after the Killshot Reloaded Kickstarter failed was failing to develop my game design skills further. I didn't want to limit myself in design styles and there are considerable differences between Killshot and ScreenPlay. With those differences come unique challenges, such as hoping those who appreciated my earlier work will like what they see in my new work.

It's all water under the bridge right now because the 9-page early draft of the rules has been posted for public scrutiny. There's no going back now. The next step is taking those written rules and putting them to practise. The very first ScreenPlay playtest goes down on June 18th with a little dark fantasy script I like to call Ironbound. I'll keep you posted as we get closer to that day. Until then, I have a paper bag to breathe into.