I live a couple of blocks from Brooklyn Strategist, the "game space" featured in the article. When it first opened I didn't expect it to last a year. Instead they've gone from strength to strength and more than doubled their size, moving into an adjoining space that had been an architect's office. They have approximately six large game tables which are constantly at capacity. They also have a wall with a library of hundreds of board games that I marvel at. I love that I live in a time and place where such an endeavor can succeed. I only wish I had something like this when I was a kid. Instead, I had our school D&D club which lasted a month before a parent complained that it was devil worshipping and had us shut down (circa 1982/3).
The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
191–200 of 246 posts
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would strongly suggest you take a look at "The Lazy DM" by Sky Flourish [0]. He has other books that are pretty good also. This method of running games will get you going immediately and takes almost no preparation. You will stumble a couple of times when you first try it, because it feels unnatural versus drawing everything out ahead of time. But once you get used to it, you'll never go back, and you'll be able to…
This looks really interesting — the only reason I don't run more games more often is the time burden. At a glance it appears to be focused on the various D&D editions + Pathfinder, and was published pre-5th (though I can't find a publication date on the site). Is it generalised/generalisable enough for use with other source material and RPGs? In other words, is it D&D specific?
Yes, absolutely generalized. It basically outlines a generic "world/story engine" using index cards and a kind of "rule of threes". I've used this in all kinds of systems: Shadowrun, D&D, Pathfinder, AD&D, Star Wars d20, etc. It's totally usable in any system. It cuts down on the preparation time required by orders of magnitude, seriously.
One tip that I use in every game that is incredibly useful and isn't in this book (or Sly Flourish's other great book, "Dungeon Master Tips") is to have three NPCs who represent "Money, Power, and Fame" and are always on the move. Their storylines develop even if the players are not interacting with them. Remember "Fame, Money, Power" and create a single NPC to represent each of these three things. For example, you could have a local baron who is hungry for power, an evil guildmaster who is trying to expand his influence over local trade routes for money, and a retired, good-hearted adventurer who helps out new adventurers at the local adventurer's guildhall because he enjoys the fame and recognition.
Each of these three NPCs will have some immediately obvious conflicts which will generate storylines you can very easily improvise. I don't even need to give you an example since you can probably think of some conflict in those three examples just off the top of your head. These three NPCs also have easy access to each of those three things (money, power and fame respectively) and typically, at least some of your players will be motivated by this to some degree. That makes for an easy carrot-and-stick for players. Do your players need money for an expensive spell component to save the mayor's daughter? You might find the guildmaster willing to pay a handsome reward for completing a small side quest, for example having the players bluff or sneak their way into the baron's palace during a party and steal some important documents. The local baron of the land can probably give you the power to raise a small militia to stop a rampaging band of orcs in the area. Does the king's court have no idea who you are? It turns out the retired adventurer might be willing to write a note on your behalf, if only you could do him a small favor...
And the important thing is that you should always be moving these three NPCs along their life paths even if the players aren't around to see it. This is very easy to track with your index cards. And if one of these NPCs is killed or retires or somehow drops out of the game, you should come up with another to replace them. Perhaps the evil guildmaster has the baron assassinated, and now that he's had a taste of power after his guild is given control of the barony, he becomes your "Power" NPC, and a rival guildmaster becomes the new "Money" NPC. See how easy that was? And you can do this in your sleep really, so it works out great for the method described in The Lazy DM.
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#193Fantasy wasn't mainstream then, and now it is. Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Harry Potter kickstarted fantasy into the mainstream conciousness. It's no surprise that a growing acceptance of the genre in the large would also lead to a growing desire to participate in it, and the streamlined rules and whatnot are just a little boost to help in that direction.
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#194I'm not sure if it's resurrecting, or just improving it's image, either way it's welcome. Still, it is sad that it is so focused on one game: D&D. It's a decent game, particularly fifth edition, but I can't help finding it a bit... um, artless. Which isn't a problem, sometimes that's fun. But when there are so many amazing and sophisticated RPGs, with game mechanics that expand the form and support interesting play,…
Actually, D&D is a very American thing. In Germany we have a pretty active Pen & Paper scene as well, but D&D is not so common. Instead, the "major" system is DSA (The Black Eye). But I have a feeling that we have a higher variety of systems played on this side of the sea. I played D&D once and didn't like it that much. Too much focus on being the hero, too much encouragement of powergaming for my taste. But that mig…
As an avid boardgamer, I've noticed there's a big difference between American and European board games (and probably also table top RPG frameworks) in the sense that the American tendency is to favour luck and hail Mary rolls to save the day. Eurogames tend to be focused on resource management and long term strategy. So definitely a cultural thing. Both systems do have their merits, but "rolling for combat" is traditionally associated with "Ameritrash" games, a term used both lovingly and derogatorily.
I see that The Dark Eye does use rolling for combat, but it calculates armour differently, in a more predictable manner (for example, in D&D armour makes you less likely to be hit, whereas in The Dark Eye it makes you take less damage) which I think demonstrates the different tendencies.
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, D&D is a very American thing. In Germany we have a pretty active Pen & Paper scene as well, but D&D is not so common. Instead, the "major" system is DSA (The Black Eye). But I have a feeling that we have a higher variety of systems played on this side of the sea. I played D&D once and didn't like it that much. Too much focus on being the hero, too much encouragement of powergaming for my taste. But that mig…
As an avid boardgamer, I've noticed there's a big difference between American and European board games (and probably also table top RPG frameworks) in the sense that the American tendency is to favour luck and hail Mary rolls to save the day. Eurogames tend to be focused on resource management and long term strategy. So definitely a cultural thing. Both systems do have their merits, but "rolling for combat" is tradit…
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Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#196Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "It's like programming languages, sure you can do anything in D&D (≈ Java, perhaps?)" I love it. But I would choose different languages: AD&D: C D&D 3.5: C++ D&D 4: Java/C# D&D 5: C++11 Fate Core: Python :)
In fairness to Java/C# I think D&D 4 might be better represented as Scratch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratch_(programming_language)
I actually heard that D&D 4 was even more rule-based/tactics ... so maybe even ADA? :D
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#198Does anyone remember the MUD [1] days ? It was a terminal text based D&D where you could connect to a server and create a character and play with other people. Every mud service was a completely different world you could explore and had different characters. You would team up with people and go slay monsters to gain experience and level up or just hang out and do stupid stuff. You could use a dedicated mud clients li…
My 11yo plays Minecraft and one of her activities is roleplay, which is 90% text based since graphical character actions are so limited. I think there's a potential for a resurgence of things like MUDs.
I also have a 17yo who's into writing, and I plan on working with her to put together some interactive fiction that resembles MUDs.
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#199I got into DnD in 3rd edition and played it every weekend throughout high school.
However, once I started teaching this game to other people, even with the "fixed 3.5" Pathfinder, I realized it was super complicated. It requires such a big time investment from the players to figure out what they're doing, especially if they come from a video game background where they want to have "the best".
Now, I use Savage Worlds since it's much quicker, less complicated and you can pick your theme. Only problem is that it requires a more invested GM if you want the same texture as in DnD.
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#200My campaign started in 1978. We're still playing. Over 60 players have come and gone, but the current crew has a half-dozen of the original players from the 70s and early 80s still going. We've outlasted at least 6 marriages, lots of moving (I currently Skype in, but will be moving back home next year), and all manner of turmoil. When I've been too busy or burnt out to DM, someone else in the group has stepped up to fill the gap.
It's hard to schedule because of family and work obligations, but we are pretty close to monthly.