"I'd Buy That For a Dollar!"

First of all, I would like to extend my sincere apologies to any readers I may have left at this point: I've been away for quite a long while, and it's entirely because of everyday life. Between work, preparing for marriage, and having two insane cats, I've very little time to give over to writing a blog. With that said, let's get to the fun stuff, shall we?

Something that can always add some believability and interest to any RPG is procuring supplies; whether you have to forage/hunt for your own food, find a reputable salesman for a vehicle, or keep your activities hidden from authorities, there's always something to be done in finding what one needs for a mission. Often times, a GM can just simply gloss it over: "you purchased X supplies for Y price, with little haggling." Sometimes, it can become a very involved discussion with the seller, with compliments, threats, haggling, even bribes going back and forth. The question is, when do you do one and not the other?

As an example, if the players have reached a new area and will need to establish new contacts (or be given an idea about how the locals operate, true or not), one is better off to role play the encounter; how much and how long is entirely up to personal styles and the expectations of the players. If the seller the characters are dealing with is an old friend or contact, one could be well justified in role playing an exchange of platitudes and then ending the encounter - after all, these folks know each other, and the players will have it in their minds how it went down.

Trying to get access to a place or item(s) one needs can be very interesting if the possessing party is wary, greedy, or even traitorous. Such encounters are best played to the nines, with accents, speech patterns, and full descriptions. Immerse your characters in the situation; let them feel the burn of the sweat in their eyes, the cold steel of the cheap desk that they're leaning on as they argue. One could gloss it over with "you wait around on the corner for about an hour, and finally find someone who will sell you Z for some amount of A," but it's best done only to expedite a lagging story.

What if your heroes need a fast get-away car, and quick? If they're all over the news, no car lot will sell to them, and fences will most likely want to charge triple their usual prices. Do the characters steal a car? Do they even have the ability? Never forget that in a varied group of people, someone is very likely to have the intelligence and skills to come up with something the characters might need, and without their being involved with some trader.

A great example is food in a fantasy setting: you could find a baker in the next town to sell you a loaf of bread, but if you're well equipped you might make your own, or alternatively be wiley enough to steal someone else's from their larder. Often a woodsman might offer to share his kill in exchange for help carrying back what he's just downed. How you play such scenarios is of course entirely up to you, but don't forget the benefits of having the characters scrambling up and down hillsides after a stag they've wounded in the hunt, or their coming to a town for provisions only to find that famine has raised the prices sky-high.

As a framework, many games often have rules and guidelines for GMs in need of some guidance: D&D has a town-building guideline which provides for how many levels or gold's worth of services are available based on the population; Alternity has full listings of what is available at specific places (in published adventure modules). Don't ever forget that as the GM, you determine what happens; if the group absolutely needs that getaway car, provide it for them - just don't be obvious about it without a good reason.

Nest week on Roy's RPG Tactics Blog: Who knows? It might be good.

I Am Alone, They Are Many

Well, it’s time for another installment of the RPG Tactics blog. It occurred to me this evening that I’ve not mentioned much in the way of tactics, and I think it’s time to remedy that. Over the course of a couple posts, I hope to share some ideas on ground combat. This time around, we’ll be discussing ways of attacking and defending in as many situations as possible.

Let’s start with a solo act: one unit on a board. Let’s assume they’re capable of both long ranged and melee combat, and have some form of protection. The first thing they’ll want to do is protect their flanks and rear, while assuring themselves maneuverability. Often this means getting above the opponent(s), either on a manmade or natural structure. From here, they can see the majority if not all of the opposition while still effectively attacking (or supporting other combatants).

If you can’t get the high ground, put your back or weakest side to some object that can ensure you won’t be attacked from behind without some notice - trees, a rock, a wall, anything can increase your odds of winning. If it can block your view of the enemies to your sides or rear, then it obviously blocks their views of you. This is both an advantage and disadvantage. Be ready to abandon that cover when necessary, whether for attack or retreat, and don’t be afraid to use the tools you have. If you’ve got access to magic or some other form of destructive force that’s useable at a distance, deploy it from that defensible position.

Conversely, if you’re on the attack, keep your enemies bottled into a tight spot. Ambushing them from the top of a narrow canyon or while they’re on a narrow mountain road will keep them right where you want them while you work your magic or ready your big weapons. Hit and run tactics combine with this style of attack very well. Conserve your resources in ambushes, and you can draw out the enemy and take them down piecemeal.

If you’re attacking only another combatant and are not bound by rules of honor, fight dirty. Throw dirt in their face, kick them in the sensitive parts, and be willing to use the terrain around you. Try tripping them and stabbing or shooting them where they lay. If someone’s wearing heavy armor or driving a land vehicle, run them into thick mud or water. If they’re lightly armed and armored, knock them into a ditch and force them to fight their way out. Most game systems have rules for holding the high ground and fighting dirty - use them! If your enemy suddenly throws mud in your eyes in desperation, it makes the situation (and thus the game) much more believable.

Something else that a solitary combatant can do is to use unique weapons. Whether swords, firearms, magic or missiles, things removed from the status quo will put your opponents off their game. Say the enemy mech before you is used for hand to hand combat; when you suddenly fire on them with a shoulder-fired beam weapon, they’ll reconsider the attack!

While it has been brief, I hope that this has sparked some ideas in the GM-folk and players alike. Next session, I’ll be discussing small unit tactics, and briefly touching on large scale tactics. See you then!

Set the Table With the Good China!

Alright, you as the Game Master/Dungeon Master/Story Teller/God in miniature have selected your game, arranged a playing schedule and gotten everyone started on character sheets. Hopefully by the time your first session rolls around you have had time to create your campaign.

Many well-run games have been created entirely on the fly and can last for long, long times provided that the GM and players have a very sharp memory. For example: my first real foray into non-AD&D gaming was an online version of the ROBOTECH RPG. I'd had the books for about a week but no one to play with here. Instead, I joined a group of friends in playing in a very off the cuff game which lasted years in some form (and is currently in its ninth year over at http://www.rdfrpg.com). The original GM of that game did nearly everything on the fly or from memory, keeping only a folder of our character sheets, a few quick tables for enemies, and a log of what we did last week. It blossomed from a group of 12 kids to over 65 active members in all age groups.

The most successful method of campaigning is still the most work intensive: writing it all out ahead of time. For a quick game not meant to last more than a few sessions, only a few notes may be necessary for memory's sake. A game that lasts more than just a couple of weeks may well require lots of set up, notation, and rolling of the dice.

So, now that you've got your system in hand, what is your setting? Is this going to be a short adventure, or the humble start to a long winding road for the players? The longer the game is going to last, the harder everything gets to be. Adventures, contact lists, histories and backgrounds all get more complex as a campaign evolves.

Start with the largest slice of your setting you reasonably can; let's assume one starts with a single planet. What color sun does it orbit? How are its seasons and temperatures? Does it have a moon, or multiple moons?

Next, move down a stage to the land the players will walk on: what kind of history does this world have? What are the major religious beliefs, the social climate? Are there other races about the planet? How do they get along? A brief history that can be expanded upon or referred to easily can answer all of those questions.

Is this game going to be combat intensive? Will anyone at the table need access to lots of dice, or writing space? If you play a power-gamer version of Vampire: The Masquerade, often the rolls can get very high very quickly. Some dungeon delvings may run so long or be so massive that an entire table could be devoted to just the map and any miniatures that are used. Once that has been completed, often everything is ready for the GM to pick the first adventure for the group.

If you want more depth, then by all means go into great detail! One of the more fascinating things about the Faerun setting for AD&D was the creation of a few minor races, and the alteration of some of the accepted fantasy races. The world was different from Earth in many respects, and not just topographically; entire species of plants and common animals were introduced and described, just to make the place seem different. Consider designing a map on a computer with some of the many software systems that are available for free use or direct purchase. Sometimes, these come bundled with free software that helps to create characters, situations, rewards, or even track an entire campaign.

Working out a map on paper with your own artistic talent can add to the overall experience as well. Hand drawn maps have an entirely different feel to it, something your players will notice right away. This is YOUR campaign, not some print shops! Maps for entire settings are best drawn carefully, and made permanent once you know what you want to include.

Maps of dungeons, military bases, pipe systems and what have you are best done on a per-game basis. The old stand-by of gridded paper usually works the best. With it, you can make a well regulated, even sided room, building or other structure, and know how far it is to what. Sometimes for combat systems (especially miniatures based systems like Battletech) the system is marked off in hexagons instead of squares. Depended on the combat system or your needs, either way can work so long as you know how you must use it.

Over time, extensive notes about non-player characters, settings, events, and scores are often key to the long-term success of a tabletop or online RPG. I'm not advocating that the GM has to have a detailed sheet for absolutely every NPC, town, and rock in their little universe; but if that GM has some basic stats and a quick description of the NPC on paper, and a flow chart showing where that ugly old man with the scar knows the players from the game may go much more smoothly.

I usually keep a little 3/4" binder for each campaign I'm running; inside will be character notes, an action order sheet (which will be posted eventually), game notes and maps, and copies of the player characters' sheets all go inside. The operating order of it is personal preference, but I like to keep all the character notes and combat sheets up front, with the group's progress directly behind them for reference. Any actual game notes I have will be sitting just beside the binder in case I need to check something.

One of the most important things to consider for your GM's notebook is use of flow charts. A flow chart can outline the entire campaign, the possibilities of an individual adventure, or who knows whom and why. They can take some time to craft, but are worth their weight in rare earth metals once they're completed. They're not for everyone, but they can be read by anyone and thus save some trouble.

Sometimes, I keep note cards in a tiny recipe box or check keeper for easy access. What is contained on those cards determines whether or not I'm willing to share them with the group I'm running the game for. The last stack of cards that I made was an alphabetical list of spells for D&D 3E; each spell was completely described on one card, front and back. This particular set of cards was kept around for both the players and the DM to use.

Using these few tools to your own liking may well help a new or failing GM to organize their thoughts and prepare their worlds for exploration by the players. No one says that all GM's must do it this way, but it seems to be universal that all the greatest hosts have done at least a few of the things listed here today.

Next time, something random!