October 2009

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Friday Links for October 9, 2009 (a day early)

October 8, 2009 in Advice, Design, Friday Links, GMing by Fitz | 2 comments

Welcome back!

Hi all!

I’m going to be gone tomorrow, so I thought I’d post my Friday Links a day early. Yes, it might warp the time-space continuum, but oh well. No worse than the large hadron collider. :)

  • Friday LinksUnique Tavern Encounters from the Bard of Valiant. You know when you read the first thing in a list of 11 and laugh out loud, it’s probably going to be a good list. This one is. I absolutely love the visual of having a bunch of burly tavern-goers drinking their grog though a straw!
    http://www.bardofvaliant.com/2009/10/unique-tavern-encounters/
  • From Held Action, we have a brief description of Spirit Mimics, such as the woman behind the counter in a diner that may never have existed. To me this is a great idea to use sparingly. The idea of a magic shop that moves around isn’t new, but maybe a phantom tavern that shifts from location to location with a unique set of NPCs. Would the PCs want to try and find it again?
    http://heldaction.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/phantom-diners/
  • Bigtime food for thought from the Emergence Design Weblog about making magic more mysterious. This is something I’m currently tinkering with in my own system and wondering about, so the timing is perfect. How do you balance the factors of game balance, rules, and knowledge to come up with something worth the PC’s time investigating?
    http://ruscumag.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/rpg-design-making-magic-mysterious/
  • In the “Things I Could Have Used a Few Years Ago” category (for a campaign based loosely on ancient Rome), Evil Machinations provides us with Roman names beyond Fred…
    http://www.rpggm.com/blog/2009/10/05/beyond-fred-roman-names-for-characters/
  • From Gnome Stew and John Arcadian comes “Johnny’s Five – Five Things About Your Game That Will Never Beat the Reality Test,” which really puts a damper on the “reality factor” of dungeon diving and adventuring in general. I think reality and the fun factor have to peacefully coexist, but there are aspects of the five things mentioned that I like to bring in now and then myself… such as having to drop a PC’s pack before going into a dungeon because the entrance is caved in and too small to get in. But who wants to have to deal with the eating and waste management portions during a game? Bring on the encounters and combat!
    http://www.gnomestew.com/johnnys-five/johnnys-five-five-things-about-your-game-that-will-never-beat-the-reality-test
  • From Akratic Wizardry, we have “The Duchy of Briz: Overview and Map,” which proves that you don’t have to have a huge setting location to find some adventure or story ideas. I love the fact that he worked in not only the history of the place, but provided hooks, such as the rumors of treasure in the cairns of Solan and the few who ever return from the hidden mounds of the dead. Great stuff!
    http://akraticwizardry.blogspot.com/2009/10/duchy-of-briz-overview-and-map-revised.html
  • From Gothridge Manor, we have some ideas on how to make Villages a bit more crunchy. Providing a bit of a skeleton for each village (max 4-5 sentences), makes a lot of sense to give you some ideas when the players get restless and want to stop in the next village for a drink… :)
    http://gothridgemanor.blogspot.com/2009/10/villages.html
  • From Bard of Valiant and Viriatha, we have some great things to consider for new characters. I especially like the idea of coming up with secrets for the character and passing one to the GM to pass to another player and coming up with the list of character traits!
    http://www.bardofvaliant.com/2009/10/8-new-character-tips/
  • In the wow category we have “Iconic Elements in Campaign Setting Design” from Badelaire at Tankards and Broadswords. I’m going to have to reconsider my own Immortals’ Wake and Phaedrus campaign settings with these iconic elements in mind. Great ideas.
    http://tankardsandbroadswords.blogspot.com/2009/10/iconic-elements-in-campaign-setting.html

So there you have it… Some wisdom from the blogosphere on all things roleplaying. :)

Have an awesome weekend!

–Fitz

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The Art of Lesser Wizardry, or How to Dabble in Magic Without Singing Your Eyebrows…

October 5, 2009 in Design, Magic, Seeking Feedback by Fitz | No comments

What is Lesser Wizardry? Does it mean you’re less of a wizard than someone who practices something greater? Not at all.

Old BookThink of Lesser Wizardry as the training wheels for a beginning wizard. Lesser Wizardry provides an opportunity for apprentices and students to learn the basics of wizardry without setting their hair on fire attempting to cast a ball of fire at an opponent.

So what is Lesser Wizardry good for? All those little tasks that might not seem like much, but can do many things for a budding wizard:

  • Add a bit of flair to your appearance when you’re out in public, such as providing a well-timed breeze to ruffle your robes to get the attention of those around you or to make sure your clothes are clean, hair combed, and hair shaved so you always look your best
  • Handle those little onerous tasks such as cleaning the dishes or wrapping a gift perfectly every time
  • Make sure you always have a pen handy, never lose your place in a book, or get up on time for an appointment after a long night researching in the lab

Beyond that, there are those little tricks that might make your enemy’s day a little worse with just a little thought from you:

  • Distract an opponent just long enough to slip by unnoticed
  • Ensure that a rival mumbles at just the right time to not speak a spell correctly or when addressing a crowd of her peers
  • Turn a clean, tidy room into a disorganized mess to drive even the most well-adjusted neat freak over the edge

Lesser Wizardry is one of the oldest forms of magic known to the humanoid races. When the first wizards were trying to harness the magical energy of the universe, they were very cautious in their approach and used as little magic as possible. They didn’t want to do any damage for fear of destroying themselves in the process or incurring the wrath of the gods. After a while, it became a game for some wizards to see just how little magic they would need to create a particular effect.

These are the spells that wizards create to simplify things in their lab, ensuring that equipment stays clean and spell components are where they can be easily found. But don’t let that fool you. The most powerful wizards skilled in Lesser Wizardry can drive wizards skilled in other areas quite insane.

One of the best parts of casting Lesser Wizardry spells? No components to mess with! Each and every Lesser Wizardry spell relies exclusively on the focus and energy of the caster. No muss, no fuss.

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Friday Links for October 2, 2009

October 2, 2009 in Friday Links, News, Resources by Fitz | 1 comment

Hi all…

It’s time for another episode of the Friday Links! No, we’re not talking about golf here. We may however be talking about chain mail, perhaps a ball and chain, or just another link in the chain… Wow, it just gets worse from there.

Anyhow… Here’s the list of interesting links I found this week while perusing the ‘net…

There were many more great articles this week, but I’m sure there will be just as many next week.

Thanks to all the great article authors on all these wonderful blogs. It’s all great food for thought and my brain is always hungry. :)

Have a great weekend!

–Fitz

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Five (Plus One) Questions for Players to Answer for a Character

October 1, 2009 in Advice, Inspiration, Resources by Fitz | 3 comments

All of this discussion of finding that emotional bond with a character in a campaign brought up something I was discussing a while back with Mike (forged). There are questionnaires all over the ‘net for fleshing out a character, but that only gets you so far.

drama_masksI was reading an issue of SciFi Magazine a couple of months ago and found an interview with actor Joe Morton (Eureka, Terminator 2). He was talking about how he prepares for a role. And he said he tries to answer five basic questions when he works on any particular story.

1. Who am I?
2. Where am I going?
3. Who do I expect to meet?
4. What do I want?
5. What extent am I willing to go to get it?

These questions work just as well for characters in a roleplaying game as they do for an actor or actress in a feature film, television, or other kind of performance project.

I’ll add another question to this list also… because we as roleplayers don’t have a props department or costume designer at our beck and call.

6. What does my outward appearance tell others?

This may not help me create a character I can emotionally engage with right away, but it might help me gain some perspective before gaming. Looking at these before a session may prepare me in ways I can’t immediately see.

For example, in our current gaming group we only get together once a month or so. Answering these questions would reacquaint me with my character and what we were doing during the last session, as well as reconnecting me with my fellow PCs – all of which would hopefully get me engaged more quickly than I have been in my current campaign. I might even go so far as to write down answers to these questions at the end of a session so I might quickly refresh my memory at the beginning of the next.

What do you think? Six simple questions to help get back into the swing of things.

–Fitz

p.s. If you’re interested in some ideas to answer question #6, check out the freebie PDF that you get if you subscribe to the Moebius Adventures News – 7 Areas to Consider to Make Magic Users Unique!

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