Player on Player Action

I got to play Daryn of Cormyr again on Friday.
When I went to the game session I was really stressed out. The group I've been playing with has a tendency to tell players what to do on their turns. It sucks for me because as the new guy I want to be accommodating, but I think a lot of times I'm building a strategy that the person telling me what to do isn't thinking about. I'm not saying I'm exceptionally clever--just that I generally know what I'm doing and I'm thinking about it as the turn progresses. I usually just do what I'm told because to explain my actions would stop the game, and it's really not important enough for me to argue about. Still, I tend to come away feeling like an ass when I let people play for me. This is something several of the players in that RPGA group seem to do. I tried to let it roll, but it bothered me enough that I asked the DM about it, and it looks as though he's been aware of the issue and is planning to speak to everyone about it.

This has happened in my games before as well. I didn't know what to do about it at the time, and as DM I wasn't able to relate to the issue, but it destroyed my players' relationships with one another while playing the game. I had people trying to quit because of other people, I had people losing all confidence in their ability to play the game... some of this stuff had lasting effects on the players--things that went on for years. It really didn't seem like a destructive environment; people always seemed to laugh and have a good time. But there was something rotten in it. I resolved the issue by begging the players to stick around for a little bit longer. Then I ended the campaign as quickly as I could (in a way that wasn't terribly satisfying, but the D&D 3.5 mechanics get a large helping of the blame for that--scry, buff, teleport).

At any rate, that's the kind of poison you really don't want going on in your group. As a player, I can now see how one can really be made to feel like a dumbass, even when you know what you're doing.

I continue to be grateful for the Strongwood game, even in our off season. The four players involved in that one really take care of each other and trust one another. They remind me of why I love to play the game.

Return to the Realms

In middle school and high school we used to play in the Forgotten Realms. This was back when there were only a handful of Forgotten Realms novels in existence--we were anxiously awaiting the release of The Halfling's Gem to find out what would happen to R.A. Salvatore's heroes, and looking forward to seeing how the Moonshae trilogy ended up. Novels like Azure Bonds and Spellfire were trickling out. An exciting time.

We usually played two characters each, and our DM ran two different campaigns--one in the Dalelands and one on the Sword Coast.

My initial Dalelands characters were the paladin Deryn of Cormyr and Darlene the Mage. Yes, very original. As was usually the case, one character got played to the hilt and the other one was forgotten. Alas, poor Darlene the mage was slain by a demon (actually slain by Jeff, who was DM), and shortly afterward I began running games instead of playing in them.

I never thought Deryn of Cormyr would appear again, but in the Living Forgotten Realms games I've been playing I thought I might as well revisit my old characters (they essentially skipped an edition). I've cleverly changed his name to Daryn of Cormyr, just to keep things interesting. Similarly, my wizard Zarielle of Waterdeep has been renamed Zariel. I'm tricky that way.

Game Science Dice

I mentioned that my players were being obnoxious with their "precision dice" from Game Science, and that I had invested in my own set after meeting Lou at Origins.

Nevertheless, after watching his video explaining his precision dice I must admit I'm totally buying his line. In retrospect I'm very happy I bought them. Take a look:
Part 1
Part 2

Origins 2009

Just returned from Origins. Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay the entire weekend, as someone perennially picks that weekend to schedule their wedding, but on the flip side Origins has now extended a day--so I showed up on Wednesday and attended until the exhibit hall closed on Friday.

Origins is always the place where I see my college and high school buddies. Since it's in Columbus, and therefore halfway between Dayton and Athens, it's easy to see folks from both locales. Sadly, my high school friends weren't in attendance this year.

On Wednesday, after having lunch with my old friend Scott Scribner (and U.S. Settlers of Catan Champion, 2006!) we played Steam, which is Mayfair's remake of Railroad Tycoon (by the same designer). It was far more compact than Railroad Tycoon, and I liked it, but given the choice I would still rather play Railroad Tycoon. I like the fiddly bits.

We played some Notre Dame later on, a game I need to pick up at some point, and then went to Schmidt's--a German restaurant that serves a crazy sausage buffet. I turned in early--went to stay with another friend from college in his lovely home with his insane dog. He has his house rigged with machines that spray a jet of water if his cats try to come upstairs (he's allergic). I was glad I didn't fall prey to any of his booby traps while I was staying there.

Thursday I decided to try out the RPGA events. I've never really done that before (okay, once--but it was in the '90s and it turned me off to RPGA and RPGs at conventions; it was that bad). This time around I had a good time. I did the hard core 12 hours of D&D. Learned a lot in that time. The two things that spring to mind are:
1. With those Streets of Shadow Dungeon tiles, you can put the buildings in the middle and surround them with street tiles, and it gives the illusion that you're in the streets. I'd initially been disappointed with that set because there were far too few building tiles and two inexplicable "energy" tiles. A bit unfair to ask one to buy set after set of tiles just to have enough buildings. However, the DM's setup was enough to prompt me to get another set of tiles to see what I could do with them.

2. There's some feat of Tempus that allows you to score an automatic crit if you hit with your next attack. One second-level character had a vicious greataxe and a 20 Strength. This somehow allowed him to do 36 damage automatically, plus 3d12, plus some other astronomical figure. In a couple combats, he scored hits for 60+ damage. While I applaud clever builds, I think there's a loophole that should be closed somewhere along the line.

On Friday, I mostly just hung out. Checked out the exhibit hall... I was also talked into buying precision dice from Game Science. My players had showed up with them at a game session after watching a YouTube video a few months ago; they say the guy that makes them was one of the first manufacturers of polyhedral dice, back in the '70s. He was nice, enthusiastic, and loved his product. I have a set now. I guess they're uh... "incredibly fair." Let karma prevail.

Played a few more games Friday--I need to pick up Zooloretto too, since it's a two-player game that can be played in about twenty minutes. Ave Caesar wasn't as fun for me; you really want to cause other players to lose their turns, and turn-losing isn't that much fun when you're on the receiving end of it. I also got in a game of Carcassonne-The Castle. Most of these games are fun enough I don't mind getting my butt kicked--I'll play them again and again. There are some games where the entire losing process just sucks.

I had several good meals with college buddies while I was at Origins. Then headed up to Michigan City for the wedding. I had to take a detour due to an overturned semi on the overpass above the highway that had crashed and was hanging partially over the edge of the overpass, its contents spread all over the highway below. I have to say, I've never seen that except in movies.

Strongwood, O How I Miss Thee

I haven't run any games since I wrapped Strongwood at the beginning of May. This summer everybody's working, and schedules are crazy. I always go into the summer with the best of intentions, but even so it's hard to get summer schedules on the right track.

I've been enjoying the RPGA games I've been playing. They're sort of the opposite of the games I like to run, but they're good for learning rules or, I guess more accurately... good at learning places where the rules fail to adequately convey what's supposed to happen. I've been finding rough spots in the rules over the past few weeks--things I hope get ironed out one day. Still, I enjoy the people I'm playing with, and that's at least half the fun if not more.

All of this has me thinking about Strongwood.
More than ever I'm glad we're taking a break from it for the summer. The characters are growing in my mind the more time I spend away from them. I don't know if the players feel that way, but for me their PCs really live. I'm wondering what kind of trouble Jonathan Crisp is going to start around town. I'm thinking of Kat and the suddenly sweet demeanor of her mother, trying to pull strings in the town's political structure to keep her daughter/family on top. I'm thinking of Baxter's slow drawl and calm, collected manner. I'm thinking of Pilgrim's crazy, wide-eyed conviction and dedication to Stomra.

These characters don't have classes or levels to me. They're flesh and blood creations, played with love, care, and intelligence. That's how it used to be in the old days of Meathra especially, and I'm happy see it's still there.

A few weeks ago, I even thanked Greg for insisting that Jonathan Crisp geld that elf despite the party's protests. He felt strongly about it, he made a character choice, and that made him even more real for me. While I'm glad we're not playing right now, my heart is growing fonder with the absence.

I Got to Play

I was invited to play in a Forgotten Realms RPGA game on Sunday. As I've been itching to try 4e D&D from the other side of the screen, I leapt at the chance. I showed up with a remake of a character I used to play in high school, back when we played Forgotten Realms.

Playing a wizard is fun. I was into the D&D Miniatures Skirmish Game for several years, so there's something about being a controller that really turns me on.
...That is going to get quoted out of context somewhere. I know it...
Having abilities to manage terrain on the battlefield was awesome for me. Fighters have always been my favorite class, but wizards just got a huge bump. I don't like feeling squishy and unarmored, but it's fun to let go and watch other players inhabit those defender roles. I'll revisit them at some point.

The skill challenge was a bit rough. We were falling over ourselves technically doing the right actions and saying the right things, but we didn't know it was a skill challenge; by the time the DM informed us that we had to use our skills to beat it, we had already half failed.

I also let another player talk me out of doing something cool because the player didn't think it would work; I later found out the player didn't understand what the power did. In retrospect, I should've just done it and lived with my own failure (or success). Offering advice is cool if both parties are amicable, but receiving instructions on every other move isn't much fun.

I'll probably jump in again. I learned a lot and thought of ways I need to engage my own players. I was also able to gauge the fun factor and measure the fun parts and the boring parts. Overall a really helpful experience.

D&D Game Day

I kicked the weekend off at D&D Game Day, which took place at Chicagoland Games, a new game store just south of my neighborhood. It's the first game store that's been close to me in the twelve years I've lived in Chicago, and I was very impressed not only with their stock of games but the cleanliness of the store, the areas they'd laid out for play, and their organization.

I think D&D Game Day gave me a little of that fix I'd wanted. As the barbarian I was able to hit isolated targets and do massive damage. After the first fight I had a pretty good idea of what my character could do. The rest was gravy until both my dice checked out and rolled five or under for an entire combat.

I also learned a couple things as a player--how to jump, for instance. The rules are pretty simple in the 4e Players Handbook, but you don't remember them unless you use them. I still want to explore 4e as a player more. As a player you're focused on what you can physically accomplish and how you can contribute to your team. As a DM, your focus is much broader; you're trying to keep the game and the story running and you're not necessarily focused on the most optimal combat maneuver (nor should you be). However, I think that playing more would make me a better DM. I'm certain of it.