D&D: A Better Way to Fudge Dice

 As it happens every 6 months or so, the topic of fudging the dice comes up.

I’m probably not going to change your mind on fudging, but I stress that should be a Session 0 topic for your game. Disclose to your players what kind of game you play so everyone is in agreement.

That said, I think there is better way to fudge. Will you take a few minutes to hear me out?

B/X-5 Revisited - Redesigning 5e classes for a low power game

Hey there D&D community,

If you've tuned in to the blog over the last 10 years, you might know I've been working on a redesign of D&D 5th Edition classes to make something a little bit more like old school D&D. 

So, as my ZineQuest Kickstarter (only $3!), I've resumed this effort and am working on Warrior, Priest, Mage, and Rogue classes as well as 3 ancestry specific classes -- the Dwarf Earthshaper, Elf Warden and the Halfling Ferret. 

I thought I may find a happy medium between the very simple design of Basic/Expert D&D and today's 5th Edition bells and whistles. I talk a little bit more about the design goal in the video,, but please check out the Kickstarter here. 

Hackmaster - D&D Alternatives, Episode 5

In Episode 5 of my Alternatives to D&D series, I discuss what makes Hackmaster unique among old school systems. Hackmaster has dynamic "real time" combat, a flavorful magic systems, and an old school character generation that still allows a great deal of customizations.

Hackmaster Basic is available FREE to download, so this make a great "try before you buy" system to check out.

Castles & Crusades - D&D Alternatives, Episode 4

In Episode 4 of my D&D Alternatives series, I talk about Castles & Crusades which is an old-school hommage to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons but with cleaned up modern game mechanics The C&C the Player's Handbook is also currently free to download right now from the Troll Lord Games web store, so this is no reason not to check it out.

Castles & Crusades was one of the first old school games published in the modern era under the Open Game License. It uses a single d20 mechanic for all attribute checks across the game, so it eliminates a lot of the messy mechanics sometimes associated with D&D and AD&D retro-clones.

In addition to Castles & Crusade, Troll Lord Games published numerous 5th Edition Adventure modules for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, which are absolutely fantastic and worth checking out, especially A1 Assault on Blacktooth Ridge (also part of this awesomely inexpensive bundle).

Stop trying to win D&D

AD&D's power gamer wet dream

Over the last few editions, there has been a trend toward "winning" at D&D. The seed was planted with the AD&D Player's Options: Skills & Powers, which came out late in the product cycle of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition... but the tree of this trend really grew from the soil of D&D 3rd Edition (and also Pathfinder).

I'm not simply talking about power gaming here, but a change in the way the power gamer approached character generation due to the internet. Power gamers across the world now could converse and compare optimizations, which have lead to forums meant for just one topic... "character builds".

Character Builds

I can already hear the critique of this post. This post will likely be labeled as a "Your fun is wrong!" rant without actually considering my words, so bear with me a moment and read on before you judge.

Here's the thing. Role-playing games are form of improvisation. Your PC acts within the story and the story changes. And the story will also ideally change your PC. I don't just mean levels and hit points, but hopefully non-mechanical personality growth will occur. Goals will change. Motivations will change.

Perhaps a PC who is a bit churlish and grumpy will experience something that softens his heart. Or, conversely, a faithful paladin might experience something that hardens her and she eschews her deity for a demonic warlock patron... or the wizard, having experienced a divine intervention of some kind, decides to become a devotee of Pelor.

When you start out with that new character, you don't know what will happen at the table over the course of the next several months. Don't plan out all your feats and multi-class options at first level. By focusing on a "build" you will be missing out on opportunities for your PC to grow organically within the campaign. The "optimal" wizard build doesn't take into account that you might want to change to a cleric or paladin for story reasons for a couple levels.

If you are fixated on the pre-destination for your character (as outlined in some build guide), you are closing your mind off to changes that could occur during the actual play at the table. You don't know what will happen in the game to your PC at level 5, or 8, or 12... so consider not planning every single mechanical leveling up detail at level 1. Let what is going to happen be determined by play. If you are locked into a single character strategy, you have shut out the in-play possibilities.

Skip the game guides. Build a personality.

My biggest issue with the focus on builds is that they have nothing to do with character growth through role-playing during the game. They are completely about playing D&D as if it were a video or strategy board game. In addition, excessive optimization can lead to one character hogging the spotlight over other PCs in the game due to having the highest... of everything.

Stop worrying about every little +1 bonus, feat, or ability score improvement from level 1 through 20. Play the character, not the mechanics. Then, when you actually achieve those levels, perhaps make a choice that makes sense for the character's story arc instead of trying to gain the highest possible DPS. I'm not talking about making a "gimp" character here. I'm just talking about not focusing so much on every minor bonus and think a little more about what makes sense within the fiction of the game, rather than the mechanics.

Character growth within the fiction of the campaign is one of the primary reasons we play in-person RPGs instead of games like World of Warcraft. Stop trying to make the perfect monk that can move 400 feet and stunning strike every enemy on the field in 1 round. This is D&D, not League of Legends.

Embrace the non-optimization.

POST-SCRIPT:
I'm getting a lot of "Stop telling me your fun is wrong" replies, and that's NOT what I'm saying.
1) To be clear, I never said you should purposely build an ineffectively gimpy character.
2) I never said you shouldn't pick a combat-effective option or think about what's coming up level-wise.

3) I never said tinkering with mechanics isn't fun in and of itself.

One of the comments from Peter Olsen on Facebook put it best:
"... extreme focus on progression and builds lends itself to removing attention from where the character is right now."

This. So much this. I'm just trying to advise players (especially newbies) to not think about what's happening 8 levels from now. Think about what is happening in the game right now. Make character choices based on those events. Don't be a slave to the cookie-cutter "optimal build" if something happens in game that might lead your character to pick a different feat, multi-class into something slightly less optimal, or make some other choice that isn't in "the build".

D&D: The Legacy of Gygax and Arneson

Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson

A recent article on a gaming site has been stirring up quite a bit of controversy on the origins of Dungeons & Dragons. Following off the release of Secrets of Blackmoor, the article challenges the accepted history of the creation of Dungeons & Dragons. In the article, there is a strongly implied theme that Gary Gygax rode the coattails of Dave Arneson's idea of a role-playing game and took all of the credit.

The truth is a lot more nuanced.

In the article, there are several historical events that are presented in such a way that to make it sound like Gary stole Dave's ideas and then didn't give him any credit. This bends the truth significantly and there are multiple literary sources and original TSR employees around that can corroborate actual events.

Original "wood grain"
D&D white box

The biggest problem with the article is that it is written in a very biased manner meant to tear down Gary Gygax instead of uplift Dave Arneson. Author Cecilia D'Anastasio herself directly stated, "I am a diehard D&D fan who seriously dislikes Gygax and his legacy." It is unfortunate that is not written at the top of the article, because that tells you most of what you need to know.

The original (white box) Dungeons & Dragons was a true collaboration between Gary and Dave. However, Dave left TSR (was not forced out) prior to the development of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and the other Basic D&D sets released from 1977 onward. It is a shame that these two amazingly creative men fell out due to business issues, but that can (and often does) happen with any creative endeavor.

So, absolutely lift a glass in memory of Dave Arneson and his early contributions to the game and genre. There is no doubt his ideas were a significant factor in the development of D&D as a table top RPG. However, Gary carried those ideas onward making a viable product for years to come. There is no need to attempt to tear down Gary Gygax in order to properly salute Dave. Dungeons & Dragons as a game could not have existed without both of these men.

For more information on the history of Dungeons & Dragons, I recommend the following:
Playing at the World by Jon Peterson
Designers and Dragons by Shannon Appelcline
Art & Arcana: A Visual History

D&D 5e: Greyhawk Campaign Buyer's Guide

A snippet of central Flanesse

With the many clues and speculation about a possible 5th Edition update for the Greyhawk campaign setting, quite a few folks on social media have been asking,

What are the best resources to get If I'd like to run a game in Greyhawk?

Glad you asked. With Dungeon Master's Day upon us, prices of early edition PDFs on the DMsGuild.com are slashed, making it a great time to pick up some setting supplements! [UPDATE: DM's Day sale is over, but some titles are still discounted!]

D&D: Greyhawk finally coming to 5th Edition?

The original World of Greyhawk Folio,
published in 1980 by TSR, included
the famous Darlene maps.

The most recent revelations further indicate a Greyhawk update may be pending for D&D 5th Edition.

UPDATE 02/27: The latest issue of Dragon+ had an article about playing 5th Edition in the World of Greyhawk!

UPDATE 02/25: From the Wizards.com press release.
 "Nestled on the coast of the Azure Sea is Saltmarsh, a sleepy fishing village that sits on the precipice of destruction."

UPDATE 05/08: A Ghosts of Saltmarsh sidebar officially states the location of Saltmarsh in the World of Greyhawk, as well as optional locations for Eberron, Forgotten Realms, and Mystara!

The Azure Sea is in the World of Greyhawk, not the Forgotten Realms. The WotC press release drops a bomb in the first sentence. It looks like my initial impressions have been on the right track.

Original post:

---

Last week, there was news that the Stranger Things D&D Starter Set adventure was not set in the Forgotten Realms. This started speculation that Greyhawk setting update may be coming.

This week, Wizards of the Coast (or rather Amazon) announced Ghosts of Saltmarsh, the new adventure campaign that will revamp the original AD&D Saltmarsh adventures (U1 - U3) as well as include several other sea-faring based adventures.This has furthered the speculation around Greyhawk.

This, in itself, does not necessarily confirm Greyhawk as a 5th Edition setting. After all, Tales from the Yawning Portal also included Greyhawk setting-specific adventures such as White Plume Mountain, Against the Giants, and the iconic Tomb of Horrors.

The Ghosts of Saltmarsh
adventure will be released in May.

However, the trail of clues continue. A recent segment in the Dragon Talk podcast (02/07/2019) with Mike Mearls talking about his love of the Greyhawk campaign setting and the desire to publish something for the setting. To quote, "I would love to bring Greyhawk back, but I want to bring it back in a way that does justice to it and that makes everyone fall in love with it the way I love it."

In the intro for the episode, the hosts also dropped teasers about all the things they could not talk about that were coming. Could the Greyhawk interview been set up as a secret teaser for upcoming releases?

Am I grasping at straws? Quite possibly...

But there is a strong case to be made that a DMs Guild update on the World of Greyhawk would fit well with recent (and upcoming) releases... and based on #DnD Twitter, people are dying for a Greyhawk supplement akin to the Eberron update for 5th Edition. Financially, it makes a lot of sense. Greyhawk would jump to the top of the DM's Guild best seller list just as the Eberron guide did.

In Summary

The evidence is starting to mount that something is going on with the Greyhawk setting. Even if you set aside the Stranger Things and Ghosts of Saltmarsh as clues (yes, they both could be "setting neutral"), Wizards of the Coast appears to be doing Greyhawk marketing.

• Dragon Talk podcast segment with Mike Mearls
• Dragon+ Greyhawk retrospective article co-authored by Luke Gygax

This is marketing, people! It has the hallmarks of an opening salvo. There are at least as many Greyhawk fans as Eberron fans, if not more. What do you think?  Leave a comment and let me know!

D&D: Myths and Legends of Encounter Balance

In my day, we even didn't have armor. We tied dead raccoons
to our bodies to protect us from orcish arrows and we loved it!

“In my day, we didn’t have encounter balance. That’s the way it was and we liked it! The party would either run away or get eaten. We loved it!”

I constantly hear a old school grognards bitching and moaning about how the game is “terrible” now that “all encounters are balanced”. They rail against CR (or EL) as a tool because somehow believe it puts training wheels on the game.

I call bullshit.

First, CR is a tool, like any other, at the disposal of the Dungeon Master so that they might know how difficult a group of opponents may be to a party of of a particular level. Does this mean all encounters must be matched with the level of the party? 

Of course not. It’s a canard to suggest otherwise, to put it nicely. Or to put it less nicely, “Bullshit.”

D&D 5e: A Slower Healing Variant

For many who have played D&D over multiple editions, especially those from the TSR days, the rate of healing and recovery in 5th Edition may seem a bit fast. PCs come into every fight feeling fresh and energetic, which is a bit counter to the old school play style.

I wanted to be a healing and death to be a little more gritty than standard 5th Edition. I also wanted falling unconscious to be more dangerous and the possibility of instant death more likely. My desire was to removes some of the pop-tart effect of constantly letting the fighters drop to 0 hit points only to spring back up 6 seconds later. The healers should be doing their jobs before the front line falls unconscious.

When considering the changes, I thought the 7-day long rest variant as outlined in the Dungeon Master's Guide was overdoing it. While want healing magic to become a more important resource to be managed, I did not wish to alter other long rest recharge powers. In that vein, I wrote up a slower healing variant for B/X-5, my own home brew homage to Old School D&D. I think this modification strikes a balance between seemingly fast default healing and  overly slow variants I've seen. Healing works essentially the same as in 5th Edition with some minor changes highlighted below.

D&D 5e: There's No School Like Old School

Artist: Bill Willingham

A recent post on Facebook got me thinking about Old School play again, and how Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition can be adapted to imitate the feel of older editions.

The gist of the post was that a DM had his players roll 3d6 in order to determine their character's ability scores and the now 5th level Rogue was concerned about his exceptionally low hit points (which they are also rolling for) due to a low Constitution and some bad die rolls.

Of course, there was a combination of "Your DM sucks!" and "This is old school... Suck it up and have fun with it." responses, which all somewhat miss the point because Session 0 should have set the expectations for that game...

But I digress... because that's not what this post is about. It's about B/X-5.

You see, a couple years back I had actually started to compile a list of rules for an 5th Edition compatible "old school" game based upon the D&D 5th Edition System Reference Document (SRD5). But, you know how life can sometimes get in the way of shit you want to do.

Anyway, after seeing this post, I took some of the pieces of my original idea and crafted a document for anyone who wants to try their own version of Old School 5th Edition. You can view the Google document here.

Raging Owlbear interviews Frank Mentzer

Source: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

This past week I was delighted to welcome Frank Mentzer as a guest in my first video chat. I hope to do more of these with other industry folks in the future, but that's for another day. Forgive my rough style, as I don't usually do interviews, but this opportunity was one I just could not let pass by.

In the chat, we talk extensively about Worlds of Empyrea, his new game setting coming to Kickstarter on October 2nd, as well as anecdotes about his life before, during and after TSR Inc in the early 1980's.

Full disclosure: I did not ask for, nor was I offered, any compensation for this interview. It was my absolute pleasure to talk with Frank as a fellow gamer and fan, and I would be pleased to chat with him again at a future date. I hope I don't come off as too fan-boyish, but I found him to be extraordinarily open and friendly.

Highlights

A couple weeks ago, Frank's website leaked several names on the Worlds of Empyrea project which are mostly unconfirmed (as of this writing) such as Janelle Jaquays, Clyde Caldwell, Jeff Dee, David "Diesel" LaForce, Larry Elmore, and Erol Otus.

Box contents will include perfect bound books, maps and an introductory adventure. Jeff Easley planned as designer of the box covers. Pre-generated characters in small brown character folios reminiscent of OD&D box set.

13:25 Hoping to release Worlds of Empyea in game system specific box sets -- RuneQuest, Savage Worlds, D&D 5e, AD&D, BECMI, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Pathfinder, and Swords & Wizardry all hinted. Chaosium and Pinnacle Entertainment were specifically noted in the discussions, and RuneQuest is one of Frank's favorite game systems. (Hints also at sci-fi toward the end).

15:10 / 23:04 Darlene (World of Greyhawk) confirmed as art direction and cartography. Alyssa Faden (Dragon Kings, Bethorm) also confirmed for cartography and game maps. Hints at an "Anna" which very well could be [unconfirmed] Anna B Meyer (Midgard game setting).

52:00 Looking to release Empyrea box set for Gen Con 2018 and more details about the box content.

Frank also dropped two exciting names off the record which I cannot reveal, but suffice it to say, D&D fans will be thrilled what these folks will bring to the realm.



Video Index:
00:00 Introduction
00:50 Empyrea - TSR/RPGA origins
03:16 Contrasts between Gary's Greyhawk game and Frank's Empyrea campaign in the 80's
05:48 Distinction between I12 intellectual property and Frank's new setting
07:52 Reminiscing about early internet chat room play
09:18 How is the content for Worlds of Empyrea being developed?
10:11 Eldritch Enterprises side bar
11:25 Talking about the setting format for Worlds of Empyrea
13:25 Intent to releaseWorlds of Empyrea for multiple game systems -- RuneQuest, Savage Worlds, D&D 5e, AD&D, BECMI, Dungeon Crawl Classics, and Swords &Wizardry...
15:10 Darlene as the Art Director and doing the large maps, and other well known TSR names adding art and other content. Roughly 35 contributors developing content of some variety.
17:57 Community crowd sourcing setting content as a future project
19:53 Future project to develop a global non-profit gaming database allowing gamers to connect, game together and share community ideas/content.
22:30 RPG Creators Relief Fund - http://www.rcrfcharity.org/
23:04 Darlene and Alyssa Faden contributing to cartography and game maps... Hints at an "Anna" which very well could be Anna B Meyer (unconfirmed).
25:14 Box set content: Maps and perfect bound books, full color bleed. Aiming for top quality contents and product design like you would find from one of the larger game companies. Jeff Easley planned to design box cover. Liz Danforth (Tunnels & Trolls) invited to contribute production efforts or artwork? [unclear]. Character folios reminiscent of OD&D brown books.
29:52 Discussions with Chaosium on a RuneQuest-specific version of the Empyrea box set
31:04 Talking about the history of TSR and breaking into a job during the early days
34:04 Getting the Basic / Expert set project
36:45 Legacy and importance of the RPG design community
41:40 Development of Basic and Export into BECMI
46:20 Life after TSR
48:33 Coming back into game publishing
52:00 Empyrea Kickstarter details
54:07 Genre variants for Empyrea to match the theme of the different game systems, including sci-fiction or space opera.
58:00 Frank's play style

Missing Gen Con (again)

This is me not packing for Gen Con 50.

I am extraordinarily bummed I’m not to be going to Gen Con this year. Due to the 50th Anniversary, everybody is going to be there… and I mean every body. If a designer or artist once worked in RPGs or board games, chances are quite high they will be at Gen Con 50.

It will be an amazing opportunity to get your stuff signed by almost anyone you can think of. Tim Kask, Frank Mentzer, Tom Wham (possibly?), Jeff Grubb, Larry Elmore, Tracy Hickman, Margaret Weis, Darlene, Luke & Ernie Gygax, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Ryan Dancey, Peter Adkison, Steve Jackson, Davis Chenault, Jolly Blackburn, Chris Perkins, Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford… just about anyone old school or new school is going to be around if you can hunt them down for a chat and a selfie. If Gary Gygax or Dave Arneson were to rise from the dead like Lazarus, I'm pretty sure you'd see them there.

Random Encounters with a Troll Lord

Best SWAG from Origins this year

First a bit of background… In 2004, Castles & Crusades by Troll Lord Games was the very first OSR** game to hit the market. It utilized the Open Gaming License released by Wizards of the Coast to re-create an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ruleset, but with updated mechanics. This was years before anyone used the terms “retro-clone”, “OSR” or had published D&D-adjacent games like Pathfinder.

This past weekend at Origins, one of the game masters in C&C game for which I had tickets did not show up. Even though it was not an official C&C event, the Troll Lords had heard about it and another GM from the community offered to run a different adventure in its place.

As a bit of a “sorry this happened” consolation, C&C author and lead game designer, Davis Chenault, showed up to the game with a handful of C&C beer stein swag and sat in on the game with us. The next day I had a very pleasant conversation with Davis about C&C and D&D 5th Edition, and he generously gave me a signed copy of A1 - Assault on Blacktooth Ridge for D&D 5th edition (I own the C&C version).

Owlbear and Troll Lord

I don’t have any connection to the Troll Lords other than being a huge fan over the last 10 years, but these folks are definitely the Good Guys of the industry and very committed to their fans. I urge everyone to support their work. Davis Chenault is a class act and his modules A0 and A1 are two of the best RPG adventures written. They are up there with Village of Hommlet and Keep on the Borderlands in style and substance and as good as the D&D 5th Edition Starter Set for starting a new campaign.

A0 - The Rising Knight
A1 - Assault on Blacktooth Ridge

Don’t forget that in addition to Wizards of the Coast, there are several other small publishers making awesome content for Dungeons & Dragons. You should check them out!

** Old School Revival or Old School Renaissance depending upon whom you ask.

Happy Birthday Dungeons & Dragons!

This week marks the 43rd birthday of Dungeons and Dragons, originally published in late January 1974. 

My brother's copies of the original D&D books

In  late 1977 or early 1978 (hard to recall the exact date), my brother "introduced" me to Dungeons & Dragons for the first time:

Steve: You are standing in the foyer of a vast, eerie mansion. There are doors to the left and right and a hallway ahead. Pick one.

Me: Umm... I go to the door on the right

This room is about 20' by 30' in size. There is a lot of old broken furniture and shelves with rotted tomes. There is a chest on the North wall in this room. What do you do?

I run away.   [actual quote]

No, really... You are supposed to be a brave hero who explores and collects treasure.

Ok... I open the chest.

You are pricked by a poison need trap in the lock. You die.

That's right. My brother killed me in the very first room I ever explored in D&D (Tegel Manor, to be precise). Luckily, that experience was not the one that stuck. It was my good friend, Martin Griffin, who got me really hooked on the game using the Holmes box set and the AD&D Player's Handbook (we had no idea they weren't really the same game... He also had Greyhawk, Eldritch Wizardry and Gods, Demi-Gods and Heroes from the original version of the game). If curious, you can read more of the full introduction to D&D story here.

The "white box" version of Dungeons & Dragons (which was originally a wood grain box) shipped for the first time this week in 1974, making D&D 43 years old this week. There are no records of the exact date the first box shipped, but January 26 is the date selected by those who were around at the time as the "official" birthday of D&D.

Holmes and Moldvay D&D basic sets

On behalf of all us hardcore geeks who have had 40+ years of fun, thank you Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, Don Kaye, Tim Kask, Jim Ward, Eric Holmes, Tom Moldvay, Frank Mentzer, David "Zeb" Cook, Tom Wham, Erol Otus, Jeff Dee, Bill Willingham, Larry Elmore, David Trampier and so many other contributors who made the game so memorable for me over the years.

I did eventually get my revenge on my bother. I took his original D&D books when he went to college. He ain't never getting them back.

Share your own memories in the comments!

D&D 5e: Yawning Portal - Classic Adventures Revisited

Just the other day, I read Teos Abadia's post (Alphastream.org) about "classic" D&D adventures... and then just today, Wizards of the Coast announces Tales from the Yawning Portal, a hardback full to classic adventures translated for 5th Edition (talk about happy coincidence).

The adventures include:

• Against the Giants
• Dead in Thay
• Forge of Fury
• Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
• Sunless Citadel
• Tomb of Horrors
• White Plume Mountain

When I read this list, I have to admit I have mixed feelings about some of the titles. 

Happy Birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien!

Happy Birthday, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien!

Even before I played D&D, I was already ensconced in fantasy and science fiction. From a quite young age, two of my literary influences were Isaac Asimov and J.R.R. Tolkien (with whom I share a special day). I can't even begin to express the extent of how these books (and the many other works of fantasy they inspired) influenced my life.

When my friend brought the AD&D Player's Handbook over to my house and explained the premise (like playing Lord of the Rings!), you could not have gained a life long fan of the game any faster.

Gygax often down played the influence of Tolkien on D&D... However, many of us know that Ents and Hobbits had to be "removed" from the game for Intellectual Property reasons.

Tolkien's influence reached into many different places in pop culture. Not just fantasy, but science fiction and horror as well. It's tentacles probed into D&D and, by proxy, video games, and brought the quest trope back into popularity in modern fiction.

So, Happy Birthday, JRRT... and thank you!