Some reflections on sanbox campaigns

If you hang out by the blogs, especially those OSR oriented, you have probably heard the word "sandbox" mentioned a gazillion times. I don't know if it's as frequently used on the rpg forums. Maybe it is.

The idea behind a sandbox is nice. You have a world to explore as a player, and the GM have the freedom to develop just as much as is needed, since the players are going to be exploring and thus be the engine that takes the campaign somewhere. Often, freedom from "story" seems to be an objective when people set up to talk about their sandbox campaigns. I think a few things is worth mentioning about this.

Now, I am just as bored by GM railroading as the next guy. But, that is just as extreme as a world map for sandbox and having everything that happen by driven by the players. Simply put, elevating the sandbox style of play and disparaging "story based games" is taking one extreme and making it an ideal while calling the other bad and "extreme". You see what I mean?

I have had some experiences that highlight some things worth thinking about, regardless of game style. I once had a game prepared where the characters were walking down the street and a NPC jumped into the river right in front of their eyes. I expected my friends to do the obvious thing and try to rescue that fellow and try to find out why he was trying to kill himself. Let's look at this from two perspectives.

From the sandbox perspective, I was a bad GM. I had a story and I wanted my players to walk the path. In a way I agree with that description. It might have been better if I had asked the players what they wanted to do.

Let's put it another way. We had gathered to play a game, and I had prepared some stuff to entertain my friends. They re-payed that by acting like jerks, just being contrary and refusing to follow along. Weren't they just ignoring my kind of fun and trying to strike out on their own instead? No, I maintain they broke the social contract.  The rest of the session was a meandering mess where they walked around town ignoring any kind roguish adventure. No fun was had. While I certainly failed to make the game fun for them, they failed to make it fun for me as well.

If your players wont grab a plot hook you'd better let them create their own adventures. In the same vein, if your players seem to wander about and not doing much like adventure you'd better show them a hook or two. If they wont do any of those, they might need a reminder that you agreed to play a game and they don't. Too bad it took me quite a few years and my own attempt at a sandbox campaign to realize that.

It's very popular in the blogosphere to talk about the liberating effects of a sandbox. This experience of mine, and my latest attempt at a sandbox campaign in Traveller have shown me that neither the open sandbox nor the GM-story ends of the spectrum works for me. Nuances don't come across as well in this medium, but for me it seem to be the way to make a campaign work. A guided "story-sandbox" kind of works. I wanted to toss in those two cents in the big sandbox conversation.

Ice Cold Horror is very popular!

I don't know about you, but I can be somewhat obsessive about collecting rpg's. One of the games where is can be expensive is Call of Cthulhu. I saw a copy of Pagan Publishing's Walker in the Wastes up on eBay a few days ago, and since we recently played through Beyond the Mountains of Madness, some more chilly horror would be right up my alley. Unfortunately Pagan are well known for quality products, and their stuff are almost all out of print, except the Delta Green stuff which I guess sells best. But, I can't help but wonder if it wouldn't be enough fans around to pay for a new printinng of Walker. POD maybe? Pre-oder POD, maybe? Guess what? I didn't get that book off eBay. It ended on $193 USD!! Even I am not that crazy. Good grief.

Do you want to own a rpg? M20 for sale

I just read over on Greywulf's Lair, that he is selling the rights to Microlite20! That was not what I expected to find on the web today.

If you don't know what it is, I will summarize. 3rd ed D&D had something called the SRD and the OGL, which made it possible to write a game based on 3rd ed and retool it to your tastes. Greywulf decided to distill the core essence of that game to three stats and four skills. Everything fits on a page! I was participating somewhat on the ENWorld forums when Greywulf started to talk online about this project, so I feel I was there from the beginning. For some reason I have never managed to convince somebody to try it, but it's still a favourite. Take a look at it.

Now Greywulf feels he has lost that initial energy and enthusiasm, and that somebody else should be the one to take M20 into the future. So, if you want to own a game system of your own, it's for sale!

A Swords & Wizardry experience richer

So, finally we managed to arrange for a session of S&W, and I even got to play. This last autumn I got the impression that everyone is ill all the time in this country. Even tonight one of our players couldn't show up, and one was ok but had a slight cold. Gaming prevailed.

It was interesting to have a group with so mixed experiences of D&D. Where one player was solidly a 3rd ed player, another have been playing since the seventies and are a regular 1st ed gamer who have also played 3rd and 4th. Then there was me who loves the old school, but have a solid knowledge and experience of 3rd & 4th and just disagree with it. It would be an experiment with old school to see how well it went over. Luckily we complemented each other and we had a good time.

While I had expecting roll 3d6 in order we actually had the generous option of 4d6 drop the worst. Those characters were good! I wanted to play a M-U and got the stats for it. Naturally, I started with Sleep prepared.

We got a background briefing, and it was clear that our DM had been working on the setting and the history. If I hadn't actually been talking to him about dungeons I might have become a bit worried there. Some haggling and in character interaction we positioned ourselves in our party roles and established some character traits. Since my fellow players rolled far worse than me for starting gold, I graciously offered to lend them some of my money. Naturally, I charged interest. Stiff interest. Miser? Me?

Then we set off for the ruined city. While the setting info had given me some sense of wonder about the olden days when the Empire was around I had already forgotten most of it. I always do that unless I take notes. I knew there was a ruined city, and we wanted to go there.

We scouted somewhat and got a good view of the city. Most of it was rubble, but some greater structures stood. Dice rolled on the table and we noticed some flying monsters taking off from some still standing tower. Lucky us. Taking cover we kept out of sight and nothing bad happened. Something bad did happen to a goblin skulking about in the city, he managed to get a throwing axe lodged in his back. Clumsy goblin.

Since it was late we had to find shelter, and did find just that in another tower. We had to fight a monster who poped out of a glass globe someone unfriendly tossed at us as soon we entered the tower. A seriously grumpy owlbear was dispatched and my poor mage missed with his darts five rounds in a row! The melee fighters was good to have around. After some negotiations we could enter the tower and managed to calm the crazy hermit living there. While everyone were busy talking to the hired hands I decided to kill the crazy hermit and take his library of glass globes as my own. For some strange reason it turned out my party was squeamish and after the deed expressed horror. At least he wouldn't slit their throats at night. We took possession of his camp and grabbed what valuables there were. That was the reason we wanted to seek adventure, right? Having counted the gold we decided this was enough for one session.

S&W was easy enough, with a very quick combat system. Much could be accomplished without being bogged down in rules, and I felt we got that thrill of exploration even though we hadn't even found the entrance to the catacombs under the city. Clearing out a building room by room is a special feeling. The only real discussion we had about the rules was about xp bonuses. One player felt they were unfair and undermined the idea of the party. I have been thinking that myself sometimes, since it's a reward given over and over again for someone being lucky with random generation of stats. A very good player might be punished even if he does everything right, while a player who lucked out and rolled 13 both for CHA and WIS suddenly advance quicker. I really hate the idea of a "balanced" system, but that rule is not one of my favourite. Letting go of it, without building a sense of player entitlement probably is on my wishlist. I've thought it before, but real play made it stand out.

Now I hope we can make this more than a one shot, and that there will be some regular S&W gaming. Our DM and his betrothed are expecting their first child pretty soon so we will see how that affect things. After some time at home with a newborn you probably want to meet some other adults, I hope. At least I now have had some S&W experience, and it was positive!

Sherlock Holmes, dungeon delver III

imagine standard spoiler disclaimer here

My last impressions of the Sherlock Holmes movie are concerning the main antagonists. If you have a recurring vilain in your campaign, you have probably been thinking about how to make that villain cool and worthy of the attentions of your players. I have some hint for you.

Imagine Lord Blackwood. He has short, backward combed hair. He has deep set eyes. He enters a stage to speak to his followers in a black leather coat which makes you think of Gestapo. He talks about his thousand year reign. He is tacky.

Imagine Professor Moriarty. He drives around in style. He has normal clothing. He let's others do his dirty work and when he is walking about he does it without being noticed. He don't want to kill everyone who disagrees. He keeps in the shadows. He offers threats which are subtle and thus believable. He is a good villain.

Keep it classy folks.

I have no idea if the book Villain Design Handbook by Kenzer & Co is any good, but I think it could have been useful for Guy Ritchie. Do tell if you know anything about the book.

The Piper delivers!

Today I got to sit down and take a peek at some goodies in the mail. I'm happy to say that as the last customer of Pied Piper Publishing direct sales I got a very tasty treat. Go to Noble Knight Games and purchase some of the PPP Old School goodness!

For those of you who don't know about PPP, this is what you need to know. PPP is the company of Robert J. Kuntz, the guy who was co-DM of the Castle Greyhawk campaign. Not only is Rob a very nice guy who have kindly answered questions I've asked about the old ways in Lake Geneva, he also sells some very nice products. Some of those are reproductions of his notes used in the early seventies while Dave, Ernie, Gary and others were delving in dungeons. Almost as cool to get to see as a proper publishing of Ken St. Andre's Gristlegrim would be.

I ordered The Original Bottle City, which came numbered and signed with two maps scanned from very fragile looking graph paper almost as old as myself! Add to this the module Tower of Blood and the source book of magic miscellanea called El Raja Key's Arcane Treasury and you have one very happy rpg fan opening his mail. Combine the talent of Eric Shook and Lance Hawvermale with Rob Kuntz and you have some very interesting stuff. I will probably post more about my impressions of these items later. Now I'm a very happy camper.

Sherlock Holmes, dungeon delver II

Disclaimer

I guess everyone who saw the movie noticed the elaborate trap, and maybe even thought about it. This is how I see it.

When the trap was triggered Irene Adler was in dire straights. The stake was to get the machine stopped before she died. We get graphic visuals showing us what is at stake, as pig carcasses gets sawn apart. Now did you notice where Sherlock was looking?

He saw the mechanism to the trap, and he saw what was holding Irene fastened. At this point he had two ways to approach the problem, by freeing her or by disabling the mechanism. Note how the clock is ticking, and we have a time limit for the trap. This makes it more tense than just a pressure plate and a save for half damage.

The most delightful part of how this trap was set up was that violence was always an option, as well as a more refined or crafty one. The mechanism was visible and you could poke at it and try to stop it, you could grasp how it worked and try to shut it off. A very real option was also to just jam something durable into the gears and make it stop or at least slow down. This gave it a possibility for multiple types of gamers to solve the issue. Yes, we also had the chains and the lock. The lock was visible, but you had to reach above Irene's head to get at it, and it was moving. Clearly an oportunity for inventiveness, and also sweeten the payoff for successfull disabling by putting the character who tries to solve the puzzle in the line of danger. Everyone loves to succeed when there was a threat of real danger. Naturally, you could hang onto Irene and just try to apply force to those chains and break the hostage loose.

Did you see all that?

I think the way this scene was set up was a marvellous set piece trap that any DM worth his salt should study and emulate. There are multiple venues of approach, and you can work one them more than one at a time. Violence is an option and there is a time limit. Very important for all this to work is that there are nothing hidden. We all see the mechanism clearly and the only thing left is to to try handle the situation. I'd would love that in a game!

Sherlock Holmes, dungeon delver I

Last night I watched the newest Sherlock Holmes film, and I started thinking of gaming as soon as I was out of the theatre. The rest of this post and those related to it will talk about what happens in the film, decide for yourself if you want to come back and read them after seeing the film.

Now we can get started talking about what happens in the film, and how it can be used to make your games better.

I think the film was quite fun, even though it was an interpretation of a more action and violence oriented Holmes than I'd prefer. Victorian London was a quite rough place to be, and maybe I've been seduced by the fairly idealized picture that Conan Doyle presents, and ignored the sooty and miserable place London was for the majority of its inhabitants during the late 1800. Still, there were a few very graphic fights, which I will now dwell a bit further upon.

Except for the fight in the arena, or pit fight (which by the way made me think of a certain career in Warhammer FRP), the environment was crucial to the outcome of the fights. The fight with the big French speaking dude was just about destroying furniture until Holmes found the electric device. Picking up junk lying around will in most games just give you something equivalent to a dagger, or similar "light" weapon. Improvised weapons like the leg of a stool or chair might not pack the same punch as a gun, but sometimes they might be just what you need. I made me wonder if beefing up those improvised weapons, handing out action points or some other way to use game mechanics to bolster combat effectiveness is the answer to make this happen in a game. Frankly I think not. The best way to handle it is probably a change in the attitude of Game Masters, giving out support for innovative actions. Still, game mechanics are such a method. Hmm.

Apart from that insight, I think the general question of the environment is interesting. When they were fighting, it made the fights less repetitive and more interesting when there was a possibility to fall off a tall bridge or get crushed by a ship while fighting. Dan Bayn used to write a column over at rpg.net about action scenes. I think it should be mandatory reading for any GM. Dan is overflowing with cool ideas, and I only wish I remembered half of what I've read of that column when I sit behind the screen. One of the things Dan writes about is how to enliven fights using the environment. Just think about when Sherlock swings around on top of that bridge, rotating around and coming up behind whom he was fighting. Are there a rope or chain hanging around? Grab it and swing!

So, you say that all this is cool and great, fun you want your game more traditional, and more focused on the thrill of fantasy than cinematic steampunk? Well, think about rivers of lava, high bridges over deep ravines. I don't know about you, but some of those images gives me a great feeling of fantasy. Just think about Moria.

Maybe the lesson from all this is that when designing dungeon rooms or encounters in general, we as designers should include some random junk, and some more cracks in the floor, ice patches, lava rivers and red hot pokers. One way to make it less "canned" and make it more of a toolbox would be to include a chart of these effects and suggest the GM rolls on it once in a while to liven up the delve. Food for thought if you plan on writing an adventure for somebody else to run.

My next game will include a Sherlock Holmes and Dan Bayn.

Old School. More than a feeling?

Some of you might have read Grognardia a short while ago, where a quote from Ken St. Andre was commented upon. I liked it myself and nodded in agreement until I thought some more.

If this snippet of wisdom from Ken St. Andre should work in play, you would have to train your players!

I have tried to use dopplegangers as a monster in play. It failed miserably, since the players didn't trust nobody. Guess what happened when they found someone chained in a dungeon asked to be freed? Guess how likely they would have been to act like Ken suggests?

In order to have your players try to talk themselves out of troubles instead of just charging into a TPK, they need to be trained to do it. Old School play is not just a feeling, and this proves it. Any kind of dungeon dressing, or any kind of "first edition" monster collection can be brought to the table without any old school play happening.

Few xp for monsters but much xp for gold is an excellent way to achieve the training I'm talking about. I'm beginning to wonder this was removed from T&T? Yes, it was in there back in the beginning. Ken once mentioned it was taken out, so unless I misunderstood him it should have been in there.

Looking forward to 2010

I have been keeping quiet for a while now, with the holidays taking all the time for me. For some people, this is the time to meet old friends and play games. I'm afraid most of my old friends I might meet if I go visit familiy, is stuck in the WoW swamp and wont play proper rpgs any more. I love to spend some time with family, but for my gaming needs the holidays really suck. But, now I'm looking forward to the whole of 2010.

This is my dreams and visions for 2010 of what I want to play

Play more T&T
The last year was the year when my T&T campaign really hit its stride. Sadly it was also the year when I had to bring it to a close, since I was leaving Canada. The gears are still turning, and I would like to keep the momentum. 2010 is the year when I will try to play T&T regularly again.

Start a Call of Cthulhu campaign
One of my old friends e-mailed me once a month, when the electronic mailing list for that gaming group sent out monthly reminders. I will try to make something of that this year. That friend have since been swamped by family issues, but his enthusiasm was contagious. 2010 is the year when I will try to start a Call of Cthulhu campaign.

Retroclones
While I have been a enthusiastic supporter of a lot of the retroclone efforts, I still haven't played any. Labyrinth Lord is not that interesting for me since I have more than one copy of B/X already, and the same is true of OSRIC and AD&D. I would like to play some S&W, though, and in a few days we have a session planned. Hopefully I will see more of that this year.

Looking wider I think we will see the OSR publication efforts continue. Today I pre-ordered the S&W white box from Brave Halfling, and I think we will see more interesting developments. With some luck I will at least try S&W WB out once.

Publishing
As everyone knows who reads this blog, I love Tunnels & Trolls. It's not as visible in the old school community as I would like, but since D&D have a huge mind share of everyone playing rpgs it's not that surprising. But, I plan to actually produce more material for T&T in the future, and make it more visible. I have gotten permission from Rick Loomis to post T&T support here and in the fanzines, so I need to get up to speed. I will have less time in the future so maybe I will have to scale back on my other online activity, or learn how to sleep less. We will see how that goes.

I also have a bunch of material I would like to publish in a more tangible form. That now takes up most of my time, and I have been thinking of how to go forward with it. Tax rules and that kind of crap is making my brain hurt, and it isn't very easy to start up a publishing company. It takes a lot of time to write, map, layout and also think about the business end.

To summarize 2010 from this vantage point I'd say, get in touch with me if you need a player! I want to play more games.