What would you like to see in Pathfinder future?

Over at Paizo I saw a rather active forum thread covering the desired future of Pathfinder rules.

Many people request rules for psionics, for example, or epic-level rules.

Personally I would favor an extensive expansion on the existing core classes. More options on how I can play my rogue, monk, fighter, etc. Here’s a short list of possibilities I think would add a lot:

• Barbarians: more rage powers, ability to “dex-rage” (frenzy) instead of normal rage
• Bards: more bardic performances, and ability to ignore arcane spell progression in favor of divine spell progression (possibly bagging a domain in the process)
• Clerics: move away from good/evil dichotomy; option to reduce spells known and progression in favor of casting spontaneously (like a sorcerer) (yes, essentially a Pathfinder variant of the Favored Soul)
• Druids: option to replace wild shape with having a beast bloodline
• Fighters: optional “training” variants, instead of armor and weapon training – have options to have “war training”, “officer training”, “movement training”, “maneuver training”, etc instead
• Monks: more ki powers, option to have Intelligence (Kung Fu Genius) or Charisma (Fighting Spirit) based monk bonuses (rather than Wisdom based)
• Paladins: option to give up high BAB progression to gain more abilities to powerup the party as a whole (similar to the Bard and Marshal classes); option to give up some benefit to gain paladin spells from level 1 onward
• Rangers: more combat styles (for example “Skirmish”), option to give up some benefit to gain ranger spells from level 1 onward
• Rogues: option to give up sneak attack, but gain spell-casting as a sorcerer of level equal to the sneak attack (i.e. 10d6 sneak attack = cast spells as a 10th level sorcerer)
• Sorcerers: more bloodlines (additionally expand spells and bloodlines to include “psionic” flavored ones)
• Wizards: more schools (additionally expand spells and schools to include “psionic” flavored ones)

Thoughts and comments?

Complexity and why every game is a sandbox game.

So… what is Complexity (or for that matter, its big brother, Chaos)? It seems the term(s) get thrown around a lot. You’ll find references to it in everything from economics, to meteorology, to ecology and even in horrible Ashton Kutcher movies. But what is  this butterfly effect and how did it help the dinosaurs give Sam, Jeff and Newman such a hard time? And how does it impact on our RPG hobby?

Be warned, this post may contain Jurassic Park spoilers.

Well, in danger of providing an over-simplified definition (which is a bit odd to suggest when dealing with complexity), the more complex a system is, the more difficult it becomes to accurately predict the outcome of the interactions between the numerous parts of the system. Make sense? In Jurassic Park, dinosaurs were brought back to life by mixing the DNA harvested from fossilized mosquitoes (that fed off dinosaurs) with frog DNA. With so many variables in bringing the dinosaurs back to life, the only certainty was that the Park would lose control of the dinosaurs because they could not cover for all possible eventualities (like the dinosaurs overcoming their mono-gendered restriction and eventual breeding).

To avoid bloating this post’s word count, I’m going to assume all readers are familiar with the concepts of railroad and sandbox play. If not, here’s a link to a handy Wikipedia article. Right, so to continue with the Jurassic Park theme, a railroading GM can be likened to Hammond and InGen in JP. Initially, the dinosaurs (the players) will play along. Eventually, though, the players will derail the GM’s script as one cannot possibly predict the actions the PCs will attempt (or even what the variety of PC skills, spells, or powers would allow). Or (even worse) what the dice decide (Gasp! An element of randomness!). Sure, you, as railroading GM, may try to correct the course of the game, but this often entails anything from expecting extreme suspension of disbelief from the players to downright cheating. If you’re willing to deal with the tension that your course correction may fuel, by all means go for it. But, be warned, the PCs, like the dinosaurs, will find a way to breed derail your story again.

No, I'm simply saying that life, uh... finds a way.

This post was originally intended to form part of this month’s RPG blog carnival, with the topic of Dungeons and Dragons, hosted by 6d6 Fireball. The sub-topic I aimed to use in this post: You want to do what? But, as you can see, I’ve somehow managed to get myself sidetracked from writing about stories of awesome D&D  WTF? moments. Those will still be coming though, just not today.

- jatori

PS – Who else is busy likening their players to dinosaurs? You always get that one velociraptor in each play group that figures out how to open doors.

How to be a paladin (or everything I know I learnt from DnD)

Sometimes, while researching an item, feat, character background, or other aspect of the game we have the outrageous good fortune to run across something amazing. A small bit of knowledge or an enormous revelation. And sometimes this bit of knowledge comes in the form of knowledge so pure, so beautiful, that it must give us pause.

Recently I’ve started playing a paladin, Shivi. My first foray into the game that is the paladin. This was to some extent formulated and given shape by my discovery of a real world hero. A man of legend. And a man I had not known existed. He lived a mere 350 years ago, and perhaps that is the reason for his relative obscurity – as he is now, he is “merely” a hero in India; had he lived 2000 years ago he might rival the likes of Buddha, Confucius, Jesus and any number of other greats.

This man is Shivaji (Shivaji Raje Bhosle 1627 – 1680) a hero who successfully defied odds time and again to bring a measure of freedom to India. He and his tiny army used cunning and superior strategy to best armies ten times their size. He built a navy that held its own against the Brittish and Portuguese ships. He continuously propagated goodwill and freedom of thought and spirituality, embracing and protecting those of other faiths whilst himself being devout beyond fault. He didn’t fear to lead the charges into battle himself and the then prevalent practices of treating women as war booty, destruction of religious monuments, slavery and forceful religious conversions were firmly opposed under his administration. Shivaji was a tremendously successful king, resourceful and wily, yet also wise and benevolent – well loved by his subjects and inspiring a loyalty that is rarely found.

Shivaji was a man so great he has inspired a feat akin to the legendary king Leonidas of Sparta: whilst attempting to evade capture Baji Prabhu Deshpande, a loyal sardar (commander) of Shivaji’s, along with 300 Marathas held the chasing Persian army at bay at a narrow mountain pass at Ghod Khind. The ensuing Battle of Pavan Khind left all Marathas and 1286 Persians dead. During the battle Baji Prabhu Deshpande was near fatally wounded but continued fighting until he heard the sound of canon fire from Vishalgad, signalling Shivaji Maharaj had reached safely to the fort. This battle could be likened to a turning point, as it brought about a truce and the formal recognition of the independence of Shivaji Maharaj’s Kingdom.

The wiki-entry linked above is truly extensive, but I heartily recommend fully reading it. This is a man that truly deserves our respect and admiration.

DnD taught me how to read good

Did you know that there is actually more to life than just being really, really, really good looking? I know, a weird concept, but it’s true. For instance, knowing how to read good is important too. Some kids even want to learn how to do other stuff good too. And that’s good too, but today, we’re going to focus on how Dungeons and Dragons can help you to read (and write) good!

I promise that this post will not be a lecturer on how to interpret and read texts from the POV of the Good alignment. Get it? A good reading of the text reveals that the protagonist is, in fact, caught up in an internal conflict along the L-C alignment axis and struggles to reconcile the chaotic actions she must follow with… OK, I’ll stop.

The kids may not be able to fit in there, but their minis sure-as-heck can!

During my role playing career, I’ve had the pleasure to play with several individuals that did not speak English as a first language. In truth, for some of them, English wasn’t even a second language. I never really thought about what this meant to the individuals in question, or to the group we played in, or even to myself, until one day, one of the players mentioned that he would not have known the meaning of the word ‘dagger’ if he not discovered it through DnD. Wow! That was quite a revelation and, thinking about it, led me to the following:

1. I should try RPing in a non-English language and see what I can learn. Even if it’s just the dialogue. Anybody up for GMing in Afrikaans for me (and laughing as I butcher your language)? What about creating or translating an RPG to Afrikaans?
2. What other words and concepts, found within DnD, could enrich an individual’s (depending on age, education etc.) vocabulary and knowledge of the English language (and, thus, the world)?

One day, I’ll brave idea 1 (if I can find a brave enough group). For today, however, let’s see if we can come up with a list of words/concepts that you didn’t know/misunderstood until you came across it through DnD. I’ll get the ball rolling:

• Ego Whip: It’s not about vanity flagellation.

This post forms of this month’s RPG blog carnival, with the topic of Dungeons and Dragons, hosted by 6d6 Fireball. I intend to follow this month’s host’s formula and contribute one post for each of the sub-topics. The sub-topic used in this post: Everything I know, I learnt from playing DnD.

- jatori

The Worst Gamer City in the World – Part 2

Here’s a quick review of this week’s Durban gaming revival activities:

Step 1 – Securing a Venue:

I thought that this was going to actually be quite easy and straightforward. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by the results.

I first approached an internet café / coffee shop. PB and I have, in the past, brought board games to the venue and played there whilst sipping their expensive coffee and eating yummy chocolate brownies. I thought that this would be the perfect venue, because a) we’ve previously played board games there, with no problems, and b) the venue has a high level of gamer traffic. So, it was a little surprising, when I approached them with idea of using their venue to play some pen ‘n paper RPGs, that they turned me down. Even though I made it clear that we’d be sipping their expensive coffee and eating brownies throughout the session (i.e. not just taking up space in the store), they still wouldn’t allow us to play there.

Then I tried approaching the store (Destiny bookstore in Windermere shopping center) mentioned in the previous post… and I got a resounding “Yes, I’d love to have you guys play here!” from the owner. I was not expecting this, as the store never quite felt gamer friendly to me (possibly, because the staff aren’t too knowledgeable about the hobby). Or, perhaps, because FLGS and the gaming community require a symbiotic relationship. Let me explain further: it seems that the store has always been willing to support the community / host events, but, even when things do happen there, the community doesn’t keep at it or make adequate use of all the resources provided to them. Interesting revelation.

Step 2 – Attracting Players

I pretty much will always have two guaranteed players: PB and another university gaming friend that also relocated to Durban. Then I also have several Durban-native gaming acquaintances that would also game with us (if we can sort out scheduling – ugh). But (no offense meant), I don’t want to only game with the people I know now – with my clique. I, instead, want to go out and meet other gamers; play with other people; see what Durban has to offer. So, when Destiny suggested I run an event on July 4th (I only visited them on July 2nd), I first thought that it couldn’t possibly happen on such short notice (especially considering that the Durban July is also happening this weekend), but I did agree to see what I can arrange.

A little bit after the lunch hour, I launched a twitter-based RT campaign, and, surprise, several Durban players got hold of me, expressing their interest. Right now (morning of July 3rd), it’s still a bit uncertain if we’ll get to play tomorrow, but things look good for next weekend (for the Durbanites unable to make it to the Johannesburg-based convention, ICON [more on ICON in a future post]) and/or for the weekend after.

More news as things develop.

- jatori

Feat Discussion: Harmless (not the face!)

Edit: Rephrased to clean-up meaning and intent

I’m starting a new blogtype on tenletter (and presumably it will just be me making use of it ). The Feat Discussion posts. The format is simple: one feat is presented and everybody is invited to discuss it. So, without further ado:

Harmless [General]
Prerequisite: Cha 13+
Benefit: Provided you wear light or no armor, you may add your Cha modifier to your AC as a dodge bonus, you retain this bonus to AC even when flat-footed, helpless or unconscious. Additionally, when you attack an opponent he is considered flat-footed to your attack. However, whenever you perform an offensive action (such as attacking a foe or casting an offensive spell) you immediately lose the benefits of this feat. You regain the benefits of this feat 1 minute after the most recent offensive action you performed. Aiding allies using the Aid Another action and casting buffing spells on yourself or allies and even positioning yourself in a flanking position do not count as offensive actions for the purpose of this feat.

pathfinder vs 4e

Upfront: I’m not really comparing oranges with apples here – this post is about my new love affair with Pathfinder. It’s no secret that I dislike DnD4e (an opinion that will only be up for re-evaluation once the 4e monk is released), so it isn’t fair for me to list advantages and disadvantages and declare a winner.

This post asks “Did WotC make a mistake?”.

In M:tG the WotC do it all the time: bring out a new core standard set that slightly redefines and improves the overall game – and the remainder of the time it is about new worlds, realms and abilities that are released in advanced blocks and subsets. Perhaps DnD (3.5) should’ve followed a similar route. New worlds, new abilities, and occasionally a new “standard” set that optimises and re-balances the overall play slightly.

Pathfinder shows to me that the basic core game is so much more fulfilling than the hash of hundreds of supplements.  The whole package is streamlined and improves the original game and its mechanics subtly. It isn’t without flaws – but a pure and beautiful elegance is shimmering through quite clearly. A whole host of fantastic and fun new options are introduced that make sense – without bloat.

What impresses me time and again is that the feats, prestige classes and even basic (new) equipment are fun. Not nearly as overpowered as some of the options available in 3.5 – but tremendously flavorful and varied. It is obvious that this new incarnation is run by fans first and a business second. The depth that Pathfinder is bringing back to the game is, to me, a revelation. It feels like, somewhere out there, is a group of people that are not bound by excessive red tape, bureaucracy and the need to make a hyped-up buck.

The Worst Gamer City in the World

Durban, South Africa, population 3.4 million, is not a gamer city. Currently, I find myself living there for at least 50 – 75% of the year. Most of this post will focus predominantly on me ranting and complaining about the situation. However, I shall also be listing some of the actions I intend to take to fix this problem.

First off, let me begin by stating that I’m going to be talking from a role player perspective. You’ll find several Magic: the Gathering and Warhammer players around. Also, I’ve recently discovered the details of a local board game enthusiast (but more on that in a later post). Right, so back to my tale of woe.

Durban is generally viewed (by other South African gamers) as being apathetic, insular and heavily clique-based. Initially, PB and I found it very difficult to even meet with other players (let alone join with other groups). Eventually, we did find a group of players that were willing to game with us (and with whom we were actually gaming-compatible). After much thinking, I believe that the issues we had could be traced to the following reasons:

• PB and I are gaming snobs. We would rather not game than game in an awkward or uncomfortable situation. There, I said it. Part of our problem was self-inflicted.
• There is no proper central hub for the community. The only store that provides any sort of gaming material only keeps the gaming stock on as part of the legacy left over from the previous owners.  For one of South Africa’s larger universities, it’s sad that there is no university-based gaming society.
• Not many people move to Durban (at least when compared to Cape Town or Johannesburg; or university towns like Stellenbosch or Grahamstown). So you don’t get that constant influx of gamers, new to the area, looking for  gamers.
• Following on from the above, many existing gaming groups do not change much over the years. You play with the same people you played with in high school. It’s known. It’s comfortable.
• On the other hand, many people (gamers included) move away from Durban, often moving to Johannesburg (economic center of ZA), for example.

OK, so what can be done? Here follows a list of few things I want to try out. In the future I hope to report back with a few positive results.

• Cultivate new players. It’s not that difficult to spot a potential player (Warhammer and Magic players!). It’s a completely different matter trying to convert a person from potential player to actual player. I’ve had some success in Durban, but more on that later.
• Play in public. Thanks to the guys at Subcultures, NL, I am now the proud owner of WWDNDGD 2 adventure (including the maps and minis). I think the self-contained adventure is well suited for such a purpose. Note, South Africa actually has pretty poor product support and many, if not all, of the ‘official’ game day events had to make do without the maps and minis. So, expect to see reports about me playing in public (coffee shops etc.) in the near future. This is how I recruited a lot of players back in my university days. I hope it works here.

Forseeable problems:

• I don’t stay in Durban for 100% of the year. Work has me travel quite a bit.
• We don’t intend to stay in Durban indefinitely.

Well, wish me luck. I hope to have good news in the near future.

If you have any other suggestions, please share.

This post was inspired by the Gamer Traveler’s post about the best gamer city.

- jatori

Gender Portrayal through Writing

Recently, I discovered GenderAnalyzer – a site that, apparently, can determine a writer’s gender based on a sample of the writer’s, well, writing. Now, gender (portrayal, perception, understanding) and gaming  happens to be one of tenletter’s favourite topics, so it’s only natural (for me, at least) that I see if GA can accurately determine the genders of the tenletter authors (or which of the manly men on the team write like little girly girls). Here’s the list (real gender in parenthesis):

Jatori (Male): Male 67%

Peasant Butcher (Female): Male 57%, but quite gender neutral.

TrashCondor (Male): Male 70% [As expected from resident author and expert on cleaving]

Etufo (Male): Male 68%

rolery (Male): Male 58%, but quite gender neutral.

Zeneofa (Male): Male 80%

Endraca (Female): Male 65%

Avianfoo (Male): Male 87%

And here’s a sampling of five of my favourite RPG blog authors (note: this time, I decided to look at authors that I didn’t analyze with the Myers-Briggs test).

Evil Machinations (Female): Male 57%, but quite gender neutral.

Vulcan Stev (Male): Male 66%

MacGuffen (Male): Male 78%

Sanastar (Male): Male 74%

Uncle Bear (Male): Male 65%

- jatori

[DDM] DnD Miniatures Skirmish – First Impressions

Recently, I had the privilege to play in two limited DDM Skirmish tournaments. For those not in the know, the Skirmish rules mimic DnD combat, with a number of notable differences: Skirmish is a game for two players, each in control of their own warband of several individual miniatures.

WotC no longer provides official support for the Skirmish game (though they continue to produce new miniatures). The Skirmish community, however, still wanting this aspect of the game to carry on, managed to secure a non-profit licence to continue the game (including organising and running DCI sanctioned tournaments).

Whilst I was based in Utrecht, I heard of an upcoming limited Skirmish tournament. In a limited DCI event, part of your entrance fee goes towards purchasing some product. During the tournament, you may only make use of the product purchased when you entered. In this way, the composition of your warband is ‘limited’ to whatever you opened on the day (perfect for new players, like me). The same concept applies to a number of other games, including Magic: the Gathering. Normally, product purchased as part of a limited tournament tends to come with a slight discount. Since I use miniatures when GMing DnD, I thought that this would be a great way to increase my collection and get to meet some more Dutch (role) players. Plus, there’s always the chance that you win the tournament and get to walk away with some added prizes.

Dwarf-on-Boar vs Gith-on-Dragon. The Dwarf won.

During my stay in the Netherlands, I managed to play in, as mentioned above, two limited tournaments. In the first, I managed to secure two wins out of four matches. In the second tournament, I netted two victories and one loss. This has made me (as of writing this) the number one South African player! (OK, and also the first and only South African player to be ranked by the DCI).

Caught between a Marilith and Giant Beetle!

Not wanting to go into too much mechanical detail, here’s a short pros/cons list of DDM, based on my first impressions of the Skirmish game:

What I liked:

The game is easy to learn, especially if you’re comfortable with either DnD 3.x or 4e combat.

It gives you something else to do with your miniatures.

A game runs fairly quickly and requires minimal preperation.

A strong online community and DCI support.

What I didn’t like:

Since WotC no longer officially supports the game, new products aren’t shipped with the necessary stat cards for the miniatures. These need to be downloaded and printed.

Perhaps it was just the layout of the playing area, but my opponent’s stat cards were not easily readable from my side of the table. The game had to be frequently paused whenever we had to stretch over to read cards or asked for them to be passed over. I haven’t really had any experience with other table top wargames, so I’m not sure if this is a DDM issue or a common problem found in other games too.

The battle maps aren’t too exciting. They promote fast play, but just seem a little boring.

If you’re interested in finding out more, you can find the official community site, the DDM Guild, here. If looking to contact the Netherlands chapter, you can reach them here (they’re a really nice bunch of guys, not minding the noob, which didn’t print out the stat cards before the tournament, too much – I hope). Unfortunately, there is currently no South African chapter. Maybe I can fix that.

- jatori