My current GURPS campaign is GURPS Dungeon Fantasy. I set it in a fairly vague campaign world, with little defined outside of the dungeon. All the major action takes place in a very small area that's defined by a base, a big dungeon, and some rough outlines of the area around it.
Someone recently wondered about the experience of running that kind of campaign.
Here is what I've learned.
It's very freeing for the GM. Having one main dungeon that the PCs can go to automatically makes for a much smaller, and thus less detail-requiring, sandbox. You can concentrate on making that one location come alive and make it matter and make it fun, instead of having to do that for everywhere. For a GM without unlimited time, this is really excellent. You can just keep plugging away at the dungeon, knowing a good portion of the play time will be repeat visits to the same location.
Further, the vaguely defined city means you can decide on the fly if something is there or not. It's also repeatedly visited, so anything you define or decide to add is automatically useful and will be used and re-used. And if the players miss that feature, they won't move on.
It's very freeing for the players. People want the freedom of a sandbox, and the option to go anywhere. But game session to game session, it's nice to just be able to show up and know you're raiding the dungeon. Knowing you could say, no, let's do something else, or exercise your option to explore the outside world - that's important. But it's very freeing for the players to be able to just know that on Sunday you're going into Felltower and the big questions are - what entrance? How deep will we go? Should we fight that monster or disarm that trap, or bypass it?
Being unable to go anywhere at any time - freedom from choice, or really, freedom from being forced to choose, isn't limiting. You can decide to buy a ship and go a-piratin' or whatever, but the base city with its base dungeon is right there if you don't. You always have a default game for the night.
It works well with episodic play. If you end the session in the city and basically force people to run back to base at the end of the game, you can play with a varying pool of players and/or characters. You can let people stay in the dungeon between sessions, but you don't have to, especially if the dungeon is an easy trip from town (mine takes half a day if you march fast, a full day if you take your time and you're being cautious).
A big nearby dungeon means never having to buy rations. Well, not in large quantities, unless you're thinking of a very deep plunge indeed. But in a greater sense, this means supplies aren't a make-or-break decision with time spent calculating man-days of rations and how many tents you need and if the mules have enough fodder for the return trip. Even if it is a certain trip away, it's the same trip, so you can use a pre-set answer for "how long till we get there?" and "how much does it cost to get there and back?"
Think lazy. Seriously, only work on the dungeon.
Weather? My dungeon is at about the same latitude and longitude of my players and I, so I can set the weather by looking outside. Been cold? It's been cold in the game world. That big hurricane? Nasty storm hit the game world. What's it like out? Someone look outside.
My town? I have a rough map. I don't need a detailed map. Detail would fence me in.
New PCs? A quick walk back to town and pick up the new guys, who coincidentally are waiting at the tavern/inn/marketplace/town square/adventure's guild hall and also just happen to know someone in the group.
Need to introduce a strange new race or class or whatever later, but not now? Just add it later, when they show up with a caravan.
Only the details of the dungeon need to be mapped out. That's the only place you need to really worry about. Keep that tight and nailed down, keep it fun and mysterious and worth going to, and your players will happily keep going. It saves you all work, and makes for a nice way to play. Put your work there, and it'll all sort itself out.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
In which I play GURPS Dungeon Fantasy
Yesterday I played my first online game of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy. It was GM'ed by Colin Ritter and included four players.
GURPS Midgaard
It was a lot of fun. We had a dwarven warrior saint, my morninstar-weilding knight Tarjan Telnar, a human thief (who'd also apparently a wizard, sweet), and a scout.
Short version, we bargain for a reward from a jarl and then headed off to recover a lost axe that would help him appear more jarl'ly. We killed lots of goblins, mostly by making their heads a splode. Well, I made their heads a splode. 3d+8 crushing will do that.
We used Google+ hangouts (that was fine) and Roll20 (that was kind of annoying to configure). I need to play with Roll20 more to figure out how to set up better macros.
Some amusing bits:
- We must have spent 10 minutes buying rations. I remembered why I put the dungeon next to the city in my game - buying food for PCs is like figuring out the lunch tab split. "Okay, I've got 26 meals worth of rations and 48 silver pieces, how about you?"
- None of our guys can evaluate the value of art objects, or even jewelry, worth a damn.
- None of us know Heraldry, either. I totally forgot to buy that one, that should have been me. Sorry guys.
- I built my guy with, effectively, auto-kill ability built in. It worked like a charm. I agree with Vryce's player, though - once you get into the 3d+8 range of damage, your problem is no longer offense, but defense and handling bad circumstances. You just need more skill for a better Parry and more Perks and Advantages that help you act more broadly.
- I managed to roll a 3 or a 4 at least twice, maybe three times, on damage rolls. Lucky for me minimum damage for me is still a ridiculous amount.
- I finally got to use some of the things I helped build into the system - All-Out Attack (Long), Targeted Attack techniques (as "Slayer Training"), and multiple blocks - on my own character. I've used them with NPCs, but it felt good to do them with my own PC.
- The couple of times the GM would get stuck on a rule, which didn't happen often, either I or the other freelance GURPS author on the list could quote the appropriate rule. Default roll, modifiers for dual-shooting arrows with Heroic Archer, penalties for multiple parries, whatever. On my part, I had my books opened to especially hard-to-remember rules and tables. It violates my "no books on the table" rule but online, it's something that seems to speed play instead of slowing it down.
Sure, he could ruled anything he wanted and we'd have gone along with it, but it was available instantly. "16 on the critical head blow table is . . ." "double damage." It's the difference between "stop and look it up" and "one of the players knows the rule by heart and just tells you the numbers."
- Using Roll20 was kind of cool, because the guys the GM wasn't dealing with at the moment (the rest of us, say, while the scout was ahead) we could still type up what we were doing. The warrior saint and my knight had a whole conversation about how to attack the goblins, we typed up our prep so the GM could just glance at it and know what we were up to, and we could noodle on about non-gaming stuff without disrupting the flow of play or the GM's talking. Nice.
- Not sure why, but I forgot to get my shield enchanted to Deflect +1. Meant to, but didn't. Okay, things to do with my loot.
Lots of fun.
GURPS Midgaard
It was a lot of fun. We had a dwarven warrior saint, my morninstar-weilding knight Tarjan Telnar, a human thief (who'd also apparently a wizard, sweet), and a scout.
Short version, we bargain for a reward from a jarl and then headed off to recover a lost axe that would help him appear more jarl'ly. We killed lots of goblins, mostly by making their heads a splode. Well, I made their heads a splode. 3d+8 crushing will do that.
We used Google+ hangouts (that was fine) and Roll20 (that was kind of annoying to configure). I need to play with Roll20 more to figure out how to set up better macros.
Some amusing bits:
- We must have spent 10 minutes buying rations. I remembered why I put the dungeon next to the city in my game - buying food for PCs is like figuring out the lunch tab split. "Okay, I've got 26 meals worth of rations and 48 silver pieces, how about you?"
- None of our guys can evaluate the value of art objects, or even jewelry, worth a damn.
- None of us know Heraldry, either. I totally forgot to buy that one, that should have been me. Sorry guys.
- I built my guy with, effectively, auto-kill ability built in. It worked like a charm. I agree with Vryce's player, though - once you get into the 3d+8 range of damage, your problem is no longer offense, but defense and handling bad circumstances. You just need more skill for a better Parry and more Perks and Advantages that help you act more broadly.
- I managed to roll a 3 or a 4 at least twice, maybe three times, on damage rolls. Lucky for me minimum damage for me is still a ridiculous amount.
- I finally got to use some of the things I helped build into the system - All-Out Attack (Long), Targeted Attack techniques (as "Slayer Training"), and multiple blocks - on my own character. I've used them with NPCs, but it felt good to do them with my own PC.
- The couple of times the GM would get stuck on a rule, which didn't happen often, either I or the other freelance GURPS author on the list could quote the appropriate rule. Default roll, modifiers for dual-shooting arrows with Heroic Archer, penalties for multiple parries, whatever. On my part, I had my books opened to especially hard-to-remember rules and tables. It violates my "no books on the table" rule but online, it's something that seems to speed play instead of slowing it down.
Sure, he could ruled anything he wanted and we'd have gone along with it, but it was available instantly. "16 on the critical head blow table is . . ." "double damage." It's the difference between "stop and look it up" and "one of the players knows the rule by heart and just tells you the numbers."
- Using Roll20 was kind of cool, because the guys the GM wasn't dealing with at the moment (the rest of us, say, while the scout was ahead) we could still type up what we were doing. The warrior saint and my knight had a whole conversation about how to attack the goblins, we typed up our prep so the GM could just glance at it and know what we were up to, and we could noodle on about non-gaming stuff without disrupting the flow of play or the GM's talking. Nice.
- Not sure why, but I forgot to get my shield enchanted to Deflect +1. Meant to, but didn't. Okay, things to do with my loot.
Lots of fun.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Old School - style or rules?
Beedo brought up the idea that "old school" is a play style. Well, that the OSR is a play style, to overly simplify his statement.
I occasionally wonder about this as well, since I play a game that many would consider "new school," as if rules heavy = new school.* Hah, I say. Hah. Hah. But I play with a deliberate tip of the hat to old school games, and the stuff I enjoyed playing since I was a kid.
I think there are two ways to be "old school." One is style, one is literally playing the old stuff.
Old School Style is simply that - you play a game much like it was played back in the old days. For whatever reason - nostalgia, enjoying a different style of play, change of pace, belief in its inherent superiority. Rule sets help - it's easier to play old school if you use an old school game. But it's about style and sensibility. It's that early, fairness means I don't re-roll, cheerfully lethal, no save or undo, go do what you want and I'll rule how it works in play kind of deal. Easier with some game systems but not impossible with most.
Literally Playing Old Games is another part of it. If I dig out my AD&D books and run Dragonlance, am I not playing an old-school game? I'd say yes, even if I'm railroading my players and given them PCs with pages of background and pre-determined actions at certain points in play. That may not be fun (or it might), but it's playing like it's the early 1980s all over again. Those modules came out before at least one of my players was born, and closer to the birth date of D&D than to now. So that's still old school, even if it represents a newer style of play within that old school. AD&D is pretty clearly old-school gaming, but it's not like you couldn't use it for something entirely non-old school in style. And you can use old school rules in a totally non-impartial fashion. Killer DM, anyone? That's pretty damn old school, although rarely fun in my experience.
So I it helps to think of it that way - do I want old school style, yes or no? Do I want actual old school rules, yes or no? You can answer either way, and end up in different places:
yes, yes: OD&D, AD&D, etc.
yes, no: GURPS, Pathfinder, later editions of D&D, etc.
no, yes: Dragonlance, some of the Planescape adventures, etc.
no, no: (Various games)
For me, I think my games are old school in style, even if I cheerfully mix rules ideas from any generation of gaming. I use disadvantages and character background yet I randomly roll treasure in a megadungeon setting and roll damage dice in front of everyone so they can watch their PCs die horribly in the process. I went with yes, no as my options. Whee!
* I've always wonder where folks stick GURPS - is it old school (its central mechanics date to the mid-80s), because of its age, or new school because, uhm, it's still in print? To me, it's still old school at its heart, but the optional and core rules have gotten more and more refined to make it play faster and better. The point values of characters from 4th edition GURPS are different than those in Man-to-Man or 1st edition GURPS, but the numbers mean the same things, and you could use them with only a tiny bit of conversion.
I occasionally wonder about this as well, since I play a game that many would consider "new school," as if rules heavy = new school.* Hah, I say. Hah. Hah. But I play with a deliberate tip of the hat to old school games, and the stuff I enjoyed playing since I was a kid.
I think there are two ways to be "old school." One is style, one is literally playing the old stuff.
Old School Style is simply that - you play a game much like it was played back in the old days. For whatever reason - nostalgia, enjoying a different style of play, change of pace, belief in its inherent superiority. Rule sets help - it's easier to play old school if you use an old school game. But it's about style and sensibility. It's that early, fairness means I don't re-roll, cheerfully lethal, no save or undo, go do what you want and I'll rule how it works in play kind of deal. Easier with some game systems but not impossible with most.
Literally Playing Old Games is another part of it. If I dig out my AD&D books and run Dragonlance, am I not playing an old-school game? I'd say yes, even if I'm railroading my players and given them PCs with pages of background and pre-determined actions at certain points in play. That may not be fun (or it might), but it's playing like it's the early 1980s all over again. Those modules came out before at least one of my players was born, and closer to the birth date of D&D than to now. So that's still old school, even if it represents a newer style of play within that old school. AD&D is pretty clearly old-school gaming, but it's not like you couldn't use it for something entirely non-old school in style. And you can use old school rules in a totally non-impartial fashion. Killer DM, anyone? That's pretty damn old school, although rarely fun in my experience.
So I it helps to think of it that way - do I want old school style, yes or no? Do I want actual old school rules, yes or no? You can answer either way, and end up in different places:
yes, yes: OD&D, AD&D, etc.
yes, no: GURPS, Pathfinder, later editions of D&D, etc.
no, yes: Dragonlance, some of the Planescape adventures, etc.
no, no: (Various games)
For me, I think my games are old school in style, even if I cheerfully mix rules ideas from any generation of gaming. I use disadvantages and character background yet I randomly roll treasure in a megadungeon setting and roll damage dice in front of everyone so they can watch their PCs die horribly in the process. I went with yes, no as my options. Whee!
* I've always wonder where folks stick GURPS - is it old school (its central mechanics date to the mid-80s), because of its age, or new school because, uhm, it's still in print? To me, it's still old school at its heart, but the optional and core rules have gotten more and more refined to make it play faster and better. The point values of characters from 4th edition GURPS are different than those in Man-to-Man or 1st edition GURPS, but the numbers mean the same things, and you could use them with only a tiny bit of conversion.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Blog Recommendations: Gaming Ballistic & Tetsujin no Llama
I'd like to recommend a couple of blogs. Both are by freelancers who have written for GURPS.
Gaming Ballistic
This is Douglas Cole's blog. Doug is probably most (in)famous for his article, "The Deadly Spring" in Pyramid magazine. It's reviewed here.
At least at the moment, it's got only a few articles, but they are good ones:
- One on toting 10' polearms (and poles) in a dungeon.
- Two on a variation how GURPS figures damage from weapons (amongst other things.)
- Some retrospective on why he writes what he wrote.
tetsujin no llama
The other blog is by Matt Riggsby, who has written so many things I can't keep track of them all. The first DF adventure being one of them.
His blog is a bit sparse on GURPS rules right now but it's got a lot of details on his own world. There are a lot of little bits you can steal from his musings to fit into your own game world. Plus, it's just a good read.
Both really interesting blogs so far.
Gaming Ballistic
This is Douglas Cole's blog. Doug is probably most (in)famous for his article, "The Deadly Spring" in Pyramid magazine. It's reviewed here.
At least at the moment, it's got only a few articles, but they are good ones:
- One on toting 10' polearms (and poles) in a dungeon.
- Two on a variation how GURPS figures damage from weapons (amongst other things.)
- Some retrospective on why he writes what he wrote.
tetsujin no llama
The other blog is by Matt Riggsby, who has written so many things I can't keep track of them all. The first DF adventure being one of them.
His blog is a bit sparse on GURPS rules right now but it's got a lot of details on his own world. There are a lot of little bits you can steal from his musings to fit into your own game world. Plus, it's just a good read.
Both really interesting blogs so far.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Stuff I Learned About Treasure in DF
One theme in my DF game is that I don't, or at least didn't, give out enough treasure. This is probably true overall, because I can be stingy for fear of giving away too much.
How much do they need?
First, they need to make a profit, because that's how I determine XP awards.
Upkeep costs in Dungeon Fantasy are $150/week, per PC. I have increased upkeep costs for people with appropriate disadvantages, like Compulsive Generosity or Compulsive Carousing or others that would have a steady additional cost.
Recharging Power Items isn't expensive, but neither is it cheap.
Potions that get used don't count against the trip's profits, but if you have to sink money into potions to ensure survival and success, you're going to spend a lot of money. Same with arrows, flasks of oil, rations, etc. - some of which do count for determining XP, but many of which don't.
Gear is really expensive in GURPS. You start with $1000, but a greatsword sets you back $900, a suit of plate several times that, and even light armor and weapons add up quickly. So a broken sword or rust-armor-rusted armor can cause a disastrous loss of money to an expedition that's barely making it by.
So they need a lot. $500+ per person per trip isn't a bad idea for a rough base. Higher is probably better, especially the more death they risk. If you're converting D&D module treasures to GURPS, you have to at least go with 1 gp = $1 and go up from there; 1 gp = 1 standard DF sp ($4) is better and you might want to go still higher as the money doesn't go as far. 1000 gp in AD&D split four ways is a solid profit for a trip for beginning adventurers. For DFers, $1000 split four ways barely covers the bar tab for a week, nevermind any incurred costs in expendables.
Whatever you think is enough, probably isn't.
I started low. A few thousand would be okay, right? Wrong. PCs were broke in no time, often coming back to town knowing they'd be broke before we convened game again. I dealt with that a few ones; the important one here is by increasing the amount of treasure.
Why more treasure?
They didn't find it all. A good portion of the treasure I put there was overlooked, missed, skipped over by mistake, not recognized as treasure, or left behind in the confusion. "Sorry guys, no one mentioned the chest of silver again after you opened it, so it's still back in the orc lair." That kind of stuff.
They kept stuff even when they needed the cash from selling it. Evil looking shield with a demon face on it? Plate armor of the evil cleric? That magic sword no one knows how to use? Those potions no one is willing to use? They held on to all of them. You can't expect them to cash in everything they can't use immediately, just because they need cash. My PCs held on to stuff they might need and borrowed money to eat.
(Although conversely, they'll often sell stuff you expected them to keep. Don't place stuff they need to continue the quest or they need to defeat a specific monster. Murphy's Law predicts instant sale.)
40 cents on the dollar. DF gives you 40% for sold gear. 100% for cash, gems, and jewelry, but 40% otherwise. So even if they do sell gear, they might not get much for it, and then they need to divide it up. My players found that armor and weapons made a good sale, but it wasn't a gold mine of profits.
It's a tough job. Multiple deaths to get this treasure, and regular severe risk of harm. For what? For a while it wasn't for enough. So I needed to up the treasure to justify this. Why would you go into a dark hole full of monsters for profit if there isn't much chance of a profit? That smacked too much of desperation and not enough of real fun.
Plus, the more money that comes out of the hole, the more intrigue that goes into getting it. Rival adventurers, say, or the fun of expanding the city's trade through sheer spending and demand. More money means bigger expeditions, more hirelings, more risk taking, and more crazy expenditures. The more they see come in, the more likely they are to spray it back out again.
Last session, the PCs took home about $5K each. That's much better than a dry hole for getting the players to risk their characters again and again.
So yeah, I learned I had to add treasure. My advice is, don't stint on it from the start like I did. Put in some cash and gems and jewelry, and give them a lot to blow it on. You won't regret it.
How much do they need?
First, they need to make a profit, because that's how I determine XP awards.
Upkeep costs in Dungeon Fantasy are $150/week, per PC. I have increased upkeep costs for people with appropriate disadvantages, like Compulsive Generosity or Compulsive Carousing or others that would have a steady additional cost.
Recharging Power Items isn't expensive, but neither is it cheap.
Potions that get used don't count against the trip's profits, but if you have to sink money into potions to ensure survival and success, you're going to spend a lot of money. Same with arrows, flasks of oil, rations, etc. - some of which do count for determining XP, but many of which don't.
Gear is really expensive in GURPS. You start with $1000, but a greatsword sets you back $900, a suit of plate several times that, and even light armor and weapons add up quickly. So a broken sword or rust-armor-rusted armor can cause a disastrous loss of money to an expedition that's barely making it by.
So they need a lot. $500+ per person per trip isn't a bad idea for a rough base. Higher is probably better, especially the more death they risk. If you're converting D&D module treasures to GURPS, you have to at least go with 1 gp = $1 and go up from there; 1 gp = 1 standard DF sp ($4) is better and you might want to go still higher as the money doesn't go as far. 1000 gp in AD&D split four ways is a solid profit for a trip for beginning adventurers. For DFers, $1000 split four ways barely covers the bar tab for a week, nevermind any incurred costs in expendables.
Whatever you think is enough, probably isn't.
I started low. A few thousand would be okay, right? Wrong. PCs were broke in no time, often coming back to town knowing they'd be broke before we convened game again. I dealt with that a few ones; the important one here is by increasing the amount of treasure.
Why more treasure?
They didn't find it all. A good portion of the treasure I put there was overlooked, missed, skipped over by mistake, not recognized as treasure, or left behind in the confusion. "Sorry guys, no one mentioned the chest of silver again after you opened it, so it's still back in the orc lair." That kind of stuff.
They kept stuff even when they needed the cash from selling it. Evil looking shield with a demon face on it? Plate armor of the evil cleric? That magic sword no one knows how to use? Those potions no one is willing to use? They held on to all of them. You can't expect them to cash in everything they can't use immediately, just because they need cash. My PCs held on to stuff they might need and borrowed money to eat.
(Although conversely, they'll often sell stuff you expected them to keep. Don't place stuff they need to continue the quest or they need to defeat a specific monster. Murphy's Law predicts instant sale.)
40 cents on the dollar. DF gives you 40% for sold gear. 100% for cash, gems, and jewelry, but 40% otherwise. So even if they do sell gear, they might not get much for it, and then they need to divide it up. My players found that armor and weapons made a good sale, but it wasn't a gold mine of profits.
It's a tough job. Multiple deaths to get this treasure, and regular severe risk of harm. For what? For a while it wasn't for enough. So I needed to up the treasure to justify this. Why would you go into a dark hole full of monsters for profit if there isn't much chance of a profit? That smacked too much of desperation and not enough of real fun.
Plus, the more money that comes out of the hole, the more intrigue that goes into getting it. Rival adventurers, say, or the fun of expanding the city's trade through sheer spending and demand. More money means bigger expeditions, more hirelings, more risk taking, and more crazy expenditures. The more they see come in, the more likely they are to spray it back out again.
Last session, the PCs took home about $5K each. That's much better than a dry hole for getting the players to risk their characters again and again.
So yeah, I learned I had to add treasure. My advice is, don't stint on it from the start like I did. Put in some cash and gems and jewelry, and give them a lot to blow it on. You won't regret it.
Cool AD&D treasure trove generator
Seriously, this is awesome, and I'm sorry I didn't have it back when I played AD&D.
1s Edition AD&D Treasure Trove Generator
It's kind of fun to play with just on its own, much like the Meatshield generator.
1s Edition AD&D Treasure Trove Generator
It's kind of fun to play with just on its own, much like the Meatshield generator.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Best Video Game Fight of 2012
For me, at least, it was getting to revisit this monster of a brawl from Bard's Tale I. Really, best fight of the mid-80s.
Baron Harkyn's army. Four groups, each of 99 berserkers. The first two groups (and your first 3 guys plus any summoned critters, like my dragon) can melee . . . and your melee guys can kill at most one each per turn. It takes about 10 real minutes of fighting to get through this brawl.
Oh sure, you can disguise yourselves as members of his fanatical army using robes you found earlier . . . but then you miss the brawl. Do you want to win the game with minimal effort, or be awesome?
Baron Harkyn's army. Four groups, each of 99 berserkers. The first two groups (and your first 3 guys plus any summoned critters, like my dragon) can melee . . . and your melee guys can kill at most one each per turn. It takes about 10 real minutes of fighting to get through this brawl.
Oh sure, you can disguise yourselves as members of his fanatical army using robes you found earlier . . . but then you miss the brawl. Do you want to win the game with minimal effort, or be awesome?
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