Sandbox games / Second pass

A term I've suddenly started hearing banded about the blogging network is 'sandbox', which I find kind of surprising.
To my mind, the term originates from the world of video games, and refers to 'open' game worlds in which you can explore the map freely, with little or no limitations.
I think of Grand Theft Auto and Oblivion when I think of Sandbox games.
I've only recently seen it being applied to pen and paper RPGs, usually as an alternative to the 'traditional' dungeon crawl.
This is what I find surprising.
It may be that I didn't start playing dungeon based games until relatively recently, and started instead with 'open world' games like Cyberpunk, Ars Magica and Vampire: the Masquerade.

Maybe because of this, I've found dungeon based settings hard to rationalize. They basically don't make sense to me.
The environment and ecosystems are illogical and artificial, and the construction of a mega dungeon is not just insane, but logistically impossible.
Surely there has to be a more efficient and cost effective way of hoarding gold / worshipping your evil god than building a monolith of a temple that blocks out the sun then inverting it and buring it under a forbidden mountain.
Although that does sound kinda cool.
I'd do it if I could, and keep all my secret stuff there...

So, anyways, Sandbox.

I've run a few, and messed some of them up big time.

The biggest mistake I've made is not giving the players enough guidance.
I ran a Vampire: the Masquerade game set in the 1950's, and I kind of let the players make their own way.
They stumbled around for ages, and every now and then I threw them a plot bone.
It was very unsatisfactory.

In a previous post I wrote about Grand Theft Auto and how it helped me realise something important about the structure behind a successful game.

That it needs a structure in the first place.
Which is a bit of a no-brainer, really, but an intuitive leap I needed to make.

What I realised was that whilst I was free to run around Liberty City as I pleased, to steal cars, compete in races, find jumps, acquire and evade wanted stars, deal drugs, pimp out girls and callously murder innocents, there was always a plot for me to return to.
I knew that if I got bored, or wanted something surprising and challenging, all I needed to do was go to the mob boss's mansion or hide-out and get a mission.
Simple.

This is what I forgot to include in my earlier games: the opportunity for players to be given a goal or tasks.

In the classic D&D model, this is making contact with the village elders / dodge guy in the tavern / local priest who usually has some jobs they need doing.
In a World of Darkness setting, this is a function your Allies, Contacts, Mentor, Covenant/Tribe/Court etc can provide.

It is also worth remembering that as a GM we can subtly or overtly nudge the players in the direction of the action.
Computer games often have an annoying companion or guide that spends the first act of the game following you around and interrupting play with advice, when all you want to do is get to the killin' asap.
Table top RPGs can sidestep this convention whilst still providing all the necessary guidance and direction a player needs.

Heed the call to Adventure! / Telluric power is a harsh mistress

I've been watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls today, and I'm halfway through reading Lovecrafts Mountains of Madness.
I am currently overcome with a desire to run a pulp game. Either Trail of Cthulhu or Adventure!

Either would be acceptable, and would no doubt use similar set pieces.

I'm favouring Adventure! as I write, as it is a marvellous system that rewards creativity, description and ingenuity, and allows the players to directly affect the narrative. It's rawrsome. And great fun as well.

Can I use my gun stat? / Combat characters in talky encounters

Being an internationally renowned role-play guru, I am often approached by apostles wishing to bathe in the waters of the well of my RPG wisdom.

Or something

I received this email earlier today:

What do you do when you have a good group of characters that work well together and have a varied mix of skills that they keep using .. but there's one who is usually left out for example : an ex military PTSD Sufferer who is now something of a Conspiracy theorist .. skills wise has a few bits all over The game I'm running is not generally combat led but there is inevitably conflict each week.. in this he takes part .. pulled out a fire extinguisher and started blinding the zombies this week which was cool ..

But I don't get how to get him more involved in the social / mental side of things without leading him by the nose and railroading the adventure
I want them to make their own choices and then if there' consequences .. gotta live with it .. have you any insights ?

My considered reply was:

Tough one. Maybe ask him straight out, how can I get your character more involved in the thinky/talky stuff? That way he feels as though he has input, and that his input matters.
Be sure to tell him that his character kicks add in fights, though, and keep saying its the character, not the player, that you're struggling to engage.

You could ask the other players if they have any ideas how you or they can get the character involved.

You could stage some encounters that focus specifically on the character, maybe triggering a combat flashback or reminding him of a past combat encounter that traumatised him in the first place. He could then roleplay out his characters reactions and fears with the other players or some NPCs.

Other ideas could be to:
Split him off from everybody else, and give him a series of achievable goals that involve negotiating with NPCs. You could even let the other players play the NPCs in question. "You're ex army, you go see if you can get them to lend us a pilot and chopper, and we'll arrange the supplies."

Have an NPC, a woman or child (Newt from Aliens?) attach themselves to the character and follow him around, interacting at every available opportunity.

There's definitely a lot more that could be done to involve and engage this player. I think my friend puts a bit more stock in my GMing ability than I deserve, and I wish I could give him some better advice.

Strange bedfellows / Carthian Democracy story idea for Vampire: the Requiem

Here in the UK we have a coalition government, created when the Conservative party failed to secure a clear majority in parliament and entered into a power sharing deal with the much smaller Liberal Democrats party.
As a result of this, we are due a referendum vote on the 5th May to decide if we, as a country, want to fundamentally alter our democratic process - do we want to change from our current 'first past the post' vote counting system, and move to the multi-vote Alternative Vote system.
This would never have happened if the Conservatives hadn't gotten into bed with the Lib Dems. The Lib Dems are the third runners in a two party system, and have a lot of idealistic and progressive policies that none of the other parties share.
Arguably, they are the Carthian Movement.
OK, probably not, but It's my way into this post.

The Carthian Movement is the newest political group within the Vampire ruling sects, and has a lot of funny, darling ideas, like democracy, equal say, upward mobility, are against feudal rule, rule by elders and rule by divine mandate as well as any other more traditional method of vampiric governance.

So, chronicle idea. The city has recently fallen under Carthian governance, and is a major victory for the Movement. Sweeping reform is in effect. Elysium has moved, the Primogen and Priscus have mostly changed, and the prominent members of the other Covenants have virtually vanished from the public eye.

The received wisdom is that the Carthians have achieved this magnificent coup due to the genius of the new Prince, a virtual neonate with influence in mortal business and politics.
The truth is slightly more complicated...

The new Prince is indeed a genius, and has brokered deals with some of the city's more powerful and influential Kindred which have allowed him to oust the previous incumbent and assume to position of Prince. Without this support, the new Prince would have been ignored at best, or ushered across to the final death at worst.

Now, the elders have upheld their end of the deal, and have no doubt profited greatly from the removal of old allies, but now they know that the new Prince cannot stand without their support, and will keep asking more and more of him until his ability to deliver crumbles, and they can appoint a new Prince.

The Prince is aware of the position he is in, balanced between the public perception of a truly democratic state, and the power plays of the elders he opposes.

The players should be affiliated with the Carthian Movement in some way, or have a vested interest in the smooth running of the city's new political order.
They will be employed by the new Prince to handle the elders and their demand, either granting them their more... reasonable requests or limiting the damages of their excesses.
As the story progresses, they will be called on to act against the elders, reducing their temporal influence or muting their power within Kindred society.
This is a dangerous game for the players, as the elders could crush them, physically, mentally and socially, with a simple act, as could the new Prince.

Eventually they will have a decision to make. Side fully with the new Prince and destroy the elders, side with the elders and topple the new Prince, or act to remove both sides from power and establish something of their own choosing.

Have phone, will geek / Android Apps for the Mobile Gamer

I've had an Android phone for about three months ish now, and whilst it hasn't quite revolutionized my life, it has made gaming on the go somewhat easier.

Here are the apps that turn my pocket into a gaming repository:

Internet Browser. Often overlooked, but the power of todays' mobile browsers is astounding. I read and contribute to forums exclusively from my phone nowadabys, and catch up on all my gaming related news as well.

Adobe PDF Reader. This app just keeps getting better. When I first got my phone, the Adobe app was just about acceptable for reading an 80 page copy of Mage Noir, with a lag as it uploaded. Now it has been updated twice and is much faster, easier to use and better presented. A must for the books you don't want to carry around with you.

NWoDice. A World of Darkness dice roller that is intuitive, quick and well presented. It covers off 8, 9 and10 again and chance die really well.

Dice Bag. A dice roller app. The jury's out on this one. It could be really spiffy, and does present a lot of options, but is kind of clunky to use. It does allow you to roll a full range of dice with modifiers and multiples, and to create your own dice (d11, anybody?).

RpgTracker. A nice little app that allows you to monitor any renewable resource you can think of: Health / Hit Points, magic points, willpower, blood pools, essence, healing surges etc. You name a character, create each stat, assign a max and current score, and then track from there. It even includes a formula field for stats that replenish over time, although I've not figured that one out yet.

Name Generator. This app will randomly generate a number of names for you based on which gender and nationality you select. Apparently it knows the most popular first and second names for each country on the list and works from that. Even includes ancient Greek and Roman names.

Pathfinder Spell Compendium. Allows you to drill down to the full spell text by class and level, or to search on the spell name. Very quick.

Blogger. What I'm using to write this right now. It's not advanced enough to edit posts you've created on a PC, but is very versatile nonetheless. And once you've published a post using the app, you can edit it at a PC as normal.

Vampire 20th / The modern world

I woke up this morning to a massive world news story. You may be aware of it. I'll not issue any spoilers if you've not.
It reminded me of something I'd been thinking about a couple of weeks ago, around the publication of White Wolf's Vampire: the Masquerade 20th anniversary edition (V:tM R.5?).

Firstly, a link, link fans:
http://www.vampirethemasquerade.com/

Are we up to speed? Awesome.

What I was thinking was this: how are they going to adapt the setting to reflect 2011 onwards? Or, how are they going to incorporate the events of the last ten or so years, specifically 9/11?
With the publication of Vampire Revised in 98 (?), there was a revision of the Assamite clan, and the metaplot focussed on a threat from the East.
Then, just as New York by Night was due for publication, the Twin Towers were attacked and the world changed over night.
White Wolf chose not to pull or amend the book, instead opting to fix it firmly before the attack and present it as a tribute to a heroic city.

Or, in other words, real life events did not affect the metaplot.

So I found myself wondering what take V20 will take on the events since 9/11, and on the events of the last few days.
Will the Assamites be affected? Theoretically they should be sympathetic to some of the ideologies of the Muslim extremist movements, and are certainly geared up to wage a war against their enemies.

I also think that playing an Assamite would be a roleplay challenge in itself, given recent events.
Could most players do the concept justice without crossing any lines of gaming etiquette?
I don't know, myself. It would be hard for me to portray a fundamentalist amongst people who personified everything he stood against.

Finally, a question to you all: should a RPG game reference world events as defining and emotive as 9/11?

Why are there so many doors around here? / Changeling: the Lost antagonist

The Huntsman approaches through the Hedge

I'm itching to play Changeling: the Lost. It strikes me as such a mature and evolved game, with such a strong focus on humanity, loss, and of course, madness. Every time I read the core rules, or just think about the setting, my palms start to itch.

So, to partially appease my inner gaming urge, I have been working through scenarios in my mind: What would I do with a Changeling campaign? How would I run it? What would I focus on?

Here's one of the things I've come up with. This character presents a mystery for the players to uncover, and a problem to resolve. He's been statted as a legal starting character, with one fudge - I gave him an extra 1xp so he could purchase the Dream 1 contract. Other than that, somebody could pick this character up and play him.
Although I would advise against it..

The hook that gets the players involved is the growing number of gateways to Hedge that are appearing all over the city. At least one a day is being discovered, and the Freehold is concerned - these doors are in seemingly random sites, and present a growing risk from rival Freeholds, rogues, Loyalists, the True Fae themselves - the map of entrances and exists to the Hedge is changing daily, and the Freehold is struggling to keep up.

The Huntsman

The players should be tasked with tracking down whoever is opening these doors, and making sure that no more are opened.

The cause is a Changeling known only as The Quarry, freshly escaped from captivity and blundering through the near Hedge and local city.
The Quarry is a Runnerswift, taken by a Fae Huntsman some ten years ago and continually hunted with dogs and horses for all that time. The Quarry's only companion during this time was the constant fear of capture, fear of the dogs, fear of the horn. Now he has finally escaped, but he doesn't actually know it. All he knows is that he needs to run, to hide, to always make sure he has an exit, to fear everything.
Now he is in the players city, constantly jumping from the world to the Hedge and back in an effort to evade capture. He doesn't know where he is, hasn't even considered trying to reclaim his old life, and is terrified of everybody and everything, especially those people that look like the monster huntsman and his pack that took him.
If he sees the players, he'll bolt.
If surprised, he'll run.
If he sees a dog or horse, he runs.

The Hedge side of the city

If he feels trapped, enclosed or out of options, he will do anything to get away.

If the players can find a way to reassure him and quell his fear, he could talk to them.
He could alternately be scared away from the Freehold and the surrounding area, becoming someone else's problem.
And, of course, they could kill him or similar, although it should be made clear that they're not dealing with a malevolent threat, rather a terrified young man who's just like they were.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Quarry

The Quarry
Male, 18 years old
Beast / Runnerswift (rabbit/hare)

Virtue - Fortitude
Vice - Gluttony

Attributes

• Intelligence 1, Wits 4, Resolve 2
• Strength 2, Dexterity 4, Stamina 2
• Presence 1, Manipulation 1, Composure 4

Skills

• Crafts 1, Investigation 1, Medicine 1, Occult 1
• Athletics 3 (sprinting, jumping), Brawl 1, Larceny 1, Stealth 3 (moving in woodland), Survival 2 (foraging) Weaponry 1
• Animal Ken 3, Streetwise 1, Subterfuge 3

Merits

• Hollow 1 (a basic burrow in the Hedge)
• Fleet of Foot 2

Contracts

• Contract of Smoke 3
• Contract of Fang & Talon 2 (rabbit/hare)
• Contract of Dream 1

Wyrd 3, Glamour pool 12
Health 7, Willpower 6
Clarity 5
Size 5, Speed 15, Initiative 8, Defense 4

Flaw: Phobia (dogs)

FFS White Wolf, what are you playing at? / Where are the game pages?

I'm half way through writing a post about Changeling: the Lost, and thought it would be a good idea to include a link the C:tL page on the WW website, for anybody that isn't familiar with this excellent game.

Turns out they don't hold any game specific information on their site anymore. Not even on Vampire: the Requiem.
There's a split between 'old' and 'new' world of darkness, Exalted and Scion, and that's it.
In the past they've given each game line its own set of pages that include a description of / introduction to the line, line specific news, downloads and bonus material.
Now they give nothing.
Thanks for that, White Wolf / CCP. Thanks a bunch.

I've seen the rationale of moving the pdf downloads off the site and letting DrivethruRPG handle it instead, and the sudden and massive move to fan generated content (which sounds fine, on paper), but what we are seeing here is a total abandonment of the games that made the company worth acquiring by CCP in the first place.

Hell, SJ Games still maintains an In Nomine site, and that's been out of print for nearly a decade.
Because it still has fans.

I feel disappointed and let down. How could you, White Wolf, how could you?
For shame.

Fantasy Weddings / If this were D&D, a dragon would have eaten somebody by now

Right now the royal wedding is on in the background, and I found myself looking at Westminster Abbey and all the gathered dignitaries, the tradition and the military dress uniforms, and thought:

"Wow! That's pretty awesome. All we need now is for a dual with magic swords, a gatecrashing dragon and a minor comedic scuffle between Dwarf and Elf nations, and this would rock."

Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen. 

Once I had shaken off this crushing disappointment, I decided to blog about it. I'd draw a parallel between real world royal weddings and fantasy RPG weddings. I'd point out that the world would be scandalised that the Drow ambassador had been invited, yet the Half-Elves had not, as they are not recognised as a separate race, stuff like that. The dress would be woven out of gossamer thread from the Feywild, and the groom would arrive on a griffin wielding the blazing sword of office.

Rawrsome. 

My next thought was, I'm gonna need some pictures to illustrate this. 

But, to my surprise, there are no actual D&D wedding pictures that Google can find me. In fact, there are no Forgotten Realms ones either. I even tried LRP and LARP weddings, as they love a good wedding, and nothing. 

The Google image search of Dungeons and Dragons Wedding did throw up a picture of a lovely young girl whose modesty was protected only by a Sega Dreamcast console and two controllers. 

I kid you not. 

I swear i wasn't looking for it. 

Final Fantasy didn't let me down.
I am disappointed that neither of them are a cat, though

So, a couple of genuine questions for all you gamers out there: 

Has a wedding ever featured in one of your games? 

Who got married - Player character(s) or NPCs?

Would you actually be engaged by an in-game wedding?

Long Distance Gaming / How to video conference for success and XP

I have two young kids, a house that's too small and I don't drive. Most of my gaming friends are steadily moving away. I am suffering from geek withdrawal, and my video games don't provide the same fix.
Whilst discussing a friends upcoming Hunter: the Vigil game via email, I was reminded that some people have managed to successfully play games using the internet - chat, IM, video conferences, stuff like that. I'd even looked into it myself a couple of years ago.

Could it work? Maybe...

So i've been poking around the internet (with moderate safe search on - i'm not a prude, but i'm not specifically looking for naked lady chat) and have found that the cool looking multi user white board featuring file uploading video conference site i'd used two years ago, Palbee, doesn't seem to exist anymore.
However, a site called Bigmarker does, and seems to do exactly the same thing, but with nicer graphics.

I'm thinking of inviting some friends to a test, but I do have some reservations:

• Awkwardness - Will the heady thrill of genuine human contact be missed? Will we just look shyly at our hands like teenagers on a first date?
• Dice rolling - So, how do we monitor this? I'm not explicitly accusing anybody of cheating here, more that I take an interest in my players rolls, which allows me to a) help translate roll results into action, and b) fudge stuff if the roll generally unsatisfactory. So, how do I see the dice? Should we use a dice roller program, or everybody have a second webcam pointed at a designated rolling space, or should I just unclench?
• Character sheets - similar question to dice. I like to collect them in and keep hold of the character sheets at the end of each session. This prevents players turning up to sessions without their sheets. Players, it must be remembered, are prone to forgetting dice, pencils, books, character sheets, miniatures and their own names, so i feel this is an understandable precaution. 
• Character creation & book reference - this usually involves sitting down the player(s) and the relevant books. Seeing as most gamers I know don't actually buy the books, it's down to the GM to bring them along. Not really possible over the net. Not unless I get creative with a web cam or scanner.

I'm hoping the benefits will out weigh the costs, though, namely that I can game with my buddies, and not actually leave my living room. Result.