Gears of Ruin: The Phantom Rails, Part 2
See part 1 here.
(Note this game was played 2 weeks ago… I kept no notes, so details will be sketchy)
Being Deadly Cool on a Mound of Corpses (Continued)
As the party schemed, hidden behind a pile of warclank spare parts (i.e clockwork mechas) near the gigantic pile of humanoid corpses, the ghouls and blasphemes continued their Dance Macabre. The ghouls were trying to snatch pieces of relatively fresh “meat” from the pile while the reconstructed undead kept them at bay with beams of death-laced energies.
While I fully expected my players to charge the pile to recover the dead agent’s body, they totally surprised me instead. After planning for 10-15 minutes, they came up with the following:
Mike: Vorian (Githzerai Monk) slowly sneak up on the pile by crawling on the corpses, laying near-motionless, creeping slowly to the agent. Then the rest of the party will be ready to support me if we decide to trigger an ambush. They’ll be hidden just there, behind those tarps.
I must say that this was ballsy and cool. There were 6 monsters on the pile (all non-minions) and 6 ghouls around it. I explained the rules of engagement if things went south along with how the Ghouls would likely react (go for corpses or the PCs). Then I asked Mike to roll a first stealth check, ignoring all opposed check rules that the PHB2 has. This was pure ‘Mouseguarding it” against an unerrata-ed “moderate” level 14 DC (and much faster to adjudicate).
He aced it.
Chatty: Slowly, inexorably, you creep toward the dead agent as the surrounding undead walk by, sometimes even stepping over you as they move around about their grisly business. Still, you finally reach your goal unnoticed…
Mike (and others): Yes!
Chatty: Only to find out that the agent’s watch arm has been hacked off! You see no watches lying around.
Mike: No freaking way?!
Chatty (Smiling): Yeah… how ’bout that? What now?
Mike: I guess my Monk returns back.
Chatty: Play another stealth check.
Mike: I miss…
Chatty (Smiling that evil DM smile players HATE as I went into ‘plot twist’ mode): As you slowly crawl down the pile, one of the blaspheme disciples steps on your hand and looks down, eyes growing wide. Roll initiative.
Party: Awwwww man!
Mike won initiative, got a well earned surprise round and pulled another one on me.
Mike: So, there’s a lot of noise here with those Frankensteins fighting and these huge chainsaw clankers right? I mean there”s a lot of action going on all around us?
Chatty (Warily): Yea…?
Mike: Then I use my power that teleports me and an adjacent enemy to bring us here…
“Here” being right in the middle of the rest of the party, all waiting behind a series of obstacles, within line of sight of the monk… but exactly out of sight of all other monsters.
Suffice it to say that I eventually ruled that the monster was killed, hooligan mob style without the monsters noticing anything. I would be lying if I said I didn’t resist the idea a little bit (old habits die hard after all), but the Rule of Cool won out.
This is the kind of brilliant play I love having players surprise me with (once I recover). Yes, I ”lost” a combat scene, but all the elements I prepared for this encounter made it into this scene… except the stats, which I can always recycle.
The Factory of Improvised Scenes
The other PCs were already moving behind the clockwork meat wagons to see if the arm was in it. Being very careful to stay out of sight. They didn’t find it. A series of rails (I mean, actual rails for the wagons) led into the main factory. My players decided to follow them…
(Ha! Talk about subversion)
(Also, by some byzantine law of the state of Maryland, I must warn you that the above link leads to the TV Tropes Wiki, you have been warned).
As the players entered the factory, I described how the rails led to another area where the body parts were dumped, sorted and ministered to by those stitched-up sentient undead constructs. All around the party stood floors over meshed floors covered with automated manufacturing lines stretching over several football fields’ worth of area space and rising several stories high.
(I was basically describing one of those camera shots that go slowly backwards to show just how damn big an area really is)
The southern space was devoted to making blasphemes, those Frankensteinian humanoids while the northern part was making autoclanks. Over all, 60-80′ up stood a central command centre, on a mezzanine, where a 9′ tall cupola-like structure of orange-white crystal.
Everywhere, deafening noise, choking smoke, the tear-inducing acrid smell of acid and explosives…
Everywhere, hundreds and hundreds of completed “units” standing to attention, motionless, menacing.
Franky: Whoa… where the hell do you get all those ideas man?
Ya know? There are many reasons that make me love GMing so much. Those exact moments are way up there. 
Cya soon for part 3.
Critical Bits for the week ending 2010-03-07
- RT @mattstaggs: http://is.gd/9tRM8 via @AVClubChicago – D&D 101: Why now is the time to start role-playing #
- March #dnd Rules Updates: http://is.gd/9xuES #
- Quick overview of some of the updates, ongoing thread on ENWorld: http://is.gd/9xEsL #
- RT @fray: Kickstarter – Game Design: P20 Modern Roleplaying Game: http://kck.st/bDQFrdPathfinder compatible Patron project now starting. #
- RT @Wizards_DnD: Join the discussion on the March #dnd rules update: http://bit.ly/940vJ2 #
- RT @joeljohnson: First picture from HBO's production of "Game of Thrones". So. Pumped. http://bit.ly/9APi2Z #
- RT @fredhicks: Q: What opportunities do I have to play Evil Hat's games at Origins 2010? A: http://bit.ly/aH6XGm #
- Help make Wizards of the Coast adventures better: http://is.gd/9FLK6 #
- DndFile contains a repository of useful D&D files (of course) http://www.dndfile.com/ #
- RT @gregbilsland: New blog post up at gregbilsland.wordpress.com discussing Lost and D&D. #
- RT @wotc_rodney: Pop by my blog and leave me some feedback to help make our #dnd adventures better! http://twurl.nl/mbs0v1 #
- RT @loganbonner: New blog post with a behind-the-scenes scan from Underdark: http://is.gd/9GTLY #
- Including more JoCo, MC Frontalot, and other great bands RT @RockBand: Want to see the full #RBN track list? CHECK IT: http://bit.ly/9tZeuv #
- The Truth About 4th Edition D&D http://is.gd/9HrTZ #
- RT @matt_james_rpg: #WotC had me do a #DND blog article on their site. Check it out: http://bit.ly/aMLpcC #
- Leverage Roleplaying Game http://www.margaretweis.com/mwp-online-store/leverage/29-leverage-the-quickstart-job #
Talmanthian Plateau
Home Above the Clouds
Just before the frigid north of a large continent lies an immense mountain plateau. The plateau is commonly known as Angel’s Table to those who live below the sheer cliffs that make it all but inaccessible. Atop the cliffs, a scenic landscape of rolling plains and small forests cover the immense majestic plateau. The creatures and tribes of this unique and exotic landscape call it Talmanthian. Below are the details for a unique and unexplored landscape for your party to explore, and possibly discover the ancient treasure and secrets of this remote landscape.
Table of Angels
The immense plains and thick wild copses of trees are mainly untouched by the world below, with flight being the primary method of accessing Angel’s Table. Clouds constantly break and roil around the massive limestone cliffs like a sea of white and grey that hide the plateau from below for most of the year. From above the constant ocean of clouds veils the world below, with many of the nomadic tribes of the sprawling plateau believing the world ends at the sheer cliffs of their homeland. Melted snow and ice from the northern reaches of Talmanthian flow across the land in small creeks and brooks, converging upon a great lake in the south east of Angel’s Table. This lake houses many species of unique fauna that are only found upon the plateau as well as a kingdom of merfolk that live upon the lakebed. Countless nomadic tribes of Humans, Elves and the unique Uqwauy roam endlessly upon Talmanthian, each with their own folklore of the origins of their homeland. At such altitude, trees grow slowly and fruits and grains take many years to come to harvest, thus hunting the animals and birds of the region has become the primary source of food for the tribes of Talmanthian. The scope of the plateau allows the tribes to live in relative peace, rarely clashing over rights to a particular herd of beast, however the harsh landscape means these rare clashes between tribes are often brutal wars that only end with the complete destruction of one tribe. This harsh lifestyle has bred fierce and survivalist warriors within all the species that call Talmanthian home.
Wanderers of the Plains
A species of humanoid-bipedal horses, the Uqwuay roam the endless plains of the plateau in nomadic tribes. With a great respect for the land they live upon and undying loyalty for their family and tribe, the Uqwuay are often ignored by the few adventurers that visit Angel’s Table, as they are believed to be simplistic beasts. In truth, this intelligent race of horse-men has learned to live in harmony with the almost barren terrain of the plateau, and is the most willing to communicate with the few adventurers that encroach upon their isolated homeland. These noble vagrants spend their time following the numerous snowmelts and rivers to stay with the most luscious of the slow growing foliage the covers the plains of Talmanthian. The Uqwuay hold their connection to the land in highest regard and anything that they find to be desecrating their sacred home are viciously and constantly attacked until either repelled or destroyed. These attacks are swift and powerful as the warriors use skirmishing tactics to constantly charge at their enemies with spears and staves, whilst archers and magically imbued Uqwuay attack from a distance. The speed and strength of these noble warriors is rarely matched in the high altitudes of Talmanthian, with very few warriors able to stand against their sweeping tactics. The countless tribes of Uqwuay are filled with powerful warriors and skilled rangers, but positions of respect are held for any Uqwuay that becomes magical connected with nature, especially wardens. The communal society within the tribes ensures that all members are cared for and no single member misses out on food or medicine. Often the Uqwuay will take in and heal injured and sick creatures they find in their travels, including injured humans and elves, who actively hunt these horse-like people.
A Harsh Lifestyle
It is unclear how humans came to live upon the remote cliff tops of Talmanthian, but like the rest of the places of the world they have found a way to adapt to the harsh conditions and thrive. However the survivalist environment and lifestyle has bred savage and vicious clans of humans that attack outsiders and prey on sight. The lack of a stable food source upon Talmanthian has encouraged the human tribes to revert to cannibalism in order to survive. Tribe members that fail to provide through hunts, or prove weak within the ceremonies of fire that each tribe holds, often are sacrificed and feasted upon for the betterment of the tribe. Humans not known to the tribe are immediately killed, unless they can kill their attackers first. Any outsider that kills a tribe member upon the battlefield is offered the prime cut of meat then challenged at the next fire ceremony for a permanent place within the tribe. This vicious and barbaric lifestyle has left no room for the weak and over countless generations of life upon Talmanthian, the humans have evolved beyond their softer counterparts from the world below, making just one Talmanthian a severe challenge for a squadron of veteran warriors. Shamans and mystics control every aspect of the human tribes from their lavishly decorated huts that mark the centrepiece of each human camp. These fire and cloud worshipping mystics delegate everything for their tribes. From mating engagements and hunting parties to cooking and gathering duties. The power to hear the will of the clouds at worlds end and manipulate the life giving flame marks these shamans to their people from a young age. Each child with the gift of Fire and Cloud must engage in the trials of the lake in order to gain the status of shaman. Each child that passes this test is delegated half the tribe and sent away to create their own separate settlement.
Ghosts in the Trees
Within the copses of gnarled and warped trees the cruel and spiteful Elves of Talmanthian lurk. Banished skyward by their old gods many millennia ago for unspeakable crimes, these malicious creatures have found life upon the harsh and untamed plains enjoyable. The long-lived elves are small in number but their magic and abilities far surpass the creatures and tribes that surround them. A twisted desire to kill and pillage all life is evident in the self etched scars and tattoos that adorn the pale skin of these spiteful creatures. Countless trophies hang from their thin necks and the hilts of their ancient blades. The toughened tribes of Talmanthian have developed methods in which to repel these evil beings when attacked on the plains and learned which forests to keep a distance from, but when these psychotic killers begin to track a target very few things have ever lived to tell the tale. No living creature has ever returned from the forests of Talmanthian since the elves arrival. An ancient pact for power and immortality with a primordial demon from the abyss known as Whethal is the cause of elves banishment and source of the deranged lust and ghostly powers. Within their blood lies a demonic infection that could possess any living elf with the deranged fury and blood lust in the space of minutes. These demonic aspects of Whethal have strived endlessly to reach the surface world again, as the urge to spread their joyous infection burns fervently through their veins.
In A Lake Above the Clouds
The great lake that lies within the southeast of Talmanthian is known by countless names; however, its inhabitants call it Horm. The merfolk city that lies beneath the vast crystal like waters of the lake is unlike any other in the world. Coral spires and pearl buildings cover the immense limestone lakebed. The sun-dappled merfolk that live in these waters have been collecting the worlds information for generations. Within the grand coral spires, endless libraries and vaults house a concise history of the world and of the innumerable kingdoms that have risen and fell throughout the years. Powerful secrets, world ending knowledge and maps to mighty artefacts are all held within a lake above the clouds. Merfolk dug tunnels in the limestone bed lead to subterranean tunnels and rivers that exit out into the worlds oceans, rivers and sewer systems. The merfolk of Horm are masters of illusory and transmuting magic. Masking their pristine city from the prying eyes of any that live above the water with powerful illusions. Their presence within the courts and armies of the world goes unnoticed through their powerful transmuting spells. The ruling council of elder magicians deals with all intruders that either seek out the knowledge of Horm, or stumble upon the location by accident immediately. The only penalty for any crime within Horm, is death.
What Happens On The Plateau…
Scholars and explorers have forgot the isolated plains and secluded woods of Talmanthian. The towering and sheer mountainous cliffs ensure that only the most steadfast and dedicated will ever see the sprawling summit of Angel’s Table, but for those who seek adventure, this isolated location holds many treasures and countless perils. Kings and Wizards have hidden their fortunes and relics of power buried within the soil of the plains and left untouched for countless years and forgotten by all but the faded scrolls of ancient libraries. The Elven aspects of Whethal have begun working fervently to return to the world below in an effort to infect their cousins by capturing and training the dragon broods that soar over the enormous plateau. The fate of countless kingdoms and people in peril could be saved with a single scroll from the endless libraries of Horm. Curious adventurers and wizards have endeavoured to summit the grand peaks of Angel’s Table, only to never return, their fate unknown. Whilst ancient and confusing riddles hint at the monumental mountain imprisoning a forgotten god for reasons not yet deciphered. All these reasons and many more call out to adventurers throughout the world.
D&D Tips from Mass Effect 2
We live in wonderful times. Three of the best computer / console roleplaying games have all been released in the last 15 months. I speak, of course, of Dragon Age, Fallout 3, and Mass Effect 2. All three of these are wonderful games with great action, powerful stories, deep character dynamics, and fun tweakable character building. Beyond just giving us some wonderful electronic gaming, we tabletop roleplayers can pick up quite a few tips to make our own game more fun.
Back in early February, I wrote about Three D&D Tips I Learned from Dragon Age. Today we’re going to take a look how the action RPG Mass Effect 2 can make our games better as well.
I will warn that, while I don’t plan on any direct spoilers in this review (omg, I can’t believe they blew up the Citadel!) I might step into the story just a little bit. If you want to be 100% spoiler free (Woo! You sleep with Miranda) you may want to read this when you’ve finished getting most of your crew killed by giant Aardvarks.
Let’s dive right into the tips. [Read the rest of this article]
Friday Chat: Bits from the Past
The most important ingredient…
The most important ingredient in any campaign is a skilled DM who has the time and the energy to carefully design and create his world, and the talent to communicate his setting effectively. The next most important ingredients are willing players who share common goals with the DM. Players interested in hack-and-slash adventures should not be matched a DM interested in careful plot structuring and detailed mystery solving.
Douglas Niles, The Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,1986
Okay, hold your horses. Why didn’t I know about that book before? I mean, I bought the Wilderness Survival Guide (X-mas gift I wrapped for myself when I was 15-16) when it came out. I disliked it so much that I threw it away and never used it, disgusted that I would ask my players to roll percentiles EACH DAY for food and shelter.
After discarding the book, I automatically assumed that the DSG would be as bad and I promptly started looking at this new generic RPG by Steve Jackson Games.
This one paragraph from the DSG and the following 2 pages about player types (Adventurers, Problem-Solvers, Roleplayers) would have opened my eyes on many aspects of DMing I had no idea even existed! I think Robin Laws probably developed upon those in his seminal work “Robin Laws of Good Game Mastering“. Or Robin and Niles had a few beers together back then.
That assessment, which I discovered in the last 5 years is now one of my guiding principle as a DM. Yet, 25 years later, I know that many GMs still scoff at the importance that they need to actually understand and deliver what players actually seek in a RPG. The same goes for players.
What do you think about that? Do you agree and if so to what extent? If not, what constitute your references as being ‘most important” in a RPG game/campaign?
Do you feel that the door that Niles opened in that book was explored further during 2e’s era? I wasn’t there… I never actually read the 2e DMG, but I know that the game took a heavy Storytelling turn to keep it’s market share with White Wolf games. Did that shut the door to the adventurer and puzzle-solver players?
Let me know in the comments!
On Character Death
Now and then a player will die (sic) through no fault of his own. He or she will have done everything correctly, taken every reasonable precautions, but still the freakish roll of the dice will kill the character. In the long run you should let such things pass as players will kill more than one opponent with their own freakish rolls at some later time.
Yet you do have the right to arbitrate the situation. You can rule that the player, instead of dying (again, sic!), is knocked unconscious, loses a limb, is blinded in one eye, or invoke any reasonably severe penalty that takes into account what the monster has done. It is very demoralizing to the player to lose a cared-for player character when they have played well.
When they have done something stupid or have not taken precautions, then let the dice fall when they may…
Gary Gygax, Dungeon Masters Guide (p. 110), Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1979
Did I ever tell you that I learned reading English with Gygaxian prose? I mean I was reading Grade 8 “English as a second language” crap back then, but in the school bus on the way home, I was reading the DMG and trying to decipher what a bell curve was, or why it wasn’t okay to let your buddies bully you in playing a dragon character.
Oh man Gary, we so miss you! I really wish I could have met you earlier in our lives. I would have loved to kid you gently about killing players instead of PCs. I would also have paid you a few coffees or beer to argue that saying that “you can kill PCs because they kill your monsters” is the lamest argument I have ever heard. You’d probably have given me a ‘you kids think you know everything” look and sipped your drink quietly.
This densely written paragraph made me smile. It’s cool to see that even early in the game’s history, Gary expounded that the FUN part of the game had to come ahead of Lady Chance’s wiles.
I can imagine Gary look over his game screen (half-glasses and all) when one of his players missed a saving throw against poison while having taken all the steps to avoid it. As the player’s face falls and the rest of the party prepares for the ceremonial separation of loot, Uncle Gygax likely laughed in a low self-effacing way and went something like.
“Tell you what son, how about that poison coursed through the whole of your leg before that antitoxin you harped me about for hours takes effect. So instead of dying, you now have a shriveled, gangrened limb, all eaten up by the poison and chronic infection (insert cute made-on-the-spot Gygaxian subsystem to simulate diseased legs) and maybe, if you bug me about anti-poisons again, you may have to cut it off real fast or die. Be more careful where you step next time, you hear?”
Player (relieved to keep his level 4/3 Half-Orc Fighter/Cleric): Right, right! Thanks chief!
I think Gary was way less of a hard-ass than I initially imagined. I honestly think that he wrote Tombs of Horrors as a “Fine! I’ll make you a damn killer dungeon for the convention so you’ll all leave me alone about it from now on!”
The key difference of his game (AD&D) and hence, his style vs later versions, is that he kept the burden of the rules on his side of the screen. I think that as long as you didn’t bore him, he was really fair. Sadly, in the pre-internet era, the “Be fair first, a jackass second” school didn’t always take.
And Gary’s writing style was not the easiest to read. Many new DMs, probably never got to page 110.
So what do you think about Gary’s thoughts on PC death? I happen to be 100% okay with it… although I would rather inflict severe story penalties/constraints instead of physical… after all, failure needs to be fun, no?
Your turn!
Review: “Vox” RPG
Vox by Michael Fiegel is a somewhat schizophrenic game. No, literally. You play a character with voices in his or her head. Each player controls a character and may also control a voice in another player’s head. The PCs aren’t necessarily crazy, though. These voices are quite real, and under certain circumstances can take over the PCs’ bodies and control their actions. The game describes several types of voices the characters might have in their heads, including that of God, or aliens, or a totem animal. Each variety of voice is detailed thoroughly and example voices are described for each.
The game uses the PDQ2 system, designed by Chad Underkoffler. This game emphasizes story over mechanics, and the PDQ system is quite conducive to this style of play. Vox extends this ruleset with a Karma mechanic, which creates an economy of dice that move around the table between the players and GM. Karma dice are awarded at the beginning of play for things like bringing snacks or producing outside game materials like artwork or short stories, and during play for things like creative roleplaying and certain game mechanic triggers. Karma dice are spent by the players to roll additional dice to improve a character’s roll (entering The Zone) or to invoke the concept of Synchronicity, spending a certain number of dice to dictate facts about the game world or create and detail NPCs at appropriate moments. Players can also gift dice to other players or may use them to get some information from the GM by experiencing a temporary feeling of Deja Vu.
The book is split into two parts. One is intended for the player (Lux), and the second for the GM (Nox). Strangely, the introductory adventure is in the players’ section. It is a tightly crafted intro to the game’s mechanics and also sets the tone for the ensuing adventures, taking the players through an auspicious meeting with a colorful character in a disabled subway car and later leading them into a tangled web of intrigue involving a mysterious group of people. The game’s designers suggest this adventure can be used in several ways. It might be a real series of events that occurred, or it might be a shared hallucination or dream the PCs shared. Either way, it is intended to set the tone of the game going forward: mysterious, dark, and fraught with peril, all accentuated by the mystery of the voices in their heads and what they mean.
The game includes four separate settings in the GM’s section of the book, which can be used independently or, as the game suggests, can be interwoven into a single frenetic storyline. There is a modern day (or near-future) setting called Oversight; Facility, a futuristic insane asylum style setting; Currents, a 1920′s era setting in Buffalo, NY starring Nikola Tesla; and Victorian England with the Queen usurped and on the run in the streets of London, called Reckoning. In each, the timeline is slightly altered due to the presence of the Vox affliction. Political unrest and upheaval are common themes, as are secret societies. The settings are each quite detailed and prominent characters from each setting are treated with lengthy descriptions.
Vox suffers (or benefits, depending on your view) from a lack of concrete direction. “The Truth”, meaning the true origin, meaning, and goal of the voices, is left up to the GM. Several suggestions are made regarding the truth of matters in the GM section, but less experienced GMs running the game will find it difficult to parse all of these into a cohesive vision of the game world. The game also depends on spontaneity, as the players can use Karma dice to throw a wrench into the GM’s carefully laid plans. This is a game that requires some combination of an experienced, skilled or wildly creative GM to manage successfully. Excellent charts crafted to help the GM make some of these decisions on the spot are included, including a random name and personality type generator, and most of the game’s lists are organized such that you can roll 2d6 to select an option at random.
The PDF is well-constructed, including hyperlinks on the menus and a friendly layout for reading on a mobile device. The game is clearly influenced by a number of films, books, and other roleplaying games, many of which are credited as inspirations. Those that jumped out at me right away were Unknown Armies, Lovecraft, Paranoia, Don’t Rest Your Head, and Illuminati. All in all, Vox is a fascinating and elaborate game that delves into the depths of the human psyche. With the right gaming group and a talented GM, it could be intensely entertaining–however, it might not be the right fit if your group or GM is inexperienced, or if you’re looking for a more hack-and-slash-centric RPG.
Vox is available from DriveThruRPG, and is on sale until March 8th.
March Fo(u)rth for GM’s Day Sale 2010
DriveThruRPG is having its annual March 4th sale, and extending it a few days after that. In case you didn’t get your fill from the Haiti bundle (and really, who could get their fill of RPG books?) there’s plenty of good stuff to be had on sale, whether you’re buying it for your awesome GM who lets you have that radiant weapon you’ve been seeking, or just stocking up for yourself. Plus, if you did buy the Haiti bundle, this is a chance to send some money back to the publishers who participated.
Some of my recommendations follow, in case you don’t want to flip through the literally hundred plus pages of discounted product:
- Doctor Who Time & Space Adventures, reviewed here
- Snows of an Early Winter, reviewed here
- Mouse Guard, discussed here and winner of an Origins Award for best RPG
- Shambles, a great game by A Terrible Idea where you play as a zombie (instead of against them)
- Starblazer Adventures. a gigantic science fiction RPG we hope to review soon
- Ptolus, the classic Malhavoc Press title easily adaptable to any version of D&D
- Savage Worlds core book, which was already darn cheap
- Deadlands Reloaded, the weird west setting for SW, which we talked about at DC Game Day
- Amethyst: Hearts of Chaos, which fans of 4th Power are going to want to check out
- Anything from Evil Hat… seriously, it’s all good
- And of course, lots, lots more… literally thousands of products
Check it out and let us know if there’s anything else that’s a “must purchase.”
Full press release below: [Read the rest of this article]
Inquisition of the Week: Small World
Last week Bartoneus asked what classes people are playing in an effort to get a sense of what was the most popular. Surprising (to me anyway) was that the most popular was Fighter garnering 93 votes. The Fighter was followed by Wizard, Rogue, Ranger, and finally Cleric. It seems that the top five cover all of the role types but are also all from the first Player’s Handbook. This may just be a matter of the PHB being out the longest so everyone has gotten to try it out. Above the actual classes looms the DM… the most imbalanced class in the game if you ask my opinion.
This week’s inquisition has more to do with a late article by myself. After snowmageddon and snowpocalypse hit the east coast, I found myself playing a great deal of video games. I had a good bit of down time and so did all my friends. We were all stuck in our respective houses and still wanted to hang out with one another. This isn’t exactly a new thing to me but it did get me a bit nostalgic for the times when my friends and I really could hang out all the time and play games of various types for long stretches of time.
Fortunately (in this case), the internet and increased connectivity has made the world a smaller place. We were able to play games, goof off, and have a good time. My roommates who weren’t accustomed to this sort of thing went a bit stir crazy and couldn’t comprehend why I was fine with being stuck at home for a week. For me it was a great opportunity to catch up with friends and relive some of the old days before we all had jobs and responsibilities. So, after this rather longwinded story, I began to wonder how many people like myself keep a good contingent of friends online.
Loading ...One of the great things about the internet is that it has provided me the opportunity to meet and interact with people I never thought I’d be able too. For now, I’m going to bask in my nostalgia and ignore the seedy side of it all…
Olympic Confessions
Last night, the world watched as a giant beaver served as the parting memory of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The United States, its pride wounded after a hard-fought hockey defeat to Canada, took extra solace in his furry arms. Everyone always talks about how the Games are so great for world relations and it shows we can all get along for some friendly competition. For me, the Olympics have always had a different kind of special significance. For whatever reason, the Olympics get me to give a crap about sports, if only for a couple weeks. [Read the rest of this article]
Fall Seven Times, Stand Up Eight
This is going to be another of those non-RPG, exceedingly personal posts. It seems I write at least one a season. Feel free to skip. I’ll be back soon, this post explains why I’m not really ‘here’.
I find it interesting that I made the exploration of failure in RPGs such an intense interest of mine because I’m currently living with the consequences of failure in my own life right now. Don’t worry, nothing major, but important enough that it may affect “The Plan” if I don’t play my cards more carefully from now on.
As many of you know, in my quest to free time to write more, I’m currently prepping a series of teaching seminars for a local university. I started teaching them to corporate clients that require short technical and management courses to train their employees. So far I did 2 classes and I have my 3rd on Wednesday this week.
The idea behind this is that since these seminars pay 3 times my current hourly salary, I will be able to progressively phase out my old day job and work less hours to maintain my family’s quality of life.
However, as I’m just starting and have 5 or 6 courses to prep for, I have to work MORE in order to get the ball going. As I had initially planned my schedule, I thought that if I would be able to cover my D&D game prep, do some short blog posts and do the course prep by making notes for myself and giving all participants a book on which I based my material on.
Last week, I had to teach a one day introductory MS-Project 2007 course to a private client group. It was a last minute request from the Uni and I got about 2 weeks to prep it. No sweat I thought, I had taken 3 MS-Project classes in the last 8 years and I had about 90 hours of Project Management training in 2006. Heck, that’s what my day job currently is, this should be easy right?
I built a course on the basics of MS-Project. Since there are no recent, easily available French manual for the current version of the software, I ordered English ones. I mean what could go wrong right? I could wing the rest!
The class was a fucking disaster… and not the kind where an insufferable keener says that getting 95% in a test is a disaster. As the course progressed (the first half was great), I realized that I didn’t know enough about many of the software’s functions that the participants wanted to know about. Moreover, instead of coming out and saying I didn’t prepare the course to go much deeper than basics, I tried to wing it by doing some exploratory teaching…
Those who’ve worked with MS-Project will likely groan out loud by now. That piece of software is exceedingly finicky and does not respond well to the ministrations of an increasingly panicky teacher.
Bottom line, the clients became visibly and vocally frustrated as I flustered more and more and lost all confidence.
Those who follow my antics may know that I have long suffered from anxiety attacks when I’m in a depressive states. They have always been focused on one thing, and only one thing:
“Oh Shit, I’m going to fail and lose everything!”
And here I was, in front of 11 confused and frustrated adults, living exactly what I dread the most: I was making a damn fool out of myself because I didn’t prep properly and I didn’t check with the client enough to target their specific needs.
Of course, I came back home after the course, my spirit crushed and my dreams of making it as a seminar hot shot seriously jeopardized. The next day, at my day job, I was displaying clear signs of slipping back in depression and I could read the worry on the faces of my colleagues.
Then I got an email from the client asking me to call her…
I had 2 choices here. Let my feelings take over and go into full on anxiety spike or bite the fucking bullet, call the client and see how I could salvage this. I was scheduled to give the same course to the second half of the client’s group this week.
As I expected/feared, I got served with a list of things that the participants didn’t like or would have preferred (better examples, better preparation, better mastery of content and more importantly, French class notes that they could written on during class and brought back home ).
The client was cordial, empathic even, but quite firm.
As she spoke, anxiety made way to annoyance and anger. Yes, the course went bad, and it was mostly my fault… but hey, I had 2 weeks to build it, I had other shit going on and I only spoke to the client like 5 days before the course while my prep was already done based on the course’s catalog description!
Instead of lashing out, a lose/lose proposition for all parties, I took note of her feedback, thanked her for taking the time to share it with me and we agreed on a clear set of things I would implement in the next class, with the rest of the group.
Chiefly among those was preparing the aforementioned set of class notes that would replace the 20 manuals I had the university order.
Again, I was angry, mostly at myself for falling for rookie mistakes. I have 5 other courses to prep for, I could not really afford spend more time on this. But that’s what being a professional means, You put your name on the line, you deliver or you give the spot to the next contestant. I agreed to the list and went about my business so that hopefully I could salvage the contract and my rep with the university if I pulled the next one off.
I also focused my anger and promised myself that I would NEVER make myself the fool again in a seminar.
My anger became near-monomaniacal focus and triggered the mother of all work crunches, one I hadn’t had in ages! What followed was 30 straight working hours (i.e. I slept, ate and took about 2 hours of breaks a day) over 3 days where I produced a formatted and fully edited 35 page MS-Project course booklet complete with screen shots and exercises.
I dumped it at Staples this morning to get it printed and bound at my expense.
Now that the red mist is slowly receding, I realize that the experience was cathartic. First, I’m no longer anxious or angry (well less angry). Second, I learned how to create some pretty kick ass course notes, how to manipulate a rather complex French grammar and spelling app, how to prioritize my stuff better and how to plan my time around it.
Far more importantly, I’ve learned, hopefully once and for all, that even if I fail miserably, even if I see my perceived credibility drain from the looks of people in front of me, even if people start challenging me about what I know or what I do…
It. Didn’t.Fucking.Kill Me.
It never did.
It never will… at least if I manage not to be dangerous (a must read! 5 Chattys!).
Being a very bright, risk adverse, rules abiding child, I grew up with very low exposure to failure. yet I grew being deathly afraid of it. Fearing failure to the point of developing a psychological pathology is one of the biggest barrier to development and growth a person can have to deal with.
That’s probably why I try so hard not to fail at DMing and as a writer. I’ll likely struggle with that crap all my life.
But fuck me if I didn’t kick part of these stupid inner demons to the curb this week. It felt GOOD to fight back!
So yeah… I’m starting to learn that falling down is part of life… Getting up is the real trick. Took me only 37 years to realize it.
That’s why I slowed blogging to a crawl. I also suspended my D&D game so I could save the prepping time (we’ll play boardgames instead). I have to prepare several more courses that are scheduled for the month of March, April and May. I want to do them right and I will make sure they are up to my (now adjusted) quality standards before focusing on other projects.
Wish me luck for Wednesday.
