31 Questions for Barking Alien - Question 5

This one is tough because of my apparently bizarre personal history in the hobby. You'll know what I mean in a moment and it'll be especially clear if you've been to this blog more than a few times.

Question #5 from Gregg Gardell (Croaker)

What's a game that you only played once or twice and never played again, but you now think maybe it deserves another shot?  Maybe you and your fellow players were just young and didn't appreciate it?  Maybe the game was poorly run for some reason and would be better now with a more experienced hand at the helm?  Perhaps it was an early version with some faults, and newer versions have come out that seem more promising?

For me it was a system called Lords of Creation, from Avalon Hill.  We were all in high school, and I think the main reason we never played again was me as the young and very inexperienced gamemaster.  Luckily, I got better.

I have...sooo many of these. SOOO MANY. Though perhaps not for the reasons you mention.

I'm not sure the games I'd want to give another shot to after only one or two sessions were ones where I was too young, didn't appreciate it, where they didn't go well, or because I'm now more experienced.

It was more that the goal back in the day was to try out as many games as possible. I, and many of my friends, wanted to be able to say, "Yep, I've played that". If a game came out, someone in the group was interested and wanted to run it or play it.

I remember my old 'Camp Group' in particular were very much into experimenting with new games. If it was Espionage related, like James Bond or Top Secret, Martin was all over it. If it was weird and/or creepy, Rich would probably grab it - things like Gamma World and Call of Cthulhu. Science Fiction or Superheroes? Well, that was usually me but Martin would get in on these as well. 

I played dozens upon dozens upon dozens, if not hundreds and hundreds, of RPGs in my high school and college years. Most were one-shots. A single session, roughly 5-7 hours each, was all I would experience with most of these games. Around 1986 or 1988 I became aware of Japan's TRPG industry through imported, untranslated issues of Games Graphix and Dragon Magazine (Fujimi Shobo). This started a mini-obsession to read and/or play as many Japanese games as I could. I still have this obsession but I've got it under control. I can stop anytime I want, I just don't want to. 

Moving on...

The result of all this is that there were games I've never gotten back to because there were always more games to try. As time moved forward this slowed down and favorites developed but yeah, it still happens to this day.

Back in February I got to run the Japanese TRPG 'Space Ship Story' and it was very fun if a bit imperfect because I wasn't used to the rules. I would definitely want to play that again. SMURFS! I was able to run three sessions of it with one group and one session with another and I so badly want to run it some more. Around Halloween of this year I GMed the upcoming Discworld game and it went over really well. Love to revisit that game. 

I could rattle off a seemingly endless stream of one-shots that deserve to be revisited. My biggest obstacle is that these days my groups generally prefer to play ongoing campaigns. They'd rather keep playing what we're playing than take a coveted game day to try something new. It happens of course but its much rarer these days. 

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31 Questions For Barking Alien - Question 4

Here's one from my pal Andy, who actually sent me a few quite interesting inquiries. You all might know Andrew from his 31 Days/31 Characters entry, The Hyborian. 

Question #4 from Andrew F. Rodriguez

Where does the content provided from an official TTRPG (setting, story, game mechanics) begin and where does it end at the gaming table?

I am going to interpret this question as follows: 'At what point do you start to add to or divert from the official 'canon' and rules-as-written of a game that has its own established setting [and of course mechanics]. 

A funny thing about [tabletop roleplaying] games...I've often said that most are terribly overwritten. In an attempt to cover any and all actions a Player Character might take or situations they might find themelves in, a ton of extra rules and subsystems are added in, often turning a relatively workable system into a bloated mess. 

At the same time - and this is key - TRPGs, regardless of how choked with mechanics a game is, they NEVER cover everything that can and will happen in your campaign. It is literally impossible, since a virtually infinite number of possible actions and reactions is the very nature of roleplaying games. 

To me, the best RPGs have a base mechanic and everything you want to do is essentially figured out the same way. Want to rewire a hostile robot to be your ally? Roll a pool of D6s and beat a Difficulty. Want to convince the Maitre d' you were invited to the fancy shindig? Roll a pool of D6s and beat a Difficulty. Trying to slash a monster with your sword? You get the picture.

Once a default Judgement system is established, all the game needs to do is say, 'If you come up against something and you don't know how to adjudicate it...use the base mechanic in a way that makes sense.' Game Designers of the world, I just saved you a hundred plus pages and a crap ton of money in printing costs. You're welcome.

So, back to the question and how what I'm talking about relates...

Depending on the game, you're either going to get everything that could possibly happen in the setting or a general idea of how to run a game in 'this type of genre'. Some TRPGs are Shadowrun and some are Mechanics for running a Cyberpunk game with Magical Elements. These two things are not the same. Battletech/Mechwarrior is a very different beast from Mekton. 

As a general rule, the 'official game' ends when and where you reach a point where the players or the GM want to do something with the story, setting, or mechanics not covered by the established parameters given by the game. For some games that can take a while since the corebook and supplements have crossed all the t's and dotted at the i's for you. For others, that can kick in right from the start since that's the whole point. The latter type of game is basically telling you, 'Add to this. Modify it. Please! That's what its for.'.

Speaking for myself, I usually prefer that latter kind of game. Unless you're creating a franchise/IP TRPG - I'd have to discuss that subject a bit differently - I'd rather you give me a straight forward, all encompassing rule mechanic, and the base components that make the game an RPG about X. Let me begin making my own stuff right off the bat. 

Incidentally, one of the things that always bothered me about D&D in my early days in the hobby was how the game gave you Classes, Monsters, Spells, etc., but not rules/mechanics for creating those things yourself.

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31 Questions for Barking Alien - Question 3

This question comes from a friend of mine named Conrad, who I sadly haven't gotten the chance to game with in a very long time. 

Check out this 31 Days/31 Characters entry for his Mutants and Masterminds character Black Adder. 

Question #3 from Conrad Cleophat

If I'm creating a game world from scratch, what are some definite things I need to consider putting in?

The tried and true answer for this type of question is to start small and only build what you need. As your campaign expands and your needs grow you can create more of the world and add details. This is a very sensible approach and it does work.

That's not how I do it though.

I take a sort of painter's approach: Start with a blank canvas, cover it in gesso (primer), and then map out your world in broad strokes of color. Each swatch of color represents something about the milieu: Desert, Industry, Evil, etc. From there you can sketch out some general shapes of places, add in people, and layout other components that bring will your world to life. 

After all that, you can starting working in the fine details. 

I'm a 'big picture' type guy. When I start making a game world from scratch I automatically begin thinking about the whole world and not just the region the PCs are starting in. Since I don't know where the PCs are going to go and/or what they're to do, it behooves me to establish, at least for myself as the GM, areas beyond the location of the adventure. Instead of starting locally and slowly pulling the camera back to reveal a larger world, I create a larger world and then close up on the PCs, what they're getting up to, and where.

Now to be clear, the players don't know this necessarily. To them, it generally appears that the game opens with only the immediate area being of any importance to them. That's fine. I, as the GM, know its bigger but that isn't revealed to them right away. Usually however, someone wants to know what the next town over is called or what country the adventure takes place in and I can tell.them without skipping a beat. 

The world appears more 'real' this way, right from the get go.

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31 Questions For Barking Alien - Question 2

A fellow whose work I admire quite a lot even though we largely cover very different games is the one and only Kelvin Green. Kelvin has been good enough to participate with a question I was thinking might come up (or something like it)...

Question #2 from Kelvin Green 

You say often that D&D isn't for you (which is cool), but under what circumstances/modifications *would* D&D work for you, and would it still be recognisable as D&D?

The answer to this is both very easy and fairly involved. The short answer, focusing on the latter part first, is no - my version of D&D would probably not be recognizable as D&D. I could and have created a D&D that works for me relative to standard D&D. I usually refer to it as D&D AD or D&D-But-Not. This would be me running a game that tries to stick fairly close to the general elements of D&D and its mechanics - Classes, Levels, Hit Points, etc. - but which I can run without pulling my hair out.

Now, looking at the first part of the question, 'under what circumstances/modifications would D&D work for you' well...that is a wholly different beast. There are sooo many components of D&D that I really don't like that it would require significantly modifiying the game for me to actually enjoy it. If I did this to even half of the parts that irk me I would likely create a brand new game.

Here are some examples:

Classes and Levels

I don't like Classes and Levels. I find them both limiting and not giving you anything special enough to warrant the limitations. D&D is a certain way; it has a particular feel and approach to things. All Player Characters should possess the abilities necessary to function in a D&D game effectively and as such they should start with a template that does those things. 

A great example of this is Star Trek; in Star Trek Adventures, every PC has Command, Con (Helm and Navigation), Security, Engineering, Science, and Medicine. They can all fly a ship, fire a Phaser, and apply First Aid. All the PCs in the game can do what needs to be done in the Star Trek universe. Some people are better at certain things than others of course. The Science Officer is likely better at using the ship's Sensors than the Security Officer is but the Security Officer can use the Sensors. 

D&D should be like this. Everyone should start as an 'Adventurer'. Adventurers should be able to Hide/Sneak, Fight, Steal, Climb, Repair their own gear, Cook a simple meal, and Heal the minor wounds of themselves and others. On top of this, each character could have a Profession or Career (perhaps more like Traveller, Alien, or Icon System's Overlays) that give them skills and talents specific to their chosen job.

Special, unusual abilities should be choosable or purchasable by anyone - it always bugged me that with D&D proper you can't easily create a character like Elric of Melnibone, Gray Mouser, or Fam from the Anime/Manga Ruin Explorers. Want to be a Thief or Warrior who casts Spells or a Magician/Swordfighter? Tough. Oh you can do it but we're gonna make it a real pain in the arse. Why? What if you, ya'know, didn't make it that way?

Combat

Where to start...Go faster please. Be more flexible please. I understand that many people like the tacital, boardgame-y nature of D&D combat but it is anathema to me the way that game handles it. As I've said before, the game feels like it was written by people who've never been in a fight. The system shows its wargame roots but most of the time we're not talking about war conditions. Most D&D encounters are closer to a street gang brawl or a bar fight. 

Add to this the fact that some of the characters have superhuman strength, resistance to various elements like fire or lightning, ranged weapons, and oh yeah, freakin' MAGIC, Fantasy fights should be waaay more interesting, fast paced, and creative. My mechanics would be much less 'what can I do in this fight' and much more 'what I wanna do is X' and then you figure out how to make it happen.

Magic

I...just...ugh...Ars Magica. Just use Ars Magica. Good grief D&D Magic. If not Ars Magica then just something, anything, that isn't D&D Magic. 

So let's take a look at what I have here...hmmm...is a D&D without Classes and Levels, more flexible, dynamic, and less war game-y Combat, and a completely different Magic System still D&D? What if I add Advantages and Disadvantages, a completely different way of handling Experience Points and Advancement, a Health Status instead of Hit Points, Armor that actually protects you from Damage, and....yeah.

The biggest issue I have with D&D and the one thing I can't really modify is the mindset of the people who make it. The overall approach Wizards of the Coast takes when developing and publishing D&D [and TSR before it] just rubs me the wrong way. It feels, to me, restrictive and overly legislated. Its not just that the mechanics seem somewhat inflexible but the approach to the creation of the game seems inflexible. The longer the game it exists, the more legislated and mechanics heavy it becomes. 

At this point it's just easier for me to find or make a different game. 

Now if I only had the time to do that.

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31 Questions For Barking Alien - Question 1

OK, I'm doing it! I'm taking 31 Questions asked by readers like you - yes you, in the back there in the orange space suit. Don't think I don't see you there. You're wearing an orange space suit for crying out loud - and answering one a day for the entire month of December. 

I don't yet have 31 questions submitted however so please, keep them coming! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I'd give you credits or dollars or those silly gold coins if I could but ya'know, post-scarcity society and all. 

Here we go...

Question #1 from Tim 'Heropress' Knight:

Can you see yourself, at some point, engineering a grand finale to Star Trek: Prosperity or are you willing to have it run ad infinitum as long as the players are still keen and interested?

A great first question as my last couple of posts were directed at celebrating Star Trek: Prosperity, my 11 year long/ 8 'Season' Star Trek Adventures campaign and the longest single game I've ever run. 

The truth of the matter is, I really can't see an 'ending' for Prosperity. 

Sure there are many ways I could end it, running a 'grand finale' as you say. Maybe Captain Fletcher becomes an Admiral, the ship gets a new Captain (First Officer Commander Bhoth?), or they go out in a tragic blaze of glory thwarting some Romulan plot or other that saves the entire United Federation of Planets. 

I just don't see that happening though. Like the original Star Trek series on which its based, the campaign could have a last episode as that did but not an end to the story as it were. Furthermore, I think that would only happen if the players grew tired of it and were desperate to play something else. Again, I just don't see that in our future (future - Star Trek - see what I did there?). 

More likely than not, as long as we're all still having fun and it seems that won't be subsiding anytime soon, the Prosperity will continue to go where no one has gone before. 

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