My First Public Game

A few weeks ago I ran my first public game at the monthly Tucson RPG Guild Gathering.  It was only my second time as DM. I ran a modified version of the module Rescue at Rivenroar.  This is a free adventure for D&D 4th edition put out by Wizards of the Coast and is the first adventure in the Scales of War adventure path.

The gathering was more sparsely attended than ones I’ve attended previously.  I’m not sure why that is.  It might be due to the success of the weekly 4th edition Living Forgotten Realms nights.  Or it was summer.  Or who knows? But, there were enough people there to have  a full five players in my game and enough players for another game running.  Only one of the players had ever played 4th edition before.  The rest were RPG players with experience in the various other versions of D&D.  This didn’t present too much of a problem since 4th edition is pretty easy to pick up.  A couple of guys from my gaming group came out to play including my DM which was fun.

First of all, I’ll talk about what I think went well.  I think I did a good job of keeping combat moving and flowing.  One of the biggest problems with 4th edition in my (and many others) opinion is that combat can get really bogged down.  I enjoy tactical, crunchy combat.  I detest long, tedious combat.  In my experience 4th edition can easily swing from one to the other especially in the hands of a poor DM and/or indecisive players.  I think I succeeded in keeping the rounds quick and moving along.  I used the initiative tracking method of writing all the PC names on slips of paper and hanging them on the DM screen.  This worked well for me and helped keep things moving.  I also tried to encourage creative thinking and players trying crazy things in combat.  I gave bonuses for stunts and crazy ideas (after the appropriate skill check of course).  I also played somewhat loose with the rules.  For me, fun trumps rules.  And with people new to 4th edition who are getting used to the new style of combat, I wanted to allow for some leeway on things.

Some things didn’t go quite as well.  The session was very combat heavy and there wasn’t a lot of role playing.  Partially this is due to being a public game with pre-generated characters.  But, I think I could have done more to encourage RP and my RP skills aren’t exactly strong.  RP one of things I struggle with at times in RPGs. Also, tThe session was very railroady.  Again, it was a public game with a limited amount of time and I was running a module.  My ability to encourage players to forge their own paths was very limited.  It was also hotter than hell in the room where we played.  Of course, I had no control over that, but it did make things a little uncomfortable.

One thing I was surprised about was how difficult the first two encounters were for the PCs.  I ran the first two encounters as written in the module.  Rescue at Rivenroar starts with an encounter in a bar and then an encounter in the street with a fire wielding ogre.  These encounters are what drew me to the module in the first place because of interesting elements such as fire and they take place in interesting environments.  In the first encounter, the cleric was dropped a couple of times.  This was due to a unlucky placement of the cleric and some really bad rolls by the players and good rolls by me.  Also, everybody was getting still settled in to their character and 4th edition combat in general.  In the second encounter with the ogre a pc was actually killed.  Like, killed killed.  That really surprised me.  He was taken down by a massive hit from the ogre.  To keep things moving, I let that player jump back into the game as the PCs twin brother.

I ran the module pretty much as written (except for taking out the skill challenges which didn’t add anything) until the players got to the dungeon.  The dungeon in the module is massive, rather grindy, and many of the rooms are really uninteresting.  It would take multiple sessions to crawl through this dungeon, so I cherry picked and modified two encounters.  I took one encounter and changed the layout a little.  I used some 3D dungeon tiles from the Harrowing Halls to give the encounter some elevation.  The last encounter was with Sinruth, the modules “Big Bad”.  I completely changed the layout of this encounter.  I lowered Sinruth’s AC a little because the players weren’t at level 2.  I think the module assumes that the players are at level 2 when they get to this encounter.  I also gave Sinruth a new power, an invocation to the god Tiamat that shook the room and created pits.  It made things a little more interesting.  These encounters went much more smoothly and the PCs had less trouble with these.

I had help modifying Sinruth and the module from the folks at RPG.net.  Thanks to all the feedback in this thread.

Overall, I think things went well and I hope the players had fun.

June 30, 2010 | Level 1 Gamer | 1 Comment »

Tales of Swords & Wizardry: Groovy

It has been too long since I’ve written a Tales of Swords & Wizardry about my regular game. Swords & Wizardry is “retro-clone” of the original edition of D&D.  It’s the only long term RPG campaign I’m currently playing in.  We play every other week and have been going strong since October of last year.  Unfortunately I had to miss two sessions recently, but got to play last week.  We have another session tonight due to the holiday.

I have a really great time playing.   Our group has really seemed to hit a groove.  Everyone has gotten more comfortable with role playing.  A good chunk of the last session was pure role playing and was a blast. Even when my character was not active in the scene, it was hilarious to sit back and watch the others.  Our DM did a great job of having our group confront some our past sins which led to some great story and role play moments.  Really a good time.  For a full write up of our past sessions, check out Paul’s (our DM) website, The Warlock’s Home Brew.  He also has created some great S&W gaming aides and even his own adventure modules, so check out his site.

The last post I wrote on this subject involved the death of my PC, the cleric Arvin Ardmore.  Since then, I’ve rolled up a new character, the Druid Gnarly Blunderbrush.  It’s been fun playing a different character and class who has a different role in the party.  Unfortunately, it’s left our group without a cleric, which due to our group’s penchant for getting, has been a little bit of a problem.  In a couple of levels, Gnarly can cast a healing spell, so that will help a little.

The number of players at the table has grown from five when we started to seven players.  I have played several games of 4th Edition D&D and seven players in that system is really too much due to the nature of combat. Combat just grinds to a halt with that many.  With S&W, it’s not really a problem, since it’s such a rules-lite system and combat is quick and furious.  Seven players has certainly added to the chaos, but it in a good way.  I can tell Paul has to work a little harder bring some order to the table and he does it well.  Seven players has resulted in raucous, slightly chaotic game sessions where we still manage to move the story forward significantly and have an absolute blast while playing.

I honestly think part of it is the game system.  We wouldn’t be having the same experience if were playing 4th ed or 3.x ed.  S&W has allowed us to have a very wild and woolly campaign that doesn’t get bogged down in the rules or combat.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I love 4th edition, but it provides a very different experience from S&W and old school D&D.

Can’t wait to dive back into the fray with our bumbling, debaucherous, slightly crazy adventuring group.

debaucherous
May 24, 2010 | Level 1 Gamer | 2 Comments »

Back in Action

My life has been pretty crazy the past couple of months.  Between a graduation, a week-long trip, a wedding,   and a heavy workload, not mention a wife and kids I haven’t had much free time.  I had to miss a couple sessions of my bi-weekly Swords & Wizardry game.  I’ve had no time to write for this blog.

Well, now, my schedule is opening up.  I’m looking forward to getting to game more.  And I’m looking forward to getting back into writing for the blog.  Hopefully, this kicks off what will be a more regular posting schedule for Level 1 Gamer.

Here is some random gaming stuff I have on my radar.  I’ll be writing more about some or all of this very soon:

  • My first public game as a DM will be at the Tucson RPG Guild Gathering in June.  I’m going to run the 4th edition module Rescue at Rivenroar (modified for a single session).
  • I’ve picked up a few sets of Pirates of the Spanish Main, a fun little collectible tabletop game.  The models are fun and I hope to play it soon.
  • I had some money from a recent Ebay auction and picked up some classic D&D books.  I got a 1E Dungeon Master’s Guide, the Moldvay/Cook and Mentzer Basic/Expert box sets, and the old modules Keep on the Borderlands and Isle of Dread.  Expect my impressions soon.
  • I’ll be presenting at the next Gamemasters’ Conference in July.  I’ll be doing a presentation on running a game for new players from the perspective of a new player.
  • Had a blast at my regular S&W game last night.  It was great to be back after a break.  Great role playing and the usual shenanigans.
  • I plan on going to the Tucson LFR Night again next week.  I may even end up running game if necessary.

I’m really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

May 18, 2010 | Level 1 Gamer | 1 Comment »

Get Started with Dungeons & Dragons

First of all, welcome to the hobby.  It’s a very fun, very rewarding hobby that provides great opportunities to be creative and meet people who share your interests.

One thing I’ve noticed while searching online is that there isn’t a good guide to getting started with Dungeons & Dragons (and the wider world of pen and paper RPGs).  Most of the ones I’ve seen are so basic that they are less useful than the Wikipedia article for D&D.  I’m going to assume you’ve already read the wiki and done some basic research online.  This guide will hopefully help new gamers get beyond the basics and up to speed with the hobby.

- The Wide, Wide World of Pen & Paper RPGs -

While Dungeons & Dragons is the biggest and most well known pen and paper Role Playing Game (RPG), there are many, many others out there.  D&D is really the tip of the iceberg; a gateway to the wider world of PnP RPGs.  There are other RPGs that, like D&D, have a fantasy setting.  There are also RPGs for about every genre you could think of: Super Heroes, Sci-Fi, Horror, Cyberpunk, even Mice with Swords.  If you can think of a genre, especially a geeky one, someone has written an RPG for it.

In my opinion D&D is the best RPG to get started with the hobby, but I encourage you to check out the wider world of RPGs once you are more settled in.

- Edition Clarification -

The current version of D&D is 4th Edition.  It’s called 4th edition, but there are more than four versions of D&D when you count the various updates, spin offs, and clones.  Each edition of D&D has a different rule set (and rule books) from the next, sometimes so different that they are very different games.   They get confusing pretty fast.

If you are just starting out in the hobby, I believe 4th edition is the way to go.  The books are in print.  All the other official versions of D&D are out of print and not as readily available.  The rules are well laid out in the books and internally very consistent.  It’s fairly obvious the game was designed with new players in mind.  There are great tools like the character builder that make the learning curve less steep and make it easier to buy fewer books.  The simplified rules make it easier to Dungeon Master the game.

Fair warning, if you ask three different gamers which is the best version of D&D you’ll likely get four different answers.  The change over from the last edition of D&D (edition 3.5) and 4th edition has sparked a particularly vigorous debate, commonly known as the edition wars.  Like any other geeky debate on the internet, people have strong opinions about it.  I’m sure  a lot of other gamers would disagree with me that  you should start with 4th edition.

One more note on editions: while 4th edition is great for new players and new dungeon masters, if you are being invited into an existing group with experienced gamers, go with whatever edition or game system they are playing.  They’ll be able to teach you what you need to know to get started.  I find that my enjoyment comes more from the people around the table than from whatever edition of D&D (or RPG system) I play.

- What You Need -

Free Stuff
At first you don’t need to spend much money.  There are many D&D resources available for free from Wizards of the Coast (publisher of D&D):

  • D&D Character Builder – Free demo allows you to create level 1 – 3 characters.  This is one of the main reasons I like 4th Ed.  It lets you focus on what kind of character you want to build instead of the math.  Also, it gives you access to information from nearly all the character books.  You have to buy a D&D Insider subscription for the full version which gives you access to other tools and online magazines.
  • Download the D&D Test Drive – Here you can download quick start rules and two full adventures for free.  This test drive is all you need to get familiar with the rules and try things out if you don’t want to commit any money.

Dice
One thing you should really buy before you start playing is a set of dice.  While RPG gamers are friendly and will share dice if you don’t have any, it is better to have you own.  Dice are designated by the number sides they have.  A six-sided die (the most common die type that pretty much every board game uses) is called a D6.  A 10 sided die is a D10, and so on.

A complete set consists of a D4, a D6, a D8, 2 D10′s, a D12, and a D20.  That is all you need to get started, but once you are hooked, you end up with a lot more.

Books
While you can get away with not buying a single book by using the resources I linked to above, eventually you are going to want to get a few books:

  • Player’s Handbook (PHB): This is the only book that a player needs to get started with D&D.  It lays out how the general structure of the game works, how to create a character, background stories for the races, and the combat rules.  There is a PHB 2 and a PHB 3, but those just layout new character options and do not change the core rules defined in the first PHB. If you can find this in a store, it’s a good deal if you do want PHB and PHB 2.
  • Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG): This is only necessary if you plan to run a game for other people as a Dungeon Master (DM).  It gives you rules, advice, and resources to DM a game.
  • Monster Manual (MM): This is also only necessary if you plan to DM a game at some point.  This book is just a list of monsters that the DM throws up against the players.

And those are the only books you really need to get started.  There are many other books, some for players, some for DMs, but this all you need to get started.  The PHB, DMG, and MM are considered the “core” rule books and most who people play have one or all of these books.  For a cheaper alternative to get all three, get this Core Rulebook Gift Set.

A new Dungeons & Dragons Essentials line is coming out this fall.  One of the products is a boxed Starter Set.  This may be a great place to start once it comes out.

Miniatures

For the most part in D&D, combat takes place on a 1″ grid with miniatures or some other type of marker used to represent players and monsters.  4th edition is especially reliant on miniatures and a grid.  You don’t have to buy a miniature to get started.  Some things people use instead of miniatures include cardboard tokens, chess pieces, LEGO figures, and coins.  If you are going to a public game, it’s easy to borrow a miniature from another player as many people have extra.  If you do want to get your own minis, Wizards of the Coast has a line of Player’s Handbook minis. Your local game store will have minis.  Ebay is also a good place to look as well as sites like www.miniaturemarket.com.

Battle Grid

If you want to DM a game yourself, you’ll need a 1″ grid for combat.  There are many options for combat grids:  Dungeon Tiles put out by WOTC, pricey, not versatile, but very pretty; Chessex vinyl Battlemat, moderately priced, very versatile, very sturdy; Gamemastery Flip-Mat: cheap, very versatile, not as sturdy; Gaming Paper: very cheap, very versatile, disposable.

- Finding a Game -

Finding a game can be a difficult task, especially a long running game with players and a DM that fit your gaming style.  But, you do have a lot of options to get started and to find pickup games that can lead to a longer running game.

  • Meetup.com: Search for RPG or D&D.  This is how I got started playing RPGs.  Meetup is a great way to find other gamers and events that are friendly to new gamers.
  • Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS): Your local game store is another great place to look.  Many have calendars with events, many of them open to anyone.  Talk to the store clerk.  They can let you know what events are good for new players.
  • Attend an official D&D event: There are many events like Living Forgotten Realms,  D&D Encounters, and Worldwide D&D Day that occur at local game stores and are designed  for anyone to jump into a game without any commitment. They are very new player friendly.  LFR and Encounters run weekly.  You have many opportunities to try out D&D with no commitment.
- Online Resources -

There are many online resources available to dive deeper into the hobby and get your questions answered.

Podcasts

There are quite a few RPG podcasts out there.  They are great place to get discussion on the latest news.  Most importantly for a new player, there are podcasts that are recordings of actual game sessions.  These give you a good idea of how an actual game session works before you dive in and actually play.  Here some notable podcasts:

  • The Penny Arcade/PvP/Wil Wheaton podcasts (Series 1 and 2, Series 3 ep 1): Wizards of the Coast invited geek celebrities Mike Krahulik & Jerry Holkins of online comic Penny Arcade, Scott Kurtz of online comic PvP, and Wil Wheaton of Star Trek fame to play D&D.  What resulted were three hilarious sessions of D&D.  They are entertaining and very informative for a new player since one of the players is new to D&D.  Series 4 has been recorded and should be out soon.
  • Robot Chicken podcasts: After of success of the Penny Arcade podcasts, WOTC invited the writers of the show Robot Chicken to play D&D.  This time they recorded video.  Several of the players are new to D&D, so it’s also a good learning opportunity.

Forums

There are many active RPG forums that are great place to ask questions and start to become a part of the community.  Here are a few that I have found useful:

  • The official Dungeons & Dragons forums: great resource for D&D
  • EN World: a popular RPG forum with an emphasis on 4th Ed D&D, but has discussion on many other RPGs
  • RPG.net: active forum with lots of 4th Ed discussion as well as other RPGs

Blogs

There are many, many D&D and general RPG blogs out there.  Check out my blogroll for a few that I frequent.

- Go Forth and Game ! -

Hopefully this guide has been helpful to you.  Once you are hooked (as I know you will be), come back and tell me about your experiences.

I will try to keep this guide up to date with regular updates as links change and new products become available.

March 29, 2010 | Level 1 Gamer | 6 Comments »

My week in gaming

My time to write has been pretty limited lately.  With a wife, a toddler, a newborn and a full-time job, there isn’t much room for writing these days.  This week though has been a pretty decent gaming week for me.

  • My week started out with a major geek out when Wil Wheaton posted my comment on the front page of his blog! Wil is doing another Dungeon Delve at the Emerald City Comic Con and wrote a post about it on his blog.  I wrote in the comments that I played in on of his Dungeon Delves.  I wrote about the experience in a blog post: I survived Wil Wheaton’s Dungeon Delve of Doom which I also mentioned in the comment.  He then proceeds to update his blog post with my comment.  Very exciting.  A fun little geeky treat for me.
  • I went to Living Forgotten Realms again Thursday at Hat’s Games here in Tucson.  I had a good time.  But, LFR seems to exacerbate some of the problems of D&D 4th Edition.  Namely, role playing gets a short shrift.  Roll playing is the emphasis.  Which, I don’t mind so much.  I find 4th edition combat a compelling game in and of itself and I want to get a better grasp of the rules.  But, I like a healthy dose of story, character, and plot, too.  Still, it was fun and hope to make it out again soon.  Also,  LFR got a new gamer hooked on the hobby.  Someone came in who had never played a pen and paper game and, well, I let his words speak for themselves: “me thinks we hath created a monster.”  Despite 4th edition’s faults, it is very friendly to new players.
  • Yesterday, I went to the Arizona Renaissance Festival.  I  guess renaissance festivals could be considered the world’s most popular and mainstream LARPs.  I got my little girl a pink sword and a fairy outfit and I had steak on a stake.  Ren Faire was a success.  I’m actually thinking of going in costume next year.  Somebody help me.
  • Tomorrow is the next session in my regular Swords and Wizardry group.  It will be the first time in quite a while that we will have all the players there.  We just took out some goblins and need to learn what happened to the Tomb of the Iron God.  I’ll have to write some more about it soon.

I’m looking forward to PHB3 day this week and I’ll hopefully be playing the first of new D&D Encounters program that Wizards of the Coast is kicking off.  If time permits I’ll be writing all this up.

March 14, 2010 | Level 1 Gamer | No Comments »

Living Forgotten Realms

Last Thursday I went out to the Friendly Local Game Store to partake in Living Forgotten Realms.  LFR is shared-world campaign that is played throughout the country.  Essentially you can create an LFR legal character, take it to any LFR event, and play it in an ongoing shared setting.  The Tucson RPG Guild organizes a weekly LFR event at Hat’s Games. It’s an easy way to get a D&D 4th edition fix without any commitment.  Although I enjoy going and I’ve had fun the few times I’ve gone, these LFR events have their advantages and disadvantages.

I like it for several reasons.  It’s a nice way to socialize and meet new people.  The Tucson LFR is averaging about 25 people each Thursday.  Like the monthly Tucson RPG Guild Gatherings, you get to meet and mingle with people outside of your regular gaming group.   It’s really nice for trying out different characters.  You can roll up a new character and try it out, but you won’t be saddled with it for the entire campaign like you would in a traditional campaign.  There’s no commitment.  I’m a busy guy with a full time job, wife, and two small kids.  It’s hard for me to commit to much of anything regularly.  Somehow, I’ve managed to make all my bi-weekly Swords & Wizardy games, but anything outside that is hard for me to make.   I like being able to drop into a game when I feel like it.

Another big thing that LFR has going for it is it’s very friendly to the RPG newcomer like me.  There are generally pre-generated characters available if you are not comfortable with character generation.  Like I said before, it’s a great way to try out characters.  It helped me with learning character generation, because I built a character, took it to LFR, realized some mistakes I made, but wasn’t stuck with those mistakes.  It can also be a way to find a regular game.  I’m sure that there are plenty of folks at LFR events looking for players.

There are some thing I don’t like about it though.  The few modules I’ve played have been rather bland.  The stories have been rather uninteresting and tend to be light on role-playing.  The combats were not particularly well designed.  Also, you can end up with a DM who is unfamiliar with the module they are running, since they may have not had time to prep and they don’t have the control over the story that they would in a home-brew campaign.  Luckily, Thursday, I had a great DM who handled the RP really well and kept the game moving which is important in 4th Edition.  The last time I went, which was some time ago, my DM was not so well prepared, though.  So, the DM’s can be hit and miss.  You don’t really get a sense of an ongoing story or shared world.  At least I haven’t.  Maybe I haven’t played enough to really get that experience though.  Since it is a shared world, you don’t really have any way to affect it in any meaningful way.  One other thing is, you don’t quite have get camaraderie that you get from a regular game with the same group of people which is a big part of what I like about the hobby

Still, the trade offs are worth it to be able to drop in on a game, no muss no fuss.  Check out Living Forgotten Realms some time if you’re a fan of 4th edition.

February 21, 2010 | Level 1 Gamer | No Comments »
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