Endy's RPG Stuff

Firstly, I would like to wish everyone happy holidays. I hope that you are with people you care about during them, even if only in spirit.

Second, I lied last week. I was wrong about what this post is about. Some of my friends have been trying to find us a place to hold our campaign (Quick Chek is no longer viable). So I’ve been looking around at where we can do it. None of us live alone, nor do we live in places where we can truly host a game. So where can we go? I felt that it was a worthwhile question to blog about in regard to RPG groups, since I don’t have anything really interesting.

Most local libraries have a room which is free for non-profit organizations, that can be booked with the library itself. Call in advance to double-check, there’s very likely a form you have to fill out. However, there are several (possible) downsides.
No Food or Drink: It’s a library. Food is a scarce commodity, as are drinks. For those of us that game by Dew alone, well, it takes sneaking stuff in. Occasionally you’ll find a library that will allow food for a fee/deposit (At my local, it’s $25). Some don’t care but that’s very, very unusual.
Limited Hours: Almost no library I know of is open past 9 PM. On weekends, assume 9 AM – 5 PM on Saturday and (if you’re lucky) 1 PM – 5 PM on Sunday. This makes it hard for anyone with a full-time job to make it to a library game.
Volume Controls: This might seem like a non-issue, but the acoustics in a lot of library rooms mean that even 6 people whispering can be heard throughout the entire library. And if you have a librarian who dislikes you, expect to be kicked out quickly.
However, there is a fairly large upside to all this: most libraries nowadays operate wireless internet. Meaning that if you game with a laptop, you’re in great shape for getting online.

The other place I’m looking at right now is a Boro Hall – and I’ve heard tell that there are others as well. Some are free, many are rental-only locations. Still, they take away a lot of the negatives of a library – including hours. You’ll need to find out who to book it with though, and I’ll suggest asking your reference librarian for that information.

Otherwise, restaurants have been my refuge. As long as the game doesn’t get too loud, a restaurant with free WiFi has tables and chairs, and it’s warm. The biggest downside is needing to buy something, because in a place like Panera Bread, just soda for a group can run you ten bucks. In a group of people where only two work (and of those only one has money), it gets very expensive, and quickly too.

Any public places you’ve found to game? Drop it in the comments, please!

See you before New Years’!

For those of you that either read this blog or have eyes, you may have seen the last post, detailing the beginnings of another RPG project. The good news on this project is that the game is coming along very swiftly, and should not be a very long thing – nowhere near a magnum opus. Initially it was going to be a 24-hour RPG, then I started doing research. I’m looking to finish it up soon, and I’ll be looking for places to host it soon enough.

Alright, I don’t have a better title for today’s post, I’m not going to lie. That’s mostly because I have so many ideas and some stuff to say that I don’t know of a better title. Let’s roll down each category as we go, eh?

Administrative: After minutes of agonizing self-debate, I changed the former “Pokemon RPG” category to “My RPG Developments”. This is an attempt to reflect my list of current projects, of which the Pokémon RPG is but one. There are now at least 3 other projects batting around in my queue at the moment.
Also, I’m sorry to say this, but next week, Christmas Day, will not be much of a meaningful post.

Generic RPG Information:
I want to talk about the above topic in addition to everything else. Games get backlogged when you’re knowingly creating for free very easily in my experience. The problem is that, as you’ve seen in many of my posts lately, inspiration springs on us all at the strangest of times. I suggest that you do one of two things, both of which have pros and cons:

• Keep a notebook nearby: Write everything down, at the expense of possibly developing such a backlog as I have or worse. When you have ideas, you get them out and leave even the widgets there.
• Focus on one project: This is the opposite of the above. Seek to forget ideas that are not related to the project at hand. You might lose the idea of a lifetime with this, but you will finish your project eventually.

My RPG Developments: I have a few ideas for the Pokemon game. And I have an idea for a new game. A game of Wuxia-type action, where the elements (outside of Spirit) are each rolled for, and the highest element becomes the Spirit element, dictating a person’s best form. More of this will come.

Now, as far as next week is concerned, I’m just going throw an Instant Game and a dice chart for 2d20 up, if not a little more. But there’s not going to be big content. It’s Christmas.

Many people have complained that in games like Dungeons and Dragons, the Alignment system is “weak”. Design Patterns of Successful Role-Playing Games, in particular, refers to it thus:

“As a role-playing aid that gives guidance to players concerning the manner in which they should portray their characters, the Alignment pattern does a poor job.”

Whitson John Kirk III, Design Patterns of Successful Role-Playing Games
- So what do we do about it?

It has come to my attention that I was missing a table in some of my previous posts! So, rather than be derelict in this, it’s under today’s cut.

This is a 216-line table outlining the probability of 3d6.

I just wish to point out that a lot of people might not realize this, but just adding 1 die into the matter makes a world of difference. To explain, here, let me start with this. In a d% (d100) system, there are naturally 100 combinations. What happens if you just add another d10 into the mix? That number jumps to 1000 unique combinations.

In case you’re wondering, the count of each die’s sides is equal to the value d#. If we take 2d#, we get a number of unique combinations equal to d# * d#. 3d# is equal to 2d# * d#. And so on. This means that even flipping three successive coins (in this system, d2) gives us 8 possible results. If we were to get a little psychotic and take 2d20? We end up with 400 results.

To all you game designers out there, this is one thing that’s slowed me down time and again – you may not have to account for every result with every roll. But 6, 10, 36, even 100 our minds easily fathom. 400 comes a little harder.

Alrighty, haranguing over, let’s get to the table!