My Introduction to Pathfinder I

June, 2014 - I am a long time AD&D player, that is, I play an earlier version of the game that came out prior to 1987. I have limited exposure to later systems, via computer games, i.e. Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale. This is my first experience actually playing a character in any later version. I appreciate that Pathfinder is set apart from Wizards of the Coast’s inflated D&D product line. I don’t like that Pathfinder has totally inflated its own presence in the same way. But I will retell my experience of playing Pathfinder here.
I was struck by the complexity involved and the time it took to make characters. I didn’t care for that. Some might argue that having all of these variables, these options stated in the books, makes it easier to create and run a unique character. I disagree. Surely it should be up to the player to make the character unique. There is no character creation ruleset that, by itself, makes a character interesting. Read any novel. How often do you like the main character that is like every other main character? How good would mystery novels be if every detective was some form of Dick Tracy? I suggest that the fewer rules you have in character creation, the more unique and interesting the character HAS TO be.
My next critique is all of the rolls. I find myself rolling dice to see if I am successful at doing things slightly greater than mundane. What I like about AD&D is that the characters are heroes. I don’t need to roll to see if I fall on my face when I jump from the top of a stationary wagon. I’m a hero, and so I land with style, style reflected in the fact that I have an above average Dexterity. No roll should be needed.
The real problem with the rolls is the time it takes to do them. It hurts the pacing of the scene. Let me describe what I am talking about, if I can. We have five players sitting around a table. The Dungeon Master has thrown a bunch of Orcs at the party, an ambush. Scores of them, waving falchions in the air as they charge forward. Instead of allowing the danger to be realized and the tension to build, we get a call for a large number of individual die rolls. We have charts and rules from some book telling us how we are situated to meet the threat. And, of course, if I do roll bad, and my character falls off the wagon, then all of the players laugh at my gaff. Where did the tension go?
My DM is skilled. Let’s see where this goes next.

My Mistakes As DM II

D&D is fun, mainly because of the people sitting around the table. Let me be clear, the game itself is less fun. If I have a bunch of people who hate each other around my table, then the game is not going to be fun. If all the characters die in one event, then that probably won’t be fun either. If one person is hogging all of the time insisting on pointless role-playing, then the game will not be fun. With all these and more, the uninitiated (with group fun) might wonder what fun there is to have. The danger lies in striving for or allowing fun in a light-hearted, funny way. This is my sin. I have allowed comedy to break up the tension on too many occasions. It started simply enough, with the players choosing overly silly names for their characters. Innocent fun I thought. But now the names are a big part of the chiding fun that players have. It is nearly impossible to have serious play with a character named ‘Mergatroid Balls.’ Now when something serious happens, the uncomfortable player makes up a funny turn of phrase about Mergatroid Balls. Where did my tension go? Other players have created all-encompassing back-stories for their characters. This allows them to break tension by pulling out some funny reference from the back-story, and inserting it into the play. This will happen more than you think. Fun is had because the people you are playing with are great, not because of some funny, in-game gimmick that you have created or allowed. You might laugh once at a silly reference, but remember what that encourages in the players around you. I have learned much. I can say without fear that my game will be more fun than ever now that the tension is back.

My Mistakes As DM I

In the late 70’s, Doctor Who had a tool for every occasion. He needed to stop an enemy, he had K9. He needed to open a door, he had the Sonic Screwdriver. These things plus amazingly capable companions made the writing for the show extremely easy. There was always an easy tool for the doctor to use, an easy solution. He didn’t have to use his brain for all of these little problems. A similar issue is rampant in role-playing games. Having an alignment system in my game was a mistake for this and other reasons. When I start another campaign, I won’t use an alignment system. That does not mean I won’t use Dungeons & Dragons, even though there are very good games out there that have no alignment system. My players like D&D, so I will simply remove alignments, and change those things that are affiliated with alignments (Detect Evil, Protection from Good, etc.) The main problem is that my current game has become a game centered on alignment. It is like Doctor Who’s Sonic Screwdriver, being used all the time to solve all the problems. Yet the show is not about the Sonic. It’s about the Doctor. D&D is about the characters. Fundamentally it is not about the flavors (cool swords, neat spells, special armor, powerful wands, etc.) So when my players use Detect Evil as a means to determine action, then there is a problem. Alignment becomes a cheat. Character development goes by the wayside because the Detect Evil spell tells the players how to act. The players should be determining their character’s actions, using their brains, not the game system. Their decisions make the story interesting, not the tools being used. Doctor Who is interesting because of the Doctor, not the Sonic. I also don’t like the assumptions of alignments. We have a Goblin or an Orc. Tolkein made his monster races evil from birth. How easy and uninteresting is that, in this context? I see an Orc, therefore it’s automatically okay to kill it. There is no question, no thinking. It makes it easy to be a DM. I don’t have to give my monsters any personality or back story because they are evil. The PC’s will kill them on sight. Yea me! I’m a real DM! A real Story Teller! Something should also be said about how flawed the alignment system is as written. So many interpretations on what the specific alignments entail. If I am Chaotic Good then that means I am not quite as good as someone that is Lawful Good. Bullcrap. I’m only Neutral Good, and so I am more Neutral than Good. More Bullcrap. I’m Chaotic Neutral, that means I can do whatever I want, not that I am insane. Oh, so much Bullcrap. There are probably other reasons but these are enough. The story is sacred. The player’s participation is sacred. I want to encourage my players to use their brains and their hearts, not some cool formula, one given them from the start.

Player Bill of RIghts

The Player Bill of Rights Definitions:Player – Any player in the game, including the Game Master. PC – Player Character, the characters that the players play with, including Non-Player Characters. The Game – A safe, cooperative effort.
1) The player has the boundary of skin. The player has the right to not be physically touched. 2) The player has the right to speak. (As happens on occasion, several players are speaking at once. For this and other reasons, being heard is not a right.) 3) No player has the right to verbally abuse another player. Saying, “It’s what my PC would say” does not excuse abuse. Attitude is everything. The game IS safe and cooperative. 4) Players have the right to leave the game.
Abuse is defined as a behavior from a player to another player that breaks one or more of the four aforementioned points (1-4). Charges of abuse should be taken very seriously, yet all players should feel safe to bring the charge(s). The charge will be handled diplomatically, with all players participating in the discussion.
Consequences: When abuse is charged and confirmed by a majority of players, then the offending player will receive an official warning. If the offending player at any time repeats or gives similar abuse, then they are to be dismissed from the game, and must vacate the gaming area. The length of this dismissal, given in number of game sessions to be missed, should be determined by all of the remaining players. If a number of sessions cannot be decided upon by a majority of the remaining players, then the offending player is dismissed permanently.

The Marlaya's mini isn't perfect. She doesn't have a staff that I know of, that is, as of now I have not written her owning a staff. Between the game and the writing, it is pretty clear that I cannot get this woman out of my mind.

Marlaya does appear in my D&D game. She started as a character in my writing, which developed substantially. Then I made a D&D world and set her in it. She's an NPC and has a relationship with the party.

March 4, 2014 - My friends and I have been enjoying Dungeons & Dragons together for almost two years. I have had the honor and enjoyment of being the Dungeon Master. The story has progressed nicely, with the players taking the game where they have wanted it, for the most part. I want to stress that point, that I, being the person playing the god-arbiter of what happens, do not direct what happens. I do not say, "Alright, you go into the cave, enter this chamber and must fight these monsters. Now roll dice." I do say, "There is a cave. You have heard that bad things happen there." That is enough. At the same time, other interesting possibilities exist, but these do not preclude what the players want to do. The party may have a cave, a haunted cemetery and raiding bandits to consider, but if they want to head west to see what's out there then fine by me. I will not block their path so that they have to come back and encounter the bandits/cave/cemetery.
"But what about all of that preliminary work you did as DM?" you might ask. "The Bandit King is really cool, the party HAS to come back and deal with him." No, no they don't. This is what I enjoy about being DM. My players stretch me. They challenge me. This might reflect views held by many others, but I just thought I would get that out there.