I’ve been pondering another major arc game to run at this Fall’s Convergence. I’ve begun to think the best setup for the get-together is a couple of major games punctuated by one-offs. Since Mark has already chosen the first major game to be played, namely his GangBusters Prohibition, and I’m not sure if the other attendees are going to run anything other than a short session or two, the task of coming  up with another multi-session game befalls your’s truely.

I started to think about what I really want to run. My choices are numerous since I have books and material and ideas for the following games:

• Dungeons and Dragons – Arguably the best known and easiest to do. I have tons of material and know the system quite well. Unfortunately most of the players know the material I might want to run at least as well asn I. That’s a significant hurdle to overcome.
• Top Secret – I don’t think I should run this until maybe next Spring’s Convergence when the (hopeful) return of the three core members of The Greatest TS Game the Universe has ever witnessed will be in attendance.
• Boot Hill – To be honest, I’ve never been drawn to Boot Hill. I enjoy playing it, but running it leaves me with the taste of dirt and dust.
• Call of Cthulhu – I’d do this were it not for a couple of factors.
  1. “You’re all going to die”
  2. Keeping players involved in a story arc is an inherent  challenge to the game already.
• Superhero game (DC Heroes or Marvel) – Ideas I’ve got, player buy-in? I think not.
• KORE – I could do any of the above in KORE, but I think this Convergence should be a return to known quantities, nostalgic era games.
• I could siphon off the aforementioned GangBusters game. – But I think maybe a change of pace may be in order at some point.
• I could run something very gritty, a la Battlestar Galactica, but I’m not sure that BSG pressure-cooker is what is needed in a long term story arc game. Maybe as another punctuation this would make a nice addition.

With all that in mind, I realized I had always been leaning back on the classics… it was time to admit that a good ol’ fashioned old school game of D&D was what I wanted to run. Nostalgia once again rears it’s head and I think this time I’m going to embrace it whole-heartedly. But how to do so?

I could use any of the vast abundance of modules I have for the game. But I risk preparing to run a module only to pull it out to be confronted with the classic, “Yea, I’ve run Temple of Elemental Evil a few times. But I promise to keep my knowledge from interferring” response. And I’m not willing to swap modules and try to run one without preparing first. That just leads to long periods of player-idleness while I peruse the material… not a good scene.

Sorry CT, but it really wasn’t going to work out well. In retrospect, you probably should have done something different. – KO

I don’t have the time to build something new. At least nothing with some depth that isn’t going to be a complete rip-off of something I’ve either run earlier or has been experienced by the players. What’s more, I always hate the methods to generate new high level characters for players. Characters always feel so cardboard when they don’t have history to go with their stats, gear, and abilities.

So we’re back to the question of how do I run something that has some depth, hasn’t been experienced by the players before, and yet can be quickly recalled and molded by me?

To be honest, I was stumped; baffled by this conundrum that didn’t seem to have a solution. And then this morning brilliance (or something I’ll call brilliance) struck. As it turned out, I already had a module prepared. One in which I already knew the material to a depth that I could easily run it off the top of my head with a few notes. In fact, large portions of the game had even already been played by a number of people including myself. Everything I needed to run a number of sessions was done. And as far as I know, none of my players have run through it themselves.

The more I pondered the simple solution, the more I was in GM heaven. – KO

Where you ask, did I suddenly come up with this wealth of session material? Neverwinter Nights.

That’s right. It looks like I’m about to eat some serious crow. Crpgs are about to help me ease the return to the classic pen and paper game. Fitting isn’t it?

I have 3 modules in a 5 part series already built for NwN. In fact, they’re available for download on the Neverwinter Vault here. These 3 modules should be fairly easy to convert back to pen and paper rules while the other 2 modules are already penned out in notes that should be easy to backstep into some good tabletop material. The very layout of the modular setup should help to pace the game so it can be stopped and returned to with ease at the breaking points. Of course, I’ll have to do a bit of alteration to eliminate some of the more “computer game” necessary parts, but that’s not a big deal. The bulk of the work is already done. I just need to convert it back.

In order to keep a sense of nostalgia, I considered going all the way back to the beginning and running the game from the Basic/Expert ruleset. In fact I’m still keeping that option open for now. If not, I’ll run the game in the next best option; namely the AD&D Edition rules. So everybody brush up on those THAC0 rules, we’re going back to the mid-eighties for some serious old school gaming.

Tags: Battlestar Galactica, BSG, Call of Cthulhu, Convergence, Crpg, D&D, DC Heroes, Dungeons and Dragons, GangBusters, KORE rpg, Marvel Superheroes, Neverwinter Nights, NwN, rpg, Setting, Top Secret

We had a bit of a family gathering this last weekend and I introduced my sister to Dungeonsiege. I have to admit that I love this game for a variety of reasons. Whereas Neverwinter Nights has a powerful toolset and the D&D ruleset behind it, Dungeonsiege has a couple of somethings that makes it a far more successful gateway game to the uninitiated.

For starters, the entire system can be mastered with only a mouse. Where keyboard inputs certainly make potion use easier, there isn’t a need for much more than point and click. In fact, the entire game is rather similar to Diablo (a blessing as well as a curse depending on who you ask.) While that might seem like a drawback to depth, my experience in the exact opposite. Any time you force the player to take focus off the game and onto the interface, you’ve broken the immersion.

Next, the game lends itself to the simple “kill them and take their stuff” mode that most early D&D games emulated. Again, a good homage in my book. Again akin to Diablo, for good or ill.

I’ll briefly mention that the lack of load screens and the whole world as a single map are great inducements to multiplayer games. And let’s not forget the simple “click on my pic to follow/support me” mode. God I love that – and constantly wonder why NwN doesn’t have something akin to it. These simple enhancements allow for a group feel that helps an experienced player introduce the game to another with relative ease.

Perhaps I should consider scripting the functionality up – KO

Finally, and the focus of what makes this game a great gateway drug, the improvement reward mechanics are about as simple as can be.

• Want to be a better melee basher? Then just pick up a melee weapon and start bashing. Doing so will improve your melee skill as well as your strength. 
• Want to be a better archer? Start killing things with your bow. Doing so will improve your ranged skill as well as your dexterity.
• Want to be a better nature mage? Then use nature magic. Doing so improves your nature magic skill as well as your intelligence.
• The same pattern applies for combat magic.

The simplicity of this brilliant improvement mechanic is genius. Its easy to understand, follows a predictable pattern, and instead of having an arbitrary choice after the fact, places the decision of improvement directly into the game world. That’s simplicity and immersion in the improvement mechanic. And that’s sheer brilliance.

So what can we learn about rpgs in general from this little Dungeonsiege plug?

For starters, for a game to appeal to a wide range of players, it should be relatively easy to pick up, easy to immediately “get in to”, and easy to teach. It should also allow for the flexibility of increasing the complexity as required by the players. But sometimes complex isn’t necessarialy better – in fact, I’m aware of at least a handful of individuals who won’t play D&D. The bulk cite complexity as their major hang-up to the game. Not that I’m advocating taking flexibility out of the system, rather I’m in favor of streamlining the rules to allow for more logical outcomes from actions.

That’s something I tried to keep in mind when I began thinking about the level/improvement/reward mechanics for KORE.

In scouring other games, I found that the two mainstream games that somewhat modeled this behavior were Top Secret and Call of Cthulhu. In both, when you succeed at a skill test, you have a chance of improving in that skill. A simple and easy method to understand a la “Practice makes perfect.”

That’s the mechanic I hope to emulate in KORE – with flourishes of course.

Tags: Call of Cthulhu, Crpg, D&D, Diablo, Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeonsiege, Game Design, improvement, KORE rpg, mechanics, Neverwinter Nights, NwN, reward, rpg, rules, Top Secret