Minis feature - Reaper.
This is another Reaper Mini that I painted around five years ago. Reaper makes the best minis on the market. D&D Minis are fine, but you just don’t get the detail with plastic that you get with pewter. Other brands have come close, but none have had the consistent quality, in terms of detailed molds, that Reaper has.
I’ve always liked this one, until today. My wife’s new camera shows all of the mistakes, and I’m not good enough with Photoshop to touch them up yet!
Anyways, enjoy these:
COME TO ME, MY SERVANT!
Looking at this one now, I’m wishing I’d have done more with the eyes. Still, I LOVE the texture on the wings.
You can tell he’s evil ‘cuz his ax has a skull.
Again with the wing textures. Very cool stuff.
Of Markets, RPGs, and Third Parties
The Chatty DM has a guest column this morning over at dungeonmastering.com on the concept of the OGL and its effect on Dungeons and Dragons, both in terms of the effect it had on 3E as well as the possible effect on 4E.
I don’t substantially disagree with anything Phil is saying there. However, I’d like to hone in on a part of the argument he sort of glosses over:
- The OGL, at its base, is a business document. It has little or nothing do to with role-playing itself, at least not categorically.
- The negative effect of the OGL on retailers, in terms of third party products, demonstrates a weakness in the current publication and distribution channels - business factors - rather than a problem with the OGL itself. After all, comic book retailers are able to bring in titles that don’t sell on a regular basis with little danger. An aggregative distribution company for third party OGL materials could, I think, both lessen the impact to retailers, and see more consistent distribution of third-party product. Any entrepreneurial gamers out there want to start a company?
- A glut of bad products should make consumers focus on a known quantity. If there were 100 different brands of HDTVs and 84 of them completely sucked, you’d turn to the remaining 16; many people would turn to the top company, fearing the demise of the other viable 15. Who does this hurt? The 15? No; they will see increased business from people who were buying the 84, or at least level sales. And it sure doesn’t hurt the consumer.
- I don’t think we need time to know which system was best for us as consumers, if not as gamers. Competition forces the cream to rise to the top, and that is what happened with the 3E OGL. Great third parties who made great products (Goodman, Monte, etc) stayed in business. Companies that made less-than-stellar products didn’t. And WotC got a huge recruiting ground and sandbox out of the third parties, providing them with additional resources, but also forcing them to put out quality product so as to stay in the market.
What’s the point here? It’s the same point I’ve been making to my friend who believes that 4E is going to be “New Coke.” I’m not a marketing expert, and don’t want to be when I grow up. I don’t have access to industry data to tell me how things are trending, I don’t have demographic data, I only have what I read on the Internet and hear from my friends. And that is the definition of anecdotal. Most of us really have no clue what will happen when 4E comes out. We might have hunches or hopes, but it is business acumen, not gaming insight, that determines how accurate those hunches or hopes will prove to be.
The point, then, is like I said above: the OGL is a business document. Its impact on the game has to be understood in terms of how it affects the market; any other impact is, likely, minimal.
Monday Morning in Iceland
Hey all!
Dang, it’s cold here. And icy.
I will admit it. I was a bit cranky last Wednesday. Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was the vodka. Either way, I’m over it. I think I’m ready to take this gamer contract thing seriously. The Philippine Gamer has done some excellent legwork on the question, looking at the social contract from the player perspective. While I’m going to take a day or to and work up my version of the DM’s commitments, why don’t you visit Philie G. and give him your thoughts on the social contract.
On another note, I don’t know what it is, but Yax seems to send his best stuff out on Sunday and Monday. This Sunday’s quiz was on gnomes “rarrr, I’m a monster” and hobbits halflings. I scored 60% - see if you can do better.
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At any rate, I’ve spent some time thinking this weekend about the whole GenCon situation. Something occurred to me: I’ve only been going to GenCon for six years. Yeah, I’ve been DMing for more than 20, but the Con is a fairly recent thing for me. So, why am I bothered by the hint that there might be trouble with GenCon? I feel like the experience has really enhanced my gaming, and my love for the game. It also broadened my horizons. For example:
- Prior to attending GenCon, I barely noticed the release of a new edition of D&D; I was a full year late to that dance. This time around, I was aware of the new edition announcement within hours, and have spent months researching it and planning for it.
- Prior to attending GenCon, I only ever played D&D with friends. Since then, I’ve found people to play D&D with that are, essentially, acquaintances that share a love of the game. To be sure, they almost always become friends, but this is a reversal - I used to have to introduce my friends to D&D, not be introduced to friends via D&D.
- GenCon provided me with the opportunity to explore other games. The short list of games I tried at GenCon that I never would have otherwise tried includes Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer, Heroscape, Axis & Allies, Vampire (tabletop and LARP), and even Are You a Werewolf.
- I’ve met people at GenCon who seemed larger than life in the past. Gary Gygax, for example. He’s just a regular dude. I’ve had a cigarette with him. Ed Greenwood. He’s a dirty old man. Not really. But he is funny as hell.
- I’ve learned a lot about my fellow gamers. Not all of it has been good; hygiene, for example. But overall, its been a positive experience, and I believe today that gamers are, on average, more polite than the common populace. They are also more annoying, on average.
So, what’s my point here? GenCon has been a fabulous experience for me. If you can wing it, you should go at least once. Your game will never be the same.
OOH! Before I forget. I put up an article with some ideas for traps to use in your D&D game. It’ll get buried soon with the GenCon posts, so check it out before you miss it!
Dungeons and Dragons Trap Ideas
I’m channeling the spirit of Grimtooth today. That, and the old ‘Net Book of Traps.
Anyways, I offer, for your enjoyment, some of my favorite trap ideas. I’ve used each of these in a game, with great results:
Trap Idea #1: Fake Door
For this trap, the characters need to make a successful search check. They will find a door, hidden behind a painting, curtain, or whatever is appropriate. The door is bright orange in color, and has hundreds of lights and levers of all colors. It cannot be forced open, and scrying or teleporting won’t work behind it. When anyone pulls a lever, everyone in the room takes 1 hit point of electrical damage. The lights then change color. The door will open when the characters push a red lever to the “down” position and a green lever to the “up” position.
To make this one especially interesting, use it while the characters are running from an encounter that they couldn’t overcome.
Trap Idea #2: Invisible Bridge
This is the old Indiana Jones trick. The players encounter a chasm that they have to cross. The characters have to cross the invisible bridge. The bridge is not invisible, but there are magics that make it imperceptible to some people. To do so, they need to first discover the bridge; provide a will save for each party member, difficult enough that some will miss it and not believe the bridge is there. It will be up to the remaining party members to convince the others that it is there. Once the party decides to cross, they will, of course, have to devise a way to get across. Make the bridge slippery, very narrow, place high winds, send in flying opponents, or whatever else you need to do to make it difficult. If your party has access to fly or teleport, make it a dead magic zone.
Trap Idea #3: No Invisible Bridge
This really is probably best to do if you just hate your players. The scenario is the same as #2, but there’s really no bridge. Encourage characters that they need to all step onto the bridge together. Hilarity ensues.
Trap Idea #4: Exploding Coin
The characters enter into a room and see a single coin (or gem, or key, or whatever might entice them) laying on the floor. It can either be obvious, or you might have them make a search roll. When one of them picks it up, a delayed blast fireball of an appropriate strength for the party goes off.
Trap Idea #5: Stackable Pit Traps
This is your standard pit trap with a twist: if characters search the pit trap, they find another trap door in the floor, with hidden treasures inside. Alternatively, they find another trap door leading into another pit, and take even more damage. You pick.
Trap Idea #6: Wounded Enemy
The characters encounter an enemy who seems to be wounded. He is, of course, faking it, and will either lead the party to an ambush, or turn on them while they attempt to care for him. A variation is for the party to find a wounded ally set on betrayal or good-seeming creature, such as a fiendish unicorn.
Trap Idea #7: Alice in Wonderland
This is an oldie but a goodie. The characters enter a room with a table. On the table sits a potion that is labeled “drink me.” In the room is a mouse hole. Here’s where you make it interesting: in one scenario, the mouse hole is the only way out of a dungeon, and the characters have to shrink to get out. The problem will be undoing the effects of the shrinking potion. Maybe the mouse hole is a red herring; there are plenty of ways out of the dungeon, and the mouse hole doesn’t lead them out. In any case, once the characters are shrunken, they should have to fight the obligatory Giant Rat.
Trap Idea #8: Anti-gravity Pit
The characters come to the end of a hallway, only to find a vertical tunnel. The pit goes down as far as they can see, and 10′ up. When they enter the pit (probably with a rope) they are sucked up to the ceiling, which has a trap door with spikes or whatever other evils you can think of on the other side.
Cynical Bob Shows His Butt
First, let me give you something useful. With less than 6 months to go, I thought I’d point you all to the GenCon Survival Guide. Enjoy.
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Phil Gamer had an interesting article the other day on the (generally unspoken) code of conduct that he uses when approaching the gaming table. He’s got some pretty insightful stuff over there. I will say this, however; His “commitments” as a player really reflect what he (and most GMs) want to see from their players, rather than what players tend to like to see and do in their game. Fact is, most players don’t worry about “giving the GM a headache” or how much effort the GM has put in. It’s not that they’re malicious; rather, they’re indifferent. Just as most GMs are, to one degree or another, with their players.
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Now, I know I’m likely to generate a lot of controversy with this, much like my “open letter” from last March. I know that I’m kind of in a crappy mood today anyways. Really, I need to keep this inside my head, and wait until a better time, when I’m not edgy.
I’m not gonna do that, though.
So, I offer you my re-designed contract for Players. As a DM, here’s what I want:
Come prepared. Don’t forget to level your character, or leave your character sheet or dice in the car. I spent hours writing the adventure, and I lugged hundreds of pounds of books and shit here, you can pick a feat, roll some hit points, divvy up 4 skill points, and bring in two fricking sheets of paper.
Leave your problems at the door. Yeah, I care that your girlfriend dumped you. If you’re that affected, let’s all go get a beer and sing karaoke. But if you want to play D&D, leave the baggage outside. Or, turn those emotions into some seriously good role-playing. Either way is fine with me.
Don’t be a rude ass. I don’t care if the Paladin has taken 10 minutes to pray away the fungus from under his toenail. I’m as bored with it as you are. But if you won’t shut up and quit interrupting, we’ll never get past it.
Three simple fracking things. Think you can manage that, Poindexter? Good. Then sit down, get out your dice, and let’s get rolling.
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(As regret already sets in… Let me give a disclaimer to my local players: As a player, *I* have been guilty of every one of the above sins, more frequently than any of you. I’ve said it before, DMs often make the worst players, and it is especially true in my case. I’m ranting as much, if not more, about myself here than I am anyone else.)
Character Death
Now, I’ve never been accused of being a killer DM. The fact of the matter is, I have a better time, and so do my players, when their characters live. At low levels, this means that I almost always fudge rolls in favor of the party. At higher levels, it means that I use kinder, gentler rules for Raise Dead, Resurrection, and True Resurrection.
The problem is, I often think that my players just aren’t afraid. There is very little fear of losing their character. I guess I always feel bad. My players, for the most part, put a good deal of thought and work into developing their characters. I hate to see all of that work go to waste.
Having said that… it occured to me last night that all of the hard work that I put into my critters and my storylines as a DM are destined, every one of them, to fail. That is, the players are going to win, and my guys are going to lose.
All bets are off, from here on out; a character dies, they’re dead. I’ll keep the alt rules, because I agreed to them, but there are going to be times when a character just stays dead. I want to see how this will work out. Wish me luck.
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