D&D 5 Monster Manual review

The first of my D&D5 manuals' reviews.
Since I got the D&D5 trilogy it was all too clear to me they all deserved that.
I am a sworn AD&D2 fan, I started my adventure with it and thought I'd finish with it.
But just out of sheer curiosity I decided to take a look at the new PHB. And I was captivated.

What's so good about it?

I will not go to great lengths to describe the publication's quality. It is wonderful to look at, wonderful to hold in your hand. It's simply top-notch.
But the meat is the contents. You get dozens of classic and not-so-classic monsters. But, we've seen all that before right?
All wonderfully illustrated in a cut-the-bullshit fantasy style that's serious enough to inspire and not to remind you of manga or anime series for kids. It's climatic, dark yet brilliantly heroic-fantasy-like. Just check out the cover.
But there's more to it than just pretty illustrations (there better be).
Stat blocks go without saying. The true gem is written information you get. The flavour texts.
Finally instead of some dry ecology information which is all fun for a world-building DM perhaps you get... context.
Wait, what?
Yeah, I remember leafing through MMs and subsequent creatures just wondering - whoah, that one looks weird, how can I use it in my game to make any sense? Of course, it worked sometimes, it did not at others.
But now each monster is supplied with a few text blocks that are just loaded with inspiring information for your campaigns or one-shot adventures.
Finally all those atrocities make sense, even the most weird ones.
And I also failed to mention that it's an impressive selection of creatures. There is probably none that would make you think 'how did that come to be here'? 'What sorry mind came up with this wretched creature?'
The new Monster Manual is beautiful, precise, useful and inspiring. What else would you need?

Do you need to have it?

I toyed with an idea of not purchasing this book. Sure you can invent your own creatures. Sure you can create your own stat blocks (I often modify those anyway to suit the game's needs).
You don't desperately need another bestiary full of wodnerful illustrations on your bookshelf.
But if you're willing to take this manual for what it is then you will not be disappointed.
And above all that, this is the best bestiary I have ever held in my hands.

Alignment - universal D&D axiology

I always use alignment rules in my D&D campaigns. How could I not? They're one of the fundaments of the multiverse, regardless of the setting. Leaving it out would deprive me of numerous plot and game options. What about Paladin's skills? Aligned magic items? Alignment based spells?

I carefully read the more interesting anti-alignment rants yet to me this is a very simple matter.
In terms of axiology we can either have absolute or relative values. Such values as 'Good' or 'Evil' can either be universal, imposed by a superior axiological system (through a omnipotent being perhaps) or relative if we assume that this axiological system is only one of many (the omnipotent being has peers with different ideas). So there is either an absolute 'Good', a fixed reference point on the universe, or a 'Good' that is good for me but may not be good for you (Kill all of them! God will know his flock.)

D&D ostensibly recognized absolute values and connects them with godly powers that roam the known Multiverse. There is 'Good' as a general respect and protection of life, there is 'Evil' as its direct opposition. We've got Law as an expression of the general notion of order, and we've got Chaos. All these values are represented by supernatural beings called gods. These gods take a rather active part in people's lives.

Now, some games do not make such assumptions. Some games actually completely ignore the whole subject. Other games introduce gods and their manipulations but choose to ignore the people's role in the axiological system. D&D embraces the subject openly and puts it in its core mechanics.
And that's it.

I just wish to address one point of criticism that is often repeated in reference to Alignment mechanics. That it pigeon-holes the individuals, players and NPC's alike. It supposedly introduces severe limitations to one's actions and moral choices.
The truth is - it does. If you're dumb as a doornail.

I admit the alignment rules explanations were ambiguous and incoherent at best, especially given the multitude of D&D editions.
But it doesn't require much of a thinker to see the sense.
Unless you're a Calvinist (God help you if you are) you should understand the basic idea of 'free will'.
A player or an NPC is free to act in any way it wills as it has the right to shape its destiny. But at any given point in time this person can be judged against the universal reference point which is the D&D axiology. At this 'judgement day' the verdict takes the form of an alignment. Thus, alignment mechanics in D&D serves two purposes. One: mechanical e.g. to determine whether a Paladin maintains its status or a the wizard's spell affects the creature. Two: as a general guideline how a particular NPC or monster could behave within reason (of course!).
No one of a sound mind should (or would) get the idea that an orc cannot be reasoned with in proper circumstances. That a villain can't cooperate with the heroes if he's got a good enough reason to do it. That a player cannot act against alignment if need be. Hey, we're not playing Munchkin D&D, there is no Lawfull Stupid or Stupid Evil alignment in the rulebook.

That said, I also have the need to point out that same rules need not apply to players and NPCs alike. While in players' case alignment is the current 'verdict' in case of DM's controlled creatures it is a compass, a quick guideline that gives him the idea of what the general character of a creature is.
But please do acknoledge that this is just a guideline, not a strict rule.
Drow are generally evil, but nothing in the world should stop you from creating a good and honorable one. Apart from thre fact that Drow have good reasons to behave the way they do. They've been cheated by Lolth for thousands of years.
Orcs are generally chaotic and evil, but they also have their reasons. They are an intelligent race yet unable to fit into the civilized world of humans, elves and dwarves. Thus, they're a common ennemy. But need not be, all depends on the circumstances.
I could go on like that forever but you should have gotten the gist by now.

Getting back to the players, my final advice for the DM is to keep alignments secret from them. They should have their idea of playing the character. You are their judge however. You decide whether the Paladin falls from grace unexpectedly. It's the game's requirement that alignments are defined at proper times. But make this a background mechanics, unseen for the players. Let them shape their destiny the way they want. Let them feel this moral anxiety. You just deliver the verdict and play out the consequences accordingly. Both sides will have fun at that this I promise.

D&D 5 conversion tool

I started my current campaign on AD&D2e rules with some customizations. You can find them on this blog rather easily.

After getting my hands on the new edition of D&D I finally decided to make this huge step (for me) and upgrade. The reasons for this will be explained in my upcoming D&D5 review.

For now it should just suffice to say that I will continue to run the game as planned which is working on classic AD&D modules modified to taste.

This leaves a bit of a problem however as apart from the characters playing in my game I will have to convert all modules to the new system.

Since I do not like working too much I crosschecked some solutions on the web as well as compared stats and mechanics of both editions (2 and 5) and came up with a general THACO &AC conversion guideline which should help me work on the fly without spending hours recalculating every single NPC and monster.

I place it here hoping that it might be useful for anyone out there (for YOU particularly).

I intend to run Against the Slave Lords series, War of the Spider Queen and some other old-school modules using this conversion sheet.

Enjoy!

D&D 5 conversion sheet

Comments:

The conversion sheet contains data from AD&D1 and AD&D2 and rules how to convert them to D&D5.

There are two separate tables for monsters and intelligent (playable) races since I figures out they did not translate well with just one algorithm. Intelligent races have classes which alter their basic BAB. Monsters are just what they are so the conversion is direct.

In most cases intelligent opponents will be fighters so an additional +2 should be added to their basic BAB. This requires a bit of knowledge of D&D5 to understand how classes impact BAB but should not be quite natural after getting familiar with the new system.

The search for meaning

or musings on the suspension of disbelief.

"Is this the real life? Or is this just fantasy?"

- You should know who said (sang) that

Ok, let's get the obvious out of the picture first. This is not directly about the entertainment the game gives you. Nor it is about the satisfaction as one of my favourite bloggers out there (Tao) puts it. It is about what makes the game MEANINGFUL. On my terms.

Roleplaying games are proclaimed by their worshippers as games that base on your imagination. But they are different than your personal fantasies. Consider this: you lay down on your couch and imagine yourself a legendary hero that saves lands and kingdoms from great peril. You are worshipped by the folk, praised by the kings. Dames and wenches faint at the sheer mention of your name. Do you see it? Of course you do, it's the immediate product of your imagination. Does it feel real? Well, that depends on the power of your imagination. Yet there is one problem that I see. This fantasy exists solely for you.

Let's consider the concept of reality. What is the experience of reality? To put it simply (for the purpose of this brief post) it can be perceived as objective truth or subjective collective experience. 

For the purpose of roleplaying games I want to deconstruct the latter. Reality is something we can all agree upon, something we all consider true regardless of its objective genuiness. We've seen artistic expressions of this - take 'Matrix' for instance. What we perceive as real is something that we and our companions can agree upon. Now we're nearly ready to transplant this idea to the roleplaying field.

Things seem more real if more people perceive them as real. Or in other words they perceive them as true. This works for all kinds of conspiracy theories, history falsifications, media manipulation, religion etc. The level of reality grows with each additional 'believer'. If you can convince all the people there is one true god or that the Smolensk plane crash was an assasination then it will become real, at least for all the parties involved (sorry objectivists).

And so, if your fantasy about being a legendary hero can be attested and confirmed by other people than yourself this gives the idea a bit more believability. It becomes a bit more real. More alive.

And isn't his A point we're all playing roleplaying games?

We want to take part in fantastic stories, we want to live a different life for a change. A life full of adventure, intrigue, romance, glory and mystery. Whichever is currently lacking in our experience of everyday reality. And we want to feel it as real as possible.

If we can live through it alongside other people it gains more meaning than our individual fantasizing on a couch (or wherever you do it).

To me there is yet another factor that makes the experience more real. What differentiates the game from our personal fantasies is the presence of objective rules. You can imagine that you win at chess everytime, but what makes it real is actually winning chess playing to the official rules. The fact that the two of you just sit over a chessboard and agree that one of you wins does not appoint an actual winner of chess. (I fully appreciate this analogy can go way further but it's irrelevant for the topic at hand.)

Now, in the preceding post I enumerated the hats a DM wears at the gaming table. In this post's context there is one prominent role that has particular significance - the referee. The reason I recently started stressing that role is due to its reality-creating powers. When I am DM'ing a game there is no real value created if I'm totally in control of what is going on. I can agree on anything with my players after all. But manipulating reality is a lie. And I don't like living a lie.

The only way I can ensure a new value and meaning is born is when objective conditions in terms of rules are around. The rules that I, as a DM, enforce with reasonable diligence.

Under those conditions you gain right to claim having defeated the dragon, saved the kingdom, rescued the princess. Any other scenario will be just you fantasizing about doing something instead of doing it. This might work for you. It does not work for me.

That is the reason I am often astonished by people who 'cheat' at roleplaying games trying to convince the DM to rule always on their favour. Manipulating die rolls. Trying to intimidate the DM. They lie to themsleves. They create an even more fictional reality than a roleplaying game would create.

I love this game. I truly want to touch the fantasy. And I am constantly searching for any means to get closer to this goal.

Why did I write this? I hope you can stop at some point and ask yourself what makes your game valuable. Meaningful. You might come to fresh, interesting conclusions. And well, a bit of philosophy has never done any harm, now has it?

Godspeed

Who am I? - You are a Dungeon Master.

A quick guide for all lost & puzzled Dungeon Masters and Game Masters alike.

On RPG forums and discussion boards I often come across DM 'newbies' asking what is it to be one. Often comes the question of what is the DMs role. This is fair as all new gamers need to learn the intricacies of the hobby and the DMs job is the most complex one. Too bad however when I see some already 'experienced' players showing lack of fundamental understanding of the DMs role. And this negatively impacts no only their game and entertainment but the general hobby as well.

This short guide is not to teach you HOW to DM. The technical aspects of it can be found and learned elsewhere and particularly HERE (my humble recommendation).

The goal of this guide is to help you understand the fundamentals - what is the DMs role and where did it come from. This should point all you lost & puzzled DMs into the right direction.

A Game Engine

Yes, that's what you are. A game engine. You manage the scene, you manage the decorations, you manage the friends and foes of the heroes. You run the world, but the world is a scene for your players to shine. You give them obstacles and opportunities to triumph over them. Deliberately planned or randomly selected - no matter. You are the engine that allows the players to play the game. The better you do your job, the happier the players are. The more satisfied the players are the more often they come to your table. And buy you free drinks while you're busy preparing another session.

Analogically to a video game, if you like the gameplay of a game you're more likely to play the game. I deliberately left the story out this time. Gameplay is the very fundament of each game. And you as the game engine create the gameplay. It's not the game system, not the set of rules this time. It's how you're able to use those rules to create the living, breathing game. It's how you help the players to interact with the game environment.

The rules are just protocols and procedures but it's this human factor that creates those dark & gritty D&D campaigns or pompous & epic Warhammer adventures (do you see what I did there?).

You make the world come to life. But it's merely a scene that needs actors. The actors, the heroes are your players. Don't forget that.

A Referee

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away... or at least across the Atlantic Ocean from my POV, the game used to be played differently. And they called it sandboxing. And they knew it was good.

You can read about sandboxing on many sites (like HERE) but there is one critical element of sandboxing that every fresh DM and player alike should know. You see, in sandboxing it was the players who created and initiated adventures. 

Now this stands in direct opposition to the 80's approach, further developed in the 90's where the players just gathered round the DM who in turn would draw them into his devilishly intricate story. Back in the 70's the early players where wondering the dungeons and wilderness areas IN SEARCH of an adventure which the REFEREE delivered quite often in a form of a randomly generated adventure area. 

Now, this doesn't mean the referees where just human counting machines playing by their charts and tables. They were called referees because it was clear back then that their role was to ensure the game was played by the rules. Nearly all the rest was up to the players. With their initiative and proactive approach they shaped the campaign and its overall storyline. They became warlords, archmages & thieves' guild masters by their own plan and doing. They did not wait for the adventure to come to them, they searched for it and grabbed it by its' throat. A subtle difference.

The times they are a'changin' and so does the game. Still, it's a fact that that the DM figure developed from a Referee who's main role was to ensure the game is played by the rules. 

This is a neutral position towards the players but implies further conclusions. Take football.

If the referee draws to much attention to himself on the pitch - he's considered a bad referee. It's the players that are the key figures on the pitch. The referee does not own the game. The only power he has over the players is the power of enforcing fair play.

And this should also be engraved in all DM's heads. As a DM, you're not god. You do not own the game. You are neither the players' servant. You serve the game. You are the Guardian of the Rules.

A Storyteller  

Finally, we cannot forget what those decades of rpg history gave us, can we now?

Many a DM start because they want to tell stories, because they're unaccomplished (or accomplished) writers. They have an idea for a fascinating story that will surely engage the players.

And without this quality we would all be running pregenerated or random, boring dungeons with no point at all. Another princess saved - check. Another dungeon looted - check. Another terrible threat defeated - check.

We are supposed to use our creative drive to draw a complex and engaging environment for the players to shine. What good would having Ian McKellen or Christoph Waltz do in a movie with flat, dumb and obvious plot? Surely they could make it a one man show, but the whole picture would be lacking.

So we draw the decorations, we prepare the twisted plot, we write deep and complex NPCs. We let our imagination roam. This is where we play our role. This is our bit of the role-playing in RPG. 

But again, this story can go anywhere, should be able to go anywhere because it's the players who drive it forwards. If Takhisis plans to destroy Krynn, the players are meant to stop her. But they could also go fishing and see the world burn around them. Or join her forces and see the world burn in triples. This is their choice and their fun. You take your fun from seeing how they run it, attempt, fail and succeed. You're the master of the game after all. You win regardless of the story ending. You only loose if they leave your table unsatisfied.

Conclusion

You should have your own by now. But I just want to address this one final and quite common question. Does a DM serve the players or does they serve him?

In the 90's I still remember this tendency of a DM to be 'the one almighty' who bullied the players and ruled them with an iron hand. In the recent years I hear ever more often that the DM actually serves the players and should make them happy because without them he's nothing.

Well, the answer isn't as simple as many would like it to be as the whole rpg phenomenon is more complex than that.

In simple terms the DM is both the servant and the master of the players. He runs the game while providing entertainment to the players. He is the servant of the game itself. Like a croupier in a casino. He can symphasize with his players, but one of his ultimate goals is to ensure the game is played fair. He serves the story, but the story serves the players as entertainment in return. 

So they key to being a good DM is proper balance between the judge and the entertainer.

Like a good lawyer, stick to the rules but make sure you bend them where possible for the greater good of the story and the players. 

Write the story WITH your players, not against them. They are your characters, your children. Make sure they all have key roles in your game and that they can shape their destiny. Predestination was one of the reasons the Calvinists quickly fell out of fashion.

This last special ingredient is the social aspect. You need to like your players. 

DM's role is an important social one. You need to be open to people, not necessarily strangers but your friends. This is one hobby you should play with a bunch of friends not foes.

And if you're boorish, rude and dry then no good will ever come from your DM'ing.

Godspeed!

Encounter Tables pt.3

After over a year of playtesting I finally had some practical conclusions regarding the encounter tables I shared previously.

The idea was to simulate random combat encounters in a form currently popular in the video games genre. Such random combat encounters add additional challenge, action and pure entertainment to the gameplay. The thing is that pen and paper RPG's don't work this way. Mainly due to the fact they have much broader spectrum of experiences to offer than arcade or tactical combat.
Thus, using too much random combat encounters destroys the game rather than constructs it.
With this conclusion I must say I was not particularly happy, especially after all the work I have done and the hopes that I had for an enhanced gaming experience.

Then I had en enlightening discussion with my grognard and OSR friend about sandboxing and random encounters.
I myself being the gamer of the 90's have been taught to control the plot from A to Z. Random combat encounter were already a huge step for me towards unpredictability.
But if you accept the concept of random non-combat encounter, including plot-building ones, a new array of possibilities emerges.

Please note that it is not a tale of the 90's kid being seduced by the dark side  old school gaming but a story of a plot building DM who searches for ways of bringing the gaming world to life and bringing to the game more than just one mind can control and comprehend. For the benefit of both the players and the DM.

So I sat down and crafted an encounter table to rule other encounter tables. It does introduce more interesting events than ordinary combat. It provokes DM's mind and provides a variety of adventures and opportunity to role-play to the players. Combat is only part of the menu now.
Please use it if you find it inspiring. I deliberately kept it rather general and high-level. Browsing the web I found some interesting selections of non-combat encounters, mostly very detailed. But the point here is to provide a universal tool which would not require re-writing every few gaming sessions once the options have been exhausted.

You can download it from the Bibliotheca or from the link below.
ADnD Encounter Tables - General

Good gaming!

'Gentlemen of Pitchfork' now on Amazon Kindle Store!

Dear Guests and Fellow Travellers,

The novel 'Gentlemen of Pitchfork' is finally available for purchase at Amazon Kindle Store.
Follow this link to take a glimpse of this fresh new adventure novel!

'Gentlemen of Pitchfork' now on Amazon Kindle Store

I sincerely recommend it to everyone looking for historical depth, realistic swordplay and simply fun and engaging story.

A good-read recommendation

Finally I can proclaim that the great work is over. For over a year I was translating a book written by my good friend and fellow gamer - Kamil Gruca. The book called 'Gentlemen of Pitchfork' is a historical fiction novel about a young English knight Sir Robert Neville (fictitiuos figure) who joines Henry V Lancaster's campaign in Northern France together with friends and relatives.

It's a very fun book with solid historical data and dynamic action. It's filled with no-nonsense swordplay and a bit of practical philosophy, two hobbies of the author.
It was published in paperback in Poland together with its sequel, but we thought it was a great idea to share the story with the English-speaking audience.

Hence we're publishing it on 15 July 20124 on Amazon Kindle Store!

I sincerely recommend it to anyone who is no strangre to knightly andventures and has not developed a severe loathing for historical settings.

You can learn more about the book here:
gentlemenofpitchfork.blogspot.com

Your's Sincerely,

"That's Role - not Roll" - what role playing is really about

The title of the post is borrowed from an article in Dragon Magazine #188 that just now lies beside me, in case anyone asks.
The ingenious word play does in fact address the main issue we currently have with the hobby.
The everlasting argument that modern games tend to sail towards boardgame model and how old games were all about role playing.
As it seems in the distant 1992 we had exactly the same problems and rest assured that they became visible much earlier than the publication date of the article.

The said article does not (unsurprisingly) bring anything new to the table. It can be summarised in the following points of advice:

• develop background for your character (for players)
• remember what game you're playing (for players)
• don't use cliches while running the game (for DMs)
• deviate from the scenario if it improves the game (for DMs)
• suspend your disbelief and don't question DMs decisions (for players)

Not really revealing and it's not due to the fact that the game was still developing in those days. Believe me, it was not.

So, I was disappointed, but the title left me thinking.

What is in fact the essence of role playing?

How do we role play? How can we role play?

As the DMs role and responsibilities are somewhat broader than 'just' role playing I mean to approach it from a player's perspective. Obviously the term Role Playing Games encompasses various areas of activity and it's not my intention to write yet another imperfect definition of the game. There are people much more apt to tackle with this subject.
What I am coming from is that the grand part of the game is about playing a role. Or in other words taking up a role of someone else, a character, and acting as if you were this character.
The first thing that comes to mind is...

Theatre

Yes, you can say - Cinema. but theatre has a way longer (euphemism) tradition of acting and to me is much closer to the rpgs than cinema. The reason for this is probably a good idea for another post.
What theatrical actors do is act. They take up prescripted roles (let's forget about improv theatre for now) and do their best to convince the audience they are this prescripted character.
They act like that character, they speak like that character (including simulating the choice of words, the tone, the accent etc.) they simulate the emotions that the character would feel in a given context.
There are few major differences everyone will immediately notice. An actor works in a predetermined context which is known to him. The events do not surprise him, he knows the plot through and out. The other thing is that the actor works with his whole body, he walks and gesticulates.
Finally, acting is actor's job. His approach to acting is incomparably more serious than that of a fantasy games amateur (nota bene). But should it be that way?

Holding the steer

Unlike a traditional actor the rpg players don't play in a predetermined environment (theoretically). At least, they should not be aware of any predetermination. Surely, if you're playing a scenario prepared by a DM then some assumptions regarding the plot have been made. Commercial modules have even more rigid frames. But the important difference is that the players do not know how their adventure will end. In fact, they should be holding the steer and drive the events they participate in. If they're not this is either DMs or Player's oversight. This I will not address here, but I have read at least two fantastic and comprehensive articles on the subject:

How to dungeon master and How to play a character

This makes all adventures open-ended. And theoretically the players can do anything they want. This gives them certain opportunities that most of the players are not aware of. And certain responsibilities.
By consciously acting in their environment they not only express their character's nature, but they also shape it. They have total control over their character's personality and destiny. They build the character in a much wider sense that during generating the character's stats. They make moral decisions that influence the course of the game and define them. This is something only recently taken up by the video game industry, but something that was lurking in shadows of the tabletop rpg world from the beginning.

Speech

One mean of expression that rpg players share with actors is speech. Rpg's distinctive feature is that the primary tool used by the players is speech actually.
Players describe what their characters are doing. But they also speak for their characters in first person.
This is an important mean of building the character. Of playing the role. Identify with the character and speak as if you are him and he is you. I mentioned the choice if words, accent, tone, temperament that actors simulate. Those are exactly the tools necessary for proper playing of a role. If you have a player that always treats his/her character as a third person and uses solely indirect speech than there is not much role playing in there. Role playing is not about moving your pawn on an imaginary board. This is 'imaginary chess'.
Role playing is about becoming one with the character, about simulating his manner of being. Including the way he/she aloudly expresses his thoughts.

Body language

As I mentioned previously, theatre actors do have a somewhat broader range of role playing means and techniques.
Rpg players have their tongues - they talk. But wait till the tension at the table rises - they are ready to use their arms and hands.
Still, there is quite a distinctive line between rpg acting and theatrical acting - the space of rpg acting is limited to the player's personal space. In that sense, rpg acting is much more static. Everything you can do with your voice, face (faces, frowns etc.) and waist-up body parts (gestures) can be uses to expand your game. All other manoeuvres that include moving in horizontal space and actions that involve using the whole body need to be described in words.
This often leads to a situation where players forget about certain elements of the body language and thus simplify their game.
Language itself is a powerful mean of expressing one's manner of being, behaviour, personality. Body language is multiplying the effect by 2.
This is a inseparable element of any true role playing activity.

Interaction

One reason I began longing for rpgs after my temporary break was that in no other game I was able to interact and build relations on a comparable level.
This is not only about free choice, but about having no limits in interacting with the fictitious world and its inhabitants. While role playing we are able to approach any single problem from any angle we're capable of adopting. Our characters here share only the same limitations that we have as people.
Role playing on that level brings colours to the game and breaches the boundaries that all other games have. It becomes so much more than just a game as a set of rules that we understand and use better or worse than the others. It creates aesthetic value.  It becomes art in the sense we use it while referring to the 'art of living'. It gives us freedom do be whoever we want to be and try whatever we want to try.

Emotional immersion

This is something I tackled a bit already in one of my earlier posts.
Role playing is not only about superficial actions. It's about simulating internal sensations. Suggesting their existence by our actions. At a certain point this will lead inevitably to experiencing emotions.
A good actor acts emotions out. A great actor seems as if he was feeling them for real. This is something everyone immediately senses, whether emotions are acted or genuine. But as modern psychologists claim, emotions are not only about 'inside outside', but also about 'outside inside'. It means that if we're pretending to feel something, with time our brain will begin to adopt the imagined mindset.
By explaining this I only want to make a point, that true role playing leads to emotions.
And in order to be a part of it we need to embrace them. More than that, we need to actively get engaged in the game. Start treating it seriously for a change, the way serious actors do. It's not all 'fun and games' in your everyday sense. It's role playing, it's about temporarily becoming someone else. Not only on a paper or video screen. In your head! 
This particular part is probably the most interesting in the terms that it's not exclusive to tabletop rpgs. It's becoming more and more common for certain video games to use that mechanism - relating to the main character who symbolises the player. Movies and books have been using it since always, but without providing that level if interaction.


Suspension of disbelief

This one is about immersion in the game itself, not only in your character. Role playing assumes that you take your fictuitious environment for real. There is no spoon? Quite the opposite - the spoon is real. Deal with it.

Role playing is about existing in a given environment, not questioning it - unless its substantiated for the character by some strange events. 

Articles were written for DMs advising on how to run a game that does not force the players to suspend their disbelief. But equal effort needs to be made by the players themselves. 

Remember - whatever happens - happens. Treat the game seriously. That is not only the best way to start really enjoying it, but also to play your role right.

A silly example: if one day you enter your flat and discover that one of the walls is missing, do you say "Ekhm, God, this is not how it's supposed to be. There was a wall here, remember? I refuse to live on if this wall is not back in place."

I am not saying the players should tolerate DMs foolishness at all times, I am saying though that rules lawyering, meta-gaming and questioning your environment is not an element of playing a role.

Bear that in mind.

Conclusion

I am probably the last person to tell you how to play your games.

I am however interested in how much role playing is in rpgs. And in crpgs. And any other games that we play, be it video, board, card games for that matter.

So my point is that if you really want to role play - consider my points above.

And note in such case the particular set of rules you're using is irrelevant. Rolling your dice, having particular system of skills is secondary. You don't need the 5th edition of game X to do the thing you want to do.

It will not improve your role playing in any way.

In the Zone

Really don't mind if you sit this one out

my words but a whisper, your deafness a shout

I may make you feel but I won't make you think

Your sperm's in the gutter, your love's in the sink

The idea for this post has been recently forming in my head, but it only got shape after reading a post by one of my fellow sages - one about anger.

What makes some sessions more memorable than others?

What does draw you in with such force that in that one enlighted moment you truly ARE the character you play?

I sure do hope that some of you have ever experienced this sensation, otherwise it might be like explaining the construction of the multiverse to someone who's never played a single rpg session.

All the same, this is probably the holy grail of all players (not necessarily DMs). To become the character you play, to see, hear, smell, taste and touch things the character does. To FEEL what the character feels.

How can you do that? How can you achieve that?

Many role playing guides argue and discuss over and over how a player should approach the game, what technical manoeuvres and actions should the player take to get more in-the-game. In the zone some say.

I have heard and seen discussions regarding the particular players abilities to get in the zone.

Some say you either have it or not. Others say you have to learn in and give your 100% every session and you might sometime get there.

Well, I believe it is all the more simple and complicated at the same time.

For one, this magic feeling is usually a combination of scenario, good pacing of the game, moods at the table, inspiration of the DM and the players. It is a hard thing to grasp, but the most important of all, you just can't force it.

It's like with making love, there is just no romance in forcing your tongue down someones throat. It has to evolve naturally and some would be terrified how uncertain the destination is. Still, it is important at the same time to hope for the best, not fear the worst. Positive attitude is fundamental.

Leaving our romantic metaphors, we need to remember that creating a memorable and magical session is beyond anyone's control. What we can do however is make some preparations that would facilitate the positive evolution of the evening.

There is a really goodstab at it in the Dominic Wasch "Gamemastering" book.

Gamemastering

The particular element I want to refer to in this post however are emotions.

If there is any meaning in this world IMO it's bound to them. Lack of emotions, apathy, means a world devoid of all meaning and sense.

Emotions make us feel more, experience more and start caring - for a change.

So, if there is any good gaming session in this world it has to be full of emotions. It might seem so obvious, because everyone is talking about excitement that is connected to playing rpgs. True, but that natural excitement won't last forever and if you're an old grognard like me, who's seen things, been places, you will not be easily excited by a mere idea of playing. 'Cause I want to feel something out of ordinary when I play.

Throw some kobolds or skeletons at me in a dungeon, spice it up with a dragon. It's all meaningless if it's flat on the emotional side. 

Players usually come to the game in different state of inner excitation. They fuel it themselves, but does it suffice for a satisfactory game?

From a DMs point of view it's treading on thin ice. You never know what will happen in the course of play. And you surely want to engage the players, enchant them in the fantasy world.

The key aspect you need to consider here is "does the game inspire any particular emotion"?

Because if you and the scenario can inspire any in the players then you have a memorable evening guaranteed. Emotions are the motor of players' actions. The drive them, direct them to the final destination.

The magical ingredient in creating living plots is to play on players' feelings.

I do ask myself at times what was my most memorable session. One that comes to my mind is one game we played in WFRP. A GM + 2 players. A one-nighter, somewhere on the outskirts of a dark forest in the old empire. The two of us, travellers, have reached a suspiciously quiet hamlet. We just wanted to spend the night there, seeking shelter from the storm that was about to begin. What followed was the most exciting zombie survival game I have ever experienced. Running amok in the dark, shadows on the mill's walls, sloshing about in thick mud, soaked and terrified. The only weapon I had was a hatchet I found a shed.

I ended this session with a couple of Insanity Points and a mental illness. And I never ever stopped grasping that hatchet with all my might. But to this day I remember that night. I was there in this village, I feared for my life, I was trembling with terror and excitement. Kudos to probably the most inspiring GM I have ever met. No video game has ever given me this level of emotions.

So yeah, fear, hate, anger, love, shame, greed, envy, sympathy, compassion etc. It's all there for you to play with.

Some of them are easier, some more difficult to create during gaming sessions.

I will not tell you here how to do it, I will probably never know for sure myself, but I will keep on trying.

I just want you to keep that in mind next time you prepare yourself to get in the zone.

Storm season - new Witcher novel review

This is probably a risky enterprise. To review the newest novel of A. Sapkowski.
Hearing that name Polish readers will unmistakably think about the Witcher stories and saga. Foreign readers might recall the awarded video game series.
Be it as it may, the essence of the Witcher is in the books. And since the last Witcher book was released in 1999 (Lady of the Lake) and the author himself was quite firm in his assurances that he would never ever write anything about the Witcher, it came as quite a surprise that in the autumn of 2013 the new Witcher novel landed on the bookstore shelves out of the blue.

I must say it felt like an old friend coming back from a long exile. Or oblivion for that matter.
The Witcher stories and saga is one of my  favourite fantasy series. The games for one allowed to return for a moment to the good old days when Geralt, Dandelion and Ciri were my day-to-day companions.
But it was not exactly the same as holding a fresh, unread Witcher story in my hands.
Feeling the Witcher's world come to life again and share new untold secrets with me.

It should suffice to say that the new book had some quite high expectations to meet among the fans.
Did it do the trick?

First I want to note, that reading of the book coincided with the birth of my baby-daughter. I read it aloud to my wife between and while nursing, feeding, lulling the baby and changing diapers.
And in these rather harsh circumstances we managed to finish it in one week. Does it speak for itself?

Being well into the book I started to look around the reviews and noticed that there are generally two main attitudes. One is a joyous praise full of admiration for the oeuvre and its creator. Thickly interwoven with threads of sentiment and nostalgia. The other is of embarrassment and disappointment. Little wonder given the expectations I mentioned earlier.

To me Sapkowski is a master of short forms. Tales, stories are his natural element. To this day many fans claim (and with good reason) that nothing can beat his Witcher stories. Short, witty, brilliant, innovative and surprising. Dynamic, both dramatic and fun to read. If you don't like Witcher's stories that you have no taste for good fantasy literature, no argument about that.
There were already many a complaint regarding his 5-tome-long saga. I do agree to a certain extent, it seemed to loose its momentum. Despite that, it was fun to read, the story was interesting and epic.
The ending - moving. The last time I read it aloud with my wife we both cried.

The one thing important to point out is that in Sapkowski's case it's not only about his ideas. It's about the writing style, the composition of text, the language, the vocabulary he uses that enchants the reader and creates the Witcher's magic. And the sole fact that the whole saga was bursting at the seams with this individual style was enough to go through it all with fascination.

So now, coming back to the matters at hand - the new novel of Sapkowski - Sezon Burz.
It is neither a story (400 pages long) nor a saga (1 complete book). The action takes place somewhere between the stories preceding the events from the saga.
It is not as concise and focused as the stories - there are several subplots - but the variety of plots in my opinion does not make it a classic novel either. All in all to me it is more of a prolonged story. A combination of ideas connected chronologically and geographically. Does not sound that good, does it?
Well, to my surprise the book was very enjoyable to read.
The plot is interesting and dynamic, certain supposedly unrelated story elements form a big coherent picture at the end of the book.This is indeed a display of Sapkowski's composing abilities.
There are the characters we all love, and though in the beginning of the book the reader must take his time to believe they're the same people he knows from the previous stories, quite soon we suspend the disbelief completely.
But this would not be enough to make up a good novel.
The most important fact is that this book brings us back the unmistakable style of A. Sapkowski.
It might not be at its peak as some reviewers claim, but it is still there. Smart and witty, opulent and sophisticated, yet dynamic and harsh when necessary. It's all there, the dark and pessimistic humour, the trademark sarcasm, the irony of life.
I claim that the combination of the three elements: the story, the characters and the writing style make this book more than worthwhile.
The overall quality might only reach the writing level of the last two saga tomes (the lowest in all Witcher's bibliography), it might not blow hardcore fans' socks off, but for God's sake the Witcher is truly back, alive and kickin' (arses).

Why do I play D&D?

Dear Travellers,

This post is (surprisingly) about the D&D product in general, or should I call it - the D&D brand.
My blogging fellow sage Alexis is often sharing his very insightful observations on the Tao of D&D blog. Recently, his musings regarding the direction of D&D product left me thinking. Thinking a lot indeed.

One argument was that what currently WotC  is doing (oh yes, the ever-beating boy) lands far from the original concept of D&D as an ever-adapting and arbitrary set of guidelines, not even rules. Thus, the pursuit of the "one and only right D&D" is pointless i.e. D&D Next is yet another way to pull the money from their Clients' pockets.
That is an interesting point indeed, but knowing that it was written mainly to stir a controversy I believe there's no point discussing it - again. Given that WotC is a commercial company after all - and all that.

The other point, more interesting from my POV was about the published rpg material in general, ending with a spectacular, yet only projected (thank God) burning of the old Dragon Magazines (BTW Mr. Tao, if you don't need them would you kindly send them over to me? I'd be more than glad to take them in).
I have myself a collection of AD&D products and I proudly display them in my living room. One reason for this is my collectors nature - I am a fetishist of storing things. For sentimental reasons mostly.
The other reason is simply that I use them, yes, even the old-old modules.
I am currently running a campaign using the AD&D2e rules and some classic 1e and 2e modules for Forgotten Realms (and beyond). I have a helluva time trying to figure out how to combine the modules in a linear storyline that makes sense and is engaging and entertaining at the same time. I treat it as building from blocks. And I do this also - for sentimental reasons. Because we all (my players) want to get that feel of 80'/90' when we played these modules for the first time. Because this is what holds the essence of the game we once knew.
Sure, I could create my own campaign from the scratch, as many people do or boast of doing. But I really don't need or want to now.

I really do understand the argument that the old modules do not make the game. They don't and should not create the canonic D&D universe, storyline, what have you. But we have lived through it, they created our idea of the game and there are times when you want to innovate and cross the marked borders, but there are also times when you want to play the vanila game in the book as you bought it.
When you just enjoy the product that was prepared for you by the manufacturer and as was prepared for you by the manufacturer. Rpgs give you the opportunity to work on it, but it does not always have to be hard work. It can be pure entertainment if you are looking for it.
This is a bit like arguing whether to play commercial modules at all. For some people it works for some - does not.

I like the idea that there is history in the books I display on the shelf. History brings meaning to things. History brings meaning to us. It is about tradition. And a healthy balance with "the new".
So my fetishist feeling for the books is not just about collecting gadgets. Yeah, I do like gadgets. I have 5 sets of dice, each one completely different. But I collect modules because they all tell a story once conceived by some devoted mind. I collect accessory books because if I don't use their content word for word, they inspire me to come up with my own ideas.
That's how the creative process flows after all. New things are built on old things. By contradiction, by evolution or revolution - yes, but they don't exist in the void. There would be no Runequest if not for the OD&D.

So, why do I play D&D? Because the original idea captivated me. Because it taught me how to play the game. Because it formed my taste for fantasy, sword&sorcery themes and because it gives me that sense of participating in a decades long tradition. And sure, the current state of the game as per WotC is not "the one and only D&D" and will never be. At least not for me. Because the "one and only D&D" is different for each of us, it is formed through the years of playing and built on our experiences, sessions played, chests looted, monsters defeated and kingdoms saved. My "one and only D&D" lies somewhere there in the early 90'. Where doth thy lie?