Wednesday 24 December 2014

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.

Monday 22 December 2014

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.

Thursday 18 December 2014

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!


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.


Thursday 4 December 2014

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