Common Roleplaying Mistakes That Players Make – Part 1 of 2 | RoleplayingPro

We’re going to cover some of the common roleplaying mistakes that players make. This is not intended to be an all encompassing list. The goal is to make you aware of some of the universal mistakes that we all make when roleplaying. Sometimes just being aware of what mistakes there are too be made can help you avoid them.

The first part is the relationship between the game master and players. Remember that the game master is just another person in your roleplaying game. Although his part in the game is different than everyone else’s, he is there to have fun just like you are. Here is a list of mistakes that can be made between the player and game master.

via Common Roleplaying Mistakes That Players Make – Part 1 of 2 | RoleplayingPro.

Common Roleplaying Mistakes That Players Make – Part 2 of 2 | RoleplayingPro

In Common Roleplaying Mistakes That Players Make – Part 1 of 2, we talked about issues with player versus game master, and player versus player. Now we move on to the next issue, metagaming. Essentially, metagaming is using out-of-character knowledge for an in-character situation. Common examples of metagaming are:
- One player hears another player say or do something and then acts upon it, when there is no way their character would be aware of that knowledge. One example is when the characters are miles apart with no communications, yet are acting in sync as if they knew exactly what the other was thinking. This is a common mistake that pretty much every player falls prey to at some point.
via Common Roleplaying Mistakes That Players Make – Part 2 of 2 | RoleplayingPro.

Get a Life, Henchman!

By Peter Adkison

I like rolling up henchmen for player characters. Often I can’t resist giving them some interesting quirk that turns them into something more than a set of attributes or mere cannon fodder. What I’ve developed is a simple chart, against which I roll 1d100 for each NPC.

Roll 1d100

01-83. Nothing special.

84. The henchman is a spy or a plant from an enemy of the PCs.

85. A henchman with a shady past. This henchman has committed some crime (or has been wrongly accused of committing a crime) and is wanted by the law, probably in a different country. The henchman becomes nervous if the PC ever decides to go adventuring in that land.

86. The henchman is secretly in love with the PC and has signed on to put himself or herself in a position to develop a relationship.

87. The henchman falls in love with another henchman. There’s a chance the relationship blooms into marriage (perhaps leading to baby henchmen!), the relationship results in a brief romance followed by a nasty breakup, or the relationship never gets off the ground. In any case, it could create some interesting tension in the ranks.

88. A rivalry develops between this henchman and another henchman. There’s a 50% chance this is a healthy competition that eventually brings them closer together, but there’s also a 50% chance it turns very disruptive, possibly leading to foul play.

89. The henchman is extraordinarily ambitious. He or she works very hard to advance and prove his or her worth. Other henchmen could become jealous, particularly if the PC shows favoritism.

90. The henchman lies about his or her capabilities. The henchman is only half as proficient as he or she claims to be. The PC doesn’t know this, and the DM must play the henchman carefully not to let on. The henchman could be doing this to command higher pay or might simply be nervous about being accepted for employment.

91. The henchman isn’t the “original” but is actually a high-quality clone or simulacrum, unknown to the PC. The henchman might or might not know this, and the original character might or might not be alive or know of the henchman’s existence.

92. The henchman has a secret character class that the PC doesn’t know about. Perhaps the character is not simply a fighter but is really a fighter/thief.

93. The henchman is of a very different class than the PC. Whereas the standard is for fighters to attract fighters as henchmen, who’s to say there can’t be an exception?

94. Henchman is fanatically loyal. This henchman has a morale of 20, never consciously betrays the PC, and never fails to execute an order to the best of his or her ability.

95. The henchman has a curse. This is most interesting if the nature and source of the curse aren’t immediately obvious, and the PC must figure out why certain things happen. Ideas for a curse could be something as simple as causing water to turn stale, or the henchman could have something severe like lycanthropy.

96. The henchman has a disturbing personality quirk, like extreme arrogance, bigotry, abrasiveness, or overconfidence.

97. The henchman is very career oriented and tries to become “second in command” and hold other positions of key responsibility. He or she becomes unmotivated if not given a chance to lead key activities.

98. The henchman is a true adventurer and occasionally leads adventures independently!

99. The henchman is of a different race than the PC. There’s a 10% chance of a strange or unique race. There could be a great story behind this one.

00. DM’s choice. Come up with something really over the top, like bastard son of a deity. Or re-roll.

Steal This Hook - Threads That Connect

by Robert Wiese

You've come up with a fantastic, even epic, adventure site and a long quest that should keep your player characters occupied for months. Or, you've picked up Scepter Tower of Spellgard, for example, and can't wait to run it. But does all your hard work have to go for only the one adventure? Not at all! The world and all things are interconnected somehow, so you can use the information in your epic background or setting to drive side adventures or future adventures. You can even introduce your epic adventure through a side adventure that features story elements from the main epic.

This month's hooks are all geared toward the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, newly updated for 4th edition just a few months ago. And they all link somehow with, or into, the recently released Forgotten Realms adventure Scepter Tower of Spellgard. They are easy to adapt to your campaign world, though, as is Scepter Tower of Spellgard.

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Looking for more information on the 4th Edition Forgotten Realms? Bruce Cordell’s Plague of Spells has just come out, along with a sample chapter, interview with the author, and even a campaign workbook article on Starmantle available online.

The Smoking Cave

Forgotten Realms

The road to Spellgard passes between the Graypeak Mountains and the Weathercote Wood. From the road, the Graypeaks are some distance away (more than a couple miles, but not more than 4 miles). Even at that distance, however, something strange can be seen at night high up in the mountains. Reports come from different sources of a glowing green smoke or mist that rises from the mountains in the evening. Here are a number of ways you can introduce the green smoke:

• Travelers coming to Spellgard tell stories at the Monastery of the Precipice in which they saw some glowing green smoke or mist in the mountains while they camped. They speculated that some wizard was doing experiments in a remote fortress, but the glowing smoke was so far away that they decided not to investigate.
• Equally, traders in taverns just about anywhere in the region could relate stories of glowing green smoke and being chased away from a cave by fierce magic and monstrous creatures such as young green dragons, wyverns, carnage demons, or whatever else you want to introduce into the adventure.
• The PCs could see the glowing smoke themselves as they travel to or from Spellgard. It comes out only at night and is quite bright against the darkness.
• A seeker is told by Lady Saharel that the answer she seeks is in the cavern of the green fog, which is supposedly nearby. This seeker begins asking others at the monastery and in seeker camps if they know of a cave with green fog. Either someone does, or she can attempt to hire the PCs to help her look. The seeker could also be encountered in a town some distance from Spellgard, having not found anyone at the site to help her.

Story Elements

Select or generate story elements from this table, or make up your own.

1-20: The smoke is caused by a wizard who has built an underground fortress in the Graypeak Mountains. He wants privacy for some dastardly experiments on animals and demons. The cave is an air hole for the fortress, and the smoke is just escaping from his experimental chamber. An air shaft at the end of the cave grows too narrow for anyone to pass through it, but another entrance is somewhere on the same mountain. 21-40: The cave is a side exit for a green dragon's lair. The glowing mist is the visible form of several living breaths that this dragon has created. Like bats, they go out at night to prey on creatures, and they return in the morning when they are not so visible in the dawn light. When it comes to powerful liches, January’s Open Grave offers a number of new options, including the baelnorn (eladrin), thicket dryad, void, alhoon, and demiliches. Here’s one of the demiliches powers, a standard, at-will ranged attack: Drain Soul Ranged 5; does not provoke opportunity attacks; +25 vs. Fortitude; the target is dazed and restrained (save ends both). First Failed Saving Throw: The target is instead stunned and restrained (save ends both). Second Failed Saving Throw: The target dies, and its soul is trapped in one of the demilich’s soul gems until the demilich is destroyed; see also consume soul and the “Fate of Drained Souls” sidebar (page 201). 41-60: The green mist is part of a warding system designed to protect the lair of a powerful lich. The glowing fog is supposed to keep people from coming too close, since they won't know what is causing it. It has worked so far. 61-80: The glowing mist is an acidic elemental creature that has been trapped in the cave. It has recently figured out how to leave the cave itself, but it cannot go more than a few hundred feet from the cave mouth. It has been going out nightly, hoping to attract some creature that can help it escape its bonds permanently. It is bound to a magic circle that could be part of a wizard's lab or an old demonic base of operations. 81-100: Beyond the glowing mist is a small dungeon formed by ruins from an ancient time, perhaps ancient Netheril. Netherese settled the area, and one of them could have made a private lair in the mountain. The lair is now full of guardians, traps, and maybe treasure.

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How'd They Get So Good?

Forgotten Realms

The PCs are at the Monastery of the Precipice in the ruins of Spellgard, or perhaps at a camp on the road that they are sharing with the dwarven trading caravan heading toward Spellgard. Thurr Gargengrim, the caravan master, has taken a liking to them and imparts this bit of news in the course of conversation.

"Yes, the Gargengrim clan has been profiting from the Monastery of the Precipice's whiskey for close to twenty years now, and that relationship is as strong as ever. It's at home where the danger threatens. In the past weeks, ogres from the surrounding mountains have been raiding our work parties and outposts. They always do, of course, but they've suddenly gotten a lot better at it. For years we've been chasing off disorganized bands of the creatures, but now they're the ones doing the chasing. Our mineral production is down, and with it our ability to trade. Whenever we send scouting groups into the mountains after them, the scouts don't return or they don't find anything. It's a problem, and one that seems beyond our clan's ability to handle. I keep up the trade with the monastery, and sell the whiskey for them, but it might all be for naught soon enough."

Hopefully the PCs are interested in looking into the strange goings-on with the ogres.

Possible Motivations

Select or generate possible motivations from this table, or make up your own.

01-35: Thurr is telling the truth, and though he doesn't expect the PCs to help, he'd sure like some offers from someone. He tells this news a lot, casting his net wide so that he can catch an interested fish or two. 36-65: Thurr is telling the truth, but he received word of a prophecy (some dwarves met with Lady Saharel) that said to look for their solution from the PCs (you get to add the appropriate descriptive if needed). Thurr has identified the PCs as those spoken of in the prophecy and is crafting his words carefully to get them interested without overtly telling them about the prophecy. He is afraid of ruining it somehow and having his people suffer because he handled the information incorrectly. 66-100: Thurr is telling part of the truth. There are ogres, but they are not nearly as dangerous as he makes them out to be. His people would just like them eliminated, and they don't have the stomach to massacre the ogres themselves. They'd rather dupe someone else into doing the dirty work.

Story Elements

Select or generate story elements from this table, or make up your own.

01-25: A group of ogres in the mountains surrounding the Gargengrim dwarf clan has recently come under the control of a hag who wants to force her authority on the dwarves in the region. 26-50: A band of orcs has settled in the same lands as the dwarf clan and wants to drive out the dwarves. They are using the ogres to do the dirty work. Combined with the third motive above, this could make an interesting adventure once the "tools" figure out what is really going on. 51-75: A dead dwarf is sprawled in a clearing at the edge of the mountains. The clearing was her campsite, and she was murdered. She had discovered a new cache of gold or valuable minerals in the mountains and was killed to protect the secret of the location. This might be because the ogres and their masters want the wealth, or perhaps it was just to keep more dwarves from having reasons to come into the mountains. 76-100: Monsters much worse than the ogres are at the leader's beck and call, or at least available through alliances and payment deals. These monsters become problems for the PCs once they get into the mountains.

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A Little Digging

Forgotten Realms

Far from Spellgard, or perhaps in the Monastery of the Precipice itself, the adventurers end up in a cozy chat with a certain traveler. Or, perhaps they overhear the traveler talking with a friend in the bar. Whichever way it happens, the conversation is the same.

In the text below, the traveler didn't hear anything from a "cousin," so feel free to substitute someone else in the boxed text (and see "Possible Motivations" below) if you wish.

Read the following aloud:

"That travelers' aid monastery at Spellgard -- they call it the Monastery of the Precipice. Though, whether it's actually on a precipice I don't know. Anyway, I hear tell that it's sitting on top of some powerful artifact. That's right, an artifact, and from the days before the Spellplague too. Now that I have your interest . . ." The talker takes another drink of beer and continues. "What was I saying? Oh, the artifact, yeah. Well, the story is that some adventurer was confronted by the Lady of Saharelgard and he then gave up his adventurin' and built the monastery. But why? Just to make it easy on travelers? Not likely, I tell ya. "My cousin told me he went to this Spellgard and saw the ghost there, and she told him that some artifact was buried underneath the monastery. Something called the Chaos Diamond, supposedly with the powers of the elemental chaos itself. My cousin was afraid to go find it, or even to think about it, and killed himself shortly after, poor soul. But I find it mighty interestin' myself, though I don't know quite how to get the thing without some help."

If he's with the PCs, he asks if they're interested in an artifact.

Possible Motivations

Select or generate possible motivations from this table, or make up your own.

01-20: The traveler is the "cousin" of whom he spoke. He made a pilgrimage to Spellgard to find a powerful artifact that was close. He wants help to begin ruling the world (or his small part of it, or even just knock off a rival -- choose a power level for the artifact that suits your campaign). 21-40: The traveler met the "cousin" who told him about the artifact, and then killed the "cousin" off so that he would be the only living person to know of it. Now he realizes he needs a bit of help getting it. 41-60: The traveler is a harmless person who hears a lot of stories and evokes confidences from people easily. The "cousin," who is really unknown to him, related the story one night a few weeks ago in a tavern much like the one where the PCs hear the story. 61-80: The "cousin" is the traveler's sister/brother/parent, and the "cousin" has been put under magical compulsion to find this artifact. The traveler is worried and really wants to hire the PCs to find and protect his relative on the quest, or break the compulsion that drives the relative. 81-100: The traveler is the disguised supernatural agent of a deity (good or evil) who wants or needs the artifact but cannot reach it.

Story Elements

Select or generate story elements from this table, or make up your own.

01-20: The Monastery of the Precipice was built on some older ruins from the time of ancient Netheril, which predate even Spellgard. Lady Saharel knew that this artifact would be dangerous for the world, and she acted to conceal it before anyone asked her about it (or related topics). 21-40: The artifact, called the Chaos Diamond, harnesses the elemental chaos of nature and existence and uses it to transform one thing into another, on a large scale. It has been all but forgotten, until the "cousin" in the story asked about the artifact. 41-60: The artifact is actually a primordial that yearns for release so that it can destroy something (or everything -- pick something useful for your campaign). Lady Saharel knows this and has been trying to keep the artifact secret and buried, but the artifact forced her to tell someone. Lady Saharel has more information to help the PCs reach and contain or destroy the artifact, but they must meet her through the method described in Scepter Tower of Spellgard. 61-80: The artifact does not want to be carried/used by just anyone, and it must test those who seek it. It can transform the very walls of its prison into defenders, so the PCs could face pretty much anything. It likes to make challenges very difficult but able to be overcome, since it does want to find someone it feels is worthy to carry it. 81-100: Getting to the artifact is a bit of a trick, since it is located in ruins beneath the Monastery of the Precipice and there are no convenient passages. The PCs have to find where to dig and do a lot of manual labor just to reach a way into the prison.

About the Author

Robert Wiese has been playing D&D since 1978 after he watched a game played in the car on the way home from a Boy Scouts meeting. He was fascinated, and delved into this strange world of dragons and magic and sourcebooks. Years later, he was hired to edit tournaments for the RPGA Network, and from there progressed to running the network after his boss was assassinated in the great Christmas purge of 1996. Times were tough, but he persevered and brought the RPGA into a shining new era. Eventually he met a girl who liked to play D&D too, and he left Renton for the warmth and casinos of Reno, Nevada. Now, he works in the Pharmacology department of UNR studying mouse foot muscles and the effects of RF emissions on same. He spends as much time as possible with his wife Rhonda, son Owen, and newborn daughter Rebecca.

Steal This Hook - Threats of Legendary Evil

by Robert Wiese

The wilderness is a known place of danger, and usually that danger comes in great numbers. However, sometimes numbers are not needed, as the rush of air or the crackling of twigs can come from only a single dangerous threat. One monster in the wilds can be as much danger as many, and can be equally hard to root out…. or it could be very easy to find but not as easy to be rid of. With the upcoming release of D&D Minis Legendary Evils—and some new minis in your collection—you might add some single creature fun into your campaign with the following hooks.

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Answer Me These Questions Three

To the right, the mountains rise toward the sky. You have been following them for days now, as your destination is at the other end of the range. Periodically, roads branch towards the mountains, and from one of these you see a group of puzzled and somewhat battered travelers come toward you.
“Don’t go this way, travelers. If you must traverse the mountains, find another pass. A sphinx guards the way ahead, and we failed its challenge."
Story Elements
Select or generate story elements from this table.

1. The travelers are adventurers (but of lower level than the PCs) who were going into the next valley looking for a great treasure that is rumored to be buried in a crypt in that valley. They could not answer the sphinx’s riddle and it would not let them pass, so they were forced to retreat. 2. You might have these travelers give the riddle to the PCs so they have a head start at solving it, although (as you wish) the sphinx could ask a different riddle of every traveler it encounters. 3. The sphinx is in league with a green dragon that lives in the valley. They are trying to remove the great treasure that they discovered. While the dragon removes it, the sphinx delays or deters travelers. The dragon could double-cross the sphinx, or not. 4. The sphinx doesn’t know about a treasure. It does know that something with a great curse was buried in that valley years ago, and the sphinx is tasked with keeping people away from it. If you want, you could have this be a descendant of the original sphinx, still with the same task. In this case, the evil was buried in the valley centuries ago, perhaps during a past war that collapsed the kingdom that once was here. 5. For monsters you can use a sphinx (MM1) or a sphinx of mystery (MM2). You could also use a creature that acts like a sphinx (gives riddles) but has very different powers and may not look like a sphinx at all, such as the rimefire griffon, minotaur thug, or scarecrow stalker. 6. A human from one of the towns in the region made friends with the sphinx years ago, and has a secret phrase to bypass the sphinx’s danger. The human is trying to gain a great treasure or harness a great evil in the small valley beyond the sphinx.

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Bad Dog!

The PCs are in town late at night, somewhere near a tavern and close to the outskirts of the town or city. As they are walking along, or rescuing someone from a mugging, or mugging someone, they see a drunk man wander aimlessly toward them. At least, he initially appears drunk. He is also covered in scratches, some of them bleeding. He seems disoriented and doesn’t even know he’s been injured. If asked, he says that he saw a dog, a two-legged dog, but doesn’t remember anything else.
Story Elements
Select or generate story elements from this table.

1. The man was attacked by a two-legged dog-like creature, such as a werewolf (MM) or a barghest (MM2). He did not fight off the creature; in fact he did not fight at all. The creature was tearing into him when it was called off or distracted by something, or heard the watch patrol coming and fled. 2. The creature, whatever it is, haunts the outskirts of the town or city and picks off lone stragglers. It could take them for food, or it could be working with a cult and taking them for sacrifice. 3. The creature is cursed, and to remove the curse it has to bathe in the blood of certain types of people. All of the victims have fit this profile. The drunk man would have sufficed; the creature was desperate due to ritual timing. 4. The creature is actually a large canine, like a dire wolf or even a worg. Its master has a vendetta against certain people in the city, and is killing these people or their relatives (for inspiration, you might consider watching the film Brotherhood of the Wolf). There is a definite pattern to the murders. The drunk man was mistaken for someone else, or he could be part of the master's plan after all. 5. The creature is actually a possessing spirit that transforms its hosts into two-legged canines. When it attacks someone, it transfers to the new host and the old one dies. The spirit is looking for someone in town, and uses the knowledge of the new host to choose a target. However, it is a fairly random process as the spirit looks for its true target. 6. There are several creatures in an alliance, but only one comes out at time to disguise their numbers. They have a lair outside of town and are hunting in the town in the same way that hunters go to the wild to kill creatures for food.

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Predator on the Loose

The PCs are traveling down the road in a sparsely populated area near some farmland. Everything has been very ordinary until they pass a mound of pig manure just off the road. As they get close, the mound moves and a man sticks his head up from it. “Is it gone?” he asks you breathlessly.
The man is Stavin, a farmhand from the nearest farm to this location. He says that he was working in the fields when he heard an awful screechy roar. Then he saw it – a huge, bloated blue creature with long claws extending from the back of its hands. He ran for it and it started after him. Luckily for Stavin, he passed the pig sty while fleeing and the monster was sidetracked by easier prey. He doesn’t know how long ago that was; he’s been hiding here inside the mound the whole time. He might even have fallen asleep. The farm is about half a mile away, and he’ll take the PCs there if they want.
There is some comedic value to this scene, so if your players like comedy have Stavin's big dog stick its head out of the mound too.
Story Elements
Select or generate story elements from this table.

1. The creature that Stavin saw is a talon slaad (and templated as a slaad spawner (MM2 pg. 185). 2. The slaad was summoned by a wizard to its ferocity and ability to produce slaad spawns. The wizard is trying to harvest them and train them to be guard beasts. This one escaped and has been looking for food ever since. 3. This is not the first farm to be attacked. Slaads desire a lot of food (and mayhem). The PCs can find other farms with dead animals or even dead farmers. The trail of destruction should lead back to the creature’s makeshift lair, or the wizard that summon it. 4. The slaad may not have escaped from the wizard, but was intentionally released to spread its slaad spawns across the farmlands knowing what they would do. The wizard wants the farmers gone. 5. There is more than one of these creatures. In fact, there’s a whole nest of them now that several spawn have already been created. More of them are marauding around the region, and they all have to be stopped.

About the Author

Robert Wiese has been playing D&D since 1978 after he watched a game played in the car on the way home from a Boy Scouts meeting. He was fascinated, and delved into this strange world of dragons and magic and sourcebooks. Years later, he was hired to edit tournaments for the RPGA Network, and from there progressed to running the network after his boss was assassinated in the great Christmas purge of 1996. Times were tough, but he persevered and brought the RPGA into a shining new era. Eventually he met a girl who liked to play D&D too, and he left Renton for the warmth and casinos of Reno, Nevada. Now, he works in the Pharmacology department of UNR studying mouse foot muscles and the effects of RF emissions on same. He spends as much time as possible with his wife Rhonda, son Owen, and newborn daughter Rebecca.

PLAYER CHARACTER EXAMPLE BACKGROUNDS

Varis Londinian

Varis Londinian was born to a Thyatian family with a long history of warriors and military service. Varis great-grandfather won great renown in Thyatis as a paladin. Varis’ father retired from the Imperial Army of Thyatis’ cavalry and led a mercenary company based out of his ancestral home in the Duchy of Kantrium. The Duke was a friend of Varis’ father and welcomed the skilled warriors to help bolster patrols when they were between contracts. Varis’ father made quite a reputation hunting orc and goblin raiders through the Altan Teppes and Cruth Mountains- ranging from the Emirates of Ylaruam to the Republic of Darokin, all while spending much time in Karameikos. Varis accompanied his father on many of his journeys, learning the skills of a warrior and the talents of a leader. His father passed away last winter, leaving Varis a small parcel of land in Thyatis and the Londinian ancestral sword. Varis travelled west to Karameikos, desiring to wander the world and seek knighthood. His father was knighted after his military service and Varis very much wants to uphold the family tradition. 

Varis is tall and well-muscled, with rugged features and a ready smile. His skin is the olive tone common to Thyatians and his dark hair is cut short. He wears battered, ancient plate-mail that was worn by his grandfather. He is never far from the massive great-sword that has been in his family for four generations. It is believed that the sword has hidden powers that will reveal themselves to a worthy owner. Varis has a weakness for good ales and has a voracious appetite for hearty food. He can be hot- tempered and quick to fight with his fists in a brawl; but he is otherwise a model soldier and would make a fine junior officer.

Varis will always charge to the front of a fight, swinging his great-sword to devastating effect. A skilled rider, he can use a lance but prefers his sword over all weapons. Varis will not fight to the death needlessly, nor will he sacrifice men under his command (or his companions) without great regret. He is a devoted follower of Vanya, the Immortal Patron of Thyatis. Varis has two ultimate goals. First, he wishes to investigate the legends and power of his sword. Second he would wish to be knighted. It is not a measure of vanity, but a true quest to become a hero. 

Kurien Starsong

Kurien is an elf of the Callarii clan, who dwell in the lush forests of central and western Karameiko. Like all of his clan, he was raised in woods lore, philosophy and magic. Having reached the age of nominal maturity, he set about on the Wanderer’s Path. Leaving his childhood home of Rifllian, he has spent the last few months as a courier, guide and militia scout for hire in Rugalov. His clan’s Tree Keeper has asked that he investigate the health of the small Callarii community that took to Alfheim (the elven kingdom to the north) if his travels take him that way. Not wanting to make the journey alone, Kurien wanders Karameikos while waiting for a good opportunity to leave his homeland. 

Kurien is a young elf of noble bearing. In fact, he is the nephew of the Tree Keeper and he grew up watching his uncle shoulder the responsibility for the clan’s Tree of Life. He is intensely curious about the Kingdom of Alfheim (and all elven lands), and intends to visit his clan’s recently established holdings there as soon as possible. While he gets along well with most people, he grows furious at bullies and oppressors. When in the company of friends and true companions, he is relaxed and jovial. Kurien wears scale-mail made by the dwarves of Highforge, cut for his slender frame, over the traditional green and brown forest garb of his people.

Kurien knows he would never be called on to assume the role of Treekeeper because of his older siblings and cousins, but he feels the need to set a fine example and act as a champion for his people. He is hungry for the knowledge of his elven brothers and sisters in Alfheim, Wendar and other places. He would love to study the magic and lore of all these brethren. He is also hoping to make a name for himself as a hero. Like most Callarii elves, Kurien prides himself on his horsemanship and woodscraft. He currently knows no damaging spells and will typically use Faerie Fire to illuminate a target in poor lighting and then use his bow from range. In any combat, Kurien prefers to act as an archer. His swordsmanship is fair but he excels at the longbow. He will strike only if certain he is facing an enemy, otherwise he will remain cautious but take no threatening actions. 

Yasmina of Tel Ekbir (Female Thief)

Yasmina of Tel Ekbir is a very young, impetuous and brave runaway from the Thyatian Duchy of Tel Akbir. A distant cousin to the Duke of Tel Akbir, Yasmina ran away to Ylaurum and then Specularem to flee an arranged marriage. Yasmina had long been an acrobat and tomboy from a young age, but after the theft of her suitor’s jeweled crown on the eve of her wedding, Yasmina saw she had a knack as a thief. Yasmina has determined to make her own way in the world. She is not a greedy thief, choosing targets based on their difficulty and she will never steal from the poor or the just. She fancies herself a swashbuckler and prefers the lightweight Darokinian Rapier or the scimitar of her Alasiyan ancestry to the more common longsword.

Yasmina has been known to disguise herself as a youthful man when travelling, but otherwise appears as a slender girl of 17 with thick, curly hair that is as black as a raven’s wing. She often wears the trousers, shirt and vest of a Traladaran man but she is quick to throw off possible pursuers with a change of clothes. Yasmina is intensely curious of foreign lands but is constantly afraid of her betrothed sending thugs after her. She has eluded them twice before, with one dying on her knife after an alleyway struggle. It was the first time she killed a human being and it chilled her for a long time. She does not casually take lives but has resolved herself to kill when absolutely necessary or when fighting inhuman opponents. 

Quick with a disparaging comment or boast, Yasmina often finds herself in some trouble but she is blessed with quick reflexes and the wisdom to know when to run. She is running low on funds and is looking for opportunities for adventure and danger. Her encounters with hired thugs have encouraged her to leave the Capital of Karameikos. She has journeyed into the forests of Karameikos, working as a simple horse tender on a merchant caravan headed toward the northern logging and mining towns of Karameikos.

Five Ways To Speed Up Combat

Lets face it, turn-based combat can be slow. However long you spend taking your turn, you’re waiting three or four times as long for the next one. Here is a list of game-hastening guidelines I recommend every DM issues to their players.

Announce end of turn

When you’re finished your turn, announce “turn end” or “that’s my turn over”. This saves time and avoids confusion. In particular it lets the next player know that you won’t interrupt his turn with an “also”, such as “Also, I want to make a move action” or “Also, I want to draw a weapon as a free action”.

Take your turn immediately unless interrupted

As soon as the player directly before you in initiative announces “end turn”, begin yours. Don’t want for the Dungeon Master to call your name. If something should interrupt the normal initiative order, such as a new monster entering combat or an ability used out-of-turn, whoever introduces it should call “interrupt”. It’s it’s quicker to call “interrupt” when something happens then to wait for the DM to sanction each turn.

Decide actions on the previous player’s turn

Take note of who’s in front of you in the initiative order and decide your action on his turn. As soon as he declares his end over, announce that action. This saves other players from waiting while you think. Your turn is for doing, not thinking. It’s possible that your action will be invalid by the time your turn arrives (the guy before you might kill the monster you wanted to attack), but more often than not this will speed things along.

Roll ahead of turn

If the Dungeon Master allows, roll your dice ahead of time. This method is absolutely vital in high-level D&D third edition games, where characters might roll fifteen or more dice per turn. Be honest and don’t “mike the dice”, a cheat where an unscrupulous player rolls ahead of time and re-rolls on his own turn if it misses.

Use an egg timer

For chronically slow players, use an egg timer set to thirty or sixty seconds. Each player has that amount of time to decide their actions, or else forfeit their turn.

BE A CREATIVE GAME-PLAYER

By Kristan Wheaton

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Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons are two of the most exciting games on the market. Unlike “normal” games, D&D and AD&D provide opportunities for not only roleplaying, but creative, original thought as well. If one considers all of the possible scenarios and character reactions, then the game itself becomes the basis for original and unique plans of action.

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However, this aspect of the game is not always emphasized when one sits down to a session of D&D or AD&D. All too often, Dungeon Masters spend their time dictating to players and forcing them into situations which cause them to “strike first and ask questions later.” Surely, this limits the game in an area that should be exploited to both the player’s and the DM’s advantage.

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This article will attempt to describe some exciting, inventive and creative methods of handling various monsters. These ideas are not meant to be idealized into Napoleonic-like strategies. On the contrary, it is hoped that these methods will simply stimulate creative and unusual play in the reader’s future sessions.

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With all monsters, the first thing to consider, once battle is inevitable, is “How do I attack it?” Is the creature prone to spells? Does it have a low intelligence (confusion-type attacks work well here) or a high intelligence (insanity, paradoxes and the like are most effective under these circumstances)? What are its weaknesses and what are its strengths?

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Basically, unless one can go in for a quick kill, then an attack on the monster’s strongest weapon is in order. By all means, do not necessarily attack the monster’s strongest attribute. This is foolish and could cost you the battle. Disarmament, however, usually leads to quick capitulation. Render useless a giant’s arm so that he cannot heave boulders at you, or silence a harpy, and both become much more easily defeated. If you cannot destroy the weapon, then at least protect yourself from it. Use a mirror on a medusa or put wax in your ears to help against a banshee’s scream.

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Terrain can be the all-important factor in determining the outcome of battle. Remember that you are fighting in three dimensions, not just two. If possible, use your Levitate or Fly spells to advantage. A Magic-User in the air can see better and is also protected from hand-to-hand combat. Characters in danger of dying can be levitated out of melee. Always consider the third dimension (and possibly the fourth) as possible routes of escape or means to an advantage. Remember that D&D and AD&D are medieval-based games. Tactics that were feasible for that period in history are some of the best available when playing the game; i.e., armor tactics do not work unless you have tanks.

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All creatures have a weakness. This is a key to remember in fighting a monster. Each monster, in its turn, must have an Achilles’ heel or it would surely dominate the world of mortal men. For example, creatures with magic resistance seem very frustrating to the average player. However, it must be realized that magic resistance gives no benefit against physical forces. An earthquake is just as liable to swallow an orc as a demon. Creative thought along these lines leads to the concept of “indirect attack.” Strike at those objects around you, in hopes that they will do damage for you. Use your lightning bolt to snap off a stalactite, or strike the ground to send a shower of rock chips toward the abdomen of whatever is attacking you. Knock down a tree; turn a ceiling to mud and let it collapse on the hapless attackers; these are the methods to deal with magic-resistant creatures, instead of striking at them and hoping the die roll will penetrate that magic resistance.

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As a case study in “creative attack,” consider dragons. For example, it is possible to generate a small boiler explosion in the stomach of a red dragon by forcing cold water down its throat. This is a simple, if not always a readily accessible, means of incapacitating the beast. However, what does one do if the brand of super- lizard one is facing does not happen to have a carmine tinge to its scales? The answer really depends on how deeply your DM has contemplated dragon physiology. A good guess, however, would be that a reasonable argument would prevail.

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If we say, for example, that a blue dragon discharges a bolt of electricity, then we could assume that it must build up this highly positive charge within its mouth and then release it when its mouth is opened. If this is the case, then a large piece of metal within its mouth would serve to short-circuit the process. If it did not incapacitate the lizard, at least it would give it a splitting headache. One may not always have a large hunk of iron ore hanging around (or a man with sufficient strength to throw it), and so one must come up with an alternate means of gaining the advantage. One method of doing this is to simply take the high ground on the beast. If the beleaguered party can get above the head of the blue dragon, then the ground itself will act as a draw on the bolt of electricity. While you may not be able to convince your DM that this action will negate the effects of the breath weapon, it should be reasonable to assume a plus to the saving throw.

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More about specific dragons later, but now, a few words about dragons in general. The dragon is a cowardly, solitary beast. If this were not so then they would most surely rule the world. This dictates repartee and palaver as the first line of defense (if the dragon can speak). While a dragon is not likely to be pleased at an intrusion into its privacy, it is also not likely to attack until it has determined the nature and strength of the party. Only the oldest and most confident of dragons should attack without thinking about it first. Remember, also, that it is hard to tell a first-level character from a tenth- level, if the first-level is a good enough actor. During this first, or “negotiation:’ phase, the player should attempt to gain whatever concessions that he or she can. Terrain advantages, as well as strategic placement of party members, should be accomplished in this first stage. Always try to get above a dragon’s head. Most things fall, including lightning (attracted by the ground), chlorine gas (it is heavier than air), acid (a little thing called gravity), and cold (cold air falls). Always spread out so that the breath weapon cannot demolish the entire party. Try to encircle the beast and get him before he can get you.

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Despite all this, a major tactical advantage can be achieved by shutting down the breath weapon before it can be expelled. This is the most powerful of the dragon’s weapons and should be the first thing to be dealt with. A large rock heaved in the general direction of the dragon’s face should do the trick. If not that, then try a Web spell. Both of these would give some advantage to the party. If one can ruin the mouth, then one not only shuts down the breath weapon but can also put the second major weapon (disregarding spell-casting ability) out of commission, the bite. In other words, don’t try to absorb the power of the breath weapon until the dragon runs out of charges; do something about it immediately; in the long run, you will be glad that you did.

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Now, for some more dragons in specific. For a green dragon, a good plan is to acquire some sodium-tipped arrows. Store them in oil, since they will bum (slowly) in air. However, if one is shot into the mouth of a green dragon it will then react violently with the chlorine gas. This will surely leave the head of the dragon spinning for a few moments, and he should gag on all of the salt that you have just put in his throat.

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Black dragons spit acid. Packets of lime (a strong alkaline) will at least neutralize the acid, if not get rid of the ability altogether. A gust of wind or a sudden downpour of created water would serve to disperse poisonous clouds (timing, of course, is very important here). This list is by no means exhaustive, and many more methods can be developed by the creative mind.

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This article has expressed, through theory and case study, some of the principles of battle that are necessary for creative play of D&D and AD&D. As stated earlier, this article does not attempt to be the ultimate source of battle tactics, but is only provided as a guide towards better, more enjoyable, and more creative play.

POINTS TO PONDER

By Kyle Gray

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As a female player of Dungeons & Dragons, there is one thing that never fails to annoy me: the underestimation of the abilities of female Fighters. At times I have found it necessary to assume the role of a male character because if I chose to be female, my strength would be limited by the game rules, and thus my character would be generally less effective than a male. There are no compensations to the female for this limiting of strength, making it seem as though women warriors are being discriminated against.

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There are many literary and historical examples of female fighters, the most well-known being the Amazons. The Aethiopia, an ancient continuation of the Iliad, tells of Penthesilea, the beautiful Amazon queen who stood up and fought Achilles, greatest of all the Argive warriors. Also, when Theseus carried off the Amazon Antiope, her sister, Oreithyia led an army of Amazon warriors into Attica, and it took the entire Athenian army four months to defeat them. And who could forget Camilla, the Volscian warrior maiden of Virgil’s Aeneid? She killed many Trojans, fighting with both arrows and battle-axe, and was easily one of the best warriors in the battle, male or female.

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The Greek and Roman mythos are not alone in containing stories of women warriors. Brunhild and the Valkyries are major elements in the Germanic sagas, and warriors in their own rights. The Celts had their War Queens, and there are historical references of those women fighting right alongside their male counterparts. In fact, some sources say that the women were the most vicious and warlike of all the Celtic warriors. Even Christianity, which is responsible for most of the Western World myths of the inherent weaknesses of women, has Joan of Arc.

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Heroic fantasy, the main influence of Dungeons & Dragons, though dominated by male characters, has also produced its share of female warriors. One of the earliest and the best of these is C. L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry, the fierce woman fighter who has no problems competing with her male counterparts. Surprisingly, some of the best female characters have emerged from the stories of male authors writing in the best macho traditions. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Deja Thoris, while too dependent on John Carter, is still an excellent warrior, and there are many examples of women who, when forced to defend themselves, are quite capable fighters.

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Undoubtedly the best creator of female warriors was Robert E. Howard. Known best for his Conan and Kull tales, Howard also created an impressive array of women warriors. Everyone’s favorite Male Chauvinist Barbarian, Conan, meets his match in Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, and serves under another female fighter, his lover, Belit, a bloodthirsty pirate. Howard even wrote a series of tales about Dark Agnes, his Sword-Woman, who could outfight and outdrink any man.

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Probably the most famous of Howard’s women warriors, thanks to Marvel Comics, is Red Sonja. Red Sonja of Rogantino, a redhaired warrior, appeared in the Howard story “Shadow of the Vulture,” which took place during the Crusades. Many years later Roy Thomas, writer of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian, used this story as the basis for a Conan tale, and Red Sonja, warrior woman of Hyrkania, was born. During her career, Sonja has outsmarted and outfought Conan and many other men, and is undoubtedly the epitome of a female warrior.

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Recently, more and more women warriors have seen print, and some, like Roland Green’s Gwyanna of his Wandor series, are quite excellent. So, fellow female players, if you run into a MCDM (Male Chauvinist Dungeon Master), get him to read some of the above mentioned stories, and maybe he will agree that the women warriors are discriminated against. The next step is to get him to follow the guidelines below.

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The Advanced D&D Players Handbook only takes female attributes into account for one ability, that of Strength. Females of all the character races are allowed a maximum Strength score which is lower than the males’ maximum. Men tend to have a more massive musculature, and for this reason can perform feats of brute strength usually beyond the capabilities of women. This physical difference is taken into account, but other, more beneficial differences are ignored. Women have smaller, less bulky muscles, and as such, are generally more agile than men. Also, women are able to withstand Vol.V.No.1 higher levels of mental and physical stress than the average male. Given those facts, it is obvious that while it may be logical to penalize women in terms of sheer strength, it is equally logical to reward them for better Dexterity and hardier Constitution.

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It is a medical fact that the average female can withstand more mental stress than the average male. Because of that, females in D&D should be rewarded with a +1 in Wisdom for magical attack adjustment only. This would give women a better chance to resist mental attack forms involving will force, as described in the Players Handbook.

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Also, since women have smaller, more compact muscles, they are less bulky than men, and are naturally more agile. Therefore women warriors, who would logically be trained to take advantage of this, should receive a + 1 on their roll for Dexterity.

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It has also been shown that women are able to tolerate pain better than men, and when raised under the same conditions, are generally hardier. Women generally live longer than men, barring disease or accidental death. For those reasons, female characters should receive a +1 on their rolls for Constitution.

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The above-mentioned adjustments should make up for the lower maximum strength score for women. While they will still have a relatively rougher time breaking down doors and bending bars, women warriors will no longer be discriminated against. Men and women are physically different, but this does not mean that women are necessarily deficient when it comes to fighting. What it does mean is that women, precisely because they are not as strong as men, would use their natural abilities and adopt a different fighting style, more “slash and run” than “stand and swing.” The +l in Dexterity would merely reflect this style, and should apply only to female Fighters rather than female characters in general, because it would be an extension of warrior training. Given this +1 in Dexterity, and also a +1 in Constitution and magical attack adjustment that should apply to all women characters, women warriors in D&D can now become formidable Fighters and compete on an equal basis with the men.

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT

By Lewis Bryson

Four of us went down, but only one hundred and four of us came back. How did that happen, you ask? A good question, and I feel like telling a story . . .

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We were an optimistic party. The four of us were young, maybe a little lacking in experience, but well armed, intelligent, and overflowing with enthusiasm. There were two Magi, the sorcerer Soregit and the wizard Emanon, and two warriors, Tork and myself, Nissleyn the One-handed.

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We had been charged with penetrating the Pyromancer’s Guild to bring back artifacts for our benefactor, the great magician and charlatan, Edgh. Intent upon our mission, we found a member of the Guild at a local tavern, in a rather pitiful state. There was a little overeagerness on my part and I hit him on the head and, well, I, uh . . . knocked him out.

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Gosh, I was really sorry that it had happened, but since it had, everyone figured that we should take advantage of it. So we grabbed his copper ring, had copies made of it, and, armed with the rings and a Polymorph Others spell, we entered the Guildhall.

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It was easy enough, smooth sailing for quite a while, as we twisted, turned, and slew a few fairly harmless monsters, the usual stuff. The first really tough thing we ran into was a Clay Golem. Thinking quickly, I told Soregit to throw a Darkness, 15ft. radius spell, and with a natural ability of infravision, I waded in with a giant’s club I had picked up somewhere, and belted him in the back of the head, wiping him out. We felt that this was an augur of things to come, and we were very optimistic. Ha!

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The next door we opened presented us with a pair of eleven- foot-tall, fair-haired giants in mithril mail. A fast Legend Lore spell told us that they were Sidhe, lawful gargantuans, extremely strong, intelligent, and dexterous. We quickly convinced them we wanted, very badly, to be their friends. Luckily, they trusted our then-honest intentions.

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They joined us, and we went through a few more rooms and corridors, and were going down a flight of stairs, when I suddenly realized that they had usurped my position as leader of the expedition, had been very deprecatory about all of our abilities, and had not yet done a bit of fighting! I contacted Tork with an artifact-related telepathic message, and we jumped them from behind.

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My first shot with the club split my Sidhe’s head open like a ripe melon, and there was one left. Tork went for him as I hurried to aid him, while Emanon threw Magic Missiles. Tork was doing a pretty good job on the remaining Sidhe, and I had just joined the fray, when the giant speared Tork through the left eye with an immense enchanted sword. I was a bit taken aback, and Tork, well, he was dead. He had, though, damaged the Sidhe to a point where he was almost tottering, and I quickly sent him to discuss life with his ancestors face to face.

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I mourned the death of Tork, while the Magi looked on rather coolly, not understanding the sorrow of a Warrior. I resolved to have him restored to my side as soon as possible, because he was a brother Warrior, and also because I didn’t relish facing the remaining depths with just myself to battle with the terrors that lay there.

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Packing his dead body on my back with a quick-release knot on him, we pushed on. The door at the bottom of the stairs opened onto a corridor, and at the end was an unfamiliar shape. A noise from the wizard roused the thing, and suddenly it was flying at us. A winged ape with huge claws, hurtling down the narrow corridor.

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‘A Clakar!’ screamed the wizard, and cowered beneath his cloak. I nailed the beast with a lightning javelin in midair, but it didn’t quite do the job, only searing a hole in his abdomen. Then he was upon me, doing horrendous damage with one swipe of his claws. Luckily for all of us, I dispatched him with a blow to his already damaged abdomen. The wizard healed my wounds and we moved on.

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The next room held only an orc and a bowl of liquid. The orc turned and ran out a door in the back of the room. Soregit walked up to the table and inspected the bowl. He saw a ring in the bowl, and grabbed it. He put it on, and began dancing around without realizing that he was shrinking at a tremendous rate. He fell into the bowl, and would have drowned and I not knocked over the bowl and moved him away from the liquid with the point of my dagger.

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Our spirits were at a new low. Tork was dead, and getting to be a pain in the back. Soregit was two inches tall, and practically useless. We would probably have given up, but the next room presented a puzzle. It was some kind of a device, and I could not discern its operation. The door was open, and maybe we should have closed it to keep out wandering monsters, but we were in a sad state. Anyway, what should wander in but a 12th-circle Cleric of neutrality. With a little monetary temptation, we convinced him to resurrect Tork, but nothing could be done for poor Soregit.

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Tork and I began to celebrate and, in the illuminated state of mind that the wine brought about, we divined the function of the machine. It moved the entire room to small, independent planes of existence! We finally realized this by observing that after we pressed different buttons, different things were behind those doors! In our condition, we found this highly amusing, much to Emanon’s consternation. We finally decided that we would tackle the Clakar that we had seen, and, pushing the right button, we rushed in and romped on the poor animal.

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There was a shrouded object in the back of the room and we were suspicious. So with the genius of Dionysius, Tork and I forced Soregit to take a look under the shroud. A good thing we did so, for under there was a Mirror of Opposition! We heard a small shriek, and lifted a small section of the shroud to see two Soregits throwing daggers at each other. Luckily, the duplicate was as lousy a shot as the original, and neither was hurt.

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Inspired again, we emptied another wine sack, and began creating more and more miniature Magi, or gits, as we soon began calling them. Eventually we had fifty of the opposing gits, and fifty of the old-type gits, and of course, the original Soregit. We separated the plus and minus gits into two wine sacks of squirming sorcerers.

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Now, of course, Tork and I are rich men, the owners of Miniature Mage, Inc. We decided to market the gits, and made our fortunes. We found an alchemist, went into large-scale production of growth potion and the super shrink stuff. Then we got a cleric, threw us a lot of Geas spells, and marketed the result as ‘Gits! pint-size power for the fighting man!! The next time you have a problem that you just can’t handle, you won’t worry, because you have a miniature Mage at your belt!!’

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Soregit is happy as a little clam lolling around in his miniature apartment with his miniature wine cellar, miniature elf-maidens, etc. The mirror is in full, assembly line-type use down in the factory.

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And Emanon? He’s still adventuring, poor soul, thinks he’s going to make his fortune that way, I guess. Ha! And yet, sometimes I look across the board room at my old weapons hanging on the wall, and the Sidhe’s dried blood still on the club, and I feel a twinge of the old wanderlust. . .

Get in the game: Tri-Citians escape reality in role-playing games

By Michelle Dupler, Herald staff writer

RICHLAND -- Here's a secret. For a few hours every Saturday night, I shed my mild-mannered, professional exterior and zip off across the galaxy on a rip-roaring adventure with a rag-tag band of spacefarers.
I'm the tough-talking female mechanic who grew up on the mean streets of planet Coruscant, who takes joy in heckling the overprivileged "rich boy" whose parents paid for our spaceship and hired me to make sure their pride and joy doesn't get into too much trouble. Since we attract trouble like bees to honey, I rarely succeed.
As alter ego Gin Caranthyr, I'm lithe, acrobatic and have mad skills with a wrench, spanner and a roll of space-age duct tape -- things that elude me in my real life.
That's what role-playing gaming offers -- a chance to shake off the mundane and pretend to be anyone or anything, whether it's my tough-as-nails space mechanic in the Star Wars game I play with a group in Richland every Saturday, or an orc-fighting elf in Dungeons & Dragons, the fantasy-based granddaddy of all role-playing games first released back in 1974.
Here's another secret.
While some might picture role-playing gamers as basement-dwelling dorks who never made the leap from adolescence to adulthood, many gamers hold jobs, own houses and have spouses and kids.
"Of the people I know who game, they're from every profession," said Carrie Varley of Richland. "They run the gamut."
Even tough-guy action movie star Vin Diesel has played Dungeons & Dragons for more than 20 years, according to Wikipedia.
"I love hearing about people who made it good as gamers, because growing up it was miserable," she joked. "Gaming folks were generally not the football players or cheerleaders."
While Varley often found herself ostracized while gaming as a teen in late 1970s Oklahoma, gaming has become a popular activity for adults, teens and families. Just ask Logan Kaufman, co-owner of Adventures Underground bookstore in Richland's Uptown Shopping Center.
Games in their many forms -- board games, collectible card games, role-playing games and accessories -- make up about 30 percent to 40 percent of the independent bookstore's sales, he said.
The store stocks about 1,000 varieties of games, including about 50 role-playing game systems, which typically are made up of a basic rules manual and supplements for specific kinds of equipment or adventures, known as campaigns.
Star Wars, for example, has a core book, then books on spaceships, robots and droids, and different campaigns so players can choose to play in the Knights of the Old Republic era, made popular in the video game of the same name, or the Clone Wars, subject of recent animated features, among other pieces of the Star Wars universe and its history. At $40 each, gaming can become an expensive hobby.
"Some have one book, whereas D&D takes up three shelves," Kaufman said. "It just depends on how deep you want to bury yourself in that world."
Many role-playing games are based in science fiction and fantasy worlds -- many based on television series or movies. There are role-playing games based on TV shows Stargate: SG1, Firefly and its movie Serenity, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Kaufman said many games are based on the same sets of rules, making it easier to jump from one to the other.
"You can move from Stargate to Buffy without having to relearn," he said.
Adventures Underground has become a destination for Tri-City gamers, not only because of its selection, but because Kaufman and his wife and co-owner, Amanda Divine, have created a space where anyone can come, set up a game and play.
They sometimes offer themed game nights, but most of the time tables are open to whoever shows up. Kaufman said on Sundays, there often are people waiting to use a table.
And that has shown gamers there are more of them than they might have thought.
"If you're just playing with friends, you don't know a whole city is out there doing the same thing," he said.
For Varley, the appeal of role-playing games is the ability to stretch her imagination by exploring other worlds and other personalities. She also enjoys the challenge of developing her own scenarios for other players.
"I like running games more than playing because I like to put together almost a cinematic experience for players," she said.
That means layering the experience with well-drawn characters, props, maybe even setting the mood with music. But since gaming is all about storytelling, it's also about the words she uses to set a scene.
"If you do it well, you can write a flavor text so if they're on a spaceship or go into a cavern to look for a werewolf, they can feel the dirt under their feet or the coldness of space, or feel the anger of the wizard about to blow their socks off," she said.
* Michelle Dupler: 509-582-1543; mdupler@tricityherald.com

Why techies love games -- and why it's good they do | InfoWorld | News | December 03, 2008 | By Tom Kaneshige, IDG News Service

From World of Warcraft to Civilization, computer games hone skills, reduce frustration, and celebrate tech
By Tom Kaneshige, IDG News Service
December 03, 2008
Everyone knows that techies love "Dungeons & Dragons," where they can prowl the bowels of a castle and cast spells on clueless managers, er, mages. After all, it's just a game.
Or is it? Many tech staffers are also hard-core PC gamers. For good reason: In virtual worlds like "World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King" and "Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword," you can show off your awesome mental powers and flex the most feared fingers in the universe. You can hone the problem-solving skills that make you good at IT, take out frustrations from your day-to-day work, and celebrate the technology that you so love.
[ Check out InfoWorld's slideshow of the six perfect PC games for IT. | Looking for other cool techie stuff? Peruse our 2008 geek gadget gift guide. ]
So what, exactly, does a kick-ass shooter game like "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" or the beautifully rendered role-playing game "Fallout 3" really say about tech life? Well, saddle up your Mechano-strider and watch as the Blade of Vaulted Secrets carves deeply into the tech-worker psyche.
via Why techies love games -- and why it's good they do | InfoWorld | News | December 03, 2008 | By Tom Kaneshige, IDG News Service

TUCKER’S KOBOLDS

By Roger E. Moore - November 1987

We get letters on occasion asking for advice on creating high-level AD&D® game adventures, and Tucker’s kobolds seem to fit the bill.

Many high-level characters have little to do because they’re not challenged. They yawn at tarrasques and must be forcibly kept awake when a lich appears. The DMs involved don’t know what to do, so they stop dealing with the problem and the characters go into Character Limbo. Getting to high level is hard, but doing anything once you get there is worse.

One of the key problems in adventure design lies in creating opponents who can challenge powerful characters. Singular monsters like tarrasques and liches are easy to gang up on; the party can concentrate its firepower on the target until the target falls down dead and wiggles its little feet in the air. Designing monsters more powerful than a tarrasque is self-defeating; if the group kills your super-monster, what will you do next - send in its mother? That didn’t work on Beowulf, and it probably won’t work here.

Worse yet, singular supermonsters rarely have to think. They just use their trusty, predictable claw/claw/bite. This shouldn’t be the measure of a campaign. These games fall apart because there’s no challenge to them, no mental stimulation - no danger.

In all the games that I’ve seen, the worst, most horrible, most awful beyond- comparison opponents ever seen were often weaker than the characters that fought them. They were simply well-armed and intelligent beings who were played by the DM to be utterly ruthless and clever. Tucker’s kobolds were like that.

Tucker ran an incredibly dangerous dungeon in the days I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, N.C. This dungeon had corridors that changed all of your donkeys into huge flaming demons or dropped the whole party into acid baths, but the demons were wienies compared to the kobolds on Level One. These kobolds were just regular kobolds, with 1-4 hp and all that, but they were mean. When I say they were mean, I mean they were bad, Jim. They graduated magna cum laude from the Sauron Institute for the Criminally Vicious.

When I joined the gaming group, some of the PCs had already met Tucker’s kobolds, and they were not eager to repeat the experience. The party leader went over the penciled map of the dungeon and tried to find ways to avoid the little critters, but it was not possible. The group resigned itself to making a run for it through Level One to get to the elevators, where we could go down to Level Ten and fight ‘okay’ monsters like huge flaming demons.

It didn’t work. The kobolds caught us about 60’ into the dungeon and locked the door behind us and barred it. Then they set the corridor on fire, while we were still in it.

‘NOOOOOO!!!’ screamed the party leader. ‘It’s THEM! Run!!!’

Thus encouraged, our party scrambled down a side passage, only to be ambushed by more kobolds firing with light crossbows through murder holes in the walls and ceilings. Kobolds with metal armor and shields flung Molotov cocktails at us from the other sides of huge piles of flaming debris, which other kobolds pushed ahead of their formation using long metal poles like broomsticks. There was no mistake about it. These kobolds were bad.

We turned to our group leader for advice.

‘AAAAAAGH!!!’ he cried, hands clasped over his face to shut out the tactical situation.

We abandoned most of our carried items and donkeys to speed our flight toward the elevators, but we were cut off by kobold snipers who could split-move and fire, ducking back behind stones and corners after launching steel-tipped bolts and arrows, javelins, hand axes, and more flaming oil bottles. We ran into an unexplored section of Level One, taking damage all the time. It was then we discovered that these kobolds had honeycombed the first level with small tunnels to speed their movements. Kobold commandos were everywhere. All of our hirelings died. Most of our henchmen followed. We were next.

I recall we had a 12th-level magic user with us, and we asked him to throw a spell or something. ‘Blast ‘em!’ we yelled as we ran. ‘Fireball ‘em! Get those little @#+$%*&!!’

‘What, in these narrow corridors?’ he yelled back. ‘You want I should burn us all up instead of them?’

Our panicked flight suddenly took us to a dead-end corridor, where a giant air shaft dropped straight down into unspeakable darkness, far past Level Ten. Here we hastily pounded spikes into the floors and walls, flung ropes over the ledge, and climbed straight down into that unspeakable darkness, because anything we met down there was sure to be better than those kobolds.

We escaped, met some huge flaming demons on Level Ten, and even managed to kill one after about an hour of combat and the lives of half the group. We felt pretty good - but the group leader could not be cheered up.

‘We still have to go out the way we came in,’ he said as he gloomily prepared to divide up the treasure.

Tucker’s kobolds were the worst things we could imagine. They ate all our donkeys and took our treasure and did everything they could to make us miserable, but they had style and brains and tenacity and courage. We respected them and loved them, sort of, because they were never boring. If kobolds could do this to a group of PCs from 6th to 12th level, picture what a few orcs and some low-level NPCs could do to a 12th-16th level group, or a gang of mid-level NPCs and monsters to groups of up to 20th level. Then give it a try. Sometimes, it’s the little things - used well - that count.

Best Moments

I have a scene to describe. A little background first. I tend to think of myself as a rather devious DM. Why not enjoy the game too. I rarely kill off a player in my games unless there is no way to avoid it, but this was one of those moments that this "situation" could not be avoided.


I had been harassing my party for about 5 gaming sessions now with a Nyciiea Daemon, a rather nasty bit of work, but more cruel than anything. The party were, I quickly learned, adapt at bringing him down quickly to a certain level of hits to which he would normally make a hasty retreat, but I wanted a little more fun out of it. The original reason the daemon was sent was to retrieve the artifact the party had been questing for, and return it to the "Villain" of the game. However after the first encounter I realize I would have to wear them down first. They would always take up a similar attack, Dwarf, Paladin in front, next is Rogue and Ranger with bows, and finally the wizard and Cleric. When ever someone upfront had taken a lot of damage, they would rotate that line, and attack with the most powerful weapons and spells, while a hand off of potions healed them - I found out later that they had been hording healing potions secretly in anticipation of a nasty encounter like this. Well, needless to say, they beat the begeezus out of the daemon really quick, but instead of running, I had other plans. The daemon did disappear, but returned four more times, each time doing a little bit more damage (I really felt bad, killing the Paladin's warhorse; he almost cried; and I did a separate adventure to let him find another).


On the final encounter, things took, well a twist. I had been giving the party clues and pieces of the armor, but they did not put two and two together until this night. The daemon had returned, appearing in the middle of the camp. The party had decided to bed down on a rising cliff - they felt it prudent to only be attacked from one direction. Who am I to argue the logic. By the end of this encounter they had learned to fly...;-)


The daemon grabbed the wizard, a female who had just recently bonded with the cleric. He ran with her to the edge of the cliff, the party following enmasse. When he reached the edge, he held her over the cliff (about 250' drop to the typical jagged rocks), and demanded the armor. ??? The armor - my crew wondered. what possible could he mean. He asked again. I want the armor - and held out his other hand. Ok, I realize that Paladins try to be noble...but really - the Paladin removed his magical armor, and bundling it up in a fish net, gave it to the daemon. The daemon, of course, lobbed it over his shoulder, and over the cliff. The Paladin screamed (yes screamed) and jumped after it. The rangers eyes got the size of saucers, and jumped after him. The dwarf shook his head and put his face in his hands. The wizard looked around shrugged his shoulders, and using a magic item began to fly after the cleric, who was using a medallion of telekinesis to hold onto the armor, which at this point had a naked paladin clinging onto it. The Ranger went whizzing by, missing the whole Paladin/armor thingy and gave me a very stressed look on when I told him he missed. The Cleric also went whizzing by trying to get to the Ranger. They did meet up of course in a very dramatic 6 rolls of d20 dice, and the two began to fly up, meeting the Paladin on the way down (Ranger had freaked and lost concentration). The Ranger quickly regained composure and began levitating the Paladin/armor up again.


In the mean time the dwarf walked past the daemon, looked over the edge and watched the whole episode. (That what he said he did). The Rogue had done what I expected him to do, disappear. He had gotten a ring of levitation at some point and went straight up. About 100 feet. He watched as the dwarf walked toward the daemon, and thinking the obvious - the Dwarf was attacking - began a controlled decent toward the daemon, holding out his trusty knife in front of him At about 25', the ring gave out (shoot - did I forget to tell you, the magic on the ring was time limited??? ;-) ) and with a rather startled look - began to plummet. I never though a jaw could drop twice, but it did, a) the Rogue watched in horror as the daemon got closer, really quick and b) watched in even more horror as the dwarf, walked by the daemon, not attacking him as the Rogue had originally thought. I stopped talking. smiled and waited for the whirlwind to die down. When the discussions stopped I had five very stressed players looking at me. And a twisted Dwarf waiting for the hammer to fall....I had some fun.


The rogue fell. He bounced - no ricochet off the daemon and onto the Dwarf (now I had six stressed players...heh heh) the Rogue, weighs around 165, ample enough to do some damage, and had fallen from over 20 feet. The Dwarf was already leaning over the side of the cliff ( remember that was what he said). Being in this awkward position and the speed and weight of the Rogue...well, both began screaming over the cliff. They did encounter some resistance though, the group coming back up. The dwarf is a walking tank, and hits the Ranger/Cleric grouping. Bad rolls (1, 1) indicate that, well, the Ranger and Cleric are unconscious. The four of them begin a free fall. The Paladin gets high enough to meet eye to eye with the daemon but is about 10' away from the side of the cliff. Think Wylie Coyote here. He begins to plummet. The daemon watches as the players make little red spots. The room is very quiet. The wizard looks at me. I stand up, put my arm out, shrug my shoulders, pinch my hand together and make a juicy snapping noise, and motion to toss the Wizard off the cliff.


The room was very quiet for a long time. Then the Rouge pips up,


"Oh crap, I had that Staff of the Magi. Would that have helped?"


I laughed so hard I gave myself a stomach ache. It was a month before we started again.


A final note. When we started up the game, they all looked at me and asked how the Daemon could follow them around? I said he didn't. When he was hurt bad enough, he polymorphed into a flea and lived on the Dwarf until he had healed then attacked again...


The player never used a Dwarf again...


Man I love this game...;-)

Peter Bath

An example of Horror

Here's the example of a night's play that did well on the horror side. The module was Ravenloft, but I added some elements to the town. Tristan is a cleric, Sniffinpuff a thief, Modom a dwarven fighter, Dexter a human fighter, and Arthur -- an NPC Paladin.

This example incorporates all of the elements that I mentioned before: surprises, lethality, helplessness, taking away options, and pacing. The game itself lasted about 2.5. hours.

The Village of Barovia

The village seemed deserted. The houses were old and run-down, and the windows were all boarded up. However, at a few houses, listening at the doors found muffled whispers inside. Pounding on the door produced no answers, save for the cessation of whispers inside. Strangely enough, most of the houses seemed to have claw marks on the wood and stone.

Continuing on, the party found an open square with a brackish fountain in the middle. Streets radiated out from it. However, more interesting to the group was a dim light from a largish building. The sign on the building read "Blood on the Vine", and it seemed to be an inn. Going inside, they found 10-12 people huddled around a dim fire and the barkeep polishing glasses.

Little was learned from the people at the inn, save that death walked the night and they had best stay inside. When a cut-off scream echoed through town, the villagers seemed to huddle together even more. When the party went outside to investigate, they could not tell where the scream had come from, and so went back in and passed an uncomfortable night on the floors of the inn.

The next day, they searched the town. They found the body of the woman who screamed the night before. It seemed drained of blood, with it's throat ripped out. Strangely, there did not seem to be many blood stains near where she fell.

The group also found a church, broken and battered, with a cemetery behind it. Far above, they could see a 1000' precipice and at the top, the hint of a castle looking over the town.

Inside the church, it was a shambles save for the altar. At the altar was a cadaverous priest who whispered prayers in a hoarse and weak voice. The party questioned him as they tried to clean up the church. They found out the following:

- The priest's name was Danovich. He had lived here all his life, and each night since his father died, had fought a lone battle against Evil. Each night, he prayed all night, eyes closed, as Evil fought against him for the sanctity of his church. So far, he had prevailed though he was weak with exhaustion, hunger, and terror.

- He did not know the name of his God, save that he was the God of the Sun. His father had never told him.

- He had lived here all his life, as had his father and grandfather before him. His father had died when he was six, cut down by the Evil which surrounded the church each night. Since then, he had struggled against the Evil each and every night, striving to preserve the one place of sanctity and sacredness in all of Barovia. He was in his 50's.

- The name of the Lord of the land was Strahd von Zarovich. He lived in Castle Ravenloft, far above the town. It was whispered by the town that *he * was the Evil which walked the night. Danovich had never seen the Evil One, yet he believed that it was Strahd as well.

- He believed that there was a book in the library of Ravenloft which told of the early days. Perhaps there was some clue in it that might help to destroy him. So had said his father before he died.

The party decided that this night, they would protect the church as well. They spent the day preparing barricades and sharpening their weapons. When night fell, they were confident that they would destroy that which was plaguing this town.

The Battle for the Church

As night fell, the mists drew in thicker and closer. However, they stayed away from the walls and inside of the ruined church. The party set up continual light rods around the inside of the church. At the stroke of midnight, pale translucent shapes oozed out of the graves in the cemetery, Swirling around the church, they fled through it and down the road. As the party watched, they disappeared down the road that supposedly led to the castle.

As they were watching, they noticed a tongue of the mist stretching towards the broken doors of the church. At the same time, their continual light rods dimmed and flickered out. Shouting, they took their places: Modom, Arthur, and Dexter at the barricade; Sniffinpuff high in the rafters; Tristan at the altar next to the priest.

The mist flowed through the gaping, ruined doors, a ground fog which stretched a mere 2' from the floor. Strangely thick, it separated into two streams that bypassed the group at the barricade and flowed into a swirling column near the altar that rose up to the blackened rafters. Arthur turned and ran back to the altar. The mist thickened, with winking blue lights inside of it, and then suddenly fell into a ground fog again. Behind the group at the altar stood a tall man, dressed in a black cloak with a high color. His eyes burned like red coals. He stretched his arm forth at Arthur and gestured at the kneeling priest.

Arthur turned and swung his sword high to strike at the unprotected back of the priest. His eyes gleamed with an unholy light. Tristan cast a *hold person* at Arthur and saw him stiffen into immobility. At the same time, Sniffinpuff fired off an *Arrow of Human Slaying *and missed. She fired an *Arrow of Orc Slaying *as well, and saw that strike the tall man. With a curse he faced her. The rest of the party charged towards him.

The tall pale man gestured at Sniffinpuff, and she fell from the rafters with a plop. In horror, the party saw that she had transformed into a toad. She hopped frantically out of the church into the night.

Meanwhile the group had surrounded the man. They jostled each other as they tried to strike at him, and none managed to hit him. He turned and stared at Dexter, gesturing towards the frozen form of the Paladin. Dexter swung his sword with all his might against the back of the Paladin, and dropped him with a crushed skull. Again, Tristan cast a *hold person,* against Dexter this time, and saw him stiffen into immobility as well. The battle was not going well -- nearly half of the party was out of action, and the man had barely been scratched.

With a snarl, the man swung towards Modom and gestured at the priest. Modom swung towards him and crashed his axe into the skull of Danovich, dropping him instantly. Tristan cast a *protection from evil *against Modom and watched him grind to a halt as the power giving him orders subsided. Only Tristan stood between the man and the rest of the party. With horror, he saw the remains of the priest begin to stir and then rise as a zombie.

The zombie attacked Tristan, swiping with his clawed hands, and missing. Tristan swung back to the tall man, only to see him gesture again ... and this time Tristan was caught up in webs and lay there helplessly as the tall man with burning eyes slowly advanced towards him. Modom attacked with fervor and managed to drop the zombie.

The tall man bent over the helpless Tristan, his mouth stretched into a grimace of hate and lust. His teeth were pointed, his eyes burning coals, and slaver dripped from his mouth onto Tristan. Tristan struggled helplessly against the webbing, trying desperately to escape.

Modom swung his axe against the unprotected back of the man, only to see it bounce off uselessly. The man straightened with a snarl, and slashed with his talons against Modom's face... it burned like acid had splashed him and Modom felt a piece of his soul shrivel and decay. He swung again, missing. Tristan watched, trying frantically to somehow to free himself.

Modom swung again, and missed again. But the tall man had swung away from Modom and was staring fixedly at the wall of the church... where Tristan suddenly saw a slight glow surrounding the Holy Symbol of Pelor... and that the old priest had somehow stretched forth his arm towards it.

With a barking laugh, the man dissolved into the mist, and the party watched it flow out of the door. The glow faded from the Holy Symbol, and Tristan noticed that the old priest's arm was limp.

The battle was done, and the priest of the Sun was dead. The Church, and all of Barovia, was unprotected against the Evil that pressed against it.