Original D&D, 4th Edition D&D, and "Game Balance"

I recently read a minor flame war on the Wizards of the Coast message boards discussing whether or not Hasbro should sell the D&D license to Paizo Publishing. Like Kobold Quarterly, I am neutral on the edition wars and love all editions of D&D -- including Pathfinder -- equally. I am a supporter of role playing games in general and only Synnabarr and FATAL occupy my list of RPGs to avoid.

My love of the various editions can probably be seen in my having recently begun a series of posts featuring house rules for the 1st Edition "Moldvay/Cook" Basic set that makes it play more like the current 4th edition system. It's a fun experiment and one that I think will bear some interesting fruit.

One of the things that I have noticed as a feature of Original D&D (and the Basic Edition) is how both versions of the game support inter-team dependency and reward the players working together toward a common goal. The fragility of characters in 1st edition, combined with their overt specialization, enforced inter-dependence, and the modern edition's focus on tactical combinations has a similar effect.

That's why I was surprised to read in the "Should Paizo..." thread that one of the things that some players hated about 4e was that it highlighted team play and didn't support a "go for your own" style of game where the players don't work together.

Maxperson (one of the individual's avatar aliases) wrote:

"So, if I may, the argument against 4e is that when you work together as a team you do better at fights?"

Let me correct two misinterpretations. First, it's not an argument against 4ed. It's simply something I dislike about 4ed Second, the argument is that 4ed math is set up with teamwork in mind, so it's more or less essential, rather than optional. Your average player is not going to be on the same level as the guy who claims to have beaten an elite as a solo character in 4ed.

"And this is unrealistic because... (?!?)"

Not everyone does or should have to work as a team.

Maxperson's assertion that 4e enforcing teamwork was a new phenomenon in D&D surprised me. It seems to be an echo of a certain kind of play that some in the OSR community refer to when describing their own gaming history, but it isn't one that I ever experienced. D&D for me has never been a game of wandering self-interested mercenaries each out to get the fat loot at the expense of the other players. I only played in one campaign that remotely resembled that scenario, and it ended friendships. D&D isn't Diplomacy or Risk it is a Heroic Fantasy.

I have to say that I sometimes wonder if my opinion that D&D has always been designed to encourage teamwork and encourage moral behavior is misguided. Otherwise, how can I explain those who argue that an edition that makes D&D about teamwork is a bad thing?

Thankfully, I went back and read my copy of J. Eric Holmes' excellent Fantasy Role Playing Games. Holmes wrote the first Basic D&D set, so he knows a little of what he speaks when it comes to the design intentions of early editions of D&D.

Holmes writes:

I don't mean to imply that the designers of games set out to teach us little moral lessons about everyday life -- except Gygax.

"Except Gygax?" So Gygax did intend to teach us moral lessons about everyday life Dr. Holmes? How?

In the D&D world fighters can not do magic, but magicians are so weak that they need to be protected by fighters. Clerics can heal wounds and do a lot of fighting but are no good at long distance offensives because they can not shoot arrows or throw offensive spells. The constraints of the rules practically dictate cooperation and mutual respect for the talents and weaknesses of each class, and I find it hard to believe that Gygax was not fully conscious of the principle when he wrote them.

Gygax calls this "play balance" and insists that it is not good for one character to grow too powerful with respect to the others.

Holmes goes on to say that it is other games that go against the cooperation principle, but not D&D.

So...D&D has always encouraged cooperation. It has always encouraged teamwork. The fact that 4e has strengthened this interdependence back to levels akin to those of Moldvay/Cook basic, is one of the things I love about the game.

It's fine to play games that don't encourage teamwork.  Games like Paranoia and Boot Hill where players actively act against one another are quite fun.  But D&D is an abstraction of Heroic Fantasy and Sword and Sorcery.  These genre are not quite as mercenary as some might portray them...even when they are purely mercenary like Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser they still work together.

[Heroes of Karameikos] Part 2 -- The Order of the Griffon

As you know, I am working on a set of house rules that adapt the old Moldvay/Cook Basic and Expert D&D rules and make them play more like a 4th edition campaign. I am calling these rules "Heroes of Karameikos" after a country in the Known World setting that was originally presented in the Moldvay/Cook sets. I have always enjoyed the Known World setting and my house rules will attempt to capture some of the flavor of the setting, but they will continually direct readers to the original rule books for additional rules.

Take my most recent addition, the Order of the Griffon, as an example. At the beginning of my Character Classes section, I make it clear that Player Characters are different from normal people. They have the potential to become heroes of legend. As such, most people are merely "Normal Men," and even special non-player characters are represented by the character classes presented in the Moldvay/Cook rules. My house rules tell you to use those rules for non-player characters, but they provide sub-classes specially designed for player characters. These sub-classes have abilities granted to them at every level in a way I believe reflects the 4th edition feel. I wanted the abilities to be significant enough to matter, but not so powerful as to make using them the equivalent of playing D&D on "easy."

For members of the Order of the Griffon, the military order of the Church of Karameikos (you can read more about them in the excellent Grand Duchy of Karameikos Gazetteer), they gain the following special abilities.

Order of the Griffon (Cleric)

• 1st Level – Cure Minor Wounds. A member of the Order of the Griffon may call upon the power of the immortals to heal up to 3 points of damage dealt to himself/herself or allies each encounter. These points of healing may be divided as the Cleric wishes.
• 2nd Level – Military Training. The member of the Order of the Griffon is now trained in the use of Normal Swords and can use them in combat.
• 3rd Level – Strike Against the Stained Soul. Once per Encounter, the Cleric may add +3 points of damage to a successful attack against an enemy of Chaotic alignment.

As always, you can find a working copy of my house rules here.

"X-Men: First Class" Trailer Has Been Released

With the exception of some missteps in the third film, the X-men movie franchise is one of the premier superhero film series. The acting has been consistently good, the stories compelling, and the effects impressive.

If the trailer is any hint, it looks like the upcoming "X-Men: First Class" is a return to the quality of the earlier entries. I'm looking forward to seeing what Matthew Vaughn ("Layer Cake," "Stardust") does with Marvel's Mutant Miracle.



Of the stills released for the film, I really like this one. It has a slight "Tomorrow People" quality, and that's a good thing.

From Wizards of the Coast to Self Published "Devil's Cape" by Rob Rogers Now Available on Kindle

Wizards of the Coast publishes many excellent media tie-in novels, but there was a short window of time when they published a line of original fiction under the "Discoveries" masthead. The line of books had a number of excellent entries, and unlike the media tie-in books the authors kept the copyright to their creations. Of the books published in that line, "Devil's Cape" by Rob Rogers was one of the true gems. Rob's novel is a superhero tale, but one that takes place in a very realistic setting and with a realistic representation of super powered people. The stakes for the characters in "Devil's Cape" are very real, both physically and emotionally.

It is often said that no one ever "really" dies in comic books, and it is true, but it isn't true in "Devil's Cape." The heroes of this novel fight for justice in a world of corrupt politicians and policemen, and where maintaining a secret identity is vitally important for survival. The villains of the book are ruthless and cruel and motivated by real human desires.

In the book Rob asks and answers the question, "what would happen if superheroes behaved like the Avengers, while the villains behaved like real people?" He then asks, "what would the next generation of heroes look like?"

Rob's book has all the craft and seriousness of the Wildcards series with none of the staid Baby Boomer "sex and drugs" clichés that pop up every now and then in that series. The book also provides a perfect setting for a non-alien invasion "Necessary Evil" Savage Worlds superhero campaign.

I count "Devil's Cape" as one of the best books I've read in the past couple of years. It is worth your time and money, and it's available on Kindle and other e-readers as well.

Buy it, and let's get Rob to write some more tales of "Devil's Cape."

I interviewed Rob shortly after the book was originally published for the podcast I had at the time.

Origins RPG Submissions?

Have Wizards of the Coast, Fantasy Flight Games, and Paizo submitted RPG entries for the Origins Awards? If not, why not?

Are they boycotting the Oscars of the gaming community in favor of the Ennies in order to promote their products at GenCon rather than at Origins?

What is the status of their submissions?

I ask, but don't know.

What I do know is that it would be a travesty if none of these companies submitted their excellent products from last year for consideration.

D&D Essentials was remarkable, Deathwatch is great, and Paizo's Advanced Player's Guide is inspiring.

What's going on here?

[Heroes of Karameikos] Part 1 -- Character Generation

I have just finished writing my "working" text for my attempt to create a game that has a "4th Edition Feel Using 1st Edition Rules." So far, I have laid out the initial steps of character creation, which only have a couple of distinct differences from standard Moldvay Basic.

First, characters pick their class before rolling statistics. A player then rolls 4d6, taking the best 3, for their prime requisite and rolls 3d6 in order for the remainder of their statistics. For those classes that have more than 1 prime requisite, they only roll 4d6 for one of the player's choice.

Second, I included my "death" rules. A character that is reduced to 0 hit points is only dead if they are at 0 hit points at the end of an encounter and fail a saving throw versus death. Otherwise they are merely unconscious.

Third, the Dexterity modifier adds/subtracts from damage as well as to hit rolls. This reflects 4e's philosophy of specialization. A philosophy I am trying to move over to my HoK rules.

You can read the full working rules here.

Free PDF of "Kobold Quarterly" #11

I'm convinced that one of the reasons that the online versions of Dragon and Dungeon magazines haven't received as many submissions as they once did is that many people are submitting to Wolfgang Baur's excellent Kobold Quarterly magazine. I've been a subscriber since day one, and have one of those rare Issue 1 print copies.

Wolfgang and crew are currently offering issue #11 for free as a pdf. Just add the issue to your cart and enter the code KQ11Gift at checkout for your free copy -- offer ends February 9th, 2011.

Let's get some more pro-4e and pro-Dragon Age people into the Kobold Community!

Hulu Recommendation Friday -- Community: Advanced Dungeons and Dragons

After a long hiatus, here is the much deserved return of Hulu Recommendation Friday. This week's offering is very near and dear to my heart. I have thoroughly enjoyed the NBC sit com "Community" from its pilot episode, but now that it has fused itself with another of my loves the show has my undying loyalty. If NBC execs try to cancel the show...I'll have them performing Otto's Irresistible Dance.



Gamers...

Note the fusion of new school (Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms) with old school (Queen of the Demonweb Pits, Unearthed Arcana, The Dungeon Master's Guide) in the products featured.

To those of us who saw "Role Models," it's no surprise that Ken Jeong knocks the ball out of the park in this episode.

Adventure Gamebooks as RPGs Part 2 -- Sagard the Barbarian: #1 The Ice Dragon

Gary Gygax, the co-creator of the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game, dove into the adventure gamebook craze in 1985 with his Sagard the Barbarian series of gamebooks. This series of four interactive novels took place in Gary Gygax's signature "World of Greyhawk" campaign setting. Sagard's adventures in The Ice Dragon begin in a mountain range called The Rakers which make up the border of Ratik and the Theocracy of the Pale.

Gygax co-wrote the Sagard series with Flint Dille. Dille's other works have included the Transformers and GI Joe TV series, as well The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay video game. Gygax met Dille while he was in Hollywood working on the Dungeons & Dragons animated series, and his relationship with Dille led to Gygax asking Dille's sister Lorraine Williams to help save a floundering TSR in 1984. The Williams saga is its own story, one which has left Lorraine's name an epithet in some gaming circles. By the end of 1985, the same year that The Ice Dragon was published, Gygax sold his stock in TSR to Williams and ended his relationship with the company.

All of this leaves one to wonder what Gygax thought of Dille and whether the Williams affair is one of the reasons why the Sagard saga is limited to the four existing volumes.

The Ice Dragon is an engaging gamebook, but is its game system sufficient to support game play outside of the game book environment?

Let's have a look at the rules.

Game Mechanics

With the exception of rules for keeping track of "trophies" that Sagard collects during his adventures, The Ice Dragon rules set is entirely limited to combat mechanics. By itself, this doesn't automatically mean that the rules won't be able to be expanded into a complete rpg, combat is a central part of most rpgs, but it does mean that there will be some work for the game master who tries to adapt the system. If the combat system is robust enough, than one could extrapolate from those rules to create mechanics for other actions as well. Games like Dragon Age use the same mechanics for combat resolution and task resolution, so it can be done.

The Ice Dragon's combat mechanics are relatively simple. Characters and opponents are rated for Hit Points which determine how much damage an individual can take before being defeated. These are a common mechanic in D&D descended rpgs. Characters and opponents are also rated by level which represents their skill in combat. Their effectiveness in combat is determined by rolling a 4-sided die and comparing the result to the character's statistic block. An example of a character's statistic block looks something like the following:

SAGARD (LEVEL 2: 1/0, 2/1, 3/1, 4/2)
[20][19][18]...[3][2][1]

This stat block tells us that Sagard is level 2, has twenty hit points, and how much damage he does depending on the roll he makes on a 4-sided die. For example, if Sagard rolled a 3 on the die he would do 1 point of damage. Given that each number has an equal chance of occurring, this gives Sagard a Damage per Round of:

DPR = (.25)(0) + (.25)(1) + (.25)(1) + (.25)(2) = 1

A level two character like Sagard delivers 1 point of damage per round to his opponents, so it would take Sagard approximately 20 rounds to defeat someone as tough as himself. Thankfully, most monsters don't have the same number of hit points as Sagard or game play would be quite time consuming. The full chart for combat effectiveness can be seen in the table below:

Combat Ability		1	2	3	4
Level 0		0	0	0	4
Level 1		0	0	1	1
Level 2		0	1	1	2
Level 3		1	1	2	3
Level 4		1	2	3	3
Level 5		2	3	3	4

Looking at this table, I can see one quick discrepancy. Level 0 characters have the same average DPR as Level 2 characters, and are more effective than Level 1 characters. I understand that the mechanics are attempting to represent Level 0 characters as "unpredictable" and capable of "getting lucky" but the results don't seem quite satisfying.

These mechanics are easy to understand and present a fairly limited combat system. The system doesn't compare the combat abilities of combatants, like Fighting Fantasy, nor does it offer the possibility of maneuvers like Fighting Fantasy does with its "luck" mechanic. The system could be used as a basis for a skill system. Players could receive level ratings in skills. For example, Sagard might have a Level 2 skill in Stealth. This would allow him to roll 1 or 2 "skill success points," on a roll of 2 or better, demonstrating how stealthy the character was. These points could be compared to an opponent's Perception skill. If the opponent generates more skill success points than Sagard, then Sagard fails to hide.

Hmm...I actually like that. In this case, a Sagard stat block might look like the following:

SAGARD
Combat (Level 2: 1/0, 2/1, 3/1, 4/2)
Stealth (Level 2:1/0, 2/1, 3/1, 4/2)
Perception (Level 1: 1/0, 2/0, 3/1, 4/1)

[20][19][18]...[3][2][1]

The Ice Dragon, unlike the Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, does provide a simple system for character advancement. As a character wins and loses combats he acquires and loses "experience marks." When Sagard has acquired enough experience marks, he acquires the abilities of the next level. One could easily expand the experience mark system to the skills system by giving 1 mark per successful use of the skill, or even failures if the attempted use was creative enough.

As you can see, the system in The Ice Dragon taken by itself doesn't provide a full game system, but that it can fairly easily be expanded to create one. Were I to use the "Sagard System" as the basis for a game though, one of the first things I would change is the use of the 4-sided die for resolution determination. There isn't enough variety in it and when comparing the different levels it allows for a Level 0 individual to be as good as a Level 2 character on average.

[Heroes of Karameikos] 4e Feel, 1e Rules -- It's George Strayton's Fault

I have been haunting the blogs of various members of the Old School Renaissance gaming community for some time now. Some of the ideas coming from that community are quite inspiring to the role playing game fan and I heartily recommend that you hunt down several of the many blogs devoted to the OSR movement. Start over at Grognardia as he has a wonderful collection of links to OSR sights and is a consistently good blogger on topics gaming and pulp related. Up until yesterday my interest in OSR gaming has been primarily as a consumer. I own the "Swords and Wizardry White Box," "Lamentations of the Flame Princess," and the "B/X Companion" in print and several other titles as pdfs, and have enjoyed reading them. Reading the works of these creators created a small spark in the back of my imagination, but that spark had no kindling to feed it into a flame.

That kindling came from reading George Strayton's excellent "Legends & Labyrinths" blog. Unlike many OSR gamers, and I'm not sure George would consider himself completely OSR, Strayton's blog wasn't devoted to using the OGL to create a re-envisioned version of the D&D of old with "old school mechanics." Those blogs often, though not always, have a certain disdain for 4th edition D&D in general and a special ire for D&D Essentials. Strayton's blog was a sharp contrast to the typical older edition nostalgia blog. His blog was dedicated to playing 1st edition style games where death is around every corner and adventurers aren't necessarily "heroic" using the 4th edition D&D rules set. His particular recommendation was to use Essentials as the basis, and his house rules as a modification to that core rules set. Most of his house rules are excellent and are finding their way into my regular 4e game.

He also inspired me to try to get my group to play Moldvay/Cook Basic D&D again. The group's session wasn't quite what I had hoped it would be. I measure the quality of a game session by how much fun the players have in a session, and one player felt particularly hopeless during the very first encounter. It wasn't a good start, and I blogged about that yesterday, but it did turn out fun for me as the adventure continued -- and I hope the group enjoyed it as well. The experience made me realize what I really like about M/C Basic and what I really like about 4e.

I love the archetype driven nature of M/C and its quick and easy mechanics, but I don't like its almost capricious lethality. Characters can die at a moments notice. While this is fine for a horror game, I don't like that in a High Fantasy game. My favorite D&D setting, Mystara, can in no way be considered anything other than High Fantasy and a capricious lethality seems out of character for the setting.

What I enjoy about 4e is the clarity of the rules set, how the actions of one player interact with the other characters in the game. The rules reward and encourage team play. The game also allows players to feel heroic, while still feeling at peril during combat. I have considered using Robin Laws' mark up system in Hamlet's Hit Points to highlight how 4e combats nicely follow plot beats, but others have already touched on the topic. What I don't like about 4e is the tremendous number of powers, feats, and magic items. Yes, they allow for creativity, but they also create so many combinations that a player can become lost examining the puzzle pieces and never get around to actually playing the game.

I've decided to take my love for these two systems and post my own modified rules set temporarily called Heroes of Karameikos. The house rules will be based on the Moldvay/Cook rules sets, but they will incorporate some of what I like from 4e. In a twist on the traditional "old school" line "New edition rules, old edition feel," my game rules will be "Old edition rules with a new edition feel." I'll try to post at least one Heroes of Karameikos update a week starting with character generation and moving on to each of the classes. For those of you wondering...

Yes Elf will be a Class!

Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale Looks Like a Good Time

I am eagerly awaiting Atari's Dungeons and Dragons: Daggerdale which will be released for the Xbox 360 and PS3 later this year. If it is as fun as prior D&D console offerings, it should be a nice way to waste a few hours.

The Eye of Traldar and House Rules

Some of my players and I played some of The Eye of Traldar this past weekend and it got me thinking.

The Eye of Traldar is one of the rarer modules for "Basic" Dungeons & Dragons. It was written as a part of their "Challenger" series of introductory modules that expanded the Troy Denning boxed set. The story behind the module is relatively straightforward. The Iron Ring, a nefarious band of slavers under the leadership of Baron Ludwig von Hendriks, has acquired a potent magic item called the Eye of Traldar and brought it into their stronghold of Fort Doom. The Baron and his chief magical advisor are currently patrolling the borders of the Barony and evaluating the military strengths of their neighbors. Should the Baron and his advisor return to the Fort and discover how to unleash the power of the Eye, the Baron will be able to increase his domain and subjugate entire populations to his will with the mind coercing powers of the Eye.

It is up to our stalwart band of adventurers to infiltrate Fort Doom, through its "underdungeons," and retrieve the Eye before that can happen. It sounds like exciting -- if standard -- stuff, and it is...after the first act full on narrative railroading has passed.

Carl Sargent has presented a perfectly entertaining scenario, but it suffers from two key flaws. The first flaw is in the presentation of the narrative. The second flaw is a common "flaw" in "Basic" Dungeons & Dragons itself, and is what gave rise to this post in the first place.

In an attempt to start the adventure in medias res, Sargent begins the module with the players encountering a man named Alexei who is fleeing the Iron Ring. Within seconds of Alexei's arrival in their camp, the Iron Ring arrives. The encounter clearly establishes who the good guys and the bad guys are, and quickly involves the PCs in the dangerous business of combat related "action" (more on this in flaw 2). After the encounter is complete though, the adventure provides no opportunity for the players to abandon the rest of the quest. They are forced from encounter to encounter, with no options to decline to aid Alexei. It is possible for a DM to "wing it" and have the necessary encounters happen as a result of them not helping Alexei, but even then the players will feel railroaded into a forced narrative. Essentially, the players must endure three ambuscades before they begin their quest proper -- whether they want to or not. Given the difficulty of the first encounter, I think many groups might decide that abandoning the life of adventure is the higher calling.

Which brings me to what I view is the adventure's second flaw -- and a flaw in "Basic" Dungeons & Dragons -- its shear lethality.

Let's take the first encounter as an example. The players meet a 2nd level Fighter named Alexei and must face his pursuers which include 3 1st Level Fighters, 2 1st Level Thieves, and a 1st Level Elf (a fighter/magic-user hybrid in "Basic").

Let's assume a typical party of a 1st Level Cleric, a 1st Level Magic User, a 1st Level Thief, and 2 1st Level Fighters -- this wasn't the make up of the group playing. My group had a Cleric, a Fighter, and a Magic User.

Let's also assume that the characters have 2 statistics valued at 14-15, which is actually pretty good in a roll 3d6 in order char gen system, associated with their class (I'll also show my player's actual characters) and average hit points rolled for their respective class. This will give us characters that look roughly like the following:

Average Party

Name	Armor Class	Hit Points	THACO	High Stats	Weapon
Cleric	2	5	19	Wis/Con	Warhammer 1d6
Magic User	9	4	19	Int/Con	Dagger 1d4
Thief	6	4	19/18	Dex/Con	Short Sword 1d6
Fighter	2	6	18	Str/Con	Longsword 1d8+1
Fighter	2	6	18	Str/Con	Longsword 1d8+1

Opponents

Name	Armor Class	Hit Points	THACO	High Stats	Weapon
Fighters	5	5	19	none	Longsword 1d8
Elf	4	6	18	Str/Dex	Longbow 1d6/Longsword 1d8
Thieves	6	4	19	none	Short Sword 1d6

A quick look at these charts, as well as a basic understanding of D&D, reveals that the average "Opponent" Fighter has the following chances to hit the Average party.

Opponents

Character Type Attacked	Percent Hit	Avg Damage	Avg Hits to Kill
Fighters	20%	5	2
Mages	55%	5	1
Clerics	20%	5	1
Thieves	40%	5	1

As you can see, the average "non-Fighter" 1st Level character dies the first time that they are hit and Fighters are killed on the second hit. This is modified by the percentage chance to be hit. If we look at it as a Damage Per Round Equation (DPR = %toHit*AvgDam), we can determine the average number of rounds of combat a particular character will survive at First Level.

Opponents

Character Type Attacked	Percent Hit	Avg Damage	DPR	DPR/HP
Fighters	20%	5	1	6
Mages	55%	5	2.75	1+
Clerics	20%	5	1	5
Thieves	40%	5	2	2

This demonstrates a couple of things. While your average Fighter can only take 2 hits before being killed, he is still likely to last 6 rounds due to his low likelihood of being hit. Clerics are also have a fair chance of staying around for a while in a fight. Magic Users and Thieves, on the other hand, drop like flies.

Which brings my to my group on Saturday. It consisted of a Cleric, a Fighter, and a Magic User. The module specifically states that the Elf aims at any non-armored individuals with his Longbow. In this particular case, he had a 60% chance of hitting the Mage and his average damage was enough to kill the Mage outright -- and that's what happened.

For some, the fragility of low level characters isn't a problem. For them, the lethality of "Basic" D&D is one of its charms. I am not one of these people. I love the simplicity of the "Basic" system, but I also like to have my characters feel heroic. For me role playing games are about telling a story and having fun. Having your character killed in the first round of combat might be fun for some people, but it wasn't fun for my player. I had rolled the damage in "public view" and couldn't fudge the damage done, so this led me to institute one of my old house rules -- a house rule that I believe vital to "Basic."

DAMAGE HOUSE RULE #1 (0 HP Is Incapacitated Not Dead -- Unless a Coup de Grace is Delivered)

One of the things that led me to instituting this house rule was that some of the most "lethal" role playing games, Warhammer Fantasy and Dragon Warriors come quickly to mind, have systems that do not allow for low level characters to be "one hit killed." Instead they have "Fate Points" which can be spent to avoid death, or starting hit point totals that are greater than a single blow can deal in damage.

I don't mind players being incapacitated, so both of these are out. What I have ruled is that when I am running a "Basic" game, no character dies until the end of an encounter. If you are at zero or fewer hit points at the end of a combat, then you are dead. If you are healed before the last opponent is defeated/flees, then you can participate until you are incapacitated again. Given that the only way to heal a character in "Basic" is with magic items or spells, this isn't too "forgiving" of a rule, but it did allow our party to treat the mage's wound with a potion of healing and kept the player involved.

HOUSE RULE #2 (The 1st Rolled Hit that Does Damage Against PCs Doesn't Count Rule)

This isn't a rule that I used last night, but it is one that I am considering using. Given the fragility of "Basic" characters, it might be nice to give them a chance to automatically take zero damage from the first attack that hits them. Each player essentially has one "ablative" hit that cancels the first time they are struck in combat. This way players can feel heroic, after all they survived the first hit against them this combat, without being too powerful. This has the added effect of having diminishing value as the characters go higher in level. Higher level creatures tend to have more attacks and PCs have higher hit points so giving an additional hit doesn't alter the fear of death too much.

Since Fighters, Clerics, and similar Classes are so hard to hit in the first place, I might limit this to just Magic Users. It could be a class feature called "protective ward" or some such. Since Magic Users have such a low survivability rate at low levels, this seems a natural addition.

Mind you, if your group doesn't have a problem with one hit kills and finds that challenge rewarding than these rules aren't for you. I will be using them with my group though.

30 Days of "Oscar Nominee..." -- A Fun Tradition

Every year during Oscar Season TCM runs its annual "30 Days of Oscar" programming. During this time viewers are treated with a wonderful romp through the history of film. Viewers know they are watching the best of the best and can watch the films that inspired great filmmakers -- past and present.

At my house, we have a slightly different tradition. It's a game I call it "Oscar Nominee/Winner...," and it is wonderful fun and makes for its own kind of viewing pleasure. The rules of the game are simple. Make a calendar of films or TV shows featuring this year's nominees for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Director. The films themselves must not be the "best of the best." In fact, the quirkier the film or TV show the more amusing the calendar. After compiling your list, you share it with friends, vote for which films or TV shows your will all watch, and share the experience by discussing the merits of the films/talents during an Oscar viewing party. For example, if Tom Hanks and Hilary Swank were up for Oscars this year your list might include Bachelor Party and The Next Karate Kid. In this case, you would discuss how Hanks' performance in Bachelor Party prepared him for his nominated role etc.

One might think that this tradition is merely as a way to make light of Oscar nominees, but that would be incorrect.

The thing I respect more from talent working in the industry (in front of and behind the camera) is hard work. Maybe it's the blue collar kid in me, but I really admire people who crank out the work like the studio system actors used to do. I find that Hong Kong actors and British actors often have some of the "deepest" work filmographies. I don't like pretentious actors who spend to much time talking about "craft," I prefer those who consider acting work. Some of the best performances aren't always those in important films and the ability to work hard in smaller -- less serious -- projects is a demonstration of character.

So... what are my entries in this year's calendar?

BEST ACTOR

Actor	"Classic Role"
Jesse Eisenberg	Cursed
Colin Firth	The Last Legion
James Franco	Flyboys
Jeff Bridges	Stick It
Javier Bardem	Perdita Durango

BEST ACTRESS

Actress	"Classic Role"
Natalie Portman	Mars Attacks
Nicole Kidman	Days of Thunder
Jennifer Lawrence	The Bill Engvall Show
Michelle Williams	Halloween H20
Annette Bening	The Great Outdoors

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Actor	"Classic Role"
Christian Bale	Reign of Fire
Geoffrey Rush	House on Haunted Hill
Jeremy Renner	S.W.A.T.
John Hawkes	From Dusk 'Til Dawn
Mark Ruffalo	54

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Actress	"Classic Role"
Melissa Leo	Deadtime Stories
Helena Bonham Carter	Planet of the Apes
Amy Adams	Psycho Beach Party
Hailee Steinfeld	Back to You
Jacki Weaver	Cosi

BEST PICTURE

Director	"Classic Project"
Darren Aronofsky	The Fountain
David Fincher	Alien³
Tom Hooper	The Damned United
David O. Russell	Spanking the Monkey
Ethan Coen & Joel Coen	Raising Arizona

That's my list and I think it looks entertainingly watchable. It actually has a couple of my favorite films and favorite guilty pleasures.

What's your list?

One Reason Kurt Suzuki (C -- Oakland A's) is So Impressive

Work ethic.



Have you ever tried to jump out of 3 1/2 feet of water onto a pool deck 43" tall? Me either because I would fail. The kind of work ethic it takes to develop that kind of leg strength is impressive, but it is that kind of work ethic that Kurt Suzuki embodies. Catcher is one of the toughest positions in baseball for a player who wants to perform consistently as a hitter. Even good hitters can feel the weight of their legs pulling at them, slowing them down, affecting their timing as a game (or even more profoundly the season) drains their energy.

Kurt Suzuki's 2010 season saw a small drop in number of games played, a large drop in batting average, but little change in number of strikeouts or walks to plate appearances. Given the added reduction in doubles, but not home runs, it is possible that Suzuki's performance at the plate was affected by fatigue. It also appears that Suzuki is taking the time this off season to make sure that he can return to the solid numbers he produced in his first two full seasons in the Majors.

When I first saw Suzuki playing for the Sacramento River Cats, I could see that I was watching a remarkably talented player. He is a 1st Team All-American our of Cal-State Fullerton, winner of the Johnny Bench Award, and a joy to watch play.

Zombies, Robots, GI Joe, and Star Trek?

Um...

Dan Abnett is officially my favorite person.

It appears that comic book publisher IDW has released their first "Universe Spanning Crisis Like Event," and it is so high concept that my mind is about to explode. Here's the company's description.

It begins here! The first-ever IDW event, which affects the Transformers, G.I. Joe, Ghostbusters, and Star Trek universes! This dimensions-spanning storyline begins with a specially priced 40-page story by Abnett & Lanning (The Thanos Imperative) and David Messina (True Blood). Something goes horribly awry in the Zombies vs Robots universe, threatening to tear many of IDW’s biggest realities asunder! Don’t miss the IDW event ten years in the making!

James T. Kirk, Optimus Prime, Snake Eyes, and Venkman vs. Zombies!

I'm overwhelmed.

All that remains is to begin stating up the "Infestation" using Wizards of the Coasts' Gamma World rules set. I think it should do quite nicely for the task. Either that, or Savage Worlds...or the Pacesetter system from Chill/Timemaster/Star Ace...or Risus

Which game system gets your vote?

The Obligatory Open Letter to Wizards of the Coast (Hasbro) Regarding Dungeonand Dragon Magazines

Dear Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro,

Like most of your fans, I read your recent Ampersand column where your revealed some of what we have in store for us this year with regard to your Dungeons and Dragons line of products. There were some things that I liked -- Heroes of Shadow is going to be a hard back -- and there were some things that were disappointing -- the end of miniatures sales -- but I was grateful that you gave us some hints as to what are going on.

I understand that you are a corporation and as such have to worry about things like Net Present Value and Return on Investment. I know that you want the best for the product line for all stakeholders -- investors, employees, and consumers -- and that this can lead to some decisions that consumers may find confusing. I also understand that you are dealing with the changing modes of product delivery that are emerging in the new century. I know that you value me as a fan, but that as a publicly traded company you cannot always tell me everything that is going on.

When you let the Paizo license to publish Dragon and Dungeon magazines expire, it disappointed a lot of people. I wasn't as shocked. After all, Paizo had been positioning themselves as a competitor in this particular market segment and it isn't really good business practice to give an emerging competitor more money. I was also impressed with your initial digital offerings. Over the past couple of years there have been inconsistent months, but that is true of any magazine. I would like to see more published submissions and less staff writing, but I wonder if the internet (and companies like Open Design) haven't diluted the pool of possible quality submissions. There are some excellent gaming companies, and gaming support companies releasing products and that has to affect the number of submissions you are receiving.

I also have to say that with the focus on adapting your online content delivery model, which included your recent cancellation of the online version of Dungeon and Dragon magazine, I wonder if you aren't overlooking an opportunity.

I think it is important that you generate revenue and provide content for gamers, and I am perfectly content to have that content delivered through your website absent the magazines themselves as digital Wizards products. Over the past two years, Dungeon and Dragon behaved less like magazines and more like web content updates as it was. You have the numbers on single article vs. issue downloads and I am sure made a rational decision based on that data. Digital products work differently than print ones. With a print product, you get everything at once. With a digital one, you update it continuously. I can see favoring digital over print, or "print behavior" digital. So I fully understand why Wizards will no longer be collecting Dungeon and Dragon articles into "digital issues."

That doesn't mean I don't have a recommendation. I do.

While it would be foolishness of the highest order to license the two magazines back to Paizo, a major competitor, have you considered licensing Dungeon and Dragon magazines to another provider? I think that Goodman Games or Open Design could do a bang up job producing the magazines as print magazines. Licensing them out again wouldn't affect your bottom line, we'll still subscribe to DDI with its product offerings. I'm liking how the new Web Based Character Builder is developing -- it isn't "there" yet, but I love where it is heading and can see how well it is integrating into your other tools. The official updates adventures and rules on your website will be read regularly by me and other subscribers to your online service whether or not the content areas are called Dungeon and Dragon.

So let someone else use those names to publish magazines that support your material. Let fans submit to a company that is more agile and "closer" to the customer. As hard as you try, as a major corporation we'll always feel distant from you. We'll love your products and your employees, but most of management will be alien to us. Let the magazines find a new home that is friendly to you, and that can do some grassroots promotion for you in ways that a large corporation cannot.

Just an idea.

I'm looking forward to seeing your upcoming products this year and from what I've read of the "Mistwatch" article I'm happy that you've moved the Nentir Vale Gazetteer into the digital world.

Christian Lindke

In Memory of Robert E Howard -- Jan 22, 1906 to June 11, 1936

When I saw the first Conan movie (1982) I had never heard of Robert E Howard. Even after that movie inspired me to purchase a couple of Conan paperbacks at the local paperback exchange, the name of Conan's creator was unknown to me as the books I purchased were of the pastiche variety. It wasn't until the Christmas after I had seen the film when my parents bought me the Dungeon Master's Guide and I read Gary Gygax's famous "Appendix N" that I remember encountering the name. I quickly found copies of Conan stories that were written by Howard, though the editions also contained some "co-written" stories, and I could instantly see a difference between the dark prose of Howard and the more juvenile writing of the imitators. There was something more to the Howard stories (as I have written before). They weren't the immature wish fulfillment tales of a lusty and violent young man in a loincloth of some of the imitators. Contrary to the Schwarzenegger portrayal, Howard's Conan was cunning, quick witted, joyful and somber.

It wasn't long before I was hunting down everything I could find written by Howard. Eventually, I stumbled upon my favorite Howard character Solomon Kane. The wrathful puritan's tales combined horror and action in a way that sparked my imagination.

In recent years, I have read a good deal of Howard's fiction as more publishers release collections of his writings. Recently, I have been paging through Del Rey's The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard and came across a story that is wonderfully Poe-esque. In honor of Howard's 105th birthday, here is a sample of "The Touch of Death."

Old Adam Farrel lay dead in the house wherein he had lived alone for the last twenty years. A silent, churlish recluse, in his life he had known no friends, and only two men had watched his passing.

Dr. Stein rose and glanced out the window into the gathering dusk.
"You think you can spend the night here, then?" he asked his companion.
This man, Falred by name, assented.
"Yes, certainly. I guess it's up to me."
"Rather a useless and primitive custom, sitting up with the dead," commented the doctor, preparing to depart, "but I suppose in common decency we will have to bow to precedence. Maybe I can find some one who'll come over here and help you with your vigil."
Falred shrugged his shoulders. "I doubt it. Farrel wasn't liked -- wasn't known by many people. I scarcely knew him myself, but I don't mind sitting up with a corpse."
Dr. Stein was removing his rubber gloves and Falred watched the process with an interest that almost amounted to fascination. A slight, involuntary shudder shook him at the memory of touching these gloves -- slick, cold, clammy things, like the touch of death.

The story proceeds from this opening to a perfectly rewarding Twilight Zone style resolution. The tone has been set.

I often wonder at what tales Howard would have written had he lived beyond the age of 30. Sadly, we can only speculate.

Interactive Gamma World Character Sheet and How Even When They Do Some Thing Awesome WotC Drops the Communication Ball

One of the best games of 2010 was Wizards of the Coast's latest edition of Gamma World. The game not only demonstrated how adaptable the 4th Edition D&D rules were to new settings, it also ably demonstrated how easy those rules are to learn. I have raved about Gamma World in the past, discussed how it makes an excellent superhero game with very little modification, and included it in my top ten games of 2010.

Wizards of the Coast has done a bang up job with the game, provided excellent follow up products, and allowed for an engaged fan base to create aids and material for the game on their boards.

Oh...they also created an excellent interactive character sheet that can make characters for the game that is fully updated to include the latest supplement.

You might have missed the article announcing the tool. I know I did. I found it one day when rifling through the site as I am wont to do from time to time.

The character sheet was released online on 12/21/2010, right about the time that Wizards became very quiet about their plans for 2011 and when products were falling off of their Product Schedule.

There was little fan fare and the fan base was spending so much time scrutinizing every Twitter post by Wizards employees in speculation regarding the fate of D&D. So much so that they missed this awesome tool. Fans have every right to complain about the new Online Digital Character Creation tool, but they have no excuse to have missed this spot where Wizards got it exactly right.

Well...exactly right except for the effective communication part.

The product isn't behind the pay wall. It includes all the character types from both rules booklet and it's web based without the need for unique plug-ins. It's exactly what players of Gamma World need...

Okay, it doesn't save the characters and isn't downloadable, but I don't care. It's awesome and I can make 20 Gamma World characters in less than three minutes.

I wish they had promoted it a little more boldly.

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG in Playtest Phase

This November Goodman Games will be releasing their Dungeon Crawl Classics role playing game. Goodman Games describes the game as "an OGL system that crossbreeds Appendix N with a streamlined version of 3E." I have enjoyed reading the Dungeon Crawl Classics line of adventures that Goodman has published, and will be purchasing the game when it comes out.

One of the things I find most interesting about the game is that it will be using all the "weird" Zocchi dice -- like the 24 sided die. It reminds me of my friend Ron's idea to create an rpg that only used 12 sided dice for resolution. His reason for the idea? He liked d12s. Apparently the folks at Goodman Games like the "weird" dice, and incorporating them into game play sounds plain fun.

The game is currently in playtest.

I am envious of all those who are playtesting the game. I'll just have to pre-order it and count the days.

BTW, this book has a cover I can appreciate.

In My Mailbox Today -- The Wildside Press Robert E. Howard Reader

For the past few months I had contemplated purchasing The Robert E Howard Reader from Wildside Press. I have purchased some of their Howard publications in the past, in particular Gates of Empire and have been quite happy with the purchases. Wildside is one of the many excellent smaller SF/F publishers and are the current publisher of Weird Tales, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine and Adventure Tales.

What struck me as particularly interesting about the Reader was its ecumenical approach to Howard scholarship. The book features writings about Howard from Poul Anderson, Fritz Leiber, Robert M. Price, and the pariah of many modern Howard fans L. Sprague de Camp. In fact, the book is dedicated to de Camp (I can see James at Grognardia cringing as I write this).

As much as I disagree with de Camp's analysis of Howard's psyche as pure psychobabble, I have always admired his promotion of Howard's work and I was impressed that the Reader included and acknowledged him.

There was only one thing that kept me from ordering the book day one...

It has a horrible cover! It's worse than a Baen books cover, and that's not easy folks. What would your average plane/bus/train passenger think I was reading if they saw it?

I finally overcame my hesitation. After all, if I can admit to being a Hellcats fan how bad can walking around with this book be?

Looking at the contents, I am impressed so far. There is just one thing that keeps grating against my nerves. In the introduction of the book, and on the back cover, it says "A century after Robert E. Howard's death, it is evident that this amazing Texan achieved something unique in the annals of American literature." Conceptually, I agree with the sentence. Factually, I am irked. Robert E. Howard died in 1936 -- 75 years ago. The book was written for publication in 2007 -- you can still buy the author's Lulu version -- so it is intended as a Howard Centennial book. This is great, and I'm sure the writer meant "a century after Robert E. Howard's birth," but the lack of editing/review irks me.

I'll let you know how the book holds up as soon as I can get my mental nitpicker to take a nap.