In which we add a pillar

We all know about the three pillars of D&D: Combat, exploration and social interaction.  My players get

xp from at LEAST two of those three pretty much every week and some weeks from all three,  But here's my complaint.  We don't use 5e feats.  We use Alexis Smolinski's Sage Knowledge System.  Only my players don't "use" it NEARLY as often as I'd like them to.  They've earned/learned/acquired some really cool stuff but they're still playing characters like they're 3rd level but with more HP and doing more
damage.  

    I HATE playing the PC's ("hey remember you can X" when a great opportunity to X presents itself.) and as DM I don't want the cognitive load of running NPC's, BBG's, the WORLD, AND PC's.  Don't think that's too much to ask!

    Morning after every session I send an email to the party breaking down xp earned.  Day after that I send an email to each player detailing and Sage knowledge learned and/or any level advancement.  So here's what we're going to change.  The morning after email will include two additional sections.  I'll be awarding XP for skill use (see below) AND I'll point out (to each PC) missed opportunities.  "Ranger, you're an expert horseman AND and expert falconer, yet both were ignored the entire session.  Cleric, your knowledge of beasts could've really assisted those villagers who didn't know what was killing their livestock and when you DID finally find that owlbear you might have used your 'forfeit self' skill to worsen your (already high) AC allowing the fighter (or maybe even the bard) to get a nice +6 to hit.  Sorcerer you STILL haven't told me what language you'd like to start learning and you might have taken some time in the village to help that old monk decipher that mouldy text he'd found."  And so on.

Anyway.

To take a page from three pillar experience we're going to try this: using a skill commensurate with your level earns you 5 points (once per session.  Building a bivouac every night of a ten-day journey will NOT earn you 50!)  Using a skill below your current level earns you 1 point per level of the skill.  Once you're an authority all amateur skills are then worth one.  For an expert, amateur skills are worth 1, authority skills are worth 2 and expert skills are worth 5.  When you're a sage ("you're a sage all the way from your first cigarette to" .....ooops ..... sorry) sage skill usage is worth 5 expert skills 3, etc.

Hopefully these two changes will lead to some PC diversity and interesting play and world interaction.  What am I missing?

In which we revolt!

 May entry into the 11/24 Blog Carnival: Haves and Have Nots.

Revolution as a Game of Power: Running Revolts Through Faction Intrigue

In TTRPGs, revolution often means upheaval, chaos, and the rearrangement of power structures. Yet, there's no need to think of revolutions as purely mass-based uprisings. Drawing inspiration from settings like 700 Lordly Houses, I take a different approach: presenting revolution as a complex dance of factional influences, rivalries, and the tactical moves of a few skilled operators—namely, the players.

Revolution as a Network of Influences

Revolution can be seen as a struggle not only of the “Have Nots” rising against the “Haves” but also of competing factions jockeying for control, influence, and survival. This is a more localized, faction-oriented perspective, where individual agents—be they nobles, spies, or mercenaries—can have a significant impact. By focusing on factions rather than masses, players can engage with revolution on a scale that can be both digestible and intensely personal.

Why Small Groups Matter

In a faction-driven game, the actions of small groups are the levers that push change. This doesn’t mean the players alone can start or end a revolution; rather, they influence pivotal figures and factions whose decisions ripple through the fabric of society. For example, one lord’s choice to back a rebellion might turn the tide or fracture alliances. A revolutionary movement may rely on noble houses, secret guilds, or even criminal syndicates, each with their own interests and methods. As the players work with (or against) these factions, they impact the revolution in a way that feels organic and impactful.

Running a Revolution in Faction Turns

Using faction turns, as outlined by Of Cats and Books, is an ideal way to track the progress and status of various revolutionary factions. In these turns, factions make their moves: recruiting allies, making power plays, spreading influence, or crushing dissent. When players act, they influence a faction's standing or affect another faction’s plans directly, giving them real agency in the revolution.

Faction turns can unfold on a time scale that best fits your table, creating a timeline that charts the revolution’s growth or collapse. The players’ actions determine how their allies fare, who gains or loses influence or resources, and where the tipping points might occur.

Influence over Mass Action: The Key to Revolutions

When thinking of a revolution as a series of factional maneuvers, a single band of heroes isn’t responsible for winning or losing. Instead, they are agents of influence. Consider a few ways players can affect a revolution without leading a mass uprising:

• Targeted Sway: Players can sway key NPCs within factions, negotiating or persuading them to join, remain neutral, or withdraw from the revolutionary movement. Instead of fighting in the trenches, players maneuver behind the scenes, manipulating those with direct control over the masses or at least small clusters of them.

• Strategic Strikes: Just as in Blades in the Dark, where individual actions impact larger factional standings, players can conduct missions against specific targets. This could mean sabotaging supply lines, assassinating a tyrant’s right-hand agent, or liberating a charismatic revolutionary imprisoned by the ruling class.

• Moral Manipulation: Revolutions often pivot on ideology. Players could spread misinformation, inspire loyalty, or discredit rivals to shift public perception and morale. This is where Night’s Black Agents-style investigative and manipulative gameplay shines, as players engage in the war for hearts and minds rather than swords and shields. The Vampyramid is your friend!

• Personal Alliances and Betrayals: In a world like 700 Lordly Houses, allegiances are delicate. If players help a faction rise in the revolution, they’re setting the stage for power grabs and betrayals down the line. The revolution becomes less about one side winning or losing and more about who gains what in the aftermath.

Examples of Faction-Driven Scenarios

1. Betrayal at the Banquet: The players receive intelligence that a noble who sits on the fence between the ruling power and the revolutionaries is attending a private banquet. If they can sway or sabotage this noble’s allegiances, they could pull an entire family or network into the revolutionary cause or away from it. Success or failure here shifts the balance of power within the revolution. I might suggest Festivities if you need ideas.

2. The Assassination of a War Architect: A brutal general is leading oppressive measures that have kept the revolution contained. Removing this figure could change the tide. The players are tasked with planning and executing a subtle assassination, knowing that every faction involved will have its own reaction.

3. The Smuggling Chain: Factions often rely on supply lines and resources to operate. The players are hired by a faction to secure a route for smuggling arms or block a rival’s trade routes. In this scenario, players become the nerve center of factional warfare, making tactical decisions that impact the success of larger movements.

Conclusion: Agency and Balance

By presenting revolution as a series of factional skirmishes, rivalries, and negotiations, the process becomes something dynamic and immersive rather than a grandiose mass movement. This also preserves the tension and challenge for the players, as they never have total control but remain essential to shaping key events. In this approach, players are neither the entire revolution nor just passive witnesses—they are influencers, tacticians, and decision-makers. This style keeps revolutions interactive and allows for a balance of political intrigue, tactical moves, and high-stakes choices, providing a unique and layered game experience.

 EDit 11/20 to add:  Let's Talk Clocks is another helpful tip ... and Red Hand of Doom provides good insight on how to run those massive war campaigns by playing the party.

Note:  Chat-GPT assisted with the compilation of this post.

In Which Strahd Must Die!

 Last Halloween I ran Death House for my party and some guests, including offspring.  Went VERY well.  I enjoyed it.  The party enjoyed it.  The kids enjoyed it.  So to continue the theme, THIS season I'm gonna run Strahd as a one-shot.  There is a SLEW of info out there to assist and I don't like ANY of it.  But I do like a little of ALL of it.  So I'm taking all of what I found and throwing it into my candy bowl, mixing it up and coming up with a fun, playable one night timed adventure.  I'm writing this BEFORE the session because I have the opportunity to.  I'll add the recap in the morning.

So what are my sources?  Let's start with The Count, The Castle and The Curse.  Trims the size of the facility.  Provides a good map.  And some interesting mechanics.  Stress level is AWSOME.  The escalating encounters seem like a good idea.  Time will tell.  The ticking real-time clock is perfect.  Not a fan of the "escape" goal, the start up nor the encroaching vampirism mechanic.  Trinkets might work out too.  We'll see.

Back in the Before Times Tim Bannock wrote some great notes for Strahd as a One-Shot.His goal posts are good.  His Ireena story is solid and playable.  His tomb descriptions are spot on.  And his resource citations are as well.  

Playing Curse of Strahd as a One Shot via James Introcaso’s Worldbuilder.  Step 3 and Step 4 are good, although I'm skipping the placement of an ally.

James Haeck’s articles at D&D Beyond: Strahd Must Die Tonight! and Strahd Must Die Again (And Again And Again)  These are both quite helpful, including the info on how party size and level.

Sly Flourish touched on it both in a video and in writing.  His approach includes an interesting "game" for the life of Ireena.  

Also using the three-step Strahd from Reddit

11/5 - Remember, remember!  It's been a week.  A week of Halloween, scary movies, football and session prep.  But I promised session notes so here we go.  

The party comprised Dakora (Wizard 9), Serynah (Sorceress 6), Thorn (Bard 6), Kaj (Paladin 6) and Rudolph van Richeten (Ranger 9.)

We started with the reading of the Tarroka during the carriage ride.  Unfortunately all three artifacts were to be located in the catacombs.  Strahd delivered his speech at the gate and the party entered the castle, suitably cautious and dare I say frightened.  Stone gargoyle's accompanied by REAL ones in the foyer kept them cautious and alert.  Down to the mess hall, through the larder (sighting a black cat which put them off their feed for a bit,) and into the cauldron room to which they assigned great weight.  Sarynah took the pointy hat.  It WAS Halloween after all.

Back to the larder.  Then down to the torture chamber.  Much caution in the flooded rooms.  And an encounter with Strahd.  He displayed his power, setting the stage for how bad the final battle would be without the artifacts.  Jail cell examined but the gargoyle at the end of the hallway was skipped.  Back up the trough the mess hall and into the organ room.  Another sighting/confrontation with Strahd.  Tension builds as the realization they're being toyed with sets in.

To the chapel.  Strahd watches from the balcony.  Party realizes they have only a little over an hour left and they pick up the pace, triggering encounters and missing clues.  Audience chamber.  The balcony. Up to the reception hall.  The study - which was, especially since van Richten was being played by a DM who'd run the entire campaign and was tickled with how the one-shot was bringing the legends together.  Serynah was finally recognized as Ireenah.  Sergei's story was shaping up.  Strahd was now more than just the BBG.  He'd "done things" that were brought home to the party.  The defaced paintings.  The hanged woman.  The aging child was discovered and presented quite a conundrum as the party was becoming quite flustered and pressed for time.  

They realized they needed to go down so I cut out the Hall of Heroes and allowed them to find the long spiral staircase down to the crypt.  Wanted to run the 30+ catacombs but instead went with a small eight tomb offering.  They found the three artifacts with two minutes to go and dashed to the chapel (which is where they'd been told they'd find Strahd.  BEST decision they'd made was to approach from the balcony.

(Note: they kept wanting to go back to the cauldron room and I meta'd them out of it.)

The two spell-casters stayed up whil the other three went down the stairs to face Strahd.  Battle took over an hour.  Lots of close rolls.  Very good use of feats and spells.  Well-timed healing.  Using the three-part Strahd I was changing him every 1/4 of his HP: physical changes and varied attacks.  My only regret was when he wnet into his final quarter I  opted for him to retreat to his casket (with his three wives.)  I changed him into a bat and he damned near made it until Serynah cast Web and he failed his ST.  My error in not allowing him to auto-save.  He then changed into a wolf but was unable to flee before the Paladin sued the Sun Sword to deal the final blow.  

"How do you want to do this?"  

"As I stab the blade into his heart I think of Sergie and whisper .... 'Good morning.'"

Thought it would take 4 hours.  Took 5.  And everyone left happy.  Will DEFINITELY run it again next year.  Stricter.

Questions?

 

In which we count to three

 Hercules' third task was to catch the hind of Artemis.  In OUR setting the hind has been wounded.  She must still be caught .... and healed ... and the miscreants made to pay.  This task involves a skill check which is a pleasant change of pace.  Survival and Nature checks are used to track/locate the beast.  Once found Stealth might lead to a successful apprehension or calming.  Failure leads to the skill challenge of a chase: five successes needed before three failures.  Failure means you've lost the trail and need to start over the next day.  

PC's lose hp on a failure albeit not many considering their level, and before each new round of skill checks they must make a CON check or suffer a level of exhaustion.  This seems kinda silly.  IF we assume most parties will comprise 3-6 PCs that means there would be, at MOST two rounds and most of the time only one.  My party scored one success and three failures, then retired for the day.  They rolled HORRIBLY.  Next day they scored the three successes right off the bat and the task continued.  

They have a druid skilled with an herbalist kit who has done some potion concocting work.  This, combined with our cleric's knowledge of wild beasts, including the ettercap, gave them the insight they needed to make the potion.  They'd been studiously avoiding them during their pursuit of the hind but knew where to find them now that they needed them.  This woulda been a medium difficulty encounter but the ettercaps got lucky.  TWO of them managed to restrain two party members, making it a hard fight.  One of the E'caps was quickly put to flight making it a 3 on two combat for a couple rounds until the druid and wizard got free of the webs.  Two more rounds of combat vanquished the foe with the Battle Master being reduced 50%.

Poison sack harvested (on second try - the party has a new appreciation for their missing Ranger) and anti-venom salve prepared.  Trained falcon earned as a reward, as well as all living expenses for the month being covered.  Party returns to the real world next session but will revisit the village of Kalogeros in a month when another party member steps away from the table for a few weeks.

All in all the party is enjoying these diversions and appreciates the variety provided so far.  Next task is another combat pillar with a little social interaction.  Task #5 will present some outstanding problem solving opportunities.  Still recommend if you need an interesting drop-in or wanna play a dozen or so session campaign running from 5th to 8th level. 

The Cycle of Cerberus

In which we do a tribute to T Rex

The second labor is facing the Hydra of the lake of the Naiads. Open at the Lounge Ambrosia. Our elven

You've got the teeth of the hydra upon you

fighter peppered Chyron with odd questions - again. "What does your bed look like? Have you ever been ridden? Why no pants? Who does your hooves?" Fisherman complaining about problems at Lake Naiads. Chyron offers a reward and off they go. Syrena contacts the Nyads to get some clues - a portal to hell below the surface, guarded by a large anial. After a bunch more futzing about and over-planning they FINALLY "set sail" and encountered the hydra. Battle took one round. The beast never had a chance. By dint of luck the spellcasters were using fire-based spells and rolling REALLY well. Four heads destroyed by fire. Fifth one lopped off but body took enough damage to kill the beast before it could regenerate. Beast killed. Door to hell closed. Giant mudcrab avoided completely. And a nice little tchotchka for a reward. And enchanted hydra tooth that protects the wearer from poison AND allows trhem to breath a cloud of poison once per day. Thought we MIGHT get to the third labor: the Hind of Artemis. But the initial encounter with Aclippe took longer than I thought it would. Shoulda known better. But the hook has been set. And a nice reward awaits. A falcon for our cleric who's been learning the skill from our ranger, and advantage on the next 30 survival/nature checks.

In which we go Greek

 The actor in our group got cast in an October show so we've lost 1/3 of our party.  By agreement we put

Heracles and the Nemea Lion Pieter Paul Rubens

the campaign on hold and I offered the party something ... different.  Instead of waking up in the deep forest, where they WERE, they find themselves on a beautiful beach with Cyprus and Olive trees in the distance.

They're visiting the island of Kalogeros, home to both Mount Olympus and the Gates of Hades.  Cerberus has become problematic and the gods have sent the party to the stewards of the island to assist with the mayhem.  You can find the whole thing here, including maps, music and VTT tokens.  It's a railroad but for a short term somebody-couldn't-make-it drip in it fills the bill.  And can be revisited whenever necessary.  Note: not thrilled with the music but I found some good usable stuff here and even here.  Lot's of folks don't like THIS source but I got a sweet 1-year deal so I'm using it while I can.  Some good music here but might be too much waste for too much money.  Film at 11.

Anyway.  We got in a good three hour session.  LOTS of role-playing.  My party spent a LOT of time talking to Chyron.  A LOT.  About stuff that had next to nothing to do with the game.  One hour gone.  Second hour was spent tracking down the BBG along with all of the encounters therein.  Third hour was a reasonably interesting combat.  Number of opponents increased nearly every round which was interesting.  Party used their AOE spells to good effect when the numbers got big.  And the BBG failed an important ST which made it a little easier.

Nothing new from most characters, the exception being our Scribe Wizard who finally uncorked her Manifest Mind feature to good effect.  An interesting magic item was the reward.  Don't think they've caught on to the whole Hercules thing.  Yet.  One player has a decent knowledge of the mythology but she still hasn't made the connections.  She will.  Eventually.  

Figured the first session would be intro and one task.  Nailed it.  So I'm thinking two tasks for the next level.  And the hydra is a water/underwater fight which this party has never done.  But they DO use a lot of fire-based spells so it might be easier than expected.  Hopefully the giant mud crab will grapple the flame throwers.

In which we mess around with time.

 I've occasionally lamented that most campaigns are not sweeping enough or long enough or enough enough for the "aging" rules to come in to play.  I've considered throwing a Pendragon homebrew into my mix but am kinda afraid of player revolt so it always get put on my back burner.

And then my weekend reading flipped a switch.  I found this!  I read the whole thing.  I read it AGAIN.  I read the links.  I took notes.  And I pulled up my trusty Chatgpt.  And my next campaign began to take shape.

Here's the pitch.  First 5 levels are sandbox.  Following plot hooks.  Killing things.  Helping people.  Finding stuff.  Then in tier two the flow changes.  Characters follow a hook  to another plane.  Fey?  Shadow?  Who knows.  And when they come back they've all moved into the next age category.  From young adult to mature.  STR and WIS improve.  20-25 years have passed.  I can use ChatGPT to figure out some of the big picture changes.  That village they were from?  Grown to a town.  The local noble house they were serving.  Maybe now they're the ruling family in the realm.  Or vanished.  We play a level or so and then they're summoned by a higher power to another planer adventure.  Perhaps the four elemental planes?  Gets us to tier III.  And when they come back they're middle aged.  Maybe 50 years have passed this time.  The world is different.  They spend a level figuring things out.  And then called away again.  To another plane or three.  

Upon return the players are now old.  Death lurks around corners.  Maybe one or two have died.  Another level on the material plane and then the final summoning.  Upon this return they are venerable (if they survive the travel.)  And they play out their old age on the material plane.  

If a player dies they are replaced by descendant, a fan, a family member. To hold the thread.  

Think it'll work?  

In which we earn XP

 

Haven't rambled about this in a LONG while (if ever) and I feel bad there's been nothing here for a while AND I've seen a few discussions on the topic on the webs so I thought I'd ramble.  CavegirlPoems started me thinking over on Tumblr.  They do a nice job breaking down how a handful of games award XP and what that means for the game.  Early D&D was simple.  1 GP of treasure = 1 XP.  Delve.  Carry it out.  Improve.  Repeat.  Simple, but nailed it.  Encumbrance mattered, as did depth of penetration.  YOU THERE IN THE BACK!  STOP GIGGLING!  Vampire The Masquerade rewards you for being the kind of player the game wanted. AS CgP observes "It was the 90s, they were still working out how to be a narrative-driven game, but you can see where they were going with it."  Monsterhearts.  XP for engaging with a mechanic.  I need more study.  And finally they look at 5e.  There are two systems at play here.  First is combat.  Violence gets you XP.  Hence: Murder hobos.  Second is milestone.  You level up when the GM feels like it.  And the game becomes James Wood finding Peter's candy.  You're "rewarded for following the railroad and reaching pre-planned plot moments in a pre-scripted story. You either have no agency in the matter, or are rewarded for subsuming your agency to the will of the GM. (This pattern continues with inspiration rewards, which are given 'when the GM is entertained by you'.)"

Neither of those is satisfactory which is why we don't use them.  We use the now seven year old Unearthed Arcana Three Pillar Rule.  Pillar I:  Exploration.  1 XP for every new 20 mile hex you travel through on a road or trail.  5 XP through the wilderness.  And additional XP (10 - 40) for exploring important locations, whether tied to the "storyline" or not and for finding "big ticket" magic items.  Pillar II: Combat.  Based on CR of the opponent and level of the character.  Awarded for killing, defeating and occasionally bypassing a creature or group of creatures, or a trap or problematic encounter.  Pillar III: Social interactions.  Awarded for positive interaction with influential NPCs.  The Mayor of that small village that you schmoozed when you were 9th level?  5 XP.  Positively influencing an NPC with cosmic reach?  20 XP or more.  

So does this produce the game I want?  After every session I send an email detailing the XP's earned.  The party KNOWS that traveling from A to B along a trade rout for the first time will be worth 6 XP but nothing after that as they run back and forth.  Cut a new 4-hex path through the wilderness?  20 XP.  Decide to check out that haunted cemetery on the way to the Wizards Tower?  Maybe 10 XP.  Maybe nothing.  Maybe it's a training ground for the BBG Evil Necromancer's mooks which might have a major impact on the storyline in coming months and worth 20 XP or more.  And they've learned to talk to people.  Find out who's in charge (or at least authoritative) and chat them up.  

And that's kinda the game I want.  Look under the rocks.  Smell the flowers.  Slay the evil beasties.  Thoughts?

In which we wake "It" up.

 The following isn't session notes per se.  It's the Thought process that followed a specific action during a session, written out for two reasons.  First, so that I can follow it, add to it, and keep the world moving.  Second so the players can read about what REALLY happened when the campaign is over.  

I'm using Fronts from Dungeon World, with a little Night's Black Agents thrown in.  Players initially just wanted to be treasure/monster hunters but after about five levels of that they decided a little BBG action would help, so long as it wasn't too railroad-y.  So I set to work designing it.  And plopping it down in the world.  Realizing that nothing exists until the players brush up against it.  Which means I can add, delete, alter and amend to my heart's content until they're actually in media res.  Which is what I've done.  One over-arching BBG.  Four (was six) factions struggling for dominance.  I gave the PC's an artifact and some clues to figure out it's workings.  While they searched for that I brushed up the factions. LAST session they FINALLY figured it out and that sets the ball rolling.

The Five Great Prophecies.  Each foretells the rise and triumph on one of the factions.  

June 21.  A generic bard was contracted to journey with the party as the revisited an old battle field.  Our ranger had been hired to do away with some marauding bears, which he did.  Leaving the rotting carcasses of the large carnivores behind. Which attracted a LARGER carnivore.  A green dragon.  The dragon was soon dispatched.  The bard had his song.  AND knowledge of the artifact.  Five days journey found him back in the capitol city.  There he reached out to the House of Pellissi, patrons of entertainers known to pay for information.  A quick visit to the School of Illusion netted him a bit of a disguise to protect him from feared retribution.

House Pellissi ALWAYS seeks favor from House Lupine, and with the election only six months ago it was important to keep ties intact.  The School of Illusion took longer to pass on the news - always on the lookout for false news dontcha know. Eventually word filtered up to the Archmage.  It was going to be an interesting summer.

The Arcane Eye moved first.  Valen the Enchanter reached out to their contacts in the "knowledge" world: libraries, scholars, sages and artificers.  They were to be on the lookout for anyone seeking information regarding The Compass.  (Game-wise: this started the countdown clock to their first Grim Portent.  Time now became a growing issue for the party ,although they didn't know it yet.)

House Lupine sent word to Lady Elara who then presented it to the Counsel of Sovereigns.  The CoS is far reaching and slow moving.  Already mid-July and they have not yet reached a consensus on what action to take.  By the end of the month they will have opted to merely consolidate their holdings and grow:  More caravans.  More thieves.  Guildmaster Thaddeus and "The Whisperer" will have a busy summer.

The Circle of the Silver Moon has already made an unauthorized direct attack, sending an Invisible Stalker after Dakora the Enchantress of Fire & Ice.  And acid.  They need to SERIOUSLY re-evaluate.  

The Cult of the Shadow Moon is more circumspect, taking a "wait and see" attitude.

The party sits at July 13 just off the Southern Road, a few days from Crossroad #1.  Completely oblivious of ANY of this. 

Next Session:

gets us to July 15.  I've stripped out one of the factions.  No more Shadow Moon.  The Shadowmaster (an outlaw gang) has knowledge they'll pass on to The Whisperer.  And a stray half-elf ranger will pass word on to The Purple Rider.  Arcane Eye is seeking someone to obtain the prophesied grimoire.  Dawn's Nexus? They parties foil?  Circle of the Silver Moon changes their focus to Brethemney and the blight.  The Counsel begin placing new faces in ever higher places.

another few sessions have passed.  Today is June 19th, and it's July 25th in the game world.  Was NOT happy with the way things were flowing (and neither were the players.)  Prohecy's learned weren't sparking interest.  The "other stuff" was happening but PCs weren't learning about it since they've opted for a long (productive) trip in the wilderness.  So I've fallen back to another old source: "Creating Epic Campaigns" by Guy Sclanders.  Have stripped out another faction.  Currently have four: the BIG BBG and three "secondary" factions, two of which are functioning under/beside the BIG BBG and another which MAY turn out to be allies of the PC.  I've redesigned all of the factions to fit the CEC format.  Only one of the prophesies has been "learned" so I'm rewriting the rest to fit the CEC model.  Should be MUCH more actionable.  It's also helped to design the countdown clocks that will "run" the factions.  And taking a page from Gnome Stew to provide a war room for the party.  Need to design a polar area chart so the PCs can SEE the progress (at least graphically) and rework the countdown clock.  Every iteration makes things a bit clearer.  

 

In which we peek behind the screen

Recently had a lengthy after-action discussion at our table about how initiative and combat timing works.  You can read the basics of our procedure here.  In response I wrote the following and figured since I WROTE it I may as well post it.

Khari kneels before an unopened chest, hoping to find something useful therein. Behind her about 15' back in an arc are Kirkas, Dakora, Castellan and Serynah. Turn's out the chest is a mimic. Mimic takes a grab at Khari, fails, and I call for initiative.

I then go around the table asking for your result. Kirkas 17, Dakora 11, Serynah 12, Khari 12 and Castellan 9. I enter these in the appropriate field on the combat sheet. The monster's initiative is already there. The dice roller and modifier were input when I “built” the encounter. The sheet is formatted to indicate who goes first, second and third. In THIS case Kirkas is first, Serynah is second and Khari is third.

Kirkas tell's me he going to attack with his bow. He rolls 2d20 to determine if he hits, then rolls to determine damage done. I update the mimics HP according AND note that Kirkas has spent 1 AP AND note that the thing Kirkas did (fire his bow) takes 8 tics. Since he STARTED on 17 the spreadsheet then indicates that Kirkas will go again at 9.

Next up is Serynah. She opts for a 3^rd level sleep spell. She rolls a d20 to see if she successfully casts the spell. She'll need to roll 10 or better (10+spell level-charisma modifier.) She's successful but a Mimic has an average of 58 HP. Even if she rolled all 8's she'd only score a 56 and be unable to Sleep the Mimic, so no joy. I note that she has spent TWO AP (to cast a leveled spell) and that it took 3 tics (one per level.) Since she started on 12 she will next go on 9.

Khari is up next at 12, followed now by Dakora (11), Kirkas (9), Sareynah (9), and Castellan (9.) Khari opts to use her wild shape. This uses all three AP and takes the rest of this turn so she's done.

Dakora opts for Witch Bolt. She successfully casts the spell and the arc of energy connects to the mimic. Since she cast it at 4^th level she'll do 4d12 damage this turn and 1d12 for every turn hereafter so long as she concentrates and takes no further actions. Casting the spell costs her 2 AP and 4 tics. She'll be up again at 7.

Kirkas decides his archery isn't strong enough so he swaps out his bow for Swiftstrike. That's an action and takes a tic. He has 1 AP left and will be back up at 8.

Serynah is up next and has only one AP left. Move? Probably not. Fire bolt. No need to check success as cantrips are always successful. She DOES need to hit on a ranged attack. BOOM! She hits. And now that she's 5^th level it does 2d10 damage. But her AP are spent so she's done.

Castellan finally gets to step up. So to speak.. He summons Selune's Strike which takes one tick but costs no AP, but he has to wait for the next tic. As the cantrip takes effect Kirkas gets to go again.

But wait! Oh no! The mimic is ALSO in at 9. That wicked tongue lashes out at the now-wildshaped Khari. It hits, does 7 points of damage. Khari gets to try to avoid the grapple with STR vs DC 13. Let's say she doesn't. The mimic only has one attack so IT'S done but it'll be biting down NEXT turn.

Kirkas and Castellan go again at 8. Kirkas casts Hunters Mark (0 AP) for 1 tic, moving to 7. Castellan realizes he probably should have cast Moonbeam so he does it NOW … spending 2 AP. He succeeds at casting it, the mimic fails it's ST at disadvantage and begins to morph back into its gloppy shape. It takes radiant damage from the beam. Kirkas now has to move to get close enough to swing, using his final AP.

Dakora maintains her concentration hoping to finish the beast next round. And unless I've missed something above thus endeth the round. Six seconds. Roll again? Doubtful. I'd likely allow Dakora's Bolt and Castellan's Beam to finish the beast without playing it out.

The initial guideline for the whole shebang was Greyhawk Initiative. And I've used Tao for guidance. And a handful of other content creators. I keep tinkering with this table to make it better. Latest iteration (NOT used above – will use next session.)

Most stuff: 1

Move, per 10': 1

Spell: 1 per level

Grapple, Potion, poison: 5

Find something: 1d8+2

But the problem is weapons. How long should it take to use them? OLD system was 2 for light/finesse. 4 for versatile, 6 for heavy, 8 for bows and 10 for crossbows.

So I'm gonna try this next time: Light/finesse 1. Heavy/2-handed 3. And I'm still trying to come up with SOMETHING that makes sense for archery. Optimum real world rate of speed I've found was 12 arrows per minute which implies only 1.2 per melee round. By "rule" Kirkas could fire up to six. I need to do more research and do NOT wanna penalize Kirkas.

And after sleeping on this the long term solution becomes clear: ranged weapon attacks require 2 AP.  Suggestions welcome.

In which we get reacquainted

 My table's on its third campaign dating back to the Before Times.  SO hasn't played since previous campaign so while she knows the players her PC doesn't know THESE PCs.  And she's decided she'd like to take her place at the table again.  Good so far.

Party is in the middle of a dungeon.  We ended prior session having found a secret door.  What might be behind it?  Last night we began by opening the door.  A 15' diameter circular room.  In the center is a large opalescent bubble.  Visible inside is what appears to be the stature of a female spell caster, mid-spell.  After taking 2-3 minutes to THOROUGHLY examine the room the party notices that the statues hair is wafting VERY slightly, as a small bead of perspiration makes its way from her scalp down the side of her face.

Upon discovering this the party exit the room and use Mage Hand to manipulate the bubble into bursting.  The "statue" spring to life shouting "I'm here to help.  Have you found both keys?"  Kim was in the next room and I cued her to come in and sit down and away we went.  Turns out she was "rescued" at the conclusion of the prior campaign and placed here in temporal stasis to help the party.  

"New" character introduced mid-adventure.  A few story elements/hook planted with her.  Instantly accepted as helpful based on the info she exposited. 

In which we are no longer playing D&D

 I MAY have discussed this a year or so ago.  When does D&D stop being D&D?  The example used in this video is that of the conundrum of the Ship of Theseus.  I discussed this with some local DM's a while back and the general theory was "if you can still use your 5e character sheet you're still playing D&D."  And Mike Shea aka Sly Flourish also addressed this earlier this month.  Shea argues that the 5.1 System Reference Document changed what 5e "is."  He argues "the term "5e" no longer means "the 5th edition of D&D" but now acts as a stand-alone term defining compatibility between thousands of 5e RPG products."  Edit to add: Just found THIS too, the major takeaway of which seems to be that everything is now about combat.  Encumbrance, water, rations, and ammunition are afterthoughts.  Bags of Holding and Leomund's Hut are mainstays.  And the DM is no longer a rules arbiter.  They're a  story teller. 

Further, an "online friend DM" recently had his long time game fall apart due to, among other things, a 5e dispute.  He's NOT running 5e.  He's NEVER run 5e.  Everybody at his table KNOWS he's not running 5e.  If anything he's running AD&D with some sweet, sweet homebrew set in an early 17th Century planet earth.  But he had a 5e player tell HIM how a spell worked.  He's modified a lot of spells (or is still using the AD&D version) and the players KNOW how they work.  But 5e with its "rule of cool." "yes, and" philosophy and storytelling not game playing ideology doesn't fit with that.  So there was an eruption and what had been built over almost a decade was gone in an instant.  

Because he wasn't playing 5e (?)  He wasn't even sailing a ship of Theseus.  Which doesn't matter.  But it does.  HAD he been playing 5e RAW this problem STILL would have arisen because the player STILL thought she could tell the DM how the spell worked.

I'm wandering a bit but IMHO it all ties together.  

I have three VERY different players at my table and the challenge is to offer the game I wanna offer, AND the one EACH of them wants to play.  D played AD&D but kinda missed the intervening versions.  Her PC's are detailed, innovative and push the systems in place.  J played some of those other editions and still bears some of the scars.  For him it's a board game with more options.  The difference between characters is the difference between the battleship and the race car.  He wants puzzles and mysteries to be resolved asap and if they aren't he loses interest.  And then there's C.  Never played before so no preconceptions.  Very analytical.  Every combat encounter is a problem to be solved.  Every social encounter is an opportunity to be milked for information.  Every hex/point crawl is an opportunity to peek behind the curtain.  

Me?  I'm a systems guy.  I HATE running published setting because IMHO I just CAN'T know enough about them to do them right.  And there's so many things that 5e either does poorly or doesn't do at all that my approach has been "Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of D&D... the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat... the human drama of TTRPG.  I've messed with spell components, insanity, initiative, the action economy, and encumbrance.  And that's just the player facing stuff!  

But is it D&D?  There was recently a discussion about me running a game the the MS where I teach.  The plan fell through but it's what got me thinking.  IF one of my young players had played 5e they were gonna be flummoxed by a lot of my homebrew.  IF one of my young players went to another game they were gonna be flummoxed!  But would the character sheet still be "transferable?"  Probably.  But just because the sheet can be dropped into a game doesn't mean it's the same game.  Which is why I prefer players who play their character, NOT the sheet.  D above is such a player.  J plays the sheet.  And C is a combination of the two.  

So I'm playing Velveeta.  A processed cheese food product.  It's a lot like cheddar.  Or American flat cheese.  But it's better.  Because it makes what we're cooking better.  So when we add more players we'll be open with them and tell them we're playing a 5e D&D-like product.

In which we un-randomize random encounters

 at least during "travel."

Here's how we've BEEN playing it:  drawing from Uncharted Journeys and a few other sources all cobbled together I have the players roll a d20 and a d6.  The d20 determines the encounter and the d6 determines when it happens.  

There are roughly a dozen TYPES of RE during travel.  Rest related.  Food related.  Bumps in the road.  Caravans.  Travelers in trouble.  Bandits.  Monsters.  A few others.  And what I've BEEN doing is ...winging it.  But you can only have so many muddy sink holes, last adventurers and greedy bandits.  

UJ uses a very mechanic heavy approach.  Party members assume "rolls" on the trip.  Depending on the type of encounter a given roll makes a skill check that then determines how the party rolls to respond to the encounter.  Party rolls.  Results applied.  Move on down the road.  Game-able n stuff but not terribly "satisfying" during the session.   I've tried prepping a 4e style skill challenge but those are difficult to spin out spur of the moment.  So I need to come up with something "different."  After 50 years of a game there just ISN'T much different.

One of my players suggested "give us two minutes to come up with a solution and THEN adjudicate it."  Which is nice for player buy-in and participation.  So here's what I'm going to do this week.  As part of my prep I'm going to design THREE RE's for each general type (thus putting a dagger in the heart of the "random" part.)  I'll incorporate the UJ method and layer in some 4e skill challenge stuff.  It'll be more detailed and granular than it needs to be BUT - it's what my table has asked for and once the initial chart is designed I'll only need to replace those that are used.  Some weeks there will be NONE!  

More lonely fun.

In which we review another product

 No session this week.  We were s'posed to get Biblical Destruction type weather.  Didn't happen.  But

rather than having my party (one of which was oot anyway) drive through Revelations we cancelled.  And then the weather didn't happen.  

But I DID have something worthy of comment and I'm trying to get a bit more regular around here so there's this.  I'm not a fan of the dScryb product.  I don't really feel the need for someone else to give me box texts for stuff.  Interesting idea and likely fills a niche (as evidenced by its continued existence) but not for me.  Then they added MORE stuff I don't really need.  Maps.  Ability to REQUEST descriptions and maps.  Then they went and did it.  They added a sound library.  I tinkered but it was never to the point that for ME it was going to replace Syrinscape or Soundpad.  And then they added "Opus."  And several of the youtubers I watch did promos. And a free 30 day trial was offered.  So I wandered by again.  Signed up for it.  Spent a little time with it and confirmed my priors and forgot about it.  Until the bill came for the FULL YEAR at the TOP TIER!   

I IMMEDIATELY email the company to beg and plead to have the charge backed off.  This was less than 15 minutes after the charge went on.  Within another 15 minutes I'd heard back from the FOUNDER of the company!  The charge had been backed off immediately but he also wanted to open up a dialogue.  What didn't I like, etc.  He walked me through some stuff, gave me another 2 weeks free, answered questions and carried on an email correspondence for about ten days.  And won me over.  Helped along by BobWorldBuilder's video.  After another two weeks of conquering the learning curve (realizing how to build playlists and blocks and stuff .... figuring out that the sound effects were likely useless) I agreed to sign up.  

Reviewed the pricing.  I'm taking the "Composer" option as it provides JUST the sound stuff, which is all I really need.  The BIGGEST reason I'm paying for it over free Soundpad is the personal service from the freakin' FOUNDER .... and the fact that it has perhaps a crap-ton more options.  That might also be the biggest hurdle here.  Too many choices can be as big an issue as not enough but we'll see.  I've put together two blocks to use next week and will likely assemble one or two more.  And I'll be back with an after-action report.  But for now?  Not bad.

In which we get swarmed by bees

 Yup.  Bees.  Party of 6.  Average of 5th level.  And a dozen swarms of bees.  Two each in fact.  Theater of

the mind.  Lot's of dropping below 0 and MED checks and heal spells and bad rulings and stuff.  But as is the case with many sessions we did a lot that we'd never done before so the virgin territory provided most of the problems.

First the new "hits not HP" system.  Most users recommend rounding down.  But nooooo.  I couldn't do THAT.  I rounded up.  "It's only 1 more hit" I thought.  Yes.  But one extra hit over a dozen beasties with an AC of 14 has quite an impact.  So rounding DOWN from now on.  Otherwise the system worked quite well.  Next - the tactical adjustments.  Party had been complaining that since everything was attacking from a distance they could usually pick it apart with the expert marksman ranger and a smattering of spells.  So this time they stumbled on a honey thief being absolutely DESTROYED by angry bees.  And the clouds of apian hell descended upon them with great fury.  Those little buggers went earlier in the initiative order than the plodding ogre's and giant spiders had been.  Throw in the fact that they have damage resistance to most weapons and this thing became a SLOG.  Glass cannon forgot he had a magic wand.  That didn't help.  When he DID go down (quite early) I noted that the bees were no longer attacking him.  But nobody in the party acknowledge this.  And nobody tried to run!  'Cause they're heroes, dontcha know.  This was attributed to the fact that they couldn't really SEE what was going on.  So retreating wasn't an option?  Well, OK.  No more TotM.  Haven't run one of those in months anyway.  

A few other mistakes. Too many swarms.  Nine or ten woulda been better than 12.  One to the "low" characters, two to the high ones.  Mike Mearls recently recommended managing the action economy by avoiding using monsters that have move total actions per round greater than three times the number of players.  That number would by 18 for this encounter.  The bees can move and attack.  So nine swarms woulda worked better.  Lesson learned.

The LAST mistake (?) I made was in my treatment of Temporary HP.  I was treating it as healing.  It isn't.  So we'll avoid the yo-yo effect that we saw last night.  

So I gave the party what they wanted.  And then they didn't want it any more.  The fighter was barely touched but had trouble dealing damage.  The cleric did some healing and utility work and had a BALL trying to figure out what the optimum action was every round.  Druid took a beating and did OK but her spores were less than effective.  Two wizards took too much damage early to be as effective as they'd like.  And the ranger?  Without his +11 archery ability he was more or less worthless and NOT happy about it.  Party worked well as a unit, found a few holes in their procedures, and now know what they need to add/improve.  Which will lead to meaningful decisions.  

Not bad for a two-hour slugfest that didn't HAVE to happen.

In which we end one test and begin another

 Hit points.  Been here a little bit before.  The XDM experiment was .... fun .... but kinda became wet

tissue paper at higher levels (5th and 6th.)  No problem with BBG's hanging around but the mooks became worthless and they were needed for BBG support.  Stuff was too easy.

So here's what we're (meaning "I'm") swinging to.  Kinda using Lazy DM's Forge of Foes to assemble combat encounters.  Some more development of the math.  Good starting points.  And I'm following Professor Dungeon Craft's suggestion of using Hits instead of Hit Points.  

In a nutshell: take creatures (average) HP, divide by 10 and round up.  A character hit is 1 hit.  A crit or sneak attack is 2 hits.  A spell attack is 1 hit per spell level, +1 if the caster is over 6th level.  MIGHT try rounding down instead of up if it gets too tough.  Will switch to MAX HP rounded down if it gets too easy.  This is only DM facing.  PCs still get the detailed treatment.  

Also.  A few weeks ago my table kinda swung into a thing of a meta-discussion after the session.  Been productive.  And I know exactly what they want - or at least what they think they want.  So they've been getting some "odd environmental" challenges in combat - mainly line of site stuff.  Which has de-buffed the ranger a tad.  They're outside most of the time so encounters are usually in the woods so 40-160 feet range.  And the party's picking them apart as they "close."  It's the edge of the razor.  Wanna scare them and push them but not kill them.  How does a hydra sneak up on a 6th level party in the woods?  Gotta get em back underground too. 

In which we revisit the Quantum Ogre.

 My attempted wanderings into the "open game" world has been, to say the least, wonderful and

productive.  I currently have a big story arc (which was NOT there at the outset) that the players asked for.  I have a secondary arc that loosely ties into the big arc to provide an occasional diversion.  And EVERY session provides the opportunity to drop plot hooks which may or may not tie in to either of those arcs.  

Short digression.  About a year ago the party had completed a long commute.  Two sessions of travel along a major trade route.  Four random encounter checks every day.  Natural disasters.  Medical emergencies.  Goblins.  And dozens of caravan wagons.  At the conclusion of the trip one of the PC's observed "it was kinda fun I guess but there were no plot hooks."  Another member of the party pointed out "we walked by dozens of people every day.  Every ONE of them likely had a plot hook of some type.  I didn't pursue them because I wanted to get here but there was no reason for you NOT to."  And that was the end of the discussion.  

 Justin Alexander has popularized the concept of the Three Clue Rule.  Essentially you make a rule available three different ways (or places) to ensure that it's found.  No one refers to them as Quantum Clues.  But aren't they?  Then there's Schrodinger's Troglodyte.  Before the players interact with the adventure everything planned by the DM is not fixed. It is only after the players interact with the adventure does anything become real and so fixed.

So, if the players explored 15 rooms of a 20-room dungeon, skipped the boss troglodyte room, leave and never return, then for now, only those 15 rooms are real. Dare I suggest that only the things the PCs interacted in those 15 rooms are the Chekhov’s Guns (from the story POV) and everything else including the boss troglodyte might as well not exits (from the story POV). At best those things the PCs missed exist in a Schrödinger’s Cat-like state of not quite existing.

And so it is with plot hooks.  If one applies the TCR only to those clues needed to advance the story then all other facets of DM prep are Schrodinger's Troglodyte.  Let's say I prep three potential encounters for my party:  placating a green dragon, fetching some phase spider spindles and guarding a grove from a cyclops and his buddies.  In keeping with the TCR I have multiple ways to set the hook.  Weavers.  Crazy old hermits.  Local lords.  Caravans.    If I plant one and they take it so be it.  They need to be couched as maybes and possibilities.  If they ignore it I can pocket it, file it away and throw it in front of them again in a month.  Because they're in Schrodinger's box with his cat and his troglodyte, both real and unreal.

So while the general view of the Quantum Ogre is that it's a bad thing, robbing players of their agency, I'm thinking Schrodinger's Troglodyte is a GOOD thing because it renders the players agency irrelevant while maintaining it?  That's CAN'T be right, but it SEEMS right.  Ideas?

 

 

https://dmsescritoire.blogspot.com/2021/08/in-which-we-attempt-to-slay-quantum-ogre.html

In which I don't get a nibble

 

and the session STILL runs itself!

As foretold I rather unceremoniously dropped half a dozen plot hooks at the start of the session.  The hook for the primary and secondary story lines was dropped first along with a cryptic poem (emailed to them at the start of the session as my printer decided it no longer had ink!) and an item in a box (presented via the picture affixed to this post.)  The rest of the hooks were tertiary and to at least some degree class/race/character specific.  But the party latched on to one and clamped down like grim death.  "A heretical sect has produced a new translation of the book of the cleric's faith and must be hunted and captured. Those that do not recant are to be exterminated."

So off they went with our diminutive halfling Twilight Cleric in the fore.  So it took a while to get there.  A clearing in the woods.  The stone outline of the beginnings of as worship site.  A rough altar.  And a dozen followers.  The first hour or so of our session was spent talking to NPC's and weighing their options.  The NEXT hour was spent at the site with our cleric discussing theology with the leader of the sect.  I had done NO research on the topic.  I knew damned little about the deity worshiped by the cleric.  But I knew enough to respond to his questions and to present enough of a difference between what the cleric believed and what the sect was proposing as to make a difference.  The whole thing had a distinct "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" feel to it.  Is the sacrament the ACTUAL blood and body of Christ or is it symbolic?  The other two players and I engaged in some pleasant meta banter while the cleric feverishly read everything he could find on the interwebs, thinking I'd dug up some theological dilemma in the lore of some other setting.

And he found one!

And it was DAMNED close to the bushwa I had been slinging about  to keep the session moving.  After about an hour of THAT I realized I needed to do something to move the session along or else the entire evening would be filled the cleric and I sitting on tree stumps discussing philosophy.  NOT the stuff of legendary fantasy.  So I put it to the cleric - recant or exterminate?  He tried a persuasion check (high CR and with disadvantage) and failed.  At which point all hell broke lose.

Six PC's and a dozen religious zealots.  How long would it take to fight out at YOUR table?  Twenty five minutes.  Considering that half the party had just advanced a level and included four spell casters was not bad IMHO.  Each party member succeeded in plinking off 1-2 opponents quickly.  The cleric then strode the battlefield dealing the death blows to the remaining heretics.

About a hundred coins, a ceremonial dagger, and eight uncut stones.  The stones are "interesting" because it marks the first time I've given uncut stones as treasure.  They'll need to find a lapidary to turn them into gemstones.  I'll see how that goes.  About 1/5 of a level in XP with an additional 1/10 to the cleric.  I'll use the travel back to let the two wizards discuss the item that they were given at the beginning of the session and see if I might rekindle interest.  

One last concept introduced: I'm going to allow each PC to declare their own quest or goal and we'll agree how much XP it's worth.  Our ranger was quick to take the bait - "hit ten targets in a row during combat or competition, for XP worth 1/10 of a level."  Done!  Keep in mind he's 5th level with his father's +1 bow and a quiver which bestows an additional +1 so he's looking at +11 to hit.  We're looking at almost a 60% chance of success.  That'll be fun.  Looking fwd to seeing what the others come up with.

In which they get what they asked for

 Table's been going for over three years now.  Third campaign.  First two ended in TPKs.  After each did

an exit interview and tried to incorporate the responses into the next one.  They were pretty good with everything except the over-arching plots.  They didn't want one.  "We wanna be itinerant monster and treasure hunters."  And they wanted a little more political intrigue.  And one wanted some big military stuff.  Maybe.

So I plopped them onto a corner of the planet ruled by noble houses with a complex web of interrelationships and intrigue.  Lot's of one shots and exploring.  And it seemed well received.  Until last session.  We ALWAYS spend a bit of time discussing the meta-game but after our last session they lamented the lack of a BBG and big plot line!  I was throwing two or three plot hooks at them every session, tailored for their class and backstory.  They knew they could pass on any and do whatever they wanted.  I was usually able to riff off their decisions.  But now five levels in they've decided they want the thing they didn't want!

And.

In each of the prior two campaigns I had an "out" adventure.  Something to run if someone couldn't make it or if things went south early.  First one was a book of fairy tales that pulled PC's in.  They fought the big bad wolf and Rumpelstiltskin and encountered the Bremen town musicians.  They liked it.  Second one was a demi-plane in a tapestry (lifted from Pathfinder.)  They liked it too.  And they wanted another one.  So it's tough when good ideas fall in your lap and then you're called upon to duplicate the result.

Anyway.

Spending this weekend spinning up a BBEG, an overarching storyline and a recurring diversion.  And I have one.  IF YOU'RE AT MY TABLE STOP READING THIS NOW.  Recurring diversion is a compass that opens gates to small demi-planes where I'll drop small strange worlds or 5-room dungeons with ever increasing CR monsters.  AND there's an AI nested inside of it, which siphons off magic and event energy and decides to evolve.  Hence the BBEG.  And lots of factions want control of it.  Which is the adventure arc.  So I'm done.  After reviewing every Pathfinder Adventure Path, D&D published campaign, the twenty steppers designed by Sly Flourish, and a raft of tired ideas on Reddit and other sites.  

But.

The party will be happy (I hope.)  I've advised there will be a raft of plot hooks next week and one of them MIGHT be the Big Arc and one of them MIGHT be the Recurring Diversion.  So we'll see how it goes.

In which we learn a new word.

 Diegesis.  di-e-ge-sis.  [ˌdīəˈjēsis].  a narrative or plot, typically in a movie.  But more importantly it's

what happens IN the movie.  In Pulp Fiction there's a dance contest scene set to Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell."  That song/music is diegetic to the movie.  "Out of Limits" is played near the end of the film as Butch rides off with his girlfriend.  It is pure soundtrack.  NOT diegetic.

So what does this have to do with D&D?  As Prismatic Wasteland put it in their post back in '21 "Your

character’s broken leg is a diegetic injury, but losing their hit points is not."  I've always been a fan of diagetic character growth as opposed to non-diegetic.  Non-diegetic, to tie in to a post I made last week, is like Clark Kent dashing into a nearby phone booth and then bursting out as Superman.  Characters go into a battle at second level, kill a kobold or two and emerge as third level.  More hit points.  More spells.  More abilities.  I've always HATED that.  Imagine going to high school, sitting in classes for four year, but not acquiring any knowledge or skills until the end when they hand you a rolled up piece of paper.  Makes no sense.  

So what's the solution?  My return to the game has allowed me to read a crap-ton and keep my eye out for potential solutions.  Some are simply procedural.  I've become more aware of my spell-casters needs and manage to seen spells, books and scrolls in advance of  a PC being able to use them.  In our last session I knew that three PC's were QUITE close to getting the XPs they'd need to go from 1st to 2nd.  So I kept one eye on the XPs they earned and when they crossed the threshold, in media res, their class features manifested.  The Twilight Cleric was bathed in twilight and those around him felt relief, their fear was allayed and some gained hp.  The Circle of Spores Druid manifested her Halo of Spores and inflicted necrotic damage on her opponent.  Made for a nice cinematic moment.  All at the table loved it.  And they'll get the rest of the rights and appurtenances thereto between sessions. But still only a very small band-aid on a much larger "problem."  I do have two potential fixes, however.

Regular readers know I've abandoned feats and instead use the Smolensk Sage System.  When a PC advances a level there are rolls for each area of study to see what, if any, knowledge is obtained.  And it's all applied at once.  A player might acquire a handful of new skills all at once.  Or nothing.  So I'm going to try a little play test this next level.  I'll do all the rolls in advance, note the result and total the outcome.  Then as players advance toward the next level after each session I'll allocate the points randomly.  So instead of dashing into the phone booth after a successful interaction with the head of the cartographer's guild the abilities can be acquired a little at a time and introduced between sessions.  That way every XP counts, not just the last one.  You never know when some new skill/feat is going to fall into your lap so long as you are progressing.  

And the OTHER mechanic I recently stumbled on, via the above-linked post, is that of Ability Score improvements.  RAW you go adventuring and when you wake up at 4th level you're suddenly better at two of the six things you can do.  Whether you've used it or not.  Makes no sense.    I've been playing Sid Meyer's Civilization since Civ 1.  Unit's get promotion but you decide what they are.  Scouts are the first unit's you get.  When promoted they can get either a movement bonus through forests or over rough terrain.  In other words you can spend every turn marching over hilly rough terrain earning exploration XP but when you get your promotion you can improve your forest movement.  Makes no sense.  

So let's steal a mechanic from Freebooters on the Frontier (2.)  Any time the player tries to do something using one of the six abilities and fails they get a tic.  Five tics and they increase the AS by 1.  OK.  Not EVERY time.  A nat 1 is a critical failure and nothing good come from that.  But a 2?  That earns a tic.  Same for failure by 1 (? not sure about this.)  I'll play test and see what happens.  Fighting, casting and skill uses all count.  There's a 10% chance of getting a tic so the fifth tick should come after roughly fifty tries.  Assume a fighter.  Most of our combats are successfully resolved in 3-5 rounds.  So 10-15 combats.  RAW bumps the AS every four levels.  That would break down to 3-4 combats per level.  Spellcasters likely have fewer chances but should have more opportunities using other skills.  And this way there's no dashing into the phone booth.  There's merely a nice step of progress for using your abilities - the high AND the low.  

Would love to hear thoughts and input.  And I'm wondering: do I tell the players or just let them find out as they get the boost?

 

In which we answer some questions

 For some reason I stumbled across The DM in Paris who was answering a series of questions themed "How's My Campaign" posed by one Alex Schroeder on a Mastodon thread and for some reason I feel compelled to answer them as well.  

How many sessions have you been playing, more or less?

Of THIS version?  Under two dozen.  These players in this world?  Closer to fifty.

How long have you been running this campaign?

Started with these players in early July of '20.  Moved to this setting late July '21.  This specific campaign started in April '23

Have you had long breaks? If so, how did you pick it up again?

Yes?  We have some theater people in our group so we occasionally face multiple 6 week absences.  Our breaks are therefore planned and calendared and picking up is relatively easy.

How many people are at the table when you play?

Two to four people and myself.

How many characters are in the party when you play?

Two to six PC's and Rouf the cook/bearer.

How many players have you had in total over that time period, not counting guest appearances?

Six

Have you had guest appearances? How did it go? Did you gain regular players that way?

Had two guest appearances.  First time guest ran an absent player's PC.  Second time the guest ran a pre-gen.  Went well both times.  Did NOT gain a new player and knew we wouldn't.

What have the character levels been over time?

We start at 1st (or a funnel at 0).  First iteration got to double digits.  Second round got to low Tier II.  Current bunch has just hit 5th.

What classes did the players pick? Did you add new classes over time?

Current batch:  Fighter, Ranger and a Scribe Wizard with a support team of Twilight Cleric, Wizard and Circle of Spores Druid.  We've also had Barbarians and Rogues.  Not adding new classes but I will always discuss the possibility with the player.

Tell me about some adventures you ran over that time that I might enjoy hearing about?

Party found themselves in a caravanserai plagued by rare animal poaching.  They thwarted the thieves by "making a dragon" using Mage Hand and Minor Illusion.

Have the rule changes over that time? Do you maintain a house-rules document?

Yes.  And yes,  I've implemented a slew of DM facing mechanics and PC facing changes are always mentioned prior to and after play testing.  Document here

Has the setting changed over time?

It changes as players interact with it.  They managed to resolve a dispute between opposing Lordly Houses recently.  They also managed to aid (unbeknownst to them) a child sacrifice which brought prosperity to the region. 

How much in-game distance did the party cover, how big is the area they have visited?

Party has covered about 400 linear miles.  Triangulating we get an area of just under 3 million acres.  Smaller than Connecticut ... or Montenegro.  Triple Rhode Island.  Four x Georgia.

Have you used proprietary setting books? Like, could you publish your campaign or would you be in trouble if you did?

Nope.  And nope.  Although I DID for the '20 effort.

 

In which we roll for initiative.

Have I done this before?  Feels like I've done this before.  The last 7-10 days I've seen a handful of YT's
about this topic and read at least double that in blog posts.  "Initiative is broken.  Here's how to fix it."   IMHO Initiative RAW is NOT broken (even though we don't use it.)  Execution is broken.  Implementation is broken.  But the rule itself is reasonable sound.  All of the "team initiative," "go in order around the table,"  "popcorn," etc. will NOT "fix the problem."

Quick recap:  I'm old.  There were only 48 US states when I was born.  I began playing the 1977 or 78.  Stopped in the mid-80's.  Picked up again about five years ago.  Missed out on 2, 3.5 and 4 but I'm familiar with the rule sets.  And here's the thing - I'm also COMPUTER LITERATE.  And I do NOT understand why more DM's do NOT use a computer to assist running their game.  I'm not talking about on-line players (although in many cases, yes, them too.)  

The idea is to reduce the time spent on simple, repetitive, mundane tasks that detract from player (and DM) enjoyment.  The tabulating and collating of initiative order is a GOLDEN example of this.  No matter what fancy named system you're using at your table it could probably be faster with the use of a laptop to hand basic repetitive computation and collation.

I implemented this procedure three years ago, players love it and I've never had a problem.  It's allowed me to keep a brisk pace during combat while keeping the players involved.  It is VERY adaptable to whatever style of initiative you prefer.  And I'm gonna give it to you free, gratis for the mere price of your continued love, affection and admiration.

Let's start with a bit of background about the homebrew that I manage to run via this sheet.  Hopefully the benefits will be obvious.   We roll initiative every round.  Players roll 3d6 and apply their initiative factor.  Takes seconds.  If they have advantage they roll 4d6b and drop the lowest.  Now to the spreadsheet. Column 1 lists the characters in no particular order.  Further down the column I list (as part of my game prep) the creatures they'll likely be encountering.  I also keep brown bear stats handy because they can stand in for a LOT of things.  Column 2 I enter the players results.  Opponent results are generated by the sheet.  I then apply any encumbrance penalty (because we USE encumbrance rules.)  So now I have a column of numbers generally ranging from 3 to 18, tailored and matched to everyone in the encounter.  

Nothing surprising there.  Any DM might do that.  Simple.  But the NEXT step is where the magic happens.  I apply a little conditional formatting to those numbers.  Whoever goes next is highlighted in green with those on deck in yellow.  When combat hits I can open with "Jutoris, you go first.  Kharkon is next."  Party knows that I don't tell them who's next, it's a critter.  

NOW is where it get's spicy.  Everything that the might do has a cost.  Daggers are fast.  Crossbows are slow.  Etc.  And you can't do everything at once.  So let's say Jutoris goes first.  He does his thing (be it moving, casting, or any other action.)  The cost of that thing goes in column 3.  Column 2 reflects that cost and the number goes down.  The conditional formatting then changes Kharkon to green (next) and whatever initiative is next to yellow.  I'll describe Jutorus' action/outcome, mention which player is on deck (if one IS) and then proceed to Kharkon.  Jutorus is NOT done and doesn't know when he will be up next. All players have to maintain focus on the situation because they aren't sure when they'll be called upon to act.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

We do more but for the purpose of THIS post that's all that matters.  Once everyone has done all of their things in the action economy we re-roll and fire it up again.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.  Player involvement and agency.  Cinematic action resolution.  Quicker combat.  And crunchy rule implementation.     

In which we playtest

 Welcome to 2024.

First session of the year went pretty well.  The relief column was played quickly with some nice flavor.  Our ranger who began as a bombastic embellisher has caught a lot of flak from our high elf fighter.  This column is partly mounted and our three heroes have been given horses for the task.  Only the ranger HAS horsemanship as a skill.  The wizard wisely led her animal or allowed it to be led but the steed of the haughty fighter kept wandering off the trail and onto the side of the road to graze, only to be retrieved by the ranger, who is now leading her like a kids pony ride.  Sweet.

Meanwhile back at the keep the newbies spent an hour trying to figure out how to get a lit torch through an arrow slit without being seen.  Was a GREAT example of the adage "when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail."  They insisted on trying to physically relocating the torch then lighting it with magic (fire bolt.)  Eventually they realized they could LIGHT it first (with their tinder box) then transport it via Mage Hand.  Even then it didn't work as the bandits merely threw it back out, but it killed a fun hour.

So what got playtested?  I'm using the Open Multiple Files app again, which was helpful.  My magic and encumbrance sheet came in handy.  And I'm still learning the in's and out's of my own combat sheet and improving it's use.  Unbeknownst to the party I've been using Tracy & Curtis Hickman's combat damage table from XDM.  Mooks were going down with relative ease until the player rolled max damage but the table only gave them 50%.  They were shocked and panicked and they realized they were facing "Mongo" and not EVERY bandit was a pushover.  Nice moment.  The Players/DMs Handbooks I assembled worked as designed as well.

Which bring us to Nimble.  LOTS of good ideas but many aren't worth the walk: the solutions they offer to several problems are no more elegant than the problem they solve AND they're a step to far in some instances.  Attacking is FAR too simplified. Exhaustion is what many tables are already using.  Dying rules are too forgiving.  Our resting rules are better but they do have some interesting mechanics to use on the backside.  Mana is nice but our current spell slot system is "better."  And by better I mean my players like it, have bought into it and I don't wanna throw ANOTHER system at them.  

But their brew for Action Points is simple, elegant, makes sense, provides more player agency and got pretty quick buy in from my players.  Instead of move, action, bonus action and reaction you get three (or more) Action Points.  Almost everything costs 1 AP.  Exceptions are leveled spells that take 1 action to cast, which cost 2 AP, and special abilities or features that allow bonus actions (eg. step of the wind, action flurry) cost 0 and may only be done once per round.  Doing anything a second or third time adds stacking disadvantage (so you COULD attack three times but the second would be 2d20 and the third would be 3d20.)  The exception to THIS is ST spells.  The target would instead get advantage on the ST.  Done.  Almost.  High WIS gives a bonus to the #of AP's you have in the first round, improving not how EARLY you act but rather how OFTEN.  Might peel this one off.

And there's some "heroic" stuff as well.  PC may use 1 AP to block (reduce damage by your AC modifier.)  Opportunity attacks are now made at disadvantage and mooks don't have them.  Should make the battle field a little more fluid.  Also added a called shot critical.  On any attack you decide what a critical hit is (up to +10) (rolled with disadvantage) but a critical miss becomes just as big.  Essentially you can take a 50/50 shot with amplified failure.  This one needs more work.

 So how did all of this go in actual play?  Meh.  I had three casters fighting bowmen at range most of the time so a lot of this stuff didn't matter.  Until members of the party got close to 0 hp.  Blocking prevented a death.  There was a discussion while the party was pinned down about using the Called Shot Crit and the more I've thought about it the more I don't like it.  But here's a fix.  You can still do it BUT it's limited to 1 point (5%) per level AND there's a critical miss with multiple effects (ie roll twice on the critical hit table and double the results .... or triple .... etc.) 

A good session but further testing needed for the AP change.  AND the Called Shot Critical. 

<edit 1/12 to add> also got a chance to use "our new" fumble table.  Druid defending a section of keep wall.  Lizardfolk breeched the wall and melee ensued.  Druid Nat1's her first attack.  Rolled a 6 for a CHA ST - her penultimate state.  Failed ... and the free attack misses.  Was quite dramatic.  Player actually insisted on acting out her botched feint.  And the party agreed this (so far) was a GREAT mechanic!