Garage Sale Hack

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Over the past two weeks, my wife has been prepping for our garage sale.  This being both of our second marriages, we have a lot of duplicates.  As we were preparing for our garage sale, I decided to put some old D&D books up for sale as well as a handful of D&D 4E books.

I could likely get a better deal on eBay, but I was curious what the correlation of garage sailors and those who played D&D.  And if I were lucky, I might find a fellow gamer. I was stunned.

I live in Elkhart county, Indiana, and as one woman said “About the only thing to do here is play D&D.” That’s not entirely true, but it cleaves close to the truth.

As it turns out, I believe that 15% of the garage sailors had played D&D or still played D&D.

And, as a bonus, I found one person who was willing to run old school D&D games.  I’m going to attempt to incorporate him (and his buddy) into our game group.  Of course we’ll both want to make sure that we are a good fit for each other.  After all, a game group is disturbingly similar to a relationship.

At the Intersection of Work, Play, and Learning

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Cluster with Standard Attributes

Cluster with Standard Attributes

For the most part, I keep my professional blogging separate from my hobby blogging.  During the day, I’m a programmer for the University of Notre Dame, and at night a pen, paper, and cardboard gamer.

I consider myself to be a reasonably competent programmer, but recognize continued room for growth.  This manifests in reading and experimenting in code.  Lately, I’ve thought of myself more as a software doctor than a software engineer.  Doctors practice medicine, and I practice programming.

This past month, I picked up Avdi Grimm‘s “Objects on Rails” [Free legal online version] and Uncle Bob Martin‘s “Clean Code“.  I’m interested in exploring better software design, with a focus on code refactoring…I’m the primary maintainer of a 6+ year old Ruby on Rails based CMS (It started somewhere around Rails 1.1.6 for those keeping score).  And sometimes it feels like I’ve donned the Black and patrol the Wall. But I digress.

I decided that I wanted to apply some of these principles to a problem space that I understood…RPGs.  In particular, I wanted to automate the Diaspora Cluster Creation, not because it is convoluted, but because it is very well defined process.  That is to say I already understood the domain.

Cluster with Arbitrary Attributes

Cluster with Arbitrary Attributes

Over the past week, I’ve worked on creating the Diaspora Cluster Creator command-line utility by striving to apply these recommended constraints and methodology.  The tool I’ve created is an over-engineered solution for what amounts to 5 minutes of dice rolling at a table with a group of friends.

This exercise has proven to be ridiculously rewarding.  I was working on a greenfield project and trying to adhere to the teachings of others.  In some cases, I stumbled, creating code that I should’ve known would be a problem; Hint, if the tests are complicated to setup, then there are issues.  But, through refactoring, I was eventually able to clean things up – I’m still not satisfied with the Node class.

While I typically try to work within these constraints, for this project I was trying extra hard to keep them at the front of my considerations: The Law of Demeter, Single Responsibility Principle, Test-Driven Development, Command/Query Separation, general readability, and fast tests (Corey Haines would be proud).

The result has been a code-base that has been very fun to work with, and has been relatively painless to extend.  The Cluster creator can just as easily create Diaspora clusters with attributes different than the assumed Technology, Environment, and Resources.

The command-line solution is not suitable for the general role-playing populous, so I’ll need to take that into consideration.

For those of you interested in installing it yourself, it’s up on Githuband available as a Ruby gem – `gem install diaspora-cluster-creator`.  You can take a look at the Cucumber feature that defines the command-line behavior of the tool (Hint: there are several options).

Preparing for Diaspora

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Tomorrow we are going to be starting a new Diaspora campaign as a player. I’m very much interested in getting into a platoon level conflict, as I believe the rules to be some of the best mass combat system for an RPG.

To do this, I will need to create a star system or two in which platoon conflict is likely. The obvious structure would be Rebellion vs Empire. However I could also see a setting up a two or three comparable entities fighting for control of a thurd region.

Given that Diaspora allows the players tremendous control over campaign creation, I’ll have to look at the system I’m creating. If I have a strong system then I can pick on a weaker system with one of my system’s aspects. If I’m “owning” with a weaker system then I’ll setup one of my aspects as a victim of a stronger system. The other system need not “spend an aspect” to reciprocate.

With a system ripe for a military conflict, my character would then need aspects to get him into large military conflicts. I’d imagine something like “Drug smuggling warlord” or “Corrupt Empirial colonel” or “Captain of the 3rd Light Brigade” should do the trick.

What we found in our previous game is that the collaborative character creation can quickly result in directions no one envisioned nor planned for. And I’m excited, because, while I have a plan, others will be directly affecting me.

So while I may wish to fight platoon battles, I can just as easily see my character being a convicted war criminal who’s military capabilities are severely hindered. Either way, I hope that our GM brings situations that challenge and engage us. I want information to flow so we can push to a conclusion – I don’t want a slow plod. I’d prefer a narrow scope campaign that wraps up in 6 or so sessions.

Dungeon World Custom Moves for Ziggurat of the Sun Princess

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This past Sunday our usual gaming group wasn’t able to meet.  So I gathered up a few players, whipped up some Dungeon World characters, and ran them through Josh Mannon‘s “Ziggurat of the Sun Princess” [Free PDF download here].

I thought that I’d be running the game for 4 players so I made 4 custom moves to hand out and unlock throughout play.  They help me, as the GM, set the tone for what is going on.

And, in the case of Child of the Sun, it really drove one of the players to push hard to get a Sun Stone, as there was a tremendous mechanical advantage tied to touching the Sun Stone.

Expedition Leader

Others are looking to you to lead them on this expedition to the Ziggurat of the Sun Princess. Your sponsor has placed faith in you to make sure that the Sun Stones are properly cared for.

Tell them why you are fit to lead this expedition and roll+CHA.  On a 10+ Hold 3, on a 7-9 Hold 1. When you give an order to a player character you may spend 1 hold.  If the player character follows your order, you both mark XP.

Haunted Dreamer

Your travels to the Ziggurat of the Sun Princess have been plagued with visions of flowers shedding tears of blood.

While you are travelling to the Ziggurat, tell everyone about your dream and roll+Wis.  On a 10+ Hold 3, on a 7-9 Hold 1. When you see a part of your dream, previously told or remembered just now, exclaim “I have dreamt this!” then spend 1 hold and take +1.

Child of the Sun

Your body aches to behold and touch a legendary Sun Stone. You’ve heard it calling.

When you touch your first Sun Stone then roll+Con.  On a 10+ Hold 3, on a 7-9 Hold 1. As part of another move, you may proclaim “Father Sun, guide me!” and channel your heritage then spend 1 hold to select the dice result of your move’s roll.

Childhood Stomping Ground

As a child, you remember playing on the Ziggurat…it was overrun with vegetation and a perfect place to hide from those who pestered you.

When you first approach the Ziggurat tell everyone who it was you used to hide from and lead them to where you found that secret entrance so long ago then roll+Int.  On a 10+ choose 3, on a 7-9 choose 1:

  • The entrance is not in danger of collapse
  • The entrance is not trapped
  • The entrance remains undiscovered
  • The entrance is not home to a native creature

Floundering Around the Burning Wheel

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Presently I’m running one Burning Wheel campaign and playing in another.  I feel both of them are circumventing portions of the game.

First, we rarely do proper Artha awards.  Instead of setting aside time at the end, we prefer to play until the last minute.  By the time we wrap up the session the kids are tired or others need to get to our next obligation, we only do a very simple Artha awards sequence.  Typically, we hand out 2 Fate and 1 Persona, then look for anything exemplary.

It’s not rules as written and it certainly feels awkward and shameful.  Ultimately, I believe we do these shameful things because character’s beliefs are not tying into the game.  This is a group failing.

In the case of Bloodstone, I provided the introduction for everyone to tie into. I didn’t work as closely with all of the players to make sure their beliefs tied into the game.  We don’t have a laser-like focus.  As such, there are some characters, namely Remy and Holden, who are typically more peripheral to the game.  Granted, negotiating beliefs for 5 characters of differing experience and age is challenging to begin with.

In the case of the Butcher, Baker, and Candlestick Maker, we had a vision of how our characters were connected, but those characters were made in a knowledge vacuum.  We certainly knew about the Crypt of the Slug Mother, but as players we didn’t know where the campaign was going.

These failings leave us in a somewhat jumbled mess, as some characters are floundering for their spot in the story.

One notable difference that I’m seeing between the two campaigns is the concept of complications.

I am perfectly content letting my players come up with many things…if they succeed on a test; Let them scavenge for anything, make Dark Secret-wise tests, attempt to console their companion…but I hope they know that a failed test will give me ammunition.  Sort of like roll a 6 or less in Apocalypse World, I now get to make a Hard Move.

Contrast with the Butcher, Baker, and Candlestick Maker, where several test failures are met with “Nothing Happens.”  And in a handful of cases, success could be distilled to “Nothing Happens.”  Which sucks.

The key thing I’ve learned is, let the characters propose actions.  If you don’t want to see it happen, make a high Obstacle.  Let the players then figure out how to reach for it.  If they succeed, give it to them.  If they fail…make a Hard Move.

Personally, a test should change the state of the game, and I believe other game players would agree.  Apocalypse World and it’s brilliant derivative Dungeon World, hard-code this in the moves.  In order to truly change the state of the game, you have to make a move – in Burning Wheel it would be make a test.  Think about it…in Settlers of Catan the state of the game changes when the dice are thrown…some people get new resources, others might get robbed.

It has taken a bit for me to more readily see the possible complications of a test.  It’s not that I wasn’t doing it before, its just now, I’m willing to throw things out there and let a player decide how hard they want to push for a success.  Its a calculated negotiation between players that directly impacts their characters.

What I’ve found to be best for running my Burning Wheel game has been to review the agenda, principles, and moves of Dungeon World (Get the Basic Rules PDF for $5).

In short, follow these guidelines, in order:

  • What the rules demand
  • What the adventure demands
  • What honesty demands – be open and honest
  • What the principles demand
    • Draw maps, leave blanks
    • Address the characters, not the players
    • Embrace the fantastic
    • Make a move that follows
    • Never speak the name of your move
    • Give every monster life
    • Name every person
    • Ask questions and use the answers
    • Be a fan of the characters
    • Think dangerous
    • Begin and end with the fiction
    • Think offscreen, too

I’ve already illustrated the moves of Dungeon World and Apocalypse World.  It’s not that I didn’t do those things before, its simply that the above outline is sort of like a liturgical invocation; a chance to set aside other thoughts and consider what the players demand; An enjoyable time with friends.

Dining with the Baron

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After a long hiatus, we were back in Bloodstone. Previously, the party had arrived, and were going to be dining with the Baron Tranth.

Dinner

  • There was some discussion about who would be attending
  • No one wanted all the dwarves to come
  • After some back and forth the dinner party invitees would consist of
    • Menas (PC)
    • Kruder (PC)
    • Remy (PC)
    • Holden (PC)
    • Lady Gwen (PC)
    • Dragan (NPC)
    • Crispin (NPC)
    • Katie (NPC)
    • Dellan (NPC)
  • Squire Marlin asked if anyone needed to be introduced.
  • Menas insisted on being introduced as High Captain Menas.
  • Squire Marlin escorted the guests into the dinning room and Menas to a waiting room.
  • Abbott Aldric and Sage Quillan were also present.
  • Holden had been at the College of Magic while Quillan was there.  They sat together.
  • Meanwhile Menas was introduced to Baron Tranth and his daughter Lady Christine.
  • The seating arrangement would prove key…At the head of the table was Baron Tranth, and then going around clockwise was Sage Quillan, Holden, Abott Aldric, Lady Gwen, Katie, Remy, Lady Christine (at the foot), Dragan, Dellan, Crispin, Kruder, Menas (to the immediate right of Baron Tranth).
  • Dinner was served, and the drinks were flowing.  Baron Tranth wanted no talk of business.
  • Holden and Sage Quillan talked about a student who was likely with the dwarves.
  • Lady Gwen kept eating to avoid any conversation with Abbott Aldric.
  • Dragan, Lady Christine, Remy, and Katie were conversing.

Complications

  • Crispin was devouring lots of food and Baron Tranth took note.  Menas dismissed Crispin, and as he was leaving Remy decided to poke fun at the Crispin to impress Lady Christine and Katy.
  • The test was a Comedy test with the consequence being he would infuriate Crispin.
  • Remy failed and Crispin tried to go over the table at Remy, but was restrained by Dragan and Dellan.
  • Crispin was escorted out, followed by Kruder and Menas.
  • There Crispin swore that he would exact revenge on Remy for the humiliations.  Menas interceded and promised he would be the one to punish Remy.
  • There was lots of cursing and threats in dwarvish.
  • Crispin was placated, and left.  Outside was Remy’s guard/bondsman Brandon…and Crispin, without his armor and weapons wisely decided to disengage from Brandon (I should’ve had the Crispin attack Brandon).  Instead Crispin cursed Brandon saying he would be put down along with his master.
  • While this is going on, Lady Christine is working to converse with Remy.  Remy is trying to deflect the attention onto Dragan, who only has eyes for Lady Gwen.  A bit of maneuvering, and Remy failed to redirect conversation.  Lady Christine was infatuated.
  • During the conversation I called for a test to not alienate Katie, but Remy failed and Katie stormed out.
  • Lady Gwen, tired of Abbott Aldric and his droning, seized on Katie’s leaving and excused herself to help Katie.  Together they hatched a plan to snoop around the Abbey.
  • Out in the hall Kruder and Menas were working up a plan when Lady Gwen and Katie came out.
  • Lady Gwen and Katie attempted to lie about Katie feeling sick…it was her time of the month.  But Menas and Kruder didn’t buy the lie.  They did, however, let the ladies go.

Clandestine Operation

  • Lady Gwen and Katie went to the Abbey, and were greeted by Acolyte Devin.  He was sweeping the entry.
  • Lady Gwen and Katie insisted on saying their prayers, and went into the Abbey.
  • Acolyte Devin kept sweeping, until Kruder arrived and asked a few questions.
  • Kruder left, and Acolyte Devin locked the Abbey up.  At this point, I was simply assuming Acolyte Devin was concerned about a dwarf in the night.
  • Lady Gwen and Katie started poking around the Abbott’s chambers.
  • I called for a Scavenging test… Ob 2, they’d find more information about the heretical books.  Ob 5, and they’d find a book of pure evil.  And this would be beginner’s luck.
  • Lady Gwen beseeched her god, who was the god of the Abbey, for aid…Her request was struck down and she would need to atone for her actions.
  • Not to be deterred, Lady Gwen’s player threw some persona into the roll.  With Fate and Persona, she managed to get 8 successes, though she would need 10.  She opted to burn her Deed point, and did indeed find a book of pure evil.
  • Lady Gwen was going to bring down the Abbot…but not before Acolyte Devin interceded.  With the successful test, I opted to have Acolyte Devin be more sinister.
  • Acolyte Devin attacked, trying to push Lady Gwen into the book.  Lady Gwen screamed.
  • Kruder hearing the scream tried to bust down the door, but failed.
  • Acolyte Devin, with black energy coursing through his veins attempted to strike Lady Gwen, but failed.
  • Katie fled the room, leaving Lady Gwen and Acolyte Devin to fight each other.
  • The scuffle quickly ended after Menas burst down the door and Kruder and Menas subdued Acolyte Devin.
  • Menas, Kruder, Katie and Lady Gwen carefully gathered up the book, and they brought the book and the unconscious Acolyte Devin to Baron Tranth’s manor.

Back at the Dinner Party

  • While the others were out, the dinner was rather quiet, and eventually excused themselves to the sitting room, where the Baron began pouring find bourbons.
  • Holden began asking Abbott Aldric about books, after all Holden knew that the Abbott had sent some books to another priest.
  • Their conversation turned to heretical books of power, and Holden made a “Dark Secret-Wise” test to figure out how to destroy books of power.
  • He failed, and the complication that I gave him was that in order to destroy a book of power, he would need a person willing to sacrifice an appendage. I was particularly proud of this complication, as it was a moment where I could turn the failure into a complication, and still enable the player to craft what else must be done. 
  • As the conversations were turning, Kruder, Menas, Lady Gwen, and Katie burst into the room…and sought the Baron’s attention.
  • During the confusion, Aldric attempted to slip away Inconspicuously, but failed. Instead he fled.  He even muttered a baleful prayer of intercession, but his dark god would not listen.
  • Kruder, attempting to stop the abbott, threw Acolyte Devin, but wasn’t able to trip up the abbott.
  • Dragan, Kruder and Menas gave pursuit. A quick chase through the winding halls, and Kruder was left facing Abbott Aldric and his hostage, a serving lady.
  • Kruder advanced, and Aldric ripped at the hostages throat, drawing blood.
  • Kruder lunged but Aldric managed to put blood to his broach and turned into a puff of smoke…and was gone.
  • Lady Gwen was summoned and successfully tended to the serving lady.

I wasn’t intending for Abbott Alrdic to go evil so soon, but felt that I could challenge Lady Gwen’s beliefs and have her dig up some dirt.  It was a perfect confluence of being annoyed, etiquette, powder rooms, clandestine operations, and pushing real hard.  The story then naturally spiralled from there.

In reviewing how this campaign is going, I will say that Burning Wheel with 5 players is very challenging.  There is a lot to keep track of.  At times Lady Gwen, played by my 11 year old daughter, feels as though there is too much downtime.  I try to move the spotlight around, but it is challenging with 5 players.  In D&D, its simple, never split the party.

In this iteration of Burning Wheel, people are going off in separate groups, trying to accomplish something.  I also feel that if the player wants the spotlight, then they should grab it.  Or hook into the story in interesting ways.

What Should the Game Master Fight For?

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I have kicked off lots of campaigns as a GM, and none of them have been completed to my satisfaction.  Some campaigns withered as I grew disinterested, others collapsed as integral players left, and to my recollection none of my campaigns have completed.

I want to run a long-standing campaign, at least 15 sessions, to it’s conclusion.

Typically I spend quite a bit of time thinking about where things should end up – in 10 sessions – and much less focused on the present situations.

I don’t prepare adventures but prefer to act and react with the players and their characters.  Certainly I could create more challenging “set pieces” for the player characters, but I don’t know if that’s in my gamer DNA.

Burning Wheel builds on the assumption that you will “Fight for what you believe.” And the question hit me – What if this imperative is not just for the characters’ players but is for the Game Master as well?

What should a Game Master fight for?

First and foremost, we are all playing a game, and as such all participants should fight for enjoyment.  The short-term enjoyment of a single in-game moment, the medium-term enjoyment of a resolving story-arc, and the long-term enjoyment of character development and narrative closure.

A Game Master should fight to challenge the players and characters.  Guaranteed success is boring. In fact, my most memorable sessions are inevitably where situations spiral out of control, ala Fiasco-style, because success wasn’t guaranteed.  Typically these sessions are also very combat-lite.  A thinly veiled threat of splitting the loot 2 ways comes to mind.

Most systems I’ve played have two possible outcomes for a given roll…Success or Failure.  If I succeed, I am given narrative control.  If I fail, the GM is given narrative control.  There is no negotiation. No compromise.

I believe Apocalypse World gets it so very right by codifying that moves have a third possible outcome: Partial Success. Partial Success is a negotiated success…I get something that I want, but with a cost.  In the case of Apocalypse World, I’m negotiating with the rules.  In the case of Burning Wheel’s Duel of Wits, I’m negotiating with the table.

And lastly fight for what the characters and players believe in.  I struggle with engaging everyone’s beliefs.  In part this is a natural consequence of my failure to help shepherd character creation by not successfully conveying my campaign vision.  Also, beliefs are adjusted and change according to developing goals.  Keeping this information up to date is a challenge…especially if you can’t get confirmation from your game group that you are even playing that weekend.

In summary, understand what your players want then challenge and engage them via the story and the system.