[D&D Next] Players, Trust Your DMs. DMs, Be Worthy Of That Trust

Today’s Legends & Lore article from Mike Mearls delves into the DMing Guidelines document in the recently released Playtest Packet, and I have to admit that I’m more than pleased to hear of the approach that they’re coming from with regards to how D&D Next will be handling DMing.

One of the most encouraging lines in the article was this particular choice quote:

“The most interesting parts of D&D, at least in my experience, come into play when a DM must make a ruling rather than follow the rules to the letter. So, here’s our goal: We want to make it easy for a DM to improvise and use the rules as guidelines.“

What this says to me is that Mearls and the D&D Next design team is moving towards the assumption that the DM is someone who can be trusted. Certainly there will still be rules, but the game itself acknowledges that DMs can be rational, fair and trustworthy individuals that are out to have fun with the group, rather than at the player’s expense. Furthermore, DMs can and will do this even without the presence of a whole slew of immutable rules that cover any and all possible outcomes.

It’s a simple thing really, but one that I think is an issue that’s been rearing its head in all of the D&D Next discussion as of late. Some players don’t like D&D Next having too much GM Fiat because they don’t trust the GM to make a fair or fun ruling. In fact, two of the most prevalent complaints I’ve seen so far say the same thing:

• Fighters can’t do ANYTHING unless without going through “GM-may-I?” = “I don’t trust my DM to allow me to do something fun.”
• Save-or-Die is TERRIBLE and UNFUN! = “I don’t trust my DM to use this rule responsibly and in a manner that makes the story better or more interesting.”

The players that are most worried about the way D&D Next works now, are the ones who don’t (or can’t) trust their DMs.

I guess a lot of people have suffered from painful experiences of power-tripping DMs at one point or another in their past (I know I have, remind me to tell you guys about my Four Minute Cleric one time) and have since then come to the conclusion that D&D is ultimately an “Us vs. the DM” game by default.

That said, I think it’s also time for a lot of us DMs to stop and pay attention to the kind of feedback we’re getting in these discussions. Are you actually one of those DMs that players can’t and won’t trust? Maybe it’s time to do a bit of soul-searching and find ways to win their trust again and live up to the unwritten expectation that everyone in the group is meant to be having a good time in your games.

[Let's Study] Degenesis, Primal Punk Roleplaying by Posthuman Studios

I’ve always had a soft spot for European games every since I was exposed to the Engel Roleplaying Game by Feder&Schwert via the D20 English version translated by White Wolf. There’s something utterly interesting about the layout, art and writing that comes off as exciting and new as compared to the usual tropes of most rpgs.

Thanks to the insistence of Mappy, I picked up Degenesis, originally a German language rpg written by Christian Günther and Marko Djurdjevic and translated into English by Posthuman Studios, of Eclipse Phase fame. It didn’t take me five minutes from opening the PDF to realize that Degenesis was going to blow my mind.

And so I figure that I might as well get started with something that I’ve not done on this blog for a while now. A Let’s Study series where we break down a game and analyze its components, and then see what kind of games we can run with it. Over the next few days, we’ll examine the setting, character options, dabble a little bit with regards to the game’s own CatharSys rules and see if we can make a sample character or two while we’re at it.

I’ll admit that I was completely puzzled by how this game managed to slip under my radar. The focus on culture and interesting character options should have sent me running to pick it up. Still at least I’ve got it and now it’s time to pick this game apart.

Tomorrow, we’ll go over the broad strokes of Degenesis’ setting, and take a peek at the game’s unique take on the Post-Apocalyptic future. *Goes off to scrounge up his old Rammstein CDs*

[Mummy: the Curse] A Discussion of Arisen Magic

Now we’re getting into some really interesting conceptual territory here as this week’s M:tC preview centers on the flavor of Arisen Magic. Let’s take a look at what Malcolm has to say about it:

Please let this be artwork from the book

Aura and Viscera

As some of you know, I worked on Mage: The Awakening a whole lot. That game clings to the motifs people associate with classic sorcery: earth, wind, fire, all that kind of thing. Plus subtle bodies, auras, and other things that glow in the night. Draw some Celtic knots and fire up the Loreena McKennitt playlist!

I’m intentionally exaggerating this vibe to discuss a common assumption — that magic is an immaterial force with material effects. We assume this because of the legacy of Cartesian dualism, subsequent cultural narratives, and other fancy liberal-arts concepts. It also works for us because it makes magic the realm of the soul: an inherently mysterious (and unnecessary, if you don’t believe in such things) domain where all our knowledge about the material world goes out the window, and our imaginations take charge. But these things are essentially modern assumptions. They stick with us because of our particular history, and in games like Mage, we can use them to great effect.

But Mummy’s conception of magic hails from an older tradition — one alien to our modern sensibilities. This is a path of sorcery that predates Plato and a “world of ideals.” It predates loving, omnipotent gods and the easy division of existence into material and immaterial realms. For example, Egyptologists believe that none of the various terms we translate into “soul” have the characteristics we assume. They are not invisible, untouchable things, but fade in and out of different aspects of the ancients’ lives. When the time is right, they touch and they feast, and just as often take out their rage through calamity, disease, and ill fortune.

So Arisen magic has a visceral, material quality, channeled into bodies and objects, with the latter being of especial importance to them. The Deathless know of invisible forces and abstract, magical power, but these things manifest with less of a New Age, power-up kind of “glow” than you might expect. And although mummies are the heirs of a rich metaphysical tradition, that tradition’s laws demand set, pragmatic manifestations “inscribed” into the soul like a charm painted on a sarcophagus… or carved into the shape of a mystic artifact.

So… yeah, pretty heavy stuff over there. I have to admit that unlike the other previews, I’m having a bit of difficulty comprehending this one. And so I turn towards Wikipedia for a quick look at the the Ancient Egyptian concept of the Soul. I remember a smattering of the older Mummy: the Resurrection using the parts of the soul as the basis for the Character types, or dynasties, but I’ll confess that it’s been a long time since I’ve read the book.

I find it interesting though that Malcolm actually mentioned the soul in reference to magic, perhaps in this incarnation, the magic of the Arisen tap into these Soul aspects? Hard to tell, but still very intriguing.

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On a side note, that artwork that came with the article is awesome. Definitely enjoying the Persona / Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure vibe I’m getting from that thing sticking out of her back.

[D&D Next] It’s Okay To Have Different Kinds of Fun

We’re better than this… right? Right?

The D&D Next Playtest Packet has been out for a few days now, and already interesting (and heated) discussions are starting to come out. Today, I’m looking at the vocal population of those who decry the state of the basic Fighter as it is currently presented as “Lame” and otherwise terrible.

I’m not here to tell you that you guys are wrong in wanting to get a Fighter than can do all sorts of Wuxia-inspired wire-fu stunts and crazy attacks that can take down hordes like a scythe cutting wheat. In fact, I think that’s pretty cool.

All I’m hoping for is a little bit of understanding that some people actually enjoy characters that can’t do all that.

I’ll let that sink in a bit first.

I enjoy playing simple, unoptimized characters. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have a head for numbers, and that probably has something to do with the fact that my eyes glaze over when I look at complicated laundry lists of powers and spells. Sure, I won’t one-shot an Elite monster, or be able to match the Spellcasters in terms of pure efficiency, you know what? That’s okay because I’m still having fun.

A while back, I wrote an article on Metagame Rewards, or the Different Kinds of Fun, and I find that going back to it now and then helps a lot in accepting that people game for very different reasons, and sometimes we just have to accept that other people have fun in their own ways.

Personally, I find myself enjoying Alea (the thrill of taking risks), Catharsis (the feeling of release after an intense experience) and Fiero (the thrill of overcoming adversity and challenge) when I play Fighters. This is perhaps the reason why I don’t see a problem in relying completely on sheer improvisation to win or survive a fight regardless of whether or not my Spellcaster teammates are having an easier time of it.

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In a nutshell, what I’m trying to say is that we could all use a little bit of patience and understanding when looking at how others react to the Playtest rules. We’re at the earliest stages of an open playtest that will last months, and from what I understood of what D&D Next is supposed to be, they’ll be releasing more complexity as rules modules over the coming month as development proceeds.

Somewhere down the line, I can imagine that they’ll be releasing subsystems that beef up the Fighter to operate on a Powers system similar to 4e. With that, you can run it the way you like, and I’m certainly not going to complain about it.

[D&D Next] Fighters: Freedom to Improvise

I’ve been paying attention to some of the internet chatter with regards to D&D Next as of late, and I’m puzzled by all this talk of the Fighters getting the short end of the stick. From what I can tell, a lot of this stems from the fact that there isn’t a laundry list of powers / maneuvers in the rules that cater specifically to the Fighter class. Oddly, I find the lack of maneuvers liberating, as it gives Players and GMs the opportunity to get fighters to try all sorts of things without consulting a list of powers and losing the tempo of the game.

That said, if you’re looking for a laundry list of powers, look no further than the Conditions listing in the How To Play document for a slew of interesting things you can do in a fight, aside from, “I attack it.”

Seriously, a fighter can inflict a surprising number of Conditions on their opponents without needing to resort to powers to do so. All it takes is a little imagination and a willingness of both the player to spruce up his combat descriptions a bit, and some adaptation by the GM. Let’s explore the possibilities a little, shall we?

• Blinded – “I reach down and grab a handful of dust/dirt/ash/sawdust and fling it towards his eyes!” Contested DEX check, with the target creature suffering the Blinded condition if he fails. The target creature can spend an action to clear his vision to remove the Blinded condition on his turn.
• Deafened - “I clap both hands on either side of his head to deliver a painful blow to his ears!” standard unarmed Melee attack roll, but rather than deal damage, the target creature is Deafened for a number of rounds equal to the Fighter’s STR mod (with a minimum of 1 round).
• Frightened – “I let out a mighty war cry and brandish my weapon, making it clear that they’re not getting out of this fight alive!” Contested STR (or CHA) vs. Target’s WILL check, with the target suffering the Frightened condition if he fails.
• Prone – “I sweep his legs out from under him!” Contested STR (or DEX) vs. Target’s DEX check, with the target creature suffering the Prone condition.
• Restrained – “I grab him in a mighty bear hug and lift him off his feet!” Contested STR vs STR check, with the target creature suffering the Restrained condition. The target creature can spend its next action trying to break free with another Contested STR vs STR check for as long as it is Restrained.

And these are just all using the empty room scenario. Add interesting terrain like the sort you find in dungeons and you can multiply the number of things you can do with using the Improvise action on just about any situation. You can pick someone up and hurl them into a pit trap with a Contested STR vs. STR. roll, with the smaller character suffering a Disadvantage. Tipping over a heavy barrel and sending it tumbling down a narrow staircase into a group of monsters could force them all to make checks or else end up Prone. Heck, if you have a particularly suave Fighter, you could even try to seduce that Necromancer that has that Goth thing going on that you’re up against with a CHA vs Will contest and get her to side with you guys.

The funny thing about this is that nobody needs to tell you that your character can do X, Y and Z. This sort of freedom in play is something we’ve been doing as kids when we play “Let’s Pretend.” That’s what puzzles me about this insistence on seeing a specific list of maneuvers for fighters. We already have something much better than a list, all we have to do is be brave enough to take it out of our heads and put it into play.

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Note that I am quite aware that any and all of the things I’ve described can be performed by various other character Classes as well. Still, I think a Fighter gains the most benefit from the kind of freedom that they have at the moment. Not everyone can dead lift a fully armored orc and toss it down a ravine after all.