Monumental Magic

As some of you are now aware, I'm working on a "from scratch" martial controller. Not that I didn't like the "re-built" rogue martial controller, but I thought it might be fun to create a class from the ground up and experience the process. And it doesn't hurt that this is one particular niche that seems to have been left open either by design or oversight. Unfortunately, the process began just about the time I started playing Open Beta of Star Trek Online, which has slowed my progress immeasurably. However, the Beta is over, and so I am refocusing on my efforts and should have a finished product soon. With the help of my Monday night group, I've named the new class. So, next week, I plan to give you the first installment of a multi-week unveiling of: The Phalanx!

But that is next week. This week, I have to make a confession. I'm afraid I went nearly twenty seven years without ever watching Conan the Barbarian. Fortunately, this week, I rectified that gap in my education. But as I was watching the movie, I recognized a trope of high fantasy adventure literature and cinema that generally doesn't translate well into your average tabletop game: the item of significance. Many rule sets have been laid out by many different games on how to create "heirloom items" or how to enhance an existing item so that your player doesn't have to sell off the family sword when he gets his first magic weapon. So I don't plan to rehash something so relatively old hat. Instead, this led me to consider old games that I had played. The feeling of wonder when we found a magical weapon. The suspense as the wizard crushed that 100gp pearl and cast "Identify" on the sword, and the exultation as the DM read the description of the potent magical properties of the weapon. That is something I definitely miss. Nowadays, it seems like the magic is expected, expedient, and often very un-exciting.

My Monday night game had a noteworthy discovery of a magic item which relates to this idea. Our fighter uses two-handed axes, so when we found ourselves facing off against the King of the Xane-kin (Goodman Games monster, not even sure I'm spelling it right) wielding an over-sized two-handed ax of obvious magical power, the whole party was agog with anticipation! What would it be? Could Marcus wield such an immense weapon? Would Cain the Cunning be forced to use his powers to transfer the enchantment to a more reasonable sized weapon? My DM, always the master of improvisation (I'm assuming this wasn't completely scripted, perhaps it was.) saw the excitement that this weapon generated and jumped on it. He described the ax falling to the ground with as much attention to detail and color as one usually reserves for the demise of the campaign's BBEG. The whole group was spell-bound as Marcus tried to lift it. And found that he could! This sort of flavor makes magic items memorable. It also helps keep all players engaged in what is going on a the table. That makes it something worth trying.

So, how should we go about making magic monumental? Here are a few suggestions for players and DMs:

1. As DM, solicit a wishlist of items from your players. This is pretty standard fare, but ask for more than you might usually. Ask the player to "describe" the delver's leather armor they want. Is it crafted from the hides of sentient lizards? Does it appear to be made from the skins of giant spiders? These flavor details, produced by the character's player, increase buy-in from the player, making them less likely to thoughtlessly shuck the item when it's enhancement bonus is no longer on par, and also give you material to use to weave the item into the game at a theatrically appropriate moment, increasing everyone's enjoyment of the game.
2. As a player, take some time to consider how your character feels about the various items s/he has discovered, and those which s/he hopes to discover. What characteristics make these weapons distinct? Does your character want to be known as the dagger master who leaps from the shadows, face indistinct, but serpentine blades dripping venom and cutting blinding arcs through the darkness? Or does your character wish to use a morningstar with the skull of a barbed demon as the head? Each of these ideas helps the game, and can help you and your friends enjoy it all the more. So think them up, and share them!
3. Finally, as the DM, never distribute magic items as an after-thought. It is better to have the loot for the fight ready and be fumbling through three monster manuals to keep up with the stats of the monsters, than to pull off an epic battle that your players were unsure they would survive only to kill the elation by announcing "you find a... helm of leadership on one of the monsters."

The moral of the story is that magic should be monumental. And to make it momentous, you have to give it its moment. Both players and DMs need to do their part. With a little extra attention, and some collaboration on the parts of players and DMs, no loot will ever be dull accounting ever again. Until next week, good gaming!

One of Those Days...

So, my Monday night game this week was... well, see the title. Anyone else remember that book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day? Well, after Monday night's session, I wanted to move to Australia. It wasn't just the bad rolls (although, it's never fun to spend the entire night rolling 8 or lower other than one 15 and a 13...) but rather the stark juxtaposition of my crap-tacular rolling alongside the multiple crits of our fighter and rogue. Now, D&D is a cooperative game, so I'm certainly not complaining that my team was doing well. In fact, we would likely have ended up ground into paste if they weren't doing better than average. But it got me thinking about 4e, and the frequency of "Those Days."

So, in honor of all "Those Days" we've had, here are some ideas on how to avoid the need to move to Australia.

1. Don't take only attack powers. When you get the chance to pick up a utility, make sure it's not simply something that augments attacks. Grab at least a few of them that are encounter powers that you can use when you are scared of rolling a D20. Give someone else a save, remove a condition from someone else, teleport the heck out of a tight spot. If you only have dailies to rely on not needing to hit, you're going to spend a lot of turns doing nothing when the God of Dice is laying down the smack.
2. With the support of your DM/fellow players, make it an off-day for your character. Flubbing a lot of rolls? Come up with some hilarious antics to explain why your normally savvy hero is suddenly the Chevy Chase of high adventure. Things like grabbing the wrong weapon, forgetting the words to that Inspiring Refrain, or just straight up bad luck can not only make your wasted turns sting a little less, but they can also make the fight more fun for everyone. Tap into the groups Schadenfreude, get everyone laughing at the frustration you are experiencing. It may just make you feel a little better about it.
3. Help the DM out a bit. Maybe your rolls aren't the reason you're falling all over yourself, maybe the bad guy is just THAT AWESOME! Whenever you dump a roll, describe some incredible maneuver the enemy performed that caused your well-aimed attack to miss. This is, of course, subject to DM approval but most DMs will appreciate you playing up their villians. Especially when they feel like the dread has left the game, and no one is taking that evil warlock they spent three hours designing as the B.B.E.G. seriously. This could earn you some points, make you feel like less of a failure, AND help your fellow players enjoy the fight a bit more as they all experience more satisfaction when they manage to hit the guy on whom you couldn't lay a finger.
4. Finally, look at other benefits you can contribute. Give the rogue flanking. Sure you're a wizard, but use the bloody staff and go flank that goblin! Use the often-overlooked "Aid Another" action. +2 to defenses against an opponent, or +2 on the next attack roll against that opponent? You only have to hit an AC 10 with a melee basic attack. And if you're going to roll horribly, at least you have better odds against a defense that low.

So there are four ways to make that terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad session a little less painful. And hopefully, a little more fun! And who knows, maybe you'll accrue some handy karma that will get that evil God of Dice off your back before the end of the session. You might be back to fighting fit before you know it! Or you can always use Ode of Sacrifice to take the stun condition off the rogue. Those striker-types love when you do stuff like that!

Ride the Wave

Today, I'm going to try not to wax philosophical and take up too much of your time. We're going to take a quick look at Google Wave, which is bringing a new avenue to RPGs. After talking in general, I'd like to share some ideas that have occurred to me on usage, and share some links to the gadgets and extensions that look like they will be most helpful in running a game on Google Wave.

So, Google Wave was designed as a collaborative tool. This works out wonderfully, because Wizards of the Coast has mostly spiked the plans to create a gaming table feature for D&D Insider. And for everyone who doesn't play D&D, Google Wave offers an alternative to play-by-post games and similar fare. The advantage of Google Wave lies in the melding of synchronous and asynchronous communication. Basically, with existing programs and web applications, players either had to be sitting down at computers at the same time, or they ran the risk of posting things simultaneously, leading to confusion and redundancy. With Google Wave, all participants can see, in real time, when a contributor is posting. This means that the fluidity of the game is more protected. Players can check in with one another with less chance of derailing the game. And best of all, if a session with everyone present is desired, it is absolutely possible.

The second advantage comes in the form of gadgets and extensions that I mentioned earlier. These are user generated (for the most part) little programs that can run within your Wave. There is an extension that will automatically roll dice when you enter them into the Wave, and a gadget that will show a map, battle mat, or other image withing the Wave and allow you to place markers on it. As more people start to use Google Wave, there will undoubtedly be further improvements to the breadth and application of gadgets and extensions.

Of course, the same flexibility that allows such dynamic game play does come at a price. This medium allows anyone to edit any post in the Wave. This means that there is a bit more of an element of trust than in other formats, where finalized text is immutable, or at least restricted in who can alter it. But it is a necessary price which allows the players to move their character's marker on the map, or to note an immediate interrupt on an enemy's turn. Ultimately, the system's benefits make it ideal for the purposes of the gaming community. I remember a time when several hours of prep work were wasted because my players asked me to grab sodas for them and then stole my adventure notes and read through them. (I was only 13 at the time, and far too trusting a lad!) So trust is not merely required on Google Wave. If you're like me, this is exciting as a way to supplement your table-top game, try another character, or run a campaign you've been itching to start. I still endorse sitting down at a table with friends, but when that isn't an option, I think Google Wave is providing us with an outstanding alternative.

Ideas

Use player "check-ins" during combat or other activities that could involve taking actions that aid or interrupt others. This might slow down the game slightly, but could also reduce the amount of "ret-conning" you have to do. Just have each player edit the post with each turn adding a small, agreed-upon designator at the bottom acknowledging that they have reviewed the actions of the turn and do not wish to take any actions in response. If a player does want to react, such as taking an opportunity action, have them add that instead of their designator. e.g. An orc attacks Stan the Wizard. GM Steve writes out a post detailing the attack and includes the roll, showing a successful hit and the damage dealt. When Bob checks the post later that evening, and sees that the orc his Swordmage marked attacked Stan, he opens the post and adds a line to the effect of: "A brilliant flash of light deflects the brunt of the orc's swing, Stan only receives 4 damage."

Try to set things around 3-day windows. This way, if players have a busy day, or the GM does, no one is getting upset with the lack of movement on the thread. This also gives people a mental count on when the next round is going to occur. Because everything is ultimately editable, it doesn't hurt too much to go back and change things, but from round to round consistency helps players make decisions they are happy with going forward. If a monster crits a character, dropping them to 0 hit points and the Rogue uses his turn to stabilize that character, then the defender comes along having missed the last couple days of action and interrupts the attack, negating the crit, it is understandable that the group is going to be a little miffed about having to redo that whole round and any subsequent rounds that included actions stemming from that chain of events. This is partly addressed by the suggestion above, but setting some sort of loose time table for the progression of rounds gives everyone a way to feel more secure.

Useful Extensions and Gadgets

Fighty is a map extension that allows you to make an interactive battle mat out of most anything. Find the directions on how to use it here.

For a dice simulator, try adding "randomleetwenty@appspot.com" as a "user" to your Wave. The extension will fill in the roll when you write things like "1d20+10."

Now I am off to start planning my Google Wave game. Good luck, and good gaming!