My Interview with the Player-In-Chief, Shelly Mazzanoble, Pt. 2

Here is the second part of the interview I completed with Shelly Mazzanoble.  Enjoy!

8: After visiting your personal website, it seemed to me that you’ve always been highly creative. What do you think lead to your creative flow? Does this creative flow that you harbor help you during a game?
Thank you! If you ask my mom she’ll say “weird” rather than “creative” but that’s just one woman’s opinion. I actually blame her for my “weirdness.” Both of my parents are creative and they always fostered that in my brother and I (like with the stuffed animals.)

My parents have always been very supportive of anything my brother and I did. I remember writing stories for my mom since about the time I could write. She loved them and always made a big deal about them so kept it up. And I was much better at writing then I was at catching baseballs or ice-skating so perhaps her “encouragement” was really an attempt to save me years of embarrassment.

I think being creative helps when playing D&D, but D&D also helps you be creative outside of the game. It’s great practice for writers—character development, backstory, plot development. The entertainment industry is chockfull of D&D players. I’ve even heard D&D referred to as the “secret handshake” in Hollywood, like if you make an obscure D&D reference in a meeting and someone gets it, you’re in. So don’t hide your geek cred in public! You never know who is listening.

9: I also saw on your website that you have worked on many individual projects, i.e. plays. Do you have any current projects you are designing or working on at the moment?
My computer’s hard drive is a mecca for unfinished projects. They come here to die. Or at least languish peacefully in a coma until I feel the need to resurrect them again someday. I think I have a short attention span and if there’s no deadline associated with something I have a hard time finishing it. But really, if I’m bored working on something, then what’s the reader going to get out of it, right? Wait… what did you ask me? Oh right—current projects. See? There’s the attention span in action!

In addition to the aforementioned projects in a coma, one that actually has a deadline is a second book for Wizards of the Coast. It’s tentatively titled “Everything I need to Know I learned from My Dungeon Master.” It’s due pretty much any second. Thanks for reminding me. ☺

10: Do you have a favorite project that you have completed?
Any project that I complete is my favorite! Please don’t make me choose. Oh fine, if I must. I wrote a short story called The Chicken & the Egg and then rewrote it as a play. I like this story because it’s about a divisive topic that I care very deeply about—a women’s right to choose. I didn’t want to write it as a vehicle to express my own opinion, but rather show both sides and how incredibly difficult and personal this choice really is. Maybe afterwards people would look more closely at the other side because it’s not as cut an dry as some people think. Even I wasn’t sure what the character was going to choose when I was writing it. It was her choice. Not mine.

The play was produced twice—once in Seattle and once in Manhattan. I was involved in the production from start to finish in Seattle (maybe that’s a good thing, maybe it’s a bad thing depending on who you ask) but for the NY production I only spoke with the director on the phone once and not again until I showed up for the dress rehearsal a couple months later. It was absolutely incredible. I was totally blown away. I had tears in my eyes. I think I probably punctured the director’s lungs because I hugged her so hard afterwards. The actors were incredible. It was totally surreal to hear words I put on a paper come out of their mouths. I felt totally disconnected (in a good way) and it was like seeing the play or hearing the words for the first time. They did things I never would have thought of. It ran for three nights in NY as part of a festival and on the third night my entire family came in from all over the country to see it.

I feel really lucky to have had that experience—to have worked with such talented people who put so much of themselves into bringing your words to life. Theater, like D&D, is a collaborative effort which really appeals to me. Definitely one of my most favorite accomplishments as a writer.

11: You are a self-proclaimed girly-girl, did this make it difficult for other gamers to take you seriously?
Absolutely, and I noticed it a lot at first. Not so much at work where I was mostly playing because my co-workers know me. I am a girly girl. But that’s just one facet of my personality. Just like “fly fisherman” or “hippie” or “uptight meeting note taker” was just one facet of their personality. But outside of the office, I could definitely sense it. I played up the “girly” element in “Confessions” to appeal to a particular target and also play down the D&D stereotype that says everyone who plays is a pimply-faced teenager with no social skills. But some people thought I was dumbing down “their” game or making assumptions that all women were girly girls who needed to be talked to in the language of shoes and handbags. That of course was never my intention and obviously there were plenty of women who played D&D before I did.

I think once people met me or learned more about my point of view they came to realize I wasn’t making those assumptions at all. And I wasn’t being insincere or creating a fake persona. I do like shoes and shopping and kicking back with an US Weekly when I’m on a treadmill or a long flight (that’s what I was doing by the way, when I was supposed to be answering these questions.)

I’ve had the pleasure of hearing from lots of other women who thought they needed to table (no pun intended) their femininity to be a considered a “gamer” but realize that’s not the case. There’s room for all types if people in this game.

12: I often find that my imagination will run away with me during a game and it can be hard to reign it back in. Do you ever have that happen to you? Has it ever affected a game (for good or bad) that you’ve been playing?
I think an active imagination is a great quality! I’d love to play with you.

I suppose if your imagination lead you so far away you were distracting to other players, that might be a problem but otherwise I think we need more players like you.

While my imagination might not be the problem, my group is prone to tangents and diversions. I’ve tried to curb this ever since I tried my hand at Dungeon Mastering and realized how annoying and discouraging it is to have 7 different side conversations going on and no one is listening to you. That’s when I’m tempted to dump them all in a pit and call it good.

13: Do you have a favorite character that you’ve played? Can you tell us about them? What made that character so much fun to play? Were there any challenges to playing this character?
Hmm… that’s hard. I always feel some allegiance to the character I’m currently playing. In that case it would be Tabitha.

But I’m inclined to say Astrid, my elf sorceress, because she was my first character. Astrid and I have been through a lot together. You could say she inspired me to write Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress so I owe her quite a bit. She was fun to play because she had such an elaborate backstory and marked personality. Everything she did (or didn’t do) was distinctly “Astrid.” We also had a lot in common from the desire to have nice adventuring gear to our penchant for 4-legged creatures. All of this is also what presented challenges to playing her. I think I loved her too much because I lived in fear of something happening to her! I realized after I started playing Tabitha, that players are supposed to get involved in the action, maybe take a few risks. That’s what makes the game fun. I might have missed out on the actual “game” because I couldn’t bear the thought of Astrid sacrificing a few hit points. Poor thing spent most of her days hiding behind a sarcophagus. (One that was empty of course. I made sure of that.)

14: I personally loved your D&D based recipes for gaming nights. Do you have any new ones that you’ve put together?
Thank you! And I love your recipes! I’ve never had Magic Missile Meatballs (I’m vegetarian) but I heard great things about them.

I found that any kind of cake will do wonders to set the right tone for a party. My favorites are appetizers– making them and eating them. But you have to be careful to select ones that don’t get all over your fingers. You can’t roll dice with sticky fingers.

I make a lot with puffed pastry. You can make delicious pizzas that way. Caramelized onions, gorgonzola cheese, cranberries and walnuts is a favorite. Or try layering some chutney, blue cheese and pears. Delicious! I don’t have a good “D&D” name for those. Puff the Magic Dragon Pastry Pizzas? No, that’s lame. Got any suggestions?

*Author’s Note* The questions that follow have absolutely nothing to do with gaming in just about any fashion!  You have been alerted.  You may proceed if you wish now

15: Just a few questions to satisfy my own curiosity!

*Favorite color? Surprise! Pink is my favorite color. More specifically, fuchsia.

*Favorite ice-cream flavor? I love Chubby Hubby ice cream by Ben & Jerry’s. Is there anything better than chocolate covered, peanut butter filled pretzels stuffed into vanilla ice cream? Well, maybe chocolate ice cream.

*Favorite shoe designer? Contrary to public opinion, I do not own any Jimmy Choo’s or Manolo’s but I do like looking at them. Lately I’ve been into shoes by Miz Mooz, Naughty Monkey and Tom’s. They’re good quality and not expensive which is good when you buy in bulk like I do.

*Favorite accessory that you have in your closet? That’s a tough one, as I love accessories! I’m loving this long gold necklace I got recently. It has these beautiful charms on the end. I wear it all the time. I love my tote bag that has vintage birds on it. I’m kind of obsessed with bird designs for some reason. And today I got the most beautiful black satchel. Feels like butter. I think that’s my most favorite accessory right now.

*Something that you never leave home without? My iPhone. I’m an addict. That and hand cream because I despise dry hands and tinted lip balm with SPF 15. I can’t wear lipstick without looking like a five year old who got into her mommy’s make up.

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My Interview with the Player-In-Chief, Shelly Mazzanoble Pt. 1

Being a playwright, author and overall creative persona are just pieces of what makes up the ever-entertaining Shelly Mazzanoble, whom I had the privilege of interviewing this past week!  Shelly is the Associate Brand Marketing Manager for Dungeons & Dragons.  She is also the author of “Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress”, the book that my husband bought me to initially introduce me to gaming.  It was my own personal brush with gaming fame

So please, without further ado, enjoy the interview in its first part!

1: What is your official job title at Wizards of the Coast?
I’m the Associate Brand Marketing Manager for Dungeons & Dragons.

2: What are your regular job duties?
I, along with my boss, am responsible for all of the marketing initiatives for Dungeons & Dragons across all platforms (novels, RPG, online, etc.) We work very closely with cross-functional teams, which include advertising, PR, sales, community, R&D. Really everyone in the company. Lucky for me I really like my co-workers.

3: I’ve heard you referred to as the “Player and Chief”, can you tell me what that means and how you got that title?
Yes! I gave myself that title and continue to force R&D to recognize me as such. It came from my Dragon column after feeling like R&D was getting a little power hungry and the players were suffering. So I went around demanding all sorts of changes “for the players” in an attempt to balance things out. For instance, it drove me nuts that magic missile was no longer “magic.” You had to roll to see if you hit. That’s not magic! So I tried to get R&D to change it back or rename it “missile.” I think they had some kind of lame excuse like “Oh, it does more damage now so it’s still cool.” Whatever. I wasn’t buying it. And guess what? Recently magic missile has regained its magic. No more rolling to see if you hit. I’m taking credit for that (although I suspect I had nothing to do with it. But still…)

4: How did you first get involved in gaming?
You can only work at Wizards for so long before gaming catches up to you, clobbers you on the head and drags you back to its lair!

While I’ve always liked playing cards and “party” games like Cranium, Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, etc. I never considered myself a gamer. That’s a term I reserved for hardcore video gamers, TCG or RPGers. In fact, I still feel like it’s wrong to refer to myself as a gamer. I’m relatively new to the whole D&D thing. I haven’t earned the title yet.

I’ve been at Wizards for 11 years now. The first 6 years I was doing marketing for various trading card games like Magic: The Gathering. Although I can see the appeal, it was way too competitive for my taste. When I moved to the publishing team, I was invited to join a D&D game that was just starting up. I’ve been playing every week (give or take) for the past five years now and loving it.

5: Was there any part of gaming that you felt came ‘naturally’ to you?
I’ve always loved creating characters so that part is my favorite. I spent a lot of time as a kid playing with stuffed animals and gave them all these very lavish backstories. They had jobs, kids, marriages and divorces. They drove specific cars, had friends and enemies, liked certain foods and baseball teams. My brother and I talked about them like they were part of the family. Even my parents still remember Froggy O’Hara, who owned a pillow shop, was married to Green Rabbito, drove a corvette (Barbie’s!), and loved the Atlanta Braves. Why didn’t my brother and I play D&D?

I also really love the stories and that everyone in the group has a chance to contribute to it.

6: Was there any part of gaming that you felt was more difficult to learn or do?
Yep. So much so that I wrote about this too. I still have some insecurities when it comes to the roleplaying aspect. While I love making up a character’s background I seldom use it in game. Tabitha, my tiefling wizard, is charismatic and intimidating. She’s the obvious choice to schmooze (or rough up) the guards outside a temple or try to get a bigger reward from the mayor who sent us on our adventure. And yet I can’t help thinking I’ll say the wrong thing or miss a totally obviously clue so poor Tabby never really says much of anything.

I think strategy is something that takes practice. I need to work on that both as a player and a fledging Dungeon Master. Things like “Where do I stand?” “Should I move even if I can make a ranged attack?” “Should I bring all the minions out at once?” Being honest with your group, asking for help and advice is all perfectly acceptable. I learned that even the seemingly most expert D&D players have their insecurities once in a while.

7: How did you come to write “Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress”?
I wrote an essay for an editor I had worked with at The Seattle Times about “my secret life as a dragon slayer.” I played up my “girly” side and the fact I never thought someone like me would be into a game like D&D because I really wanted to shoot down some of the stereotypes associated with the game. Although she was amused, the editor had a hard time grasping the whole “I’ve got a Balenciaga mace and I’m not afraid to use it” concept. I showed it to some people at work who unbeknownst to me where already exploring ways to reach out to women—gamers and non-gamers. Someone thought my essay could be expanded upon so I wrote up a proposal for a “How to” book written for the woman who has no concept of roleplaying games or a 20-sided die for that matter. I wanted to highlight the aspects I though came so naturally to some women — storytelling, socializing, even roleplaying. I believed that if more women knew what D&D was really about, they’d be inclined to give the old d20 a spin. Roleplaying is not a foreign concept to women. Little girls are naturals at it. They play house, tea party, dolls. Just imagine if Barbie’s dream house was invaded by hobgoblins.

Check out Pt. 2 of the interview here!

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Indie Kids

Preface
I am not criticizing indie games or those who play them. I love indie games, myself. I am critical of one small segment of the population. Still, I understand that this is probably going to stir up some controversy.
End Preface

I’ve been thinking about “indie” recently, and realized that indie game fanatics are very similar to indie music fans in many respects.

Both turn their nose up at anything mainstream:
Indie Music: “Oh, you listen to… John Mayer? Hmph.”
Indie Games: “Oh, you play… D&D? Hmph.”

Both like to wave their obscure media of choice in your face.
Indie Music: “This band on my shirt? Oh, you’ve probably never heard of them. They’re not… Mainstream. Hmph.”
Indie Games: “This RPG we’re playing? Oh, you’ve probably never heard of it. It’s not… Mainstream. Hmph.”

You yourself may play indie games, or listen to indie music, but their media of choice is more obscure than yours, and therefore, more worthy of their time. These are the kinds of people who only liked Savage Worlds before “it got popular,” or won’t even look at any game made by Wizards, Green Ronin or FFG, simply because they’re “popular.”

It’s arrogant, and, frankly, stupid.

Can you imagine anyone else in the world doing this?

Indie Doctor: “I know other doctors have said you should be on this particular drug, and you’ve seen it on some commercials, but I’m not going to put you on it. I won’t sell out to the corporations. I’ve got a drug from a small, independent company you’ve never heard of. We’ll put you on that.”

Indie Stockbroker: “I know you’d like to invest in Microsoft, but aren’t they too… corporate? I’m going to get you some stock from this small, independent company. If they ever start to get popular, we’re going to drop the stock. We wouldn’t want you to go… mainstream. Hmph.”

As you can see, it’s patently ridiculous. Nothing should be ignored and thrown out simply because it happens to be made by a larger company. I’m all for Fiasco, My Life With Master, Dogs in the Vineyard and the like (though even mentioning them is removing some indie cred from them), but I think you should also mix it up with some games like D&D, Dark Heresy and Mutants & Masterminds.

Keep rolling 20′s, or whatever it is you indie kids use to indicate success or failure these days.

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The Journey to Black Fire Pass

On Saturday, I attended the Journey to Black Fire Pass event at the Fantasy Flight Games Event Center. (Warning, from here on out, there’s spoilers!)

The idea behind the event, was that it was an introductory adventure to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3e. There didn’t seem to be much support for it, as only one player (me) and one GM showed up for it. Ross Watson was in the store, and I convinced him to join me, so it was the two of us against the world.

I played a Dwarven Agent, while Ross played a Slayer. We were brothers, whose brother went missing after traveling to Black Fire Pass to deliver a shield to a Dwarven stronghold through the pass.

Our GM was… competent. Not the type I’d normally play with, as he was disorganized, and unable to think on his feet. I think Ross and I quickly realized if this game was going to be fun, the two of us were going to have to make it that way, so we really got into character. We were shouting in dwarfy voices, bickering like Dwarven brothers would, and inciting town mobs against elves. It was pretty fun!

We ended up fighting grave robbers, tracking down leads, and facing off against Orcs and Goblins in the Pass itself. Poor strategy worked against us, and, in the end, both of us were slain. Before we died, however, we did learn that our brother had been killed in this pass as well, so it seemed appropriate.

The scenario was well written, with a lot of depth. I had a good time, not because of the GM, but because of the entertainment Ross and me brought to the table.

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A Great WEEK For Gaming!

Forget my last post; it didn’t cut it: it’s been a great week for gaming!

On Thursday, I sat down with my brother, sister-in-law and Ross Watson to play some Mouse Guard. Yes, that Ross Watson, the designer of Deathwatch and Rogue Trader. How’s that for intimidation!

If you’ll allow me a moment to digress, before the game, while Andrew (brother) was finishing up working at the store, I sat down with Tricia (sister-in-law) and played both Drakon and Cave Troll, two great games, and we were able to finish a game of both in one hour. Tricia is a brutal player, and won both games. She holds no punches, and is sneaky and manipulative. In other words, everything a player should be.

Back to Mouse Guard… I’m glad the players had fun, because, even though I did as well, I felt like an utter failure. Things didn’t go the way I expected, I got flustered over some rules I couldn’t figure out, I forgot how a lot of stuff went, and in the end it really, really wasn’t my best job GMing.

Ross was fantastic. He’s a great guy, and played a mouse whose instinct is to always tell a story. He would. At length. He had a story for any situation, and couldn’t keep his nose out of trouble. They ended up fighting off a crow and a badger, but when they went back to town, he began telling tales, describing the crow as “big as an eagle,” and the injuries he sustained as from those of a bear rather than a badger.

In the end, they succeeded at their mission, and Ross walked away with the most Persona points from doing so well at his character. It was great to have him at the table.

Yesterday, before surprising my brother with a birthday dinner at Old Chicago, I went over to his house, where I played with Tricia, the Sadler twins (who I played in that WFRP game with), and Brady’s fiance. We played a game of Condottiere, a card game by (who else?) FFG.

At Andrew’s surprise party, he received, among other things, WHFRP, so he’ll have his own set now, as well as the Winds of Magic supplement. I had some great conversations with the Sadlers, Ross, the FFG art director, as well as Dan Clark, the co-creator of the FFG game Android.

It was great to be among so many gamers and geeks. It feels like a small taste of GenCon.

Today, I’ll be playing in the Journey to Black Fire Pass event, which is a demo scenario for WFRP (which I learned is pronounced “wiffrip”) at the FFG Event Center, then, this evening, we’ll be either playing Android or Battlestar Galactica. I look forward to it!

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A Great Day for Gaming

Yesterday was a great day for gaming. I’m in Minneapolis on business, and only had one appointment, an hour long meeting at 4:30. My brother works in Minneapolis for Fantasy Flight Games, as does his wife, so it was only natural in my visit, I’d be subjected to a plethora of games.

I headed over to his place at about 10, where I had breakfast, then we took my sister-in-law over to her job and dropped her off. My brother then took me over to a game store known as “The Source”.

It’s the biggest game store I’ve ever seen, with tons upon tons of RPG books, paints, minis, board & card games, statues and comics. I think I spent about an hour just wandering the store, looking at everything.

They have all kinds of popular RPGs, as well as some really obscure ones. I was impressed as to their selection of Savage Worlds products, including multiple third-party publishers of SW games. They also had Burning Empires, the Sci-Fi version of Burning Wheel (and Mouse Guard) and it took a lot of will power to pull myself away.

After that, we headed back to my brother’s place, where we played a quick game of Small World. I got decimated pretty badly, but by then it was time to have lunch with my sister-in-law. We picked her up, and went to the park, where my brother taught me how to play Warhammer Invasion, Fantasy Flight’s new Living Card Game. It was surprisingly easy to learn and play, and before I knew it, I was playing like a pro (using my sister-in-law’s deck, of course.)

After that, we headed back to the apartment where we hung out for a while, before I left for my meeting.

After the meeting, I headed back to the apartment, where we had dinner, then over to their friends’ house, two of whom also work at FFG. I got to sit in on and play in Warhammer Fantasy RP. I had put together a character before hand, a human gambler known as Tristan Two-Coins (Ten-Coins to the ladies…) who was better lucky than actually good. He was dirt poor and down on his luck, but managed to turn that luck around by using his weighted dice to gamble with my brother’s character, fleecing him of 100 shiny silver coins without getting caught cheating.

We soon witnessed a hanging, and later that night, the tavern was attacked by Zombies. Tristan did his part, striking down one of the four abominations. The heroes were in the middle of a greater plot involving a mysterious stone they had uncovered, but my character was less interested in what the stone was, and more interested in finding out why a zombie had just tried to eat him. He got out of the fight without a scratch, and managed to make friends with the town’s surgeon.

I think I definitely got a handle on the game mechanics, as well.

After the game, we went back to the apartment and wrapped up a quick game of 3-person Small World, then I headed back.

Things I got today: the Winds of Magic Supplement for Warhammer Fantasy RP, and my brother found my old MTG Elf deck I’ve been missing for years.

It was a good day, and one I thoroughly enjoyed. Tonight, after work, I’ll be heading over to the FFG Retail Center and play some games. This is a good week for gaming!

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Recipes of the Forgotten Realms: Warm Kitchen Favorites

Alright, we all know it’s summer and therefore it’s hot… but sometimes don’t you still want that really good soup but don’t want to heat up your house to get it… well then enjoy a nice/easy crockpot soup… Not to mention the super yummy & super easy marshmallow brownies as well.

Cockatrice Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Directions:

In a 6 quart crock pot combine both breasts (frozen), 2 cans of chicken stock, 1/2 c. water, cream of chicken, cream of celery,  1 box of the rice including seasoning packet, garlic powder, salt & pepper and parsley.  Cook on high for about 3 hours.  Pull out cooked chicken and dice into 1 inch cubes and add back to crockpot and turn the temperature to low.  Add the second box of rice including seasoning packet to pot.  Add diced carrots, sliced celery and diced onion.  Give a good stir and add the half pint of half & half.  This is the time to add a little more salt and pepper to your liking.  Continue to cook for another 4 or so hours (really it could be done at any point but this helps the flavor to come together).  If it’s too thick then just add some more milk to thin it down.  Suggestion: serve in warmed and hollowed out bread bowls or with a nice crusty french bread.  Freezes well for up to 2 months.

*Note* It’s a crockpot recipe, right?, OK so if you don’t have all day to be home or less time to prepare it in then add everything at the beginning and start with the chicken already defrosted and cubed in 1 inch pieces.  Cook for about 4 hours or so.

Corellon Chocolate Marshmallow-Gooey Brownies

Directions:
Prepare brownies and bake as directed being sure to add teeny tiny marshmallows to the batter. Let cool most of the way. When brownies are slightly warm add approximately 6 dollops of hot fudge sauce to top. Let sit on brownies for a minute or so. This will allow the fudge to warm and be much much easier to spread. Spread across brownies evenly. In a swirling back and forth pattern add the marshmallow topping. Let it sit for a minute as well. Using the sharp end of a knife draw the marshmallow in straight lines through the chocolate topping to create a nice swirling pattern. It’s not required just a pretty embellishment

Use these for some hands free and fancy cooking at your next gathering! Enjoy!

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Player vs. Character Knowledge

It’s an endless debate: How much should players know about what’s going on in the metaplot, as opposed to what the characters themselves know.

Now, I myself like to keep my cards close to my chest, though I usually have a GM’s Leak to bounce ideas off of. I’ve heard the thought that
“just because you aren’t surprised doesn’t mean your character can’t be,” and to some extent, this is true. But in the same vein, you could say the same thing about movies: if you’re going to a movie you’ve been looking forward to, do you want to know the entire plot? Or do you avoid spoilers? “Just because you aren’t surprised, doesn’t mean the characters in the movie can’t be,” right?

Wrong.

This is exactly why I think it’s best for players to not know what’s going on. I want their surprise and revelation to be genuine, where they really didn’t see it coming. If you tell them, “you guys are going to face a white dragon tonight,” and show them your gargantuan white dragon statue, it’s not going to be as cool when their characters are walking through a cave and suddenly feel the air turn cold around them. As they turn a corner, you pull the dragon miniature from behind the screen and place it on the map. The gasps of horror are so much better that way.

Now, there are some situations in which I think it’s okay to let you players know what’s going on. If you’re in my situation, with a wife who plays in your group, it’ll be kind of hard to hide the construction of a giant purple worm from her. Bridget will still usually pretend to be surprised at the table. However, I’ve heard of some wives who will ply their husbands for information on what they’re going to face, then bring the information back to the group. Very sneaky.

What do you all think? How should this be handled, in your opinions?

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Utilizing The Power of Language Within Your RPG

In a recent article on Campaign Mastery, Johnn speaks to Mike about languages in your role-playing game, and their importance. You really should read it. It’s very in-depth and fascinating.

In general, I don’t put too much emphasis on languages. I’ll occasionally throw in a character who only speaks Elvish so only a few characters can speak to them, but everyone else around the table is able to hear what I’m saying, so what’s the point?

I have, however, used it in some interesting situations.

For example, the Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons supplement for 4e has a small draconic dictionary, including an alphabet. There was a creature the heroes were hunting down, which could only be killed if you spoke its true name. So I took the dictionary, translated a phrase over to draconic explaining where the creature was located and naming it (Turon, I believe). Then, I wrote it out on a piece of paper using the draconic alphabet. Dirtying up the paper to make it look old, the heroes had to translate the text to English letters, then from draconic to English.

When they weren’t able to translate the one word “Turon”, they realized they discovered the secret name of the creature they were hunting.

You can read my original post on this here. You can see pictures of the paper, as well as Bridget and Lindsay trying to translate it.

In another instance, I recently, in my online Star Wars game I’m running, had a Hutt speak to the heroes. Searching online, I discovered a Huttese dictionary, which I translated every line the Hutt spoke. The  Hutt’s translator explained what he was saying, so the heroes weren’t confused, but I think it added depth to the game. Admittedly, this is only really an option in an online game where you’re able to type, but it’s worth trying.

In one last instance, I had run a Firefly game for a little while. Only one of the players had seen the show or movie, and the rest didn’t know what they were getting into. As I explained how the language of the show worked, as well as insults and curses (“Humped, gorram, etc”) they wrote them down on the backs of their sheets. They also went through the Chinese language dictionary in the back of the Serenity RPG and wrote some words they thought they’d like to use as well. Before you knew it, two weeks into the game, they were masters, throwing out snappy one-liners in old west style language, and shouting “Ta ma dah!” at the top of their lungs.

I don’t think you have to fully get into the intricacies of the language to have a good time with it, but I do think mixing it in a little can have some great RP opportunities.

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A Day Late and a Shilling Short: Spoiler Free Review

At GenCon, I’ll be running the Warhammer Fantasy RP scenario: A Day Late and a Shilling Short, a quick adventure that can be found on Fantasy Flight Games’ website.

I’m going to avoid talking much about the specifics of the plot, since all of the people who will be playing in the game read the site.

To begin, you won’t be able to just pick this up and play it without owning the game proper. It doesn’t explain the rules, or (naturally) provide the dice. This is an adventure designed to get a campaign going, and explain why it is the characters are together, or introduce new players to the game.

The game begins in a tavern, but only as back story. By the time the players are running their characters, they’re on the road to investigate why a merchant’s wagon is a day late into town. Each character is given a good reason for coming along (except the dwarf troll slayer, but I think that’s just because they felt obligated to include him.) There are a series of combat encounters, which, if run right, could be dynamic and exciting. If the players keep their eyes open, there are some things they can do to tip things in their favor.

The non-combat encounter that follows up all the fighting could be really entertaining and fun. The NPC provided could easily become the most detested character your heroes have ever faced, if pulled off right. I think Bridget is going to be shocked that I’ll definitely be using a voice and facial expressions for this character to really bring home the utter horribleness of him. I could see him as an ongoing annoyance to the heroes in a campaign.

In all, it’s a good scenario. I look forward to running it.

You can get the scenario A Day Late and a Shilling Short at Fantasy Flight Games’ website.

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