So, I’m preparing to leave for Spokane this week. I’ve gotten a group set up in Spokane, ready to go. All it needs now is my physical presence.

The group will consist of my wife, an old friend and his wife, another old friend, and possibly a friend of the second old friend.

I’ll be running Pathfinder’s Kingmaker Adventure Path, and I’m looking forward to it.

Instead of the standard Hexmap used to explore the Riverlands, however, I’ll be using Heroscape tiles. This will give a good 3D representation on the board, and will be kind of like building a puzzle. I’ll allow the players to place the tiles as they explore them, using different colors to represent different types of terrain. Not sure how I’ll implement rivers, as the water tiles will be way to huge for that. We’ll have to see. To the right, you can see how someone has implemented the tiles to make a map of the US. I’ll be doing something similar, but with elves.

In addition, I’ll need materials to represent different locations. I can do this a few different ways.

I own Civilization, which has lots of little pieces representing cities and settlements. I can paint those up, and sticky tack those onto the board so they’re permenantly fixed.

In addition, I plan on picking these up from Ebay. This’ll give me some smaller locations for the houses, and larger ones for the castles.

Finally, I plan on having the outpost the players start as an actual castle, rather than a wooden fort. The idea is that it was a castle outpost built to defend the riverlands, but was soon abandoned until Oleg showed up and took over. I want to pick up one of these castles, but still not sure which. They’re fairly inexpensive, but the shipping’s rough on them, since they’re coming from Russia. This one in particular appeals to me.

And that’s my plan for the setup! I’ll be getting the players together once I’m in town to plot out how they know one another, or even if they do, and we’ll begin!

The RPG blogging community is a wide open place, incredibly welcoming and extremely friendly. If you aren’t a blogger, or at least someone who is involved on Twitter, you need to be.

I’ve been around for a while. I was in the second wave of bloggers who emerged over at the RPG Bloggers Network, starting Dice Monkey around the time 4e was released. I was one of the first blogs up at the RPG Blog Alliance.

No, that’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is that you should get yourself involved in the community. I wouldn’t have remained involved in the RPG Blogger community if it wasn’t a fantastic place.

So, how do you get involved?

1. Start a blog. Now, there are plenty of people in the community who don’t have a blog, and are just involved on Twitter. You can do this too, but having a blog gives you a central place for people to see what you’re playing and what you’re thinking about gaming at the moment.

2. Register your blog at RPGBA and RPGBloggers. If you didn’t follow step one, you won’t be following step two. Getting your blog up on the RPG Bloggers Network and The RPG Blog Alliance is a great way to get yourself noticed.

3. Quality over quantity. When I started this blog, a lot of it was complete crap. I was cranking out a post a day, just rambling about anything I could think of. I still do so today, but I don’t post EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Over on Plot Points, there are daily articles, but that’s because I have multiple contributors. I couldn’t produce quality content every single day over there on my own. I have help.

4. Get a Twitter account. This is far more important than having a blog. The RPG community is massive on Twitter. I’ve made some fantastic friends on there, chatting throughout the day on gaming and many other subjects. Start following people (you can start with me @MarkMeredith) and once you start talking to people and offering your opinions on things, you’ll really feel like part of the community.

5. Put yourself out there. You can only be a part of a community if you involve yourself in it. Commenting on blogs, writing tweets and more can really help that.

I am a very proud member of the RPG community, a place where I’ve made some amazing friends, and hope to make more in the future. Maybe that new friend is you. Won’t you be my neighbor?

“Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.”

Why delve? What causes heroes to venture into long forgotten tombs and caves, risking (and often losing) their lives in search of “pale enchanted gold”? More importantly, why do so many underground dungeons exist?

To begin with, a lot of people talk about “the world being packed full of adventurers” due to so many D&D groups out there existing. Some settings have adventuring organizations (Pathfinder), or stores set up specifically for adventurers. This is rediculous.

The world isn’t packed with adventurers. There’s your group’s adventurers. If you choose to have a few other groups out there dungeon-delving, fine, but don’t inundate the world with people slaying dragons. Your heroes are special, unique. They’re not just “another one of those adventuring groups”.

I also strongly dislike “Adventuring Shops”, which have everything you need from the Player’s Handbook inside (I miss the extensive lists of mundane equipment from editions prior to 4e). Instead, your heroes should have to venture from shop to shop looking for everything they need to assemble into their adventuring kit. Should they have to RP out finding a merchant to buy a stick of chalk from every single time they want to buy some? No, but making sure the players know it’s not just a simple act of finding the Adventuring Merchant adds some flavor to the world.

Why do dungeons exist? These underground lairs scattered about the countryside, full of monsters and treasure have to have a purpose.

In issue… 1 I think of the new D&D comic series, one of the characters poses a similar question, and it’s answered in the best way I’ve ever heard: Dungeons exist because in a world filled with giant flying dragons, you need somewhere you can keep things safe from the hands of these monsters. Basically, dungeons are bomb shelters, places you can keep your necessary supplies in case of monster attacks.

In the years and years since the collapse of the society, these dungeons have fallen into disrepair, and monsters have moved in, setting up their own traps or bypassing those of the previous occupants.

It’s been a while since I’ve had some good old-fashioned dungeon delving. I’ve been focusing so much on the Marvel RPG, I haven’t had time for D&D. I’ll be running a one-shot of D&D in a couple of weeks to get the D&D wheels turning again. Stay tuned.

When you play the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game, you’re going to need plot points. The book suggests poker chips or coins.

I’ve got better, and I’m here to help you out.

Go to the Dollar Store. Get the clear glass beads that are flat on the bottom, and are about an inch or so across, not the small ones.

Print out a sheet of the tokens below, and rubber cement them to the bottom. You’ll be able to see the tokens through the clear glass.

There are four different designs, but the symbols don’t necessarily mean anything. They’re there to add atmosphere. If you come up with an idea within the rules for the different types, let me know!

As soon as I’ve gotten some put together, I’ll show you how they look. Enjoy!

Click to enlarge. Enjoy!

Here’s something I haven’t experienced much in-game: Player Characters dating either Non-Player Characters or other Player Characters.

About four years ago, on deployment, we briefly began to play Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, and my Cleric almost ended up in a relationship with an NPC, but the game sort of fell apart before that ever came to fruition.

In my current online Star Wars game, my character is a simple mechanic, just wanting to get home to his family on Alderaan.

Other than that, I’ve never really experienced relationships in game, either as a DM or as a player.

So, how does one handle this? What happens when a husband and wife are at the table, and the husband’s character begins flirting with the barmaid? How about when the wife’s character begins dating one of the PCs? How would one handle that?

I think that you need to set some ground rules if you’re going to be introducing relationships into the game.

1. Ask your players. If you’ve got a great idea for a romance between your NPC and a PC, ask them if they’re cool with that. Ask the others at the table if they’re comfortable with romance being addressed in-game. Some players hate it. Check.
2. Establish ground rules. I understand it could get a bit uncomfortable to watch two heterosexual guys making eyes at each other across the table as the DM discribes the flirting between the barmaid and the PC. Find out what the players are comfortable with before going forward.
3. If anyone’s getting uncomfortable, back off. You’re RPing some great ineractions between the PC and the barmaid. You look up, and his wife is looking upset. Stop, make sure everything’s okay. It may spoil the mood of the scene, but it never hurts to make sure all of your players are having a good time.

Those are the three tips I have. Keep things mature and friendly, and everyone will enjoy themselves.

I just read an article over at How Not To Run A Game Business in which the author, Fugaros talks with John from Merlyn’s, the game store in my hometown. In a few months, I’ll be returning to my hometown, and will become a regular customer at Merlyn’s again. I’m very excited.

In the article, he talks about how there needs to be more introductory box sets for games, and says that there are only two in the store: the Pathfinder Beginner Box and the Dr. Who RPG. I can think of one more, the One Ring RPG, but that’s not the point I want to make today.

You often see things online sold as a bundle. On Amazon, you are often given the option of bundling the product you’re buying with another product at a small discount. Why can’t game stores do the same?

Say someone comes in and wants to try out RPGs. They aren’t really into fantasy, but like things like Indiana Jones and Barsoom. The game store owner hands them the Savage Worlds RPG bundle, which includes the Savage Worlds Explorer’s Edition, a set of dice, some character sheets and cutouts of templates, all for $20. You’re ready to go! Head out the door with your new hobby!

Or, if they want to play 4e, give them a bundle of the Heroes of the Fallen Lands, The Rules Compendium, Dungeon Master’s Kit and Monster Vault, along with a set of dice, for, say, $60. You’d be offering this all together at less than you’d sell the products individually for, but it would provide the perfect starter, and would encourage the person to come back for more. Hell, when you sell it, you could give them a coupon for 20% off their next D&D purchase at the store, to encourage them to come back for more stuff.

“This is all well and good,” you say (since you apparently speak like someone in the 50′s), “but these bundles don’t teach you how to play like the Pathfinder Beginner Box does.” True enough. What if a game store offered a $5 “Learn to Play D&D” or “Learn to Play Savage Worlds” seminar? Three hours, for anyone who wants to show. They can sit down and learn how to play this new game they’ve gotten. A few weeks later, offer an Advanced class, that would delve deeper into how to play, offering expert D&D advice and the like. I think people would swarm to it.

Those are my ideas. Do you think they hold any weight? If you were a new player, would this interest you?

John, if you’re reading this, I’d be more than happy to run some seminars for you when I come back to Spokane in June.

At the end of the next session of the Godfell Stone, the players will find a letter on the body of one of the NPCs. This is that letter.

You can, of course, click to enbiggen.

The writing is draconic, while the actual language behind the writing is a combination of Common (English) and Draconic. I’ll have a copy for each player, so that they can work on translating it in sections between the five of them. I’ll have a two-page draconic dictionary, as well as a letter cypher so that they can translate.

There’s a lot of text there, and the players will have a lot of work on their hands to translate. I hope they’re up to the task. After they’ve translated it, I’ll provide the translation here.

Here’s the question: Do I have them work on it at the table? With only two hours of game time a week, this will take up a good portion of the time, and it’s going to be after a big fight. Perhaps I should make them wait a week, kick off the translation at the beginning of the next session…

What do you all advise?

What is it about D&D that turns ordinary people into the gaming equivalent of Insanity Wolf:

One minute you’ll be running a perfectly normal adventure, the next, the players will want to kill the princess they’ve been sent to rescue, “Just in case she has Stockholm Syndrome and hates us for rescuing her.”

What.

Usually it’s just one player, but what about when it’s ALL OF THEM?!

Here’s what I think is the problem: Too much choice. You usually see Insanity Wolf Player as a new player. I think when a new player is told “You can do anything you want,” they think “Anything?!” and want to test that theory. I can’t say I blame them for that. People are so used to playing a video game, when given the chance to do anything their heart desires, they want to see how far that stretches.

I think I’ve fixed it.

One of my players, Larry, was the epitome of the Insanity Wolf Player. He stole horses, tried to kill villagers, and in a ballsy and unnecessary move, attempted to kill the elf warriors sent to spring the heroes from prison two sessions ago. One of the players stepped in, stopping him with an arrow. When he and the other player who wanted to kill the elves woke up, they found themselves tied to a tree, the elves around them not happy with them. Begging, pleading, they barely escaped with their lives.

In friday’s session, he was the most reserved I’ve seen him. He was horrified when one of the other players attempted to attack a barracks on their own. Whaaa?! The previous session, he would have joined in the fray. What happened?

He learned that actions have consequences.

This is something not enough DMs emphasize. Yes, you can do whatever you want, but at the same time, everything you do has a consequence to it.

I’ve been trying to hammer this into my players (the new ones) since the beginning of the game. In session 3, when they stole some horses, the stablemaster came after them. When they picked a fight at a bar, the entire bar rose up to fight them. Finally, as I said above, when they tried to kill an elf, the other elves almost killed them.

That player, who wanted to kill everyone in the barracks? It was suggested that if he tried to do so, the bad guys might blame the villagers and make them pay for it, so he backed down.

Your players need to realize that everything they do ripples forward, just like in real life. If they begin to realize that, they’ll be more likely to think twice about becoming Insanity Wolf.

Why haven't my 3rd level PCs fought this yet?

I’m thinking I need to be a bit harsher on my players. I need to be a more evil DM.

Why? These players became complacent. I think it’s why the game began falling apart. They grew bored. They knew they could plunk down in their seats every week and I would serve them up a big old helping of adventure.

With no danger.

None of the players have died yet. Perhaps I should fix that…

Did that title confuse you?

Mouse Guard is one of the best RPGs out there, hands down. The unique method of combat, the Player vs. GM turns; all of it works together to create a unique and enjoyable experience.

One of my favorite aspects is the idea that you can find interesting story in your failure. A lot of players have trouble wrapping their heads around that, but it’s a core concept to the game. The way a session is set up is that with 100% success by all players during a session, the game will last all of 15 minutes. No one wants that, so the most fun is found in failure. When the players fail their Pathfinding, they stumble upon a snake’s nest. It’s time for combat!

Or alterately, they fail a Weatherwatcher check, and arrive in the town they were on their way to, just cold, wet and sick.

The game doesn’t grind to a halt due to failure, it makes things interesting.

I’m in the middle of a 4e campaign right now. In 4e, the general idea is that a failure is just that. A failure. “You want to pick that lock? Roll a d20. Oh, you got a 1? Well, you didn’t pick it. The door’s still locked.”

Boring.

What if, instead, everything the players ever did was successful in some way, but introduced more complications. You use Wall of Iron against a monster, pushing it back over a cliff, but miss the roll? “Sure, you push the monster off the cliff, but he’s grabbed onto the shield as he’s pushed back. Make an Athletics check to grab onto the root attached to the side of the cliff.” Now you’ve got an orc hanging from one arm, and you’re hanging onto the cliffside with the other.

As you may recall,  I have a complete list of travel times around the Nentir Vale. If you want your players to travel from Winterhaven to Fallcrest, but don’t want to spend a lot of time, why not have the Ranger of the party make a Nature check? On a failure, he failed to navigate the path very well, and the players find themselves arriving in Fallcrest cold, wet, and missing a few Healing Surges. Ouch.

This has endless possibilities. Dragonborn breathes fire on the enemy, but rolls badly? Well, he lit part of the building on fire. Rogue performs a Sly Flourish and misses? He deals half damage and falls prone, tripping up on his boots. Note how the character still deals damage there? If you’re going to add additional screw-over-the-player moments, you really should give them a little something for their trouble.

And that’s how my games are going to go from here on out, I think. Failure is so much more fun than success, don’t you think?