Pintas y Dados - El podcast

Una de las cosas más gratificantes de ser un Dungeon Master es ver como toda la preparación previa al juego resulta en una historia divertida y asombrosa a la hora de jugar. El proceso que cada DM sigue para prepararse y escribir la historia antes de contarla difiere de DM a DM. A algunos nos gusta improvisar, a otros nos gusta planear todos y cada uno de los puntos de la historia, otros lo planean pero dejan que la decisión dependa de una tirada de dados… En fin, todos tenemos nuestro “librito” que seguimos a la hora de correr nuestros juegos.

Por otro lado, una de las cosas más gratificantes de ser un jugador de DnD, es que tu Dungeon Master no te mate.

HAH!!

Pero no hay nada mejor que encontrarse con tus amigos luego de un juego y hablar sobre lo cool que fue el juego, o las diferentes formas en las que podemos correr otro juego la próxima vez que nos toque ser DM.

Con esto en mente, dos amigos y yo nos pusimos de acuerdo para crear “Pintas y Dados”.

Pintas y dados, el podcast, es básicamente una ventana en la que Fernando, Moisés y yo les hablaremos sobre varios aspectos de nuestro hobby favorito: Los juegos de Rol. Hablaremos de Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Fate, Numenera, Legend of the 5 rings, y muchos otros sistemas de juego, mientras comentamos sobre los monstruos, las reglas, las historias y las ideas que pasan por nuestras mentes a la hora de preparar una sesión de juego. Todo esto mientras nos tomamos una que otra pinta :) .

Además de esto, con la ayuda de nuestro grupo de amigos, grabamos varios juegos de rol que presentaremos como una historia en episodios. Así como cuando nuestros padres escuchaban radionovelas? bueno, así mismo solo que con nerdos, dados, sin guiones, y un humor mucho más cuestionable.

El día de mañana (29 de Junio) presentaremos nuestro primer episodio, gracias a nuestros amigos de Patacoins, ustedes, mis muy estimados lectores, podrán encontrar el podcast en el sitio de patacoinstv.com y así también en iTunes y cualquier aplicación de podcasts en Android (yo uso Podcast Republic, es gratis, soy pobre)

También si tienen alguna pregunta, o algún tema que les gustaría que comentemos en el podcast nos pueden escribir a pintasydados@gmail.com, o encontrarnos en twitter como @Pintas_y_Dados y en Instagram como pintasydados. En un futuro grabaremos un capítulo con sus preguntas y comentarios, asi que envíennos todas las ideas que quieran escuchar en el podcast!

Estamos muy entusiasmados con este proyecto y esperamos que les guste lo que tenemos preparado para ustedes.

Cheers!

Julio

Edge of The Empire - Dice head Review

“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side kid…”

When you think “Star Wars” most people think about, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi… You know, the guys who have lightsabers and gtheir mastery of the force could, in theory, kill anyone with a mere thought.

However, there’s also Han Solo, Chewie, Lando Calrissian, The Millenium Falcon, Bobba Fett, the scum of the galaxy, the Hutts, the Black Sun syndicate, Mos Eisley, Ryloth, the lower levels of Coruscant. The dark gritty side of the Star Wars Galaxy is just as big as the more flashy force-wielding side of it, and there are so many ways in which one could run an RPG adventure in a setting like that.

So a long time ago, in a Galaxy far far away (In the 2000s), Wizards of the Coast owned the license for all Star Wars Collectible card and roleplaying games. Their license expired in 2010, and they declined to renew it. In comes Fantasy Flight games, doing what they do best, and pick up the Star Wars License from Lucasfilm Ltd. 2 years, a card game and a miniature game later, Fantasy Flight releases the first Game in the three part series of games that would comprise the Fantasy Flight Star Wars roleplaying game, Star Wars: Edge of the Empire. Since then, another two games have been released, “Age of rebellion”, and “Force and Destiny”, to complete the “Trilogy” of Star Wars roleplaying games.

These three games, although separate from each other, are designed to be able to play using the rules from all 3 books. Today, we’ll be looking at the first and, for now, my favorite one:

CONTENTS:

I have the Beginners’ game and the Core Rulebook for Edge of the Empire [EoTE]. The Beginner’s guide includes a set of Roleplaying dice (I’ll talk more about those later) 4 character folios, a quick introductory adventure, a summarized rulebook and some adventure supplements like a two-sided map, and some placeholders for your characters and the other NPCs

The Core Rulebook has a much more complete and detailed version of the rules of the game. It gives you a brief overview on what it means to play on the Edge of the Empire, and the tone and feel of the adventures played with this system. It has a very extensive character creation chapter, then a chapter about the equipment, the ships you will be using, and other very important aspects of running the game, such as a description of the most prominent worlds on the outer rim of the Galaxy.

In addition to that, there is a whole chapter dedicated to the different factions of the Galaxy, such as the Hutt cartel, the Black Sun Syndicate, and obviously the Empire and the Rebel alliance. Since you're playing people who are the thugs, smugglers, hot-shot pilots and bounty hunters of the galaxy, it's pretty cool to see all of the oportunities you might have by working for or against any of these factions.

The last chapters of the book include a chapter on the Force Exile, a class that has a minor connection to the force and somehow survived the great Jedi purge. And a short adventure with everything you need to run it as a GM.

GAMEPLAY

Edge of the Empire, just like all of the other Star Wars RPGs by Fantasy Flight, is a heavily narrative game. It uses "Narrative dice" to let you know whether you succeed or not in doing an action, and whether doing said action gave you an advantage or disadvantage in play.

When you decide you want to do an action you start by assembling your dice pool. Let's assume you're making a computers check in order to slice (*Hack* in Star Wars lingo) the security system and open a door. Your character is very Intelligent (her intellect is 3) and has invested some exp in her computers skill. First you take three positive green ability dice to go with her intellect score (3), then you replace two of those with the 2 yellow dice since she has 2 ranks in Computers. These are your positive dice.

Now let's say that the security system is average, not too easy, but not too hard to crack. This would be a medium difficulty roll, so we add 2 setback dice (the purple ones). We end up with something like this:

Basically, you roll the dice, and compare how many success and advantage symbols you have, versus how many failure and disadvantage symbols you have, these cancel each other out, and if in the end you have more success symbols left, that means you succeeded!

Now, the GM could say in this case, that you succeed opening the door, and you did it in such a way that prevents the security system from raising the alarm (that's how you count the advantage symbol). However, it is also possible to succeed with disadvantage though, in which case you would open the door and raise the alarm, giving you less time to move in and do what you need to do.

This is the core mechanic of the game, it makes everything move very smoothly and give the GM a lot of opportunities to add twists and turns to the game's narrative.

Final Thoughts:

I LOVE the Star Wars Universe. Ever since I started playing tabletop RPGs I've wanted to give a Star Wars RPG a try. I was aware of the existence of the Star Wars d20 books, but once I found out they were already out of print, the number of books and supplements was absurdly high, and most important of all, I didn't have a the money to buy all of that :). 

Fantasy Flight has done a great job translating the feel of a Star Wars story into the basic rules of the game. I feel like the game plays very smoothly, even though learning the rules of the game may take a bit of reading. Also if you've never seen the movies, or are not familiar with the terminology, then it might be a bit difficult to get into the mood of the game. However, if you like Sci-fi settings and Space battles, and laser pistols and big starships, then you will have a good time regardless.

All in all, I think this game is really good. As a Dungeon Master you get TONS of tools to build great stories in the Star Wars Galaxy. You want your characters to go hunting for bounties and compete against the likes of Boba Fett? Make deals with Jabba the Hutt? Explore the lower levels of Coruscant? Steal valuable information from the Empire? mess up the communications array of the Rebel Alliance? 

You can, and it'll be a blast. But don't take it from me, here's what some friends who got to play with me as a GM have to say about Edge of the Empire.

"Ever wanted to shoot first? this is your game"
Samuel the Wookie - 2015

"From the start of the game you immerse yourself in familiar places of the Star Wars Universe, the adventure gets you hooked right from the beginning. The force guides you to complete your objectives and overcome challenges. I recommend it for everyone, even non-star Wars fans"
Ludwig the smuggler - 2015

"The setting is very easy to explain, I liked the starter set with the character folios. It's a very complete game. Although, if you don't know anything about Star Wars you might need a bit of help from your friends who are familiar with the terminologies. But this doesn't stop you from having fun!"
Krystle, the Medical Droid - 2015

And well, this one from my friend Fernando is so well written I'm just going to put it here in Spanish, and hope I don't butcher it when I translate it into English.

"Muy pocos juegos tratan de enfatizar, realmente, el aspecto de roleplay de los juegos de rol. Ignorando conceptos pre establecidos por juegos como D&D o pathfinder, Edge of the Empire y sus sucesores de enfocan de lleno en los mismos con un juego altamente narrativo, dispuesto para los narradores aventureros que mas que preparar una historia en su mente le permiten a sus jugadores decidir de que manera seguirá la narrativa. Los dados y sus símbolos tomaran un rato en aprenderse, pero una vez todo es explicado se nota una poderosa elegancia y sencillez que deja a muchos otros "juegos de rol" en vergüenza. Con esta generación de juegos de rol con énfasis en narrativas mas aya de donde las espadas golpean las escamas de los enemigos, no esta de mas decir que la fuerza esta al borde del imperio."

Now, in english:

"Very few games try to really emphasize the roleplaying aspect in a roleplaying game. Ignoring concepts pre-established by games like D&D or Pathfinder, Edge of the Empire and its successors focus fully on roleplaying with a highly narrative-centric game that gives adventurous narrators the opportunity to not just prepare a story in their minds, but also let their players decide how the narrative will progress. The dice and their symbols will take a while to get used to, but once everything has been explained you will see a very powerful elegance and simplicity in the gameplay, which leaves other "Roleplaying" games in shame. With this new generation of roleplaying games, which emphasize narrative beyond swords hitting the scales of our enemies, it's not too much to say that the force, is on the edge of the empire."

Fernando - Bounty Hunter


Beautiful, isn't it?


Thanks for reading!

Legend of the 5 Rings - DICE HEAD REVIEW!

A few months ago a friend of mine convinced me to give this game a try. Basically, as he said, it’s a game where you roleplay as Samurai. And that was pretty much all I needed to give it a try.

Legend of the Five Rings (often abbreviated L5R) is a fictional setting created by John Zinser, Dave Seay, Dave Williams, and John Wick and published by Alderac Entertainment Group in 1995. The setting primarily involves the fictional empire of Rokugan, though some additional areas and cultures have been discussed. Rokugan is based roughly on feudal Japan with influences from other East Asian cultures such as China, Mongolia and Korea.

Now that we’ve got the Wikipedia part of the review out of the way, let’s get into what the game has, how it plays and my general thoughts about it.

"If you see the "half-persons" -as you call them- like posessions, you should take care of them properly. Will you leave your wonderful yukata dirty with mud, or would you clean it and make sure it is anything but perfect?"
-Daidoji Natsuki

CONTENTS!

The core rulebook is pretty thick. It has 404 pages and it’s divided by books titled after the rings referenced in the name of the game. First there’s an introduction, then there’s the Book of Air, which has about 60 pages full of Lore dealing with How the world was created, how Rokugan (the name of the setting, like “Greyhawk” or “Faerun”) came to be, the social classes, everyday rituals, religion, philosophy, Honor, Politics, Economics, and a very thorough description of the 8 Great Clans of Rokugan.

It has a METRIC ASS-TON of Lore.

“I think L5R is a rich role-play game. It is quite fantastic how simple is to understand it, and though it is fictional, you can make realistic characters with it.”

-Elii Mascarin – Player and Game Master

The Book of Earth deals with Game mechanics, how to roll dice, how to read the dice, how combat works, how skill checks are made and how to deal with certain situations in the game. Even though it’s mostly about mechanics, this book also has a few lore entries that help the reader to get immersed into the world of Rokugan.

“Good game, if you like manners and went to finishing school! “ 

-Priscilla Shirley - Player

The book of Fire is all about character creation. In here you’ll find tools to create your character, like a set of 20 questions to help you flesh out your character’s background story. Here’s where you choose which clan your Samurai will belong to, wether he will be a Bushi (warrior) a Shugenja (Magic user) Courtier (Politician) or a Monk or Ninja. As always, you should ask your Dungeon Master which one of these fit better in the story. This chapter goes on to explain how skills work, how spells work, and it gives you the stats for armor and weapons. It also has lore.

“Perfect family game, if you want to GET KILLED FOR DRINKING SAKE, like why, are we kids?  And the turning down gifts three times thing is pretty annoying too. Just give me my damn gift bruh. The shadowland prowlin' oni slayin' part makes it kind of worth it, though.”

-Daidouji Takeru, half-crab half-crane full awesome.

The Book of Water Talks about advanced mechanics. It has information on minor clans, Imperial Families, Ronin options, optional systems like massive battle rules. The Lore in this chapter is also very heavy.

Then the last chapter: The book of Void, focuses on tips for Dungeon Masters and gives them a lot of tools to run a game, like different types of campaigns, how to award experience points to the players, stats for monsters and nonhuman races. It also has a complete 30 page adventure that’s ready to run. And of course:  LORE LORE LORE LORE LORE LORE!!!

“We all want to play as a Samurai in some RPG in some moment of our lives. It doesnt matter which one we're playing at the moment there is always that need to wield a Katana. What surprised me about L5R is that the way the convey the setting to you makes you want to do more than just become Battousai and slash people. You do cool thinks. For example, my character, a Crane Clan Courtier by the name of Daidoji Daichi, would speak in code whenever he wanted...and it was awesome.

Daichi: It would be most imperative to suggest that the Monkey will soon land upon the branches where the Crane is taking a rest. 

Which means, basically, that Monkey reinforcements are arriving to the Crane clan's camp.

Or something like:

Daichi: It is known that when choosing between poisonous enemies, nothing goes past the webs of the Spider...or survive the venom of the scorpion.

Which can mean multiple things. So, speaking in code is pretty great. Get this game if you want to go all cryptic on other players and have them laugh/roll their eyes”

-Moises Montero – Player and Dungeon Master

GAMEPLAY!

Legend of the 5 rings has very simple gameplay mechanics. If you want to do something, you determine your level of success by rolling d10s. You take a bunch of d10s, you throw them, keep the highest number of the roll and add them up. If your result reaches the Target number (determined by your DM) you succeed in doing what you want to do.

Now, what determines the amount of d10s you roll? And what determines the amount of high rolls you get to keep? That’s the not-so-simple part. Let’s try to give you an example.

Rolls are described as xky

X is the number of dice you roll, and Y is the number of dice you keep from that roll. So a roll where you roll 8 and keep 3 would be read as 8k3 or “8 keep 3”

So… You want to hit something with a sword.

The skill required to do so is “Kenjutsu”

You have bought 5 skill points in Kenjutsu, which is tied to your Agility trait. Until now you’ve spent some experience points to raise your Agility to 3.

You would add you 5 skill points in Kenjutsu, to the 3 in Agility, for a total of 8 and you would keep the 3 (from your Agility) highest dice from your roll.

8k3

If one or any of your dice land on 0 (meaning you rolled a 10) they “explode”. So you can add 10 to your roll and roll that dice again, keeping whatever number it lands on. If the dice lands on 0 again, you keep adding 10 to the roll and rerolling until you stop exploding dice.

That is the basic mechanic, but this is pretty much the same for all types of checks, you take a number of dice, you roll them and keep a number of dice out of that roll.

Simple right?

Eh… no…. I would be lying to you if I said this system felt simple or in any way intuitive to me. But, as any other game, you learn to roll your skills a lot faster and more naturally the more you play.

FINAL THOUGHTS!

Legend of the Five Rings is an RPG setting with a load of customization options that will make you look at Role Playing Games in a very different way. As any other setting you can always adapt some of the gameplay options to fit the type of game you want to run. Do you want a game full of political intrigue, moral backstabbing (also: literal backstabbing) and sword duels to the death? L5R has got it. Do you want a game where you slice you enemies down with your katana, fighting for the honor of your house? L5R has got that too. Is it the first time you play an RPG, and want to take a swing at roleplaying with a couple of friends for the first time? Stop right there.

“SHAMEFUL DISPLAY!”

-Samuel Gonzalez - Player

This game might work for you if you have never PLAYED an RPG before, as long as your Game Master is familiar with the setting. A GM that knows the intricacies of how the 8 houses interact with each other, and who has also familiarized him or herself with the oriental cultural aspects that have been integrated into this setting, is your best bet at running a really awesome adventure in Rokugan.

If you’re a Game Master that has never run a Roleplaying Game, then you might want to steer away from this one. I would suggest that you get the Core Rulebook (4^th Edition) and read it. Then read it again, and again, and again. Then when you’ve finally learned the details of this game, read it again. THEN you can run a game in Rokugan. Trust me, it’s in your best interests to get REALLY immersed in the setting before you run it. It will make it a lot more fun for you, and most importantly, for your players.

“If you like Intrigue and strategy, Legend of the 5 rings will be an enormously satisfying experience for you.”
-Fernando Dolande – Game Master and player

Here’s my absolutely honest opinion, this game is awesome. If you’re looking for a game that draws inspiration from Oriental culture, and lets you play as Samurai. Then look no further than Legend of the 5 Rings.

Also did you know they have a Collectible Card game?!?!? Time for a SEQUEL REVIEW!!!

Thanks for reading

Fudging Dice - DM Thoughts

Generally speaking, Roleplaying Games are games where you don’t necessarily win or lose. You just move the plot further through either success or failure. There are many plot devices and narrative tools that a DM can use to move the plot along, some of these can be shared with the players, others… not so much.

Today I’d like to talk to you about “fudging dice rolls”

Example:

Dominic: Ok guys the enemy mage fires a fireball, roll me a dexterity save.

Patrick: ok… 3

Vanessa: Ugh… 6

Jules: I got this… ok, no I don’t…8

Nataniél: 9… oh wait no… that’s a 6

Dominic: ok…

At this point Dominic has a choice to make. He can let the dice fall as they may, and call the full damage of the fireball on his friends. Or he can roll the dice and give his friends a chance to regroup and mount a strategy by calling part of the damage rolled by the dice. You might think “But why would he do this? Dom needs to put his big DM pants on and roll like he means it” And in a way you’re absolutely right.

However, like I’ve said before, D&D are games that revolve around telling a story, and sometimes you may need to help the story along. Or you just simply don’t want the story to stop. A couple of bad rolls on the player’s side, and a couple of good rolls on the DM’s side could end very quickly on a Total Party Kill (TPK), meaning your players would all need to get their act together, create new characters, make new backstories, and you would have to explain how these new characters are filling in for the dead ones. Depending on the type of game you’re playing this means you might have to change the story a bit, a lot, or not at all. You might want to fudge the roll only to keep the current game going. You might also want to see how far these characters can defy the odds

Now, how do you fudge dice?

Words to live by

You’re the DM and don’t need to give out explanations for every roll you make, let’s start with that. Also if you don’t want to use a DM screen then fudging is out of the question. Let’s see how Dominic handles the situation:

Dominic: Ok… the mage raises his hand, points a finger at you, and shoots a small bead of fire towards you. You are all unable to react in time and the fireball explodes close to where you all are, dealing… (Rolls 3d6 behind the screen, the outcome is 15, which would kill all 4 lvl1 characters) 7 fire damage!

Patrick: Well I’m almost dead, my character only has 1 hit point!

Vanessa: My fighter still has a potion and could probably cover you guys, but I’m going to need some healing… only 3 HP left

Jules: I’m down to 0 hit points. Shit… do I roll death saves now or at the end of the round?

Nataniél: Hey wait… I’m a Tiefling, I have fire resistance. He only does 3 damage to me! I can heal Vanessa with Cure wounds. Just make sure you hit that mage with all you’ve got before he fires again!

Dominic: Well you guys seem to have things under control *smiles evilly* Roll me a death save Jules…

So Dominic does not kill the party outright, but he does put them in a challenging situation that might end up either in a TPK or in an amazing victory, that depends on what the players decide to do next. As you can see, fudging dice is simply handling the dice results in such a way that keeps engaging the players to come up with different strategies and ways to beat the obstacles that you present to them.

The alternative? Well you could just kill them and narrate the dramatic events that follow the heroes’ failure to beat the evil mage. In the end, the decision to fudge or not to fudge the dice roll depends on the type of game your players want to play. Maybe they specified that they preferred a more hardcore experience, where all traps are deadly and every single room has at least one vampire in it. If this is the case, then by all means, roll every single dice in front of them and watch them fall like flies.

Thanks for reading

Cat Herding - DM thoughts

We’ve all been there.

Scenario #1

It’s the day before the gaming session, your friends have all been looking forward to this particular session, since every plot line seems to be heading to their respective ends. Your characters have all gone through some type of development, and on top of that you are very close to leveling up. This is it guys, this game is going to change everything. After this session, our lives will be completely different, for the sole fact that so much awesome stuff is going to happen in it, that your very way of playing RPGs is going to be completely redefined.

Oh.. what’s that? Billy can’t make it because he has a family party to attend to… Oh well, no problem, it’s a shame Billy won’t be there to witness the awesome, but oh well… you really can’t expect him to leave his family hanging right?

Oh wait… If Billy can’t come, that means his girlfriend Vanessa, can’t come either. And she’s the fighter, so… oh wel we still have a reasonably strong party without the mage and the fighter right?

Wrong, because now Franck is feeling kinda sick, and he’s the healer (oh irony, thou art a soulless bitch). Virginia actually feels more like going to the beach on Saturday, and Patrick hasn’t picked up the phone in FIVE (5) DAYS!  GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER PATRICK!

By now the party feels like they should wait until everyone is able to play. So you postpone the game until everyone is able to make it to the game. Then Patrick shows up at your front door, because he didn’t know the game had been postponed.

That’s because you didn’t pick up the phone Patrick. You didn’t pick up the phone…

Get it? COZ HE LIVES UNDER A ROCK!

Scenario #2

You’ve been preparing this game for MONTHS now. About a year ago you bought the core books for a new tabletop RPG that seemed interesting at the time, but you never had the chance to actually play it. So at one point you get your friends together and mention that you have a game that you’d like to play. You get them hyped explaining the way the system works, and how the character creation process is the coolest thing since Eskimo pies. You even go as far as creating a character for each one of your friends, just so you don’t have to waste a whole night in character creation. You set a date. The weeks go by… you’re ready for this…

5 days before the game

“Hey dude, sorry but I TOTALLY forgot I had this thing I have to go to. I know the game is like a week away, but you guys can play without me right?”

4 days before the game

“Hey, I’m not sure I can make it to the game on time, there’s this thing I have with this [girl/boy] and I might be a little late, is that ok?”

3 days before the game

“Yo, can we play on [xday] instead of [the day we agreed on 2 months ago]? There’s this thing I want to go to on that day…”

2 days before the game

“Hey guys, good news. I can make it to the game, but only for like… 2 hours, I need to leave after that because of things and reasons”

1 Day before the game

“Hey has anyone seen Patrick?”

There is a Patrick in every group... right Patrick?

So you postpone, pick a better date and hope against hope that everyone will show up this time.

This, my friends, is called “Trying to get a group of geeks together to play a game of ANYTHING”. Also known as “CAT HERDING”. Now, this is not a post about how to make your friends go to ALL of your games, and get rid of scheduling problems for the rest of your life.

No, my sweet summer children…

This is a post where I tell you how to deal with this situation and learn to cope with it. In all my years as a Dungeon Master and gamer, there has always been one thing that does not vary. And that is: We geeks have a hard time getting together to play a game. There’s always a thing that gets in the way, and let’s be honest, the older you get the less free time you have to play a game. So having a job, being married, having kids, and maybe another hobby in your life will inevitably take up some, if not all of your free time.

This is a thing that happens; this is life, and there’s nothing we can do to change that. What we CAN do is develop some flexibility, tolerance and understanding.

If you players can’t get to the game, you can try to re-schedule to a date that fits everyone in the party. After all it’s no fun to get to a second session of a campaign and then suddenly you realize that some really important stuff happened while you were gone and you weren’t there to witness it. Always try to get everyone to play in your sessions. Work around your schedule and have everyone agree to a date in your calendar in which you can all play.

What if it keeps happening?

If up to 3 of your party members keep having to re-schedule or simply don’t show up. It may be time to have a serious talk with them and let them know that their absence is felt at the table. You will probably have to remove them from your group in the kindest way possible, and open up their spots to other people who might be able to play on those days. It sucks because you probably wanted to play with them, but if they can’t, then there’s no way around it.

What if I have too many games?

Maybe you have more than one game that you’re running at the moment. Sit down and analyze how much time you actually have in a week. Take away the time you need to spend on your job, then your family life, then the time you need to spend on house chores, and finally add to that the preparation time for your games. If you can barely make time to run 3 or 4 games in that week, then it’s more than likely that your players also don’t have the time to play them all. Give it some thought, and learn when to drop a campaign. No DM likes it, but hey, sometimes it’s the smartest thing to do.

What about Patrick?

Kick Patrick out of the group. He’s a great friend, we all love him, but if you’re going to be MIA for weeks and then when you do show up you mess up the gaming schedule, just let him know that once you all finish the adventure, he may re-join when you play another game as long as he commits to showing up on time and be involved in the game. But right now he’s just messing with your schedule.

In conclusion, Cat herding is always going to be present in our lives, simply because we cannot spend all of our time gaming around a table. We’re human beings and as such we all have our basic needs and sadly, tabletop gaming cannot possibly fulfill each and every one of them. As gamers (and especially if you’re a Dungeon Master) we need to be able to understand that sometimes, game night is just not going to happen. But there’s always another day, another weekend, another chance to get together and play. And if your game is interesting and compelling, your players will go out of their way to make time to go to your games.

Thanks for reading!

The Alignments - Final Thoughts

After 3 weeks, 9 alignments and several hours of writing we've finally come to a close on the alignments series. Now before you go FULL DREDD on your party next time you play D&D, or any other tabletop RPG. Here's some final thoughts on the alignment system and its practicality.

Current state (5th edition Dungeons & Dragons)

As of last year, Wizards of the Coast released the latest edition of Dungeons and Dragons, and the way alignments work has changed dramatically. Before, your  characters alignment was an integral art of how you played him or her. It used to be impossible to make a Paladin that wasn't Lawful Good, or a Sorcerer that wasn't chaotic.

As it stands the current way alignment works is only seen as a vague guideline that doesn't even define your characters. They are now defined by their background and how they act upon their bonds, quirks, personality traits, and flaws. What this means is that if you give your character a well thought out background, then THAT is what will define him.

It basically means that Chaotic Good Half-orcs can now be Paladins.

Gul'Thak kill puny man... FOR JUSTICE!!!

Neat huh?

But let's try to look a bit further from what the books say about alignment.

Alignment as guidelines for NPCs

As a Dungeon Master, it is my personal opinion that ditching the concept of Alignment in characters is not really necessary. Player characters may not have any real use for this system anymore. But NPCs can be a lot more flat in terms of character development. It helps define the way they will act during the story arc that you are narrating to your friends.

You can use the alignment system and the titles we gave them in the last three weeks, to create compelling and well defined archetypes for the NPCs in your campaigns. Do you need a Villain that is pure Evil? Go Neutral Evil (The Villain). Do you need an NPC that will serve as an instigator and a revolutionary leader that will ask for the party's assistance? Chaotic good may be the choice for your dashing Robin Hood-type rogue.

Needless to say, keeping these alignments in mind when narrating or playing out the characters in your story will make it a lot easier for you when faced with the question "How would this character react to what the players are doing?" That is not to say that your NPCs should always be flat characters that never go through any type of character development. Any believable villain or hero has its own motivations and background as well. however when you think about them as characters whose morals are aligned to one of the 9 alignments, then it becomes easier for you to narrate and present them.

Also, it sort of gives you a tool to avoid voicing all of your characters the same way. When Bob the innkeeper sounds and talks in the exact same way than Robert the fighter, and Robbie Lightfoot the halfling rogue... then you might want to start thinking a bit more about the NPCs you present in your games. The alignment table could help you to think about the different motivations all your NPCs could have before running your game, and thus making it easier to differentiate each character from each other.

Alignment as guidelines for Player characters:

Player characters are the main protagonists of your story. As such, their personality (and maybe even their moral code) should go through some kind of development as the story develops. A Lawful Neutral "Judge" may start as a hard ass, black and white judgmental type with a stick up his ass.Then, after going through some dramatic story arcs, he realizes that sometimes the law does not cover every single possibility out there. He finally learns to see the good intentions behind the more chaotic members of his party, and learns to make exceptions to the rule and look the other way when the law just doesn't make much sense.

Instead of seeing the alignments as straight jackets that put your character in a cage, try to see them as starting points. Your background choices, and your personal history as an adventurer made you take some decisions that took you down the path of Chaotic goodness, but maybe through the experiences you go through while adventuring, you end up as Neutral Good, because you realize that Chaos can sometimes hurt more people than it helps.

To this effect I think the background system of 5th Edition D&D is perfectly suited to tell your character's story in a way that is easy to present and easy to understand as well. The backgrounds could be generated randomly by using the tables in the Player's Handbook, but they could also be created on your own. This means that you can ALSO modify your bonds, flaws and personal traits as your story progresses, with your DM's permission of course. 

Sure, it's fun to play as Bob the fighter and simply hit problem X with your B.A. Sword until X is not a problem anymore, but you're playing a Role Playing Game.  This means your role as an adventurer can be SO MUCH MORE than just a "tank" or "Damage dealer". You can be an iconic character within your adventure's setting, setting an example for all adventurers that come after you (they will probably be played by you as well... cool huh?)

Batman v Superman Spoilers: They end up as BFFs. FOREVAH

So I'd like to close off the alignment series by asking you: If you're a player, what alignment will YOU be starting off as next time you play an RPG?

And if you're a DM: What type of NPC alignment is easier for you to narrate? 

(you can answer both if you want)

Thanks for reading!

So you want to play Dungeons and Dragons...

But Julio! – you say- I’ve never played Dee Enn Dee before! What’s an Arr Pee Gee? You make it sound so fun and epic and I wish to learn more!

Well, my friends there’s a many ways I could describe how you play D&D (or any other type of tabletop RPG). If you can get together with some friends and play, that’s the best way to learn the game. You need at least 4 (maybe 3) people to play the game, one of which needs to act as a Dungeon Master. Groups could be bigger than that, although I would advise you to keep your groups below 6 or 7 players.

Basically, you and a group of friends will get together, and play out a story. One of you will be the "referee" or "judge", and the rest of you will play a part in the story. You will most likely use dice to determine how good your character is at doing the things he or she does, and you will keep your character's skills, strengths and weaknesses on a character sheet.

Before you begin:

You should have a character creating session with your group, in which you will decide what type of hero or adventurer you will play. I'm assuming you already have the core book(s) for the game you want to play, these should have enough information for you to make the character you want to play.

After making your characters, you and your friends need to agree on what type of game you want to play. If you leave this up to your DM, that’s fine, but it always helps to give him an idea of what type of story you’d like to play. Or what type of story your characters are going to be involved in for the duration of your campaign or adventure. Keep in mind that an adventure can take months, and a full-fledged campaign could take years to complete. So make sure to tell your DM what makes your character want to be an adventurer. 

Now, with that in mind, here’s some tips for when you start playing.

Fun fact: My mom was actually a pretty badass cleric in one of my sessions

Be present

The most important thing to remember when playing a tabletop RPG, is to pay attention.

Pay attention to what your DM is saying. He’s describing the world around you, the actions of the people around you, and repercussions of those actions. Failing to pay attention to the DM will cause him or her to have to keep describing everything over and over again to you. After a while, this becomes tiresome both for the DM and for the other players, it slows the game down. And, as you will soon know, slowing the game down is the first of many things you should avoid around a gaming table.

This should go without saying, but you should also pay attention to what the other players say. They also play a (major) part in the story, just like you. So, in the same way that you want people to listen to how great your character is, you should listen to how awesome their characters are.

Know your character

Look, everyone gets a free pass for the first few sessions. But if it’s been 4 months, playing twice per month, and you STILL don’t know what you should roll to hit with your weapon/spell/skill then your friends are going to start to hate you, and eventually you might notice that your character will be the focal point of all the enemies’ attacks (hint hint, your DM hates you too).

How do you avoid being that character? Well, get invested! There are books that cover game mechanics that could help you get familiarized with the game, but if you ask your friends and pay attention (See: Be Present) you will have no problem remembering basic game mechanics after a few sessions. And if your DM brought paper and pencils, you can also make quick notes on the “Notes” part of your character sheet. 

You could also grab a separate piece of paper and keep a personal journal for your characters. Your Dungeon Master is (or should be) absolutely obsessed with office supplies by now. So ask for a few loose pieces of paper, a pencil and a stapler and boom, you now have a character journal, which should help you out when trying to keep track of several details within the game, character traits, equipment, plot points, you name it.

And Finally:

Be nice

No one gives up 4 to 6 hours of their weekend to have a bad time. Be nice to the other players and your Dungeon Master.  This is a group you will be meeting for several days a month, and you guys should be able to at least get along. I’m not going to give you a list of things you should or not say around a tabletop RPG table, because common courtesies and good manners are learned at home.

If you’re nice, you’ll see how more and more people will want to have you in their games.

If you’re a douchebag, your DM will eventually take you aside and politely tell you that he and the other players don’t want to play with you anymore. On account of how much of a douche you are.

That’s it. Everything I just wrote can be summarized in three simple points: Pay attention, know your character, and be nice.

Now that I’ve given some basic tips for new GMs and players, I’ll leave the the next topic open to you guys. Last time I got two awesome and very creative suggestions for future posts. “cat herding” and “What do I do if my players want to be murderhobos?”

I think I'll address these suggestions/questions in a post where I'll talk about dealing with certain kinds of players. Until then, I hope you enjoy playing Dungeons & Dragons, or any other type of Role Playing Game, and as always...

Thanks for reading