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

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!

Exploding Kittens - DICE HEAD REVIEW

Do you like cats?

How about explosions?

And lasers? Do you like lasers?

How do you feel about goats?

Are you curious to know what would happen if a Pterodactyl and a Bear had a lovechild?

If you answer positively to any of those questions then 1) we should hang out, and 2) We should play exploding kittens while hanging out.

Exploding Kittens is a card game designed by Elan Lee, Shane Small and Matthew Inman from the comic “The Oatmeal”. This project is the wet dream of anyone who has ever wanted to crowdfund a project. The original goal was to raise 10,000 USD. Within minutes (literally minutes…) they had reached their 10,000 USD goal. Then after 7 days they passed the 106,000 backer mark, breaking the record for the most backers in Kickstarter history. By the end of the Kickstarter campaign they had raised $8,782,571 USD in pledges by 219,382 backers.

That’s a lot of money.

So after much designing, playtesting and sending out surveys to their backers, they finally sent out the first batch of exploding kittens all over the world. I myself received mine last week and have played several times since. So today I bring you my review of the game, focusing on what it has to offer, the gameplay experience, and the feel of the game.

WHAT IT HAS:

My version of the game comes with 

1) The rules of the game

2) A regular exploding kittens deck (2 to 5 players)

3) A box to carry the game

In addition to this I opted to buy an additional deck called the "NSFW deck" which can be played as a standalone deck, or by adding it to the regular deck to allow for more players (and more 'SPLOSIONS!). As you may imagine the "NSFW deck" has more... "adult" illustrations, but if you've ever read any comic on The Oatmeal site, then you know what to expect.

The NSFW deck contains:

1) The rules of the game (including a guide on how to mix it with the regular deck)
2) An NSFW exploding kittens deck (2 to 5 players)

3) A box to carry the game

GAMEPLAY!

The game describes itself as a "Russian roulette". You draw cards until you draw an exploding kitten, which then causes you to explode, losing the game in the process. You win the game by playing cards to either avoid drawing a card, or avoid death by kitty explosion.

The types of cards:

Exploding kittens: The deck starts with a number of exploding kittens equal to one less than the number of players (4 exploding kittens for 5 players, 3 for 4, etc)

Green cards: These are the defuse cards, you use them to defuse the exploding kittens and avoid death by 'splosion. After successfully playing this card (see the red NOPE card) you may re-insert the exploding kitten ANYWHERE in the deck (which lends itself to some pretty nasty strategies).

Blue Cards: lets you skip a turn.

Pink Cards: See the future by looking at the top 3 cards of the deck and returning them in the same order.

Orange cards: Attack cards. Lets you skip a turn and makes the next player take 2 turns.

Brown cards: These cards let you shuffle the deck before you draw a card.

Black cards: Favor cards let you choose another player and have him choose a card from his hand and give it to you.

Red cards: The Nope card. This card negates any other card except for the exploding kitten and defuse cards, and may be played at anytime to stop another player from doing anything. MY FAVORITE TYPE OF CARD BY FAR.

Yes, that card does say "Don a portable cheetah butt"

Cat cards: There are other cards with kitty-related illustrations. These cards do nothing on their own, but if played together (two of a kind, three of a kind, 5 different cards) they let you execute other advanced plays, like picking a card from your opponent's hand, or picking a card from the discard pile.

 Everyone starts the game with 5 cards in their hand: 1 Defuse card, and 4 random cards from the deck. After the cards have been dealt, the remaining defuse cards and the exploding kittens are mixed with the rest of the cards, the deck is placed in the center of the table and the game can begin!

The game starts out at a moderate pace, and since everyone starts with a defuse card, everyone has a fair chance of not getting blow up in the first few rounds. But then as the deck becomes smaller, the impending doom becomes greater and greater. The tension builds up as players start exploding faster and faster, It's tons of fun because even when you blow up and lose you feel like you're having a great time!

GENERAL OVERVIEW

This game is fun. I tried it out at home, then with some friends at a party, and we had a blast. You could see the cards as simple colored cards, but it's way more fun to actually read the descriptions and appreciate the bizarre drawings on them. One of my favorite things is watching a person draw a card, and see how their face goes from a confused look to a snort and a laugh in a few seconds.

Now, about the nope card...

I've mentioned before how much I love the nope card, but you have to experience the thrill that comes with playing one of these by yourself. Imagine it's down to just two of you and your friend draws a card. It's an exploding kitten. He plays it and tries to defuse it via a Catnip sandwich card. But then you slap your nope card on the table with a loud "NOPE!". He smiles  cockily as the pulls out a SECOND defuse card, this time a "Cat therapy" card. He seems to have saved himself from the impending explosion but "NOPE!"... you had a SECOND nope card in your hand! Now he's done, defeated! BOOM!!! there goes the exploding kitten, and the game is yours!

So good... SO GOOD.

The game is very fast so you could play a good 3 or 4 rounds within an hour once everyone's familiarized with the rules and how to play. And learning the rules is really easy and fast. The game states that you'll spend 2 minutes learning to play, and 15 minutes playing it. I'd say this is pretty accurate.

The Illustrations by Matthew Inman are simple yet hilariously comical. One has to wonder how he comes up with stuff like "A Butt tuba spelled backwards is still A butt tuba" and then make an illustration for that. But like I said before, if you are familiar with his comics then this is exactly what you'd expect from him. 

As of right now only the backers of the Kickstarter campaign will receive copies of it, however the Exploding Kittens website has put up a mailing list in case you'd like to be notified when new sets of the game are available for purchase.

Considering all of this, I would definitely recommend picking this game up once it's available for purchase. Take it to a party and play it with your friends, have a few drinks and enjoy the sillyness of this very unique game.

Let me know what other products you would like to see me review next (If any). I'm working on a "Legend of the 5 rings RPG" review, on top of some other things, but I really welcome your feedback regarding this blog and I look forward to reviewing some other games for you, so if you have any favorites that you'd like to recommend to me, then leave a suggestion in the comment section below

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